When I was very young, maybe 10 years old or so, I was absolutely thrilled to receive a Christmas gift that captured my imagination. Santa brought me a two-way radio set. Back then we called them walkie-talkies. I’m not sure what the proper term is these days.
My older brother was disinclined to play with me and what he considered to be my dumb new toy. Several neighborhood friends were as enthused as I was, however. We could communicate at will. It didn’t matter if one of us was at home and the other was in the nearby woods. While I was in the back yard beating the bejeezus out of a GI Joe action figure with my best friend and neighbor Mike, his brother Jimmy might be a few blocks away at the ballfields. We could still talk up a storm for as long as the batteries lasted.
They were a magical thing, those walkie-talkies.
Little did I know in my youth that communication would become such a significant portion of my life and career. Yet it has. And I’m all the better for it.
Anyone who writes for a living can tell you the key to writing for publication. It’s not all that complicated really, although few can do it well. In a nutshell, it’s about clarity and specifics. If the reader can’t follow the story, you’ve failed.
Anyone who flies knows the value of clear, specific information. And yet, like my older brother who had such disdain for the wonders of two-way radio communication, far too many pilots and FBO operators share that aversion to participation.
In my considered opinion that failing stems from the fact that no communications are required in E or G airspace. An interesting quirk of the rules that’s true even if the pilot is operating near an airport. Even if they’re in the traffic pattern at that airport.
We in the U.S. have the remarkable freedom to fly an aircraft from coast to coast in airspace that asks virtually nothing of us. We’re not required to communicate, so a disquieting number of us simply don’t.
That strikes me as somewhat foolhardy. We know the frequency for the airport is published in multiple documents and exists in the data stored in our GPS receivers. We know there are other aircraft out there operating in the area, even if we don’t see them. In short, we know there is a potential for conflict, but in the spirt of a five-year old shouting, “you can’t make me,” at their sibling, we choose to do the stupid thing in a vain effort to emphasize our unrestricted freedom to be an idiot.
Yes, I said stupid. I used the term idiot. Intentionally so. It’s part of that clarity and specificity thing I mentioned earlier. Choosing not to communicate with others when you have the ability to do so is stupid. Doing something stupid on purpose puts any of us in the idiot category — at least temporarily.
This reticence to speak isn’t restricted to pilots, however. A disturbingly large number of FBOs at non-towered airports choose to play the quiet game as well. They have the ability to communicate with aircraft in flight. It could be argued that they have at least some level of responsibility to share pertinent information with the pilots of aircraft operating in their area. Yet they refuse to do so.
The most common excuse I hear is the fear of liability. They don’t want to be sued should something go wrong.
I’m not at all sure I can accept that logic. When one airplane is on final for Runway 36 and another is similarly situated on the approach to Runway 18, I’m confident the risk of litigation is low if your message is “Traffic on final at XYZ Airport, go around, collision risk.”
Filling in the details can come after the crash is averted. The two pilots can come to an agreement on which runway to use. The FBO avoids the challenge of making the necessary emergency calls, closing the runway, and losing the fuel sales they’d have made from all those aircraft diverted by the completely preventable accident they stood by and watched.
Two-way radio communications don’t come at great expense. The units aren’t expensive or difficult to use. They aren’t rare and hard to find. Turn it on, tune it in, and listen. When it’s appropriate, push the button and speak. That’s pretty much it.
When my kids were young I gave them half of a walkie-talkie set to hang on to when out of the house. They came up with call-signs for themselves and checked in regularly. It was cute. It was comforting. It was unbelievably easy.
If little kids can do it, pilots and FBO operators can do it too. Even if it isn’t a requirement. And wouldn’t we all be better off if they would?
“A disturbingly large number of FBOs at non-towered airports choose to play the quiet game as well. They have the ability to communicate with aircraft in flight. It could be argued that they have at least some level of responsibility to share pertinent information with the pilots of aircraft operating in their area. Yet they refuse to do so.”
Hmmmm….
In my neck of the woods, I can’t remember when I last heard a UNICOM operator, respond to a request for current traffic/airport information, from an airborne aircraft.
I’m pretty sure I’ve NEVER heard one offer up any useful airport ’gouge’, unsolicited, because of what they’ve heard on the radio…
OTOH, I hear FBOs, frequently, garbage up the CTAF frequencies, having discussions about Uber availability and fast-food orders for in-bound corporate customers.
Would benefit us all if they conducted that business via cell phone.
When communicating during airport operations, please use the AIRPORT name, NOT that of the nearby town or colocated VOR that goes by a different name (e.g. “Cochran” vs. “Thermal”).
I don’t mind an alert Nordo pilot. In general, the Nordo pilots look out the window more and work harder at getting in the pattern smoothly. What really is scary to me is a pilot with a radio on the wrong frequency. All the confidence in communication, and no heightened scan or avoidance behavior.
FBOs are not Air Traffic Controllers. The UNICOM on the desk in the corner is for business calls, not to direct traffic by an unqualified person manning the front counter.
Don’t discount the value of a knowledgable individual at the FBO counter and the benefit they can bring to the airwaves. When a transient announces, “right downwind for Runway 36” the FBO can come back with, “left hand traffic on all runways at ABC Airport.” The transient may or may not know they’re violating an FAR by entering right traffic, but with the help of the FBO they now know information they should have known before they departed for their destination.
Similarly, when there is traffic in the pattern and someone calls in on a 9 mile straight-in approach, the FBO can call back, “straight in approaches aren’t recommended at ABC Airport.” They can make that call with total confidence, too. The FAA cautions us against making straight in approaches at non-towered airports. Why not encourage the airports to reinforce that message?
Granted the FBO can’t clear an aircraft to land, or take off, or anything else. But they can share pertinent information that’s accurate to the local area and the situation at hand. Solid information presented as an advisory should be encouraged, not disparaged.
A State Trooper once pulled me over for excessive speeding. His comment struck home, ” I don’t care if you kill yourself, just don’t kill other people when you cause an accident,”
Use a radio.
Yup, gotta have a radio and make radio calls. Gotta. The ag-sprayers at, for example, Whapeton (KBWP) use radios. One called me the other day as I was doing a straight-in RNAV approach to 15 and said “I see you—I’ll land on the grass.” It’s just too dangerous to be flying around an airport and not make radio calls. Around here, there are multiple airports on the same freq. Just like other places, where the airspace is MUCH busier, like the East coast. So we have to use the airport name on both ends of the radio call of course. It’s all very simple, and really, anyone who complains about “too many calls” hasn’t had a near-mid-air, a no-kidding NMAC. One of those will make you a believer in radio calls.
I have had bad experiences with crop dusters and their refusal to use a radio at a public airport.
I was back taxiing for takeoff one day after fuel stop. Halfway down the runway. An Ag plane suddenly appeared from below the tree line, apparently having made a base leg that intersected with the end of the runway. Virtually no final. He was flaring so didn’t see me. I pulled over into the weeds. He just missed me.
I continued on to the end of the runway and into the run up box. Pulled up to the Hold Short line. Made my calls. I was wary because of the previous experience a few minutes before, so I waited much longer than usual. Carefully scanned the skies. Just as I started to creep onto the runway, I spotted another sprayer on short final about 100 feet AGL. He had been below the tree line of the distant horizon his entire approach. Since he was moving directly toward me, there was no sense of movement. Almost impossible to see. Had I pulled into the runway and started my takeoff, I would have been right in his path.
These guys fly planes that cost up to a million dollars, yet they can’t be bothered with a $200 hand held radio at a public airport. At the very least they could fly a standard pattern so as to “See and Be Seen!”
The idea of making it mandatory seems to be for those that want YET more rules and laws added to an already saturated system that somehow you believe will solve this particular problem . I do agree IF YOU are a hearing pilot and can afford to fly then yes it is wise to have at least a handheld and to use if and when it may be necessary . Jamie I follow all your articles and yes I am a fan of the many things you write about HOWEVER I disagree with calling names such as “Idiot” . How many of you pilots commenting here REALIZE Deaf pilots exist as well and ARE perfectly LEGAL to do so having passed all the necessary requirements you were required to pass? My Brother had his pilot certificate BEFORE his driver license .Yes I know there are some of you out there that will snear at that but considering he has been flying for the better part of 50 something yrs with zero issues speaks volumes . Would you be happy to remove yet another pilot from the cockpit just because you think he is an idiot where the radio is concerned ?General Aviation is a small enough group in the grand scheme of things I hate to see pilots that all love this privilage we share bucking to make it an even smaller pool simply because YOU possibly feel entitled over others that love this flying thing as much as you do . let us give thought to the name calling and try to understand these current rules we have got there by much thought and work by the FAA .Not a perfect system I know but thought and concern for ALL fellow pilots go’s a long way .
I’m sorry and I am completely against discrimination, but a person who is deaf, should not get a pilot license. This is the case in Europe. Every year at my medical, my hearing is checked, and it should be!
An analogy I see is that a blind person cannot get a drivers license, common sense isn’t it.
Communication in aviation is paramount, especially noting the number of accidents yearly because of NORO aircraft.
Steve, nothing against you personnaly, but if you’re flying, please take another person with you, preferably a pilot, who will do the radios. It’s your safety as well. I would hate to read some day about an accident due to non communication because the pilot has a hearing deficit.
Be happy and Fly Safe.
Indeed, communication is Listen and Talk and Listen again.
And when talking, keep it short and to the point.
I use the acronym: S-C(F)PAI-(S)
S-station I’m calling
C-my call sign and aircraft type
F-destination of my flight, only if it is the station I’m calling; in all other cases it is useless information
P-my position
A-my altitude
I-my intentions and useful information (f.i. overflying your airfield in 3 minutes from east to west at 4500 feet, traffic in the pattern in sight) or (joining left downwind for runway 13 behind the 182)
S-when multiple airfields on the same frequency, I repeat the station I’m calling
And as much as possible, I use flight-following. It saved me once from a collision with an aircraft below me and climbing.
I’m flying in France where air-to-air communications are mandatory on all non-towered airfields. And crossing a non towered airfield, the altitude should be at least 1000′ above pattern altitude and an air-to-air radio call shall be made like in the example I gave above.
We should always communicate our intentions, no matter where we fly.
KISS: Keep It Safe Stupid.
I am of the old school that taught radio communication is kept to a minimum. You listen most of the time and talk only when necessary. As Steve R said, so much radio traffic goes on that nothing is viable. That is the primary reason I stay away from controlled fields, and listen rather than talk around uncontrolled ones.
Having a radio and communicating should be required in G and E airspace.
My first tail wheel instructor was “proud” of not communicating.
That instruction only lasted 2 lessons, my choice.
I then earned my TW endorsement and learned how to communicate in Montana.
Listen, talk, listen, it’s not hard. We are all in this together.
Thanks Jamie.
Can’t wait to see the comments this generates.
Idiots? No. Unwise, maybe, but not idiots.
Idiots was the proper term in the context of the article, once it was utilized after been written “but in the spirt of a five-year old shouting, “you can’t make me,” at their sibling, we choose to do the stupid thing in a vain effort to emphasize our unrestricted freedom to be an idiot”.
In such context I’m sure the word “unwise” wil mean nothing.
Several times you mention “communication”. What many fail to understand is that communication takes two, at least. I frequently hear people TALKING on the radio, but it is often clear that they are not listening on the radio. Many feel that “I transmitted, so I can do what I want and everyone else has to get out of my way.”
In fact, there are times at my home field that there is so much traffic, all talking at the same time, that I can’t even get a simple position call in. That’s not even mentioning the fact that there are often multiple airports using the same frequency, sometimes in more than one country, further making it difficult to communicate. One can only do what one can.