LEARNING TO SPEAK AVIATION

If you have ever listened to crewed aircraft pilots communicating with one another or with air traffic control, much of the conversation may sound almost like a foreign language. Alpha bravo this, midfield downwind that. Niner? Like a forty-niner? What does all this mumbo-jumbo mean? You may be thinking: “Who cares? I’m not a crewed aircraft pilot.” That may be true for many of you, but the fact is that you can glean a lot of information about aircraft activity in your vicinity, especially if you are operating (with permission) in areas nearby manned aircraft. Your situational awareness—the knowledge of what all is going on around yourself—can be greatly enhanced by monitoring aviation radio frequencies in use at nearby airports and other facilities. In fact, it is often advocated that drone pilots carry an aviation radio with them for this purpose. I’d even argue it should be a required piece of equipment, but as of right now, it’s not mandated as such. So perhaps now you’re thinking, “Hey, that actually sounds like a good idea, but where do I start?” Well, let’s dive in and see how aviation radio communication works and how to decipher the common language and terms used on the airwaves.

First a caveat, though. While listening to aviation radio frequencies is a great idea, transmitting (i.e., talking) on them is a nono unless you are properly licensed to do so. So you might be tempted to go