PilotEdge Forums

Just joined this network after long and hard fight with myself, Been using vatsim for about 2 months as a pilot. Did do some atc work back in 2003 but never really moved on from C/D.
During my time on vatsim i never saw a active area where i want to fly ( us FSEconomy as a way to choose where to fly normaly in the PNW area) and having to use text instead of voice for the basics ( not very real) and makes it hard when you have a proble with typing/spelling

Anyway

Signed up and set up fsx and x-plane took all of 5 minutes. logged on and went to Ksna sat at a parking slot and liserned for about 3 hours. All the time thinking this is going to be hard work and not sure what to do ...........really scared
Well i finaly decided to jump in with the basic call to d/c for a radio check

WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE I did it radio contact with a real person, feel better must have got it right

Next step am not sure about I want to do pattern work at KSNA , do i go to ground or do i ask C/D for the clearance to do pattern then go to ground for taxi or just go to ground


Anyways I broken the ice and feel good.

Andy

Andy, good to have you flying on PilotEdge! You sound just like I did a few months ago. That first radio call is a killer! Lump in the throat...sweaty palms.... But it gets better and better. I would suggest going to the Training ratings and start there. You'll learn almost everything you'll need to know to successfully fly and communicate in the ZLA area.

http://training.pilotedge.net/page/ratings

Quick and dirty answer to your question, I think all you need to do to get clearance for pattern work is call ground, since you aren't leaving the area. I may be wrong, but in the first VFR rating flight, you call ground at KSNA, rather than Clearance, to request pattern work. Seriously, check out the ratings program. You won't regret it!

Steven Winslow wrote:Andy, good to have you flying on PilotEdge! You sound just like I did a few months ago. That first radio call is a killer! Lump in the throat...sweaty palms.... But it gets better and better. I would suggest going to the Training ratings and start there. You'll learn almost everything you'll need to know to successfully fly and communicate in the ZLA area.

http://training.pilotedge.net/page/ratings

Quick and dirty answer to your question, I think all you need to do to get clearance for pattern work is call ground, since you aren't leaving the area. I may be wrong, but in the first VFR rating flight, you call ground at KSNA, rather than Clearance, to request pattern work. Seriously, check out the ratings program. You won't regret it!

I have looked and printed out the transcript for the pattern work for ksna, been doing pattern work offline using the AOA traing course as a refresher ( simming since the 90s and still know nothing lol) And that starts at ground but my understanding was to contack D/C

Anyway During the time I posted I did contact D/C and was asked to contact Ground so no harm done . But thank you for the info on how to do it . ( staying within the airport airspace go to ground )

And btw i feel better now after making the second call not so worried about making mistakes


Andy

Usually VFR flights you can go straight to ground. You would say something like this. "John Wayne Ground, Cessna 47108 is type Cessna 152, at Signature, request taxi runway 19L, departure to the east with information Alpha." It is as easy as that. For IFR flights you will always contact C/D.

To emphasize the fact that there are times you can skip C/D and ground, most times at my local airport, a helicopter will startup at the ramp, hover about 20ft, then contact tower for departure skipping C/D and ground. Obviously skipping ground is only for helicopters, but it is done.

I think it's natural to be scared... I had the same experience about a week+ ago with my first PilotEdge flight. It's pretty intimidating at first -- much like real life. I think that's one of the key benefits of PilotEdge -- to do it over and over until it's second-nature.

Regarding contacting CD or GND, at the class B airport where I fly VFR (PHNL), we call clearance delivery first. Also when I did cross-country to a nearby class C (PHOG), they also required us to call clearance delivery first (we tried GND first and they asked us to call CD). Is this unusual?

Note that in the cases I mentioned, I've never stayed within the pattern/airspace. If I were to remain in the pattern, would I then normally just contact GND?

Regards,
Jim

I knew that you would contact C/D at a Bravo always. It depends on the airport but at my local class C, C/D is rarely used.

At my class C (DAB), its specifically noted in the ATIS to "Contact Clearance Delivery 119.3 prior to taxi".

Here is a thread on the topic of Clearance vs Ground for VFR departures:
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=530