The time between ATC’s radio transmissions differs depending on the amount of traffic in a controller’s airspace. The more traffic in a section of airspace, the less time between ATC transmissions. Take comfort in the fact that no matter how busy the radio seems, the words and phrases ATC uses remain exactly the same words …
In this episode, we’ll talk about why you make mistakes on the radio and what it says about your performance as a pilot. I think my analysis will surprise you (in a good way). Also, some pilots have asked interesting questions about the details of reporting your position in an uncontrolled airport pattern. Just when …
Do some of that pilot stuff, Mav! In this show, we are going deep, very deep, into why it is so hard to talk on the radio and fly at the same time. The answer has something to do with unicycles and violins, and the F-14 (shown above). I know that doesn’t make sense right …
Learning to fly is hard, period. There are no shortcuts. It takes all your concentration. Your mental bucket fills up as you struggle to maneuver in 3 dimensions. There’s a whole internal conversation you carry on with yourself as you do the stick and throttle thing. Now add radio work to the mix.
When a pilot becomes task saturated, her mental bucket is full. Once that mental bucket fills up, the bucket will not hold even one extra drop of input. This may explain why task saturated pilots tune out, or fail to understand radio calls from air traffic control.
Recently, a discussion on the student pilot forum Rising Up, raised the issue of being embarrassed by making a mistake on the aircraft radio. The student pilot who said this in the forum thread said he mis-heard a frequency change given by an air traffic controller and it embarrassed him. Here’s a little secret about …
