Maiden Flight Questions

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downstack
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Mar 14, 2018 7:10 pm
Location: Richmond, VA, USA

Maiden Flight Questions

Post by downstack »

Good evening!

I am new to PilotEdge and took my maiden flight tonight from L52 to KOXR. I have a few questions regarding my experience.

After taking off from Oceano, I requested flight following from Santa Barbara Approach. Along the way, I was handed off to Point Mugu Approach. As I neared the KOXR Class D airspace, I anticipated a handoff to Oxnard Tower, but it never came. About 5 miles north of the Class D, I contacted Point Mugu Approach and restated my intentions to land at KOXR. The approach controller, as I expected, terminated my flight following, told me to squawk VFR and contact Oxnard Tower at 134.95. So far, so good.

At that point, I tried at least 5 times to contact Oxnard Tower. I could hear other transmissions on frequency, but could never get a response. I circled just outside the Class D while attempting to make contact. Figuring I did something wrong, I went back to Point Mugu Approach and stated my inability to contact Tower. Again, no reply from ATC. I attempted to reload the PilotEdge plugin and my X-Plane crashed. :(

Questions:
1) Am I correct in my assumption that I was not able to enter the Class D airspace until I made contact with Oxnard Tower?
2) Does my experience of not having my transmissions heard happen from time-to-time on PE? Due to the system crash, I didn't get to do any diagnostics, but I reconnected and was able to transmit on COM1 and hear myself on the same frequency on COM2 (weird as that is).

Thanks,
Brian K.
downstack
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Mar 14, 2018 7:10 pm
Location: Richmond, VA, USA

Re: Maiden Flight Questions

Post by downstack »

Quick followup on question 2 - I listened to the recordings for the time I lost contact with ATC and it appears that my transmissions were NOT received after the handoff to KOXR Tower. They are not on the recording, so I expect the issue is on my end.

However - question 1 - I still need to talk to KOXR Tower before entering the Class D, right?
Kyle.Sanders
Posts: 819
Joined: Sat Jan 18, 2014 5:13 pm

Re: Maiden Flight Questions

Post by Kyle.Sanders »

1. Correct- do not enter until ATC has identified themselves and your specific callsign. For more info, I attached AIM 3-2-5 b3.

2. Did your amperage drop? PE audio does simulate the requirement of “power” lol. Seeing how you could still hear ATC makes me think otherwise though. viewtopic.php?f=12&t=7531&hilit=Voltage
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Kyle Sanders
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