Flight Training - July 2014 - 8

LETTERS

Talk back
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COMMENTS. Please email letters
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will be edited for style and space.

MY FRIEND MIKE FRIGHT

WHO'S AFRAID OF THE RADIO?

W

hen I started my flight training in 1995, my instructor
explained to me that the one thing most students have
problems with is being able to talk on the radio, and I
should not to be concerned if I, too, have problems with
it ("Around the Patch," May 2014 Flight Training). He forgot what I
did for a living. As a deputy sheriff, talking on the radio was pretty
much second nature for me. What I had problems with is that the law
enforcement alpha code is different from the aviation (military) alpha
code. Naturally, I revert back to what I know, so everyone gets a laugh
at my expense.
  I have a couple of tips for those that
shudder at the thought of talking on the
radio.
  1. Organize your thoughts before you
key the mic. Know what you want to say.
  2. Pretend the person you are talking to is
right there with you and you are just having a normal conversation.
  3. Don't get hung up on formalities.
When all else fails and you forget the
proper terminology, just say what you
need to say in plain English.
  Remember, the whole principle of
communication is relaying information so
everyone understands.
Paul Goldasich Jr.
Mount Olive, Illinois
I have been a pilot for 38 years and I
learned in the "thumb" area of Michigan.
When I first got my certificate, I thought
I would be restricted to flying in that area
for the rest of my life. When my flight
instructor went with me for my 10-hour
insurance checkout, eight of those hours
were at towered fields and approach controls, where I was forced to learn how to

talk on the radio. I could finally leave the
area and explore the country.
After the air traffic controller strike in
1981, I was hired to become one. I worked
for 26 years at Houston Center and Detroit
Tracon. I have heard many, many firsttime radio calls and sympathized with all
of them. Most of the controllers tried to
speak slower and be more conversational
when we encountered newer pilots.
I am now a CFII and I try to take all my
primary students on a tour of a tower and
my instrument trainees on a tracon tour.
They see firsthand how those fearsome
voices belong to regular folks like you
and me. I also try to teach them to use
the who-who-where-what format when
initially contacting ATC.
One line in the article struck a chord
with me: "I was my own worst critic."
In flying with other pilots, every one has
asked me to watch them and point out
when they were doing something in error.
So far, I have never had to because each
one of them realized that they had forgotten, missed, overlooked, or mishandled
something and announced it-sometimes

NOTICE OF ANNUAL MEETING OF MEMBERS

THE ANNUAL MEETING of the Members of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association
will be held at 12 noon on Friday, September 5, 2014, at the headquarters of AOPA, 421
Aviation Way, Frederick, Maryland 21701, located on the Frederick Municipal Airport
(FDK), for the purpose of receiving reports and transacting such other business as may
properly come before the meeting, specifically including the election of Trustees.

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Flight Training - July 2014

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