HGFA Skysailor Magazine

38 SKY SAILOR July | August 2019 Radio Matters There is no radio police. True. So why use a radio when flying? Certainly not to show how well you can make calls. Nor is it very useful if the radio is not sending out accurate facts. Anne McLean – P&M Aviation Australia I f you are about to make a call, think about what you would like to hear if you found someone else using your airspace. I am guessing that if you are managing an aircraft, you would want to just hear clear, basic information, allowing you to get on with your flying. I’m taking for granted that you know, and practice, the formulas for calls as currently set out by the authorities. They are short, precise and useful. So why, after many years, are we still hearing, “All stations XYZ” , instead of “XYZ traffic”, when the pilot is not talking to ground bases as well as flying aircraft? It just goes to show that the pilot, or his/her instructor, has not bothered to update their radio procedures! Why, when you are entering a circuit pattern, would you loudly and proudly announce that you are “joining downwind for Runway 07” , when that airfield has never had a Runway 07? Again, you haven’t prepared properly for that particular flight. (NOTE: everyone makes mistakes at times, but if those calls either remain uncorrected, or the fault is repeated for each call, right up to the landing, it just pronounces that you are unprepared to land at that airfield. Confess please, no excuses!) How useful is it to call that you are approaching from the east, if it is really from the west? Or if you give an incorrect ID (possibly to avoid a landing fee?), and consequently pilots sharing your airspace have no idea what size, shape or speed of aircraft to look for as the space between you closes? Why call your intention on the Base leg call of the circuit, instead of leaving it to a call when turning on to Final? Simple AIRMANSHIP. If you wait to broadcast your intention until Final, any pilot following you in the circuit pattern has nowhere to go if you are doing a full stop landing. If you give your intention on the base call, a pilot following you can easily extend his downwind to give you time to clear the runway and prevent him from doing a go around. Be aware that, once an aircraft turns base, it is pretty much committed to landing, due to its altitude, attitude and speed, so to ask it to change pattern after that turn, is putting a much higher cockpit load on the Holding Point with two runways PTT on Transmitting Not transmitting PTT off