Radio Chatter

[Joeguitar]

I have been a licensed pilot for 3 years now, and I have been flying for 7. When flying into a controlled airport, the radio chatter can get pretty hectic; one must stay on his toes to make sure that he knows what's going on. Over the years (I started when I was 14,) I have become extremely proficient at radio communication.

That said, I have been listening to police communications on my scanner (I own one because I worked at an airport for several years,) and the radio chatter on those frequencies is extremely rapid and often times is "broken" (the beggining and ends of statements are often cut off.)

Obviously, codes and signals are used, and I have no need to learn any of those before the academy. My question is, do you train with radio comm.? I'm sure this is a skilled aquired after MANY hours of practice. Does it help to know the person on the other end of the communication? Is it difficult to take in information (or transmit it, for that matter,) under high stress situations? Thanks in advance!

[Joeyd6]

I work with the same 15 pepole every day. You know just by their tone if they are under stress or in trouble or just looking for trouble. And you get used to the radio. I can have my radio on, listening to the car radio, and my partner chat with his wife on his cell....and still clearly make out my call sign being called. Same with taking a quick nap. Your ears literally learn to be selective and recogonize certain sounds, even in a crowded room or situation!

[Old Trooper]

I agree with Joe- your hearing and attention becomes VERY selective, to the point you don't hear any of the "noise" and when something concerns you, the 'radar' goes up, and you hear every detail!

[mcsap]

It is simply an acquired skill.

[Star]

My question is, do you train with radio comm.? I'm sure this is a skilled aquired after MANY hours of practice. Does it help to know the person on the other end of the communication? Is it difficult to take in information (or transmit it, for that matter,) under high stress situations? Thanks in advance!

Yes, we do train with radio communication. It is a skill and it is acquired after many hours of practice. You get used to the other end of the communication and under stress situations, you get to know what exactly is going on or you ask questions to your Supervisor. There is nothing wrong with asking questions or saying "please repeat" (10-9 in my area). It's better to ask a question than to do the wrong thing.

[Joeguitar]

I work with the same 15 pepole every day. You know just by their tone if they are under stress or in trouble or just looking for trouble. And you get used to the radio. I can have my radio on, listening to the car radio, and my partner chat with his wife on his cell....and still clearly make out my call sign being called. Same with taking a quick nap. Your ears literally learn to be selective and recogonize certain sounds, even in a crowded room or situation!

Great post I have def. had to learn to multitask in the cockpit (adjust nav. aids, radio, talk to whoever is in the plane with me, and, most importantly, don't get lost.) I have found, though, that the more familiar one is with their surroundings, the easier it is to divide cognitive resources. Is this something that you specifically covered in the academy?

[retdetsgt]

Yeah, when I started I was amazed at how rapid things went over the air. In not too long a time, I could filter out everything except the cars near me, etc.

On the other hand, a friend of mine is a private pilot. I have no idea how he keeps track of what's going on either! Guess it's just what you're used to. :eek:

[Joeguitar]

Yes, we do train with radio communication. It is a skill and it is acquired after many hours of practice. You get used to the other end of the communication and under stress situations, you get to know what exactly is going on or you ask questions to your Supervisor. There is nothing wrong with asking questions or saying "please repeat" (10-9 in my area). It's better to ask a question than to do the wrong thing.

Exactly what I was looking for, thank you very much :D

[Joeguitar]

Yeah, when I started I was amazed at how rapid things went over the air. In not too long a time, I could filter out everything except the cars near me, etc.

On the other hand, a friend of mine is a private pilot. I have no idea how he keeps track of what's going on either! Guess it's just what you're used to. :eek:

There is a lot to keep track of, for sure. I must always have good geographical imagination, keep track of where EVERY plane is in the sky, and think about what I am going to have for lunch :D I would imagine that there is a lot of overlap between cockpit multitasking and driving a police car.

[Star]

Exactly what I was looking for, thank you very much :D

Why thank you very much! I'm always around if you need me!

[samseed101]

I've been a licensed pilot for 6 years now. I actually think the radios sound pretty similar. In both cases, there's a lot of information being exchanged between people over the same frequency. After awhile, it becomes easy to decipher. That hard part is trying not to confuse and mix up the two phonetic alphabets

[Joeguitar]

I've been a licensed pilot for 6 years now. I actually think the radios sound pretty similar. In both cases, there's a lot of information being exchanged between people over the same frequency. After awhile, it becomes easy to decipher. That hard part is trying not to confuse and mix up the two phonetic alphabets

That was the first thing that threw me I started hearing all of these names, and just assumed they were people. It took me a few minutes of listening to figure out that I wasn't going to hear Alpha, Bravo... How do you not get the letter names confused with actually saying names (i.e. if someone's name was Adam or Mary.)

[tpd_six]

I've been flying for over 10 years as well. For me, the police radio is still easier, whether it's because I spend more time listening to it, or as mentioned, you know the sound of everyone's voices and it's easier to pick out what's important to you. It's much easier after a while than it sounds at first.

[Rad Diver]

We learned it all during our FTO phases, the hard way with our FTO's screaming the call/or response out with appropriate 10 code. This way you learn real fast, as to not p.o. your fto. ;)

[mcsap]

My badge number correlates with a certain military time on night shift. I am so attuned to listening for my number that I have replied to dispatch giving out the time at the end of a dispatch when the transmission wasn't even for one of my units.

OOPS !