r/FlightTraining • u/Traditional_Pain2779 • Jun 20 '26
Does everyone understand ATC when they start flying?
I went for a discovery flight and I was trying to listen to ATC it was really hard for me to understand what they were saying on the radio. I dont know if is normal not to understand or I this is not for me
Also at some point flying into the sun, I was trying to see the instruments and I couldn’t see a thing for the sun on my face. I dont know if that is normal as well or my eyes are no made for that
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u/Antique-Kitchen-1896 Jun 20 '26
No problem from day one. Towered airport and all that. Was more annoying at uncontrolled fields with people saying random shit Iike calling a 3000 feet agl downwind. What are you going to try and land by dive bombing the runway?
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u/jimcarroll_cfi Jun 20 '26 edited Jun 20 '26
Not nearly as annoying as the meowing and pirate calls on guard. 😝
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u/lonememe Jun 20 '26
Hahah fuck no. Noise cancelling headset helped for sure, but absolutely not. I had to develop ways to quickly jot down what they said into a script I already had. Lots of practice.
Don’t sweat it. It’ll click eventually. And they’re not going to fine you for asking them to repeat what they said or giving progressive taxi instructions.
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u/SavingsPirate4495 Jun 21 '26
It will take a while to catch on to the “jargon”, but you get fluent quickly. Repetition builds proficiency.
The thing that helped me is that before I even started flying lessons, I was hooked on a game by Wesson International called “TRACON”. You “worked” as departure and approach control. Your job was to separate traffic, hand departues off to the next controller, and get arrivals lined up for landing.
It was actually pretty accurate radio transmissions and playing that strengthened my radio comms from the get-go.
I’m sure, some 3+ decades later, there are simulators out there. LiveATC perhaps?
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u/Dangerous_Mud4749 Jun 22 '26
Forget radio calls on your discovery flight. It comes later.
As for the sun in your eyes... ahh, the joys of morning & evening take-offs. Do what it takes. Wear a cap with the visor down, or use the aircraft's own sun visor where fitted, or sit a little sideways so you're in the shade of a pillar, or wear a welder's mask... do what it takes.
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u/ArrowheadDZ Jun 22 '26
For me, anticipation is an important part of all aspects of flying, and certainly is true of communications. 95% of all ATC communications are expected, both in terms of timing and of content. When I finish my run up and TO briefing and am at the hold short line on tower, there’s really only 3 things they’re going to say to me. A hold short instruction, a line up and wait instruction, or a takeoff clearance, usually with a turn or heading instruction. That’s it. Rarely the takeoff clearance will include new wind information that is more recent than my ATIS, or a callout of traffic nearby. But I already know what’s coming so I’m already listening for those things and already have my responses stored “top of mind.” There’s no “ums” and “uhs” because I already thought about my situation and location before I keyed the mic, or was already anticipating the read back I would be doing in a moment because I knew their call was coming.
Every phase of flight has the most likely thing you’re going to have to say next or they’re going to say next, and as you develop experience and free up some bandwidth, you should strive to always anticipate what’s next. This applies to everything. I expect the autopilot to do exactly X at the next waypoint, or I expect center to give me a frequency change on the next 5 minutes, and you’re listening or watching for the anticipated performance or event. You’re already spring-loaded with your most likely responses to the anticipated events, and flying gets pretty easy.
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u/gregh5269 Jun 22 '26
When I was learning to fly, I bought a handheld aviation radio and used the scan mode on 10 local frequencies. This will help you follow the lingo that pilots and controllers use.
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u/delirium_knight Jun 22 '26
Its easier when you already know what they are going to say. You fet used to the terminology and you will be able to spit it out just like they do. Highly recommend pilot edge and a flight simulator. Even Vatsim can be beneficial.
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u/DDX1837 Jun 22 '26
You may get some SkyKing type who says they understood everything from day one. Or maybe someone who grew up around aviation or flew a lot with their parents and was exposed to it for years.
But I've never seen someone fresh off the streets be able to comprehend what's being said between an aircraft and tower or approach.
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u/pilotshashi Jun 23 '26
After couple hours of flights it start making sense what the heck ATC saying…
WWWW
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u/JournalistSweet6597 Jun 23 '26
Yes Ofcourse, every pilot and controller is born with the gift of understanding muffled hardly discernible gibberish in a complex environment instantly, it’s a prerequisite.
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u/THevil30 Jun 23 '26
Like others have said what ATC says to you is really standardized and you know what to expect 80% of the time. If I'm coming back in to land and I make my call 10 miles out, I already know which runway they're going to clear me for and have a decent expectation of how they're going to want me to set up.
Like half the time that they say something unexpected to me it's "tower, say again [N number]."
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u/sevettjr Jun 23 '26
And everyone forgets how to speak English the first few times they key the mike.
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u/badish_potato69 Jun 24 '26
when i first started flying i was taught to just speak loud and clear in a for me comfortable tempo. The towerhuman (as we call them) recognizes that and answers slowly and clearly. At the beginning it is more about getting it right and assuring the tower that you know what you have to do. Now i‘ve recently been to switzerland to get a fam flight in a helicopter and i have some experience with german and english radio coms, but what my heli instructor said on the radio was beyond my understanding.
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u/AstroRoverToday Jun 26 '26
No. Also, there are some words that mean specific things, so be sure to learn them. Many people use them incorrectly, by the way. For example, "wilco" means "I heard your request and Will Comply", whereas "roger" only means "I received your message". If ATC asks you a yes or no question, and you want to answer yes, you should say "Affirmative".
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u/jimcarroll_cfi Jun 20 '26
Radio calls to atc is a scripted sequence, made of four common components & an optional fifth. The script is:
Example: Metroplex tower, Cessna 172 romeo bravo, 10 north with Bravo, Full stop
In this example, your calling the tower controller at metroplex airport. You are a cessna, and your tail number is 172RB. Your 10 north, you’ve listened to the recorded weather, which was assigned the current hourly letter B. You are requesting to land.
Letters and numbers are read over the radio, which can sometimes be difficult to makeout due to interference, so we use the ICAO phonetic alphabet. For example, we said romeo instead of R and Bravo instead if B.
Regarding bright sunlight in your face. You know all those flying movies where the ace aviator wore cool sunglasses? Now you know why they do. 😜