PilotEdge Forums

Hi all,

Okay, so I did my first ever flight on PilotEdge with ATC interaction a few days ago! Boy, was I nervous! But wow, what a fantastic feeling afterwards!

It all went pretty okay, but I know that I made several (hopefully) minor mistakes. I have listened to the recordings and analyzed the parts where it went wrong (as I'm aware of) so that I will not repeat them. But there is one respond from the ATC that I do not understand, even though I can guess what he means. This is where I need your help!

I took off from Class D airport KCMA, and headed North into uncontrolled airspace. When I got the permission to take off (I'm at the holding point of runway 26), there are two parts of the respond from ATC that sounds (something) like this:

http://assets.pilotedge.net/recordings/ ... _17510.mp3
[time=00:53] "...make a right-crossing departure on the 26..."
[time=00:56] "...12409"

The first part: I think this is what the controller says, what does it mean? Googled, but with no success.
The second part: Is this wind direction and speed? Don't think so (does not correspond to runway choice), but I cannot think of anything else.

Thanks in advance!

Best regards,
Mats

He says, "make right crosswind departure, runway 26 cleared for takeoff, wind 240 at niner." Sounds like his mic was cutting out just a little to make it a little challenging to hear. That, and he was talking faster than you were listening.....

So, indeed the runway assignment does coincide with the wind direction. He's also telling you to make a right hand turn after takeoff.

Steven Winslow wrote:He says, "make right crosswind departure, runway 26 cleared for takeoff, wind 240 at niner." Sounds like his mic was cutting out just a little to make it a little challenging to hear. That, and he was talking faster than you were listening.....

So, indeed the runway assignment does coincide with the wind direction. He's also telling you to make a right hand turn after takeoff.

Big thank you for this Steven!

What you are saying makes perfectly sense!

And yes, everything sounded much faster during the actual transmission. I heard that he gave me "cleared for take-off", but the rest I didn't get, so I said "say again"... but then he just repeated the part I actually got!

This was very good learning. A small step, but a great feeling.

Again, thanks for your help!

Best regards,
Mats

Dude, the first time I flew on PilotEdge my palms were soooo sweaty, my stomach was in a knot and I my tongue was so tied I'm surprised the controller could understand my requests! You did just fine for your first time. Now that I've flown a while, I'm not so wide-eyed and slow of ear. I fly mostly IFR so I pretty much know what to expect when my clearance comes. I need to do a lot more VFR flying to challenge my pilotage and my communications understanding.

By the way, I think it's okay to say "Say again" more than once. If you're still unclear after a controller repeats, tell him you missed something in the first directive and I'm pretty sure he'd be happy to clarify whatever it is you missed. Better safe than sorry!

Good to have you flying the friendly, and educational, skies of PilotEdge!

By the way, I think it's okay to say "Say again" more than once.

You should listen to the recordings of my first flights on PE, comparing to that you did great. Cheers, AJ

Steven Winslow wrote:Dude, the first time I flew on PilotEdge my palms were soooo sweaty, my stomach was in a knot and I my tongue was so tied I'm surprised the controller could understand my requests! You did just fine for your first time. Now that I've flown a while, I'm not so wide-eyed and slow of ear. I fly mostly IFR so I pretty much know what to expect when my clearance comes. I need to do a lot more VFR flying to challenge my pilotage and my communications understanding.

By the way, I think it's okay to say "Say again" more than once. If you're still unclear after a controller repeats, tell him you missed something in the first directive and I'm pretty sure he'd be happy to clarify whatever it is you missed. Better safe than sorry!

Good to have you flying the friendly, and educational, skies of PilotEdge!

Thanks for the inspiring and encouraging words!

arb65912 wrote:

By the way, I think it's okay to say "Say again" more than once.

You should listen to the recordings of my first flights on PE, comparing to that you did great. Cheers, AJ

Haha, thanks!!

Welcome to PilotEdge! Always keep in mind that this is such a great educational tool for yourself to improve your radio and flying skills. Feel free to ask questions on the radio if you are confused about an instruction. It's better to be sure about an instruction rather than make an assumption that becomes an error. Happy flying!

julio.elizalde wrote:Welcome to PilotEdge! Always keep in mind that this is such a great educational tool for yourself to improve your radio and flying skills. Feel free to ask questions on the radio if you are confused about an instruction. It's better to be sure about an instruction rather than make an assumption that becomes an error. Happy flying!

Thank you!

I will use PilotEdge for two reasons -- first for enhanching/expanding my flight sim experience, and second for helping me in my real-world PPL training which is ongoing (but in its initial phase). I see great potential in how PE can train and educate me in the radio communication field. I'm impressed by the service of PE, based on what I've seen so far.

good stuff. It's great to see the community helping out a new pilot. I think our community is one of the best things about the service.

you are on the right track with what you are planning to do with PE. Not only can you save quite a bit of money on flight training, but you can become more proficient with the radio as a result. It also means the time with your instructor can be spent working on the big picture items, rather than how to listen and talk on the radio.