Table Of Contents
1 GENERAL SUGGESTIONS
2 COMMON MISTAKES BY PILOTS
3 COMMON MISUNDERSTANDINGS
4 USELESS WORDS
5 OTHER

GENERAL SUGGESTIONS

Pilot Training

There is a great deal of resources out there to learn from and sometimes it can be hard to know where to even start. We have a Pilot Training page that will help you get started and walk you through the vital aspects of a great knowledge foundation. CLICK HERE

Know your Aircraft

Prior to flying your new aircraft online, it is suggested that you fly offline, learn the different systems of your aircraft and “Get-A-Feel” for it. It is usually very difficult to try to learn your aircraft with the added stress of air traffic control mixed in with it. It is also very stressful for ATC to issue instructions to pilots that they are slow to respond with because they have yet to perform that procedure in their aircraft.

With that being said- if it happens in real time and you just cannot comply with the instructions, advise the controller “unable, (short reason)” and move on.

Ready for Taxi

When calling GND for taxi, ensure you are squawking your correct code (if assigned), squawk mode C (altitude reporting) and advise that you are actually ready for taxi. Too often pilots call for their taxi instructions and are not actually ready to go at that moment and they start taxiing 5min or so later. This causes many issues for ATC.
When reporting ready for taxi, you need to let ATC know:

  • Your position on the airport (accurate position) “N123AB, south east side near the fire station”
  • Confirmation of the weather/ATIS “Information Hotel” (or if no ATIS is broadcasting- “We have the numbers” will suffice)

Taxi to the Ramp

When exiting the runway at a complicated (multiple parking locations) airport, tell the TWR or GND controller where you want to park so that they can give you accurate taxi instructions rather than wasted transmissions back and forth, where the ATC has to ask you anyways..
Perfect Radio Call to TWR or GND from Pilot: “Swiss 832, off of 16L at H7. Parking at Terminal two.”

When to report the ATIS

When reporting to ATC what information you have, something as simple as “…with information [ATIS letter]” will suffice.
When no ATIS is available, look up the METAR for that field and report to ATC “…with the weather”.
You should report when you have the current ATIS or weather for the airport at the following times, unless told otherwise by the ATIS or controller:

  • Initial contact with Clearance Delivery
  • When calling ready for taxi
  • The first Approach controller you speak to on arrival
    Note: Center doesn’t need to know unless Center is providing the approach services.
    • If Center is providing approach services to the field, do not report the ATIS to them any further from the field than approximately 60nm.
  • Initial contact with Tower on arrival.

COMMON MISTAKES BY PILOTS

Reporting Your Location & Altitude (when?)

Often pilots do not report their location and altitude when they are suppose to. When they do report it, it is often done incorrectly/incomplete.This is understandable, as it can be hard to know what information the controller needs and when.
Also, get rid of those habits of “Checking in” and “With you” statements. Reference the “USELESS WORDS” section on this page.

  • GENERAL NOTES
    • Report your current altitude rounded to nearest 100 feet, in MSL.
    • Report if you are descending, level or climbing – or “Climbing via (SID)” (covered later).
    • If climbing or descending, state your next assigned/desired altitude.
    • Report position to ATC if not under radar services (“radar contact”). Once under radar services, ATC knows your position and therefore no need to report your location, but your altitude is still important on initial contact for every frequency change.
      Note: There are times when the RADAR controller does not need the pilot to report the altitude, however there are too many variables that are not easily known by pilots, the it is best practice to always state your current altitude with every RADAR controller.
  • VFR arriving to Class D (without radar services):
    • (Who are you calling) (Who are you?) (Location) (Intentions) (Current ATIS or “have the weather”, if no ATIS is available)
      ”Jackson Hole TWR, N123AB. 10 miles north. Full stop. Information Bravo”
      Notes:
      1) Altitude is not important unless questioned.
      2) They do not have RADAR, so they need a position report.
  • VFR arriving to Class D (with radar services):
    • (Who are you calling) (Who are you?) (Altitude) (Intentions) (Current ATIS or “have the weather” if no ATIS is available)
      ”Great Falls TWR, N123AB. 8,500. Full stop. Information Bravo”
      Notes:
      1) Altitude is important here because they need to verify your MODE-C return.
      2) Location is not needed because they got the handoff from the previous RADAR controller.
  • VFR arriving to Class C calling approach without radar services:
    • (Who are you calling) (Who are you?) (Location) (Altitude) (Intentions) (Current ATIS or “have the weather” if no ATIS is available)
      ”BigSky Approch, N123AB. 15 miles north of Boise airport. 6,400 VFR descent. Full stop. Information Bravo”
      Notes:
      1) Altitude is important here because they need to verify your MODE-C return anyways.
      2) Location is needed because they did not get a handoff from another RADAR controller and they need to RADAR ID you.
  • VFR arriving to Class C calling tower without radar services:
    • (Who are you calling) (Who are you?) (Location) (Altitude) (Intentions) (Current ATIS or “have the weather” if no ATIS is available)
      ”Boise Tower, N123AB. 10 miles north west. 4,100 VFR descent. Full stop. Information Bravo. We are remaining clear of the outer charlie shelves.”
      Notes:
      1) Altitude is important here because they need to verify your MODE-C return       anyways.
      2) Location is needed because they did not get a handoff from another RADAR controller and they need to RADAR ID you to provide you class C/B RADAR services.
      3) It is always ideal to contact APP, if able; However, when calling the tower directly (without speaking to APP first), it is ideal for you to remain clear of the outer shelves of the airspace unless otherwise advised by ATC. If you need to enter the outer shelves, contact the approach controller or advise the TWR controller.
      4) Call/Treat Class B airports the same as Class C, with the exception that you need to hear a CLEARANCE to enter/operate in the Class B airspace.
  • IFR Departure from a field with an operating control tower, contacting Departure Control with an assigned altitude of 10,000:
    • (Who are you calling) (Who are you?) (Altitude) “Climbing” (Assigned altitude)
      ”Salt Lake City Departure, DAL123 5,300 climbing 10,000.
      Notes:
      1) Altitude is needed so they can verify your MODE-C return.
      2) Location is not required because the TWR has notified them (most likely via automated means) that the aircraft departing is you; This allows them to RADAR ID you.
  • IFR Departure from a field without an operating control tower, contacting Departure Control with an assigned altitude of 10,000:
    • (Who are you calling) (Who are you?) (Location) (Altitude) “Climbing” (Assigned altitude)
      ”Salt Lake City Departure, N123AB. 2 miles northeast of South Valley airport. 4,800 climbing 10,000.
      Notes:
      1) Altitude is needed so they can verify your MODE-C return.
      2) Location is needed because there is no TWR to notify them that the aircraft departing is you.
  • IFR Departure from a field with an operating control tower, contacting Departure Control with an assigned altitude of “Climb Via SID Except Maintain 10,000”:
    • (Who are you calling) (Who are you?) (Altitude) “climbing via (SID Name) for” (Assigned altitude)
      ”Salt Lake City Departure, DAL123 5,300 climbing via (SID Name) for 10,000.
      Notes:
      1) Altitude is needed so they can verify your MODE-C return.
      2) Location is not required because the TWR has notified them (most likely via automated means) that the aircraft departing is you; This allows them to RADAR ID you      .
  • IFR Departure from a field without an operating control tower, contacting Departure Control with an assigned altitude of “Climb Via SID Except Maintain 10,000”:
    • (Who are you calling) (Who are you?) (Location) (Altitude) “climbing via (SID Name) for” (Assigned altitude)
      ”Salt Lake City Departure, DAL123 5,300 climbing via (SID Name) for 10,000″.
      Notes:
      1) Altitude is needed so they can verify your MODE-C return.
      2) Location is required because there is no TWR to notify them that the aircraft departing is you.
  • IFR Departure from a field with an operating control tower, contacting Departure Control with an assigned altitude of “Climb Via SID”:
    • (Who are you calling) (Who are you?) (Altitude) “climbing via (SID Name)”.
      ”Salt Lake City Departure, DAL123. 5,300 climbing via (SID Name).
      Notes:
      1) Altitude is needed so they can verify your MODE-C return.
      2) Location is not required because the TWR has notified them (most likely via automated means) that the aircraft departing is you; This allows them to RADAR ID you.
      3) If you were told “Climb Via SID”, this means the SID has a “Top Altitude” that acts as the limit of what you may climb to. The controller know this Top Altitude (usually by memorization) and therefore you do not need to state the Top Altitude.
  • IFR Departure from a field without an operating control tower, contacting Departure Control with an assigned altitude of “Climb Via SID”:
    • (Who are you calling) (Who are you?) (Location) (Altitude) “climbing via (SID Name)”.
      ”Salt Lake City Departure, DAL123. 5,300 climbing via (SID Name).
      Notes:
      1) Altitude is needed so they can verify your MODE-C return.
      2) Location is required because there is no TWR to notify them that the aircraft departing is you.
      3) If you were told “Climb Via SID”, this means the SID has a “Top Altitude” that acts as the limit of what you may climb to. The controller know this Top Altitude (usually by memorization) and therefore you do not need to state the Top Altitude.
  • IFR General Descent.
    • (Who are you calling) (Who are you?) (Altitude) “descending” (Assigned altitude)”.
      ”Salt Lake City Approach, DAL123 14,700 descending 10,000.
      Note:
      1) Altitude is needed so they can verify your MODE-C return.
      2) Stating the next assigned altitude is a redundancy check for safety.
  • IFR Descending Via Arrival
    • (Who are you calling) (Who are you?) (Altitude) “descending via the” (STAR Name)”.
      ”Salt Lake City Approach, DAL123 16,800 descending via the (STAR Name).
  • IFR Descending Via Arrival with an Except Maintain instruction of 11,000
    • ”Salt Lake City Approach, DAL123 16,800 descending via the (STAR Name) for 11,000.
  • IFR/VFR Level Cruise and Contacting the next radar controller while under radar services:
    • “Salt Lake City Center, DAL123. Flight Level 350.
    • “Billings Approach, N123AB 10,500.”
  • Airborne VFR without RADAR services contacting a RADAR controller for RADAR Services (or as a prerequisite to picking up IFR in the air):
    • (Who are you calling) (Who are you?). “VFR Request”
      *once the controller responds* (Who are you?) (Location) (Altitude) (Aircraft type) (Intentions)
      “Salt Lake Approach, N123AB. 8 miles southeast Fairfield VORTAC. 8,500. Skyhawk. Requesting Advisories to Wendover airport.”
      Notes:
      1) They need the aircraft type because even if you filed a VFR flight plan, that information is sent to “Flight Service” in the real world so ATC online should be simulating that they cannot see that information and they need to input that data into the system.
      2) If you filed an IFR flight plan and you are calling to activate that plan in the air, you may omit the aircraft type and at the end of your “Intentions” statement, advise the controller “flight plan on file”.

Accepting Instructions/Clearances You Don’t Understand

This is probably the biggest factor for pilot deviation reports. I will keep this part very short and to the point:

IF YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND ANYTHING, calmly just let the controller know that you are not understanding that part.

The ATC may be busy and you may think that they don’t want to sit there and explain it to you. That might even be the case but they would rather give you alternate (simple) instructions rather than you accepting instructions/clearances and not performing the action as they expected and causing a much bigger issue for them.

Flying Instrument Procedures Without The Charts

This happens too often on online networks because pilots usually do not have any formal training on these networks.

The pilot likely is flying an aircraft that has an advanced FMC where it automatically loads the lateral (and sometimes vertical) requirements for that SID/STAR. The issue is that it does not contain other very important information such as the departure frequency, expected cruise altitude information, lost communication procedures, etc…

It is understandable but at times, it creates a great deal of headache for the controllers and is a for-sure miscommunication between the controller and pilot.

If a controller tells you that you are cleared for the LEETZ(#) departure, that controller is going to expect you to have that corresponding chart on hand and follow ALL instructions depicted and written on that chart.

Where to find these charts? You can easily find these charts for free from the FAA website, SkyVector or Airnav. Airnav seems to be bit easier to search for and is a common resource even for real world pilots. Go to the Airnav website, click on Airport, search the airport you need charts for and read that page. There is a great deal of information to be found there and it includes the charts in question.

Additional tip- if a chart has two or more pages, be sure to review ALL information on ALL pages. The graphical depiction is not the only thing that is required to have been reviewed when cleared for that procedure.

When Can Pilots Switch Freq on their Own?

1) After pilot readback of initial clearance to Clearance Delivery (DEL to GND)
2) Upon reaching the assigned departure runway (GND to TWR frequency)
3) A VFR departure leaving a Class D airspace (TWR to whatever/CTAF/UNICOM/another TWR/ATC)

It is a very common mistake for pilots on the VATSIM network to stay with GND once they have reached the assigned departure runway. Unless told otherwise, the moment the pilot stops to hold short of their departure runway, they are EXPECTED to be switched to TWR control immediately. This is to be done without any instruction from GND control to do so.

COMMON MISUNDERSTANDINGS

Initial Climb Instructions

  • CLICK HERE for a slide presentation on this topic.

Pilots cleared for vertical navigation using the phraseology “climb via” must inform ATC, upon initial contact, of the altitude leaving and any assigned restrictions not published on the procedure. Example: “Departure, DAL123 3,200 Climbing Via (SID Name/#)” or “Departure, DAL123 4,400 Climbing Via (SID Name/#) to 6,000”.
In the latter example, the previous instruction to the pilot was “Climb Via SID except maintain 6,000”.

After being told in the clearance delivery portion of your flight to “Maintain (altitude), expect (cruise altitude) (#)min after departure”, you should understand that the term “Expect” means generally two things in aviation.

  • What you can literally expect to happen.
  • What is expected of the pilot to do in case of lost communications.

So in the following example of a clearance initial altitude: “Maintain 5,000. Expect FL320 5 minutes after departure”… the pilot would be expected to climb to 5,000ft after departure. They can expect a higher altitude clearance within 5min but in case of lost communications, they are expected to stay at 5,000ft (or lowest minimum IFR altitude) until the 5min airborne mark is met, then they are expected to start their climb to FL320.

When given climb instructions, read back those instructions verbatim so that there are no misunderstandings between the pilot and controllers as to what is expected for the pilot to do.

Climb Via SID

This is an all too common misunderstanding, even for real world pilots.

If a controller instructs a pilot to Climb Via SID, it is expected for the pilot to meet all altitude restrictions depicted and stated in the narrative section of the SID. This includes leveling off at the “Top Altitude” (the final altitude limit) after all other restrictions have been met.

Sometimes the “Top Altitude” is very clearly depicted on the graphical portion of the SID but sometimes it can be found only in the narrative with a general statement such as “Maintain 14,000”.

Note- Hybrid SIDs that require vectoring to a point by ATC will not include any “Climb Via SID” instructions until the pilot is cleared direct to a point on that SID.
Example departure from KBUR with the VNY# departure with the AVE transition:

  • FROM DEL: “N123AB, cleared to [[other clearance info]] Maintain 3,000. Expect FL230 5min after departure [[etc…]]
  • FROM DEP: “N123AB, Radar contact. Fly heading 270. When able, cleared direct VNY VOR. Climb via SID except maintain 12,000.”

Climb Via SID Except Maintain (altitude)

This is just like “Climb Via SID” as stated above but once you reach the “Expect maintain” issued altitude, level off and stay there until instructed otherwise or in case of lost comms (then proceed with lost communication procedures).

You are still expected to fly the lateral navigation portion of the SID and meet any speed restrictions but all altitude restrictions are canceled once you reach the “Expect Maintain” altitude.

When the SID does not contain a Top Altitude, but DOES contain minimum crossing restrictions, ATC will issue a “Climb Via SID Except Maintain (altitude of ATC choice)” instructions.

Visual Approach = Manual Flight?

No, a visual approach does NOT mean you HAVE to fly the aircraft by manual means. You as a pilot can still fly the “ILS” on “Autopilot” but you MUST have, and maintain, the field in visual contact (in sight). Do no use GPS location as “in sight”.

In fact, it is common that real world airliner standard operating procedures REQUIRE that the pilot back up their visual approach by flying at least the final approach segment of a published instrument approach to that runway. This is, however, NOT required by regulations.

There are a few other conditions:

”AIM 5-4-23. Visual Approach
A visual approach is conducted on an IFR flight plan and authorizes a pilot to proceed visually and clear of clouds to the airport. The pilot must have either the airport or the preceding identified aircraft in sight. This approach must be authorized and controlled by the appropriate air traffic control facility. Reported weather at the airport must have a ceiling at or above 1,000 feet and visibility 3 miles or greater. ATC may authorize this type approach when it will be operationally beneficial. Visual approaches are an IFR procedure conducted under IFR in visual meteorological conditions. Cloud clearance requirements of 14 CFR Section 91.155 are not applicable, unless required by operation specifications”

Simply put: Visual approaches reduce the controller work load and increases the amount of aircraft that the terminal area can hold, thus reducing holds outside of approach airspace.

This means there are less restrictions on you as a pilot… You can now fly HOWEVER you want in order to land that aircraft. If you want to take a sharp turn to the right, then do it. If there is a cloud in the way and you want to maneuver around it… do it (within reason). All around, accept the visual approach when it is offered unless you have a specific need for an instrument approach clearance.

Equipment Suffix Codes

For many reasons, ATC needs to know what your RVSM, Navigation and Transponder capabilities are. Thankfully we have a system that tells ATC all of that information with a simple code. That code is a suffix code. It is designated as a “Suffix Code” because that code is placed after your aircraft type code in the flight plan.
Example: B738/L = A Boeing 737-800 aircraft that is RVSM, GNSS capable and it has a Mode C transponder. The equipment suffix code is /L.

Click on the following hyper links for more information about that topic:

  • RVSM
    • Authorized to fly between FL290 and FL410 with only 1,000′ of separation.
  • GNSS
    • Basically Global-GPS
  • RNAV
    • Point-To-Point Navigation
  • Mode C Transponder
    • Transponder with Altitude Reporting
  • DME
    • Continuous readout of distance between aircraft and a point.
  • TACAN
    • Ability to navigate via Military VOR/DME stations.


The following codes are for USA (FAA) flights, not international (ICAO).


RVSM

Navigation Capabilites Transponder Capabilities Suffix Code
No GNSS, No RNAV Transponder with Mode C /W
RNAV, No GNSS Transponder with Mode C /Z
GNSS Transponder with Mode C /L

NON-RVSM

Navigation Capabilites Transponder Capabilities Suffix Code
No DME No Transponder /X
No DME Transponder with no Mode C /T
No DME Transponder with Mode C /U
DME No Transponder /D
DME Transponder with no Mode C /B
DME Transponder with Mode C /A
TACAN No Transponder /M
TACAN Transponder with no Mode C /N
TACAN Transponder with Mode C /P
RNAV, no GNSS No Transponder /Y
RNAV, no GNSS Transponder with no Mode C /C
RNAV, no GNSS Transponder with Mode C /I
GNSS No Transponder /V
GNSS Transponder with no Mode C /S
GNSS Transponder with Mode C /G

What Runway/Approach to Expect?

ARRIVAL:
Many pilots ask the Center controller what runways to expect at their destination some 200 miles out. Even when CTR is providing approach services, the CTR controller will only give the pilot information they would receive at the location/time they are at that they would receive in real world.

Real world- Approach Controller to assign a runway/approach. Center doesn’t know this information.

If you have not received a runway/approach assignment within 50 miles of your destination, that is the time to ping the controller and ask.

DEPARTURE:
Many Pilots ask the Clearance Delivery controller what runway to expect. They usually do not assign the runways.

You will get your runway assignment when you call for taxi clearance. It is suggested to program your SID/DP information when taxiing to the runway, not before.

USELESS WORDS

Disclaimer

The following can be controversial and to some may be considered pointless to even bring up. We are placing these here only as another effort to perfect our aviation procedures and phraseology. The following terms/phraseology are in fact, useless.

It may seem so trivial to even bother with these small phrases, but if you are a VERY busy ATC working a large amount of traffic, every split second of radio time that is taken up by other people talking is time being taken away from your sequencing instructions that you could be giving at that time.

Some may say “I hear real world pilots/controllers say these things all the time”. Our response is the fact that in real world, they are more focused on their job (more specifically ATC) in keeping aircraft separated and keeping the flow of traffic. They don’t have time to correct pilots for the little nuances.
Well, we do have the time. Might as well try to perfect those radio transmissions and keep them as short as possible, while still giving the controllers/pilots the information they need to perform their duties.

With You / Checking In

Let us start with the, by far, most commonly used (even real world) useless words/phrase.

Too often you hear “Center, DAL123 With you FL320”.
Or “Center, DAL123 Checking In FL320”.

When under radar services (any time after being told “Radar Contact” until you touch the ground or hear “Radar Services Terminated”), the controller you are checking in with only needs your Callsign and current altitude (and your climb/descent/speed restriction instructions) to verify the Mode-C readout on their screen. So a better transmission would have been “Center, DAL123 FL320”.

Even when not in contact with a radar controller, the ATC will not need the words “With you” or “Checking In”. Tell them your callsign, position and intentions (ATIS if you have it, too).
“Jackson Hole Tower, N123AB, 7 miles south, inbound for a full stop with information Hotel”

Requesting IFR Clearance as Filed. FL320

We see this mainly with foreign pilots because it is custom to state your cruise altitude when requesting clearance for some sort of verification but that is not required here in the USA (FAA). We hear a lot of “Salt Lake Clearance, DLH1234 requesting IFR flight plan clearance as filed. FL320.”

The “As Filed” can go away too. We obviously know you want the clearance as you filed it or else you would not have filed it, right?… also, if the ATC need to amend the route at all, then we are going to need to amend it regardless if you are asking for it as filed (with exceptions to safety concerns where the pilot may have to negotiate with the ATC for waivers).

If you have an IFR flight plan on file, all you need to do is call the controller with your callsign and tell them you are ready to copy your IFR clearance.
“Salt Lake City Clearance, DLH1234, request IFR clearance”

Got the traffic on TCAS (fish finder)

When ATC issues traffic to a pilot, the only acceptable responses would be “Looking for traffic”, “Negative Contact” or “Traffic In Sight”.

ATC cannot do anything with “Got them on TCAS” or “Got them on the Fish Finder”. The ATC needs you to have the other traffic actually “In Sight” for them to issue any kind of dependent instructions. So if you don’t have them in sight, then report it as such and the ATC will issue other instructions that is not dependent on you having that aircraft in sight.

Same thing goes with pilots reporting the “Field in sight” after being issued the airports relative location for a visual approach, when they actually do not but they have it on GPS. You cannot accept a visual approach clearance (other than a charted visual approach) if you do not have the field in sight.

OTHER

Runway Obstacle Departure Procedure (ODP)


Though ODPs are usually flown by pilots departing IFR out of a field without a control tower, ATC may assign an ODP to be flown in lieu of radar vectors or a SID.

Where do I find the ODP?

  • Some ODPs are printed with a graphic similar to a SID. These can be found where you gather your SIDs and IAPs from. (ie. Airnav.com)
  • Most ODPs are textual only. These can be found in the Special Take-Off Minimums/Departure Procedures document. An easy resource to find this document is the airnav webpage of the departure airport. Look for the Special Take-Off Minimums/Departure Procedures link below the listed departure procedures.
    • Find your airport and the runway you will be departing. Follow the instructions as written.
  • More info on departure procedures, including ODPs can be found HERE