PilotEdge Forums

When contacting ATC, for example Santa Barbara Approach after leaving the KSMX Delta space...

Is it acceptable (proper) to report position with a landmark like...

"over Twitchell Reservoir", or is it always required/recommended to give distance like "10 miles northeast of KSMX".

Sorry if I am splitting hairs but I haven't found the answer yet from my reading and would like to know what is correct/acceptable/preferred.

Thanks,

Jiva

Either is a perfectly acceptable VFR positional report as long as you're accurate with your position.

A VFR reporting point would be known to ATC (marked on the sectional with a purple flag). Other landmarks can be hit or miss as they may not be depicted on the controller's scope.

Keith Smith wrote:A VFR reporting point would be known to ATC (marked on the sectional with a purple flag). Other landmarks can be hit or miss as they may not be depicted on the controller's scope.

Is depiction of landmarks on the scope usually a matter of size, proximity to airfields, popular usage of landmark?

The reason I ask is that if I am not absolutely sure of how many miles I am from KSMX (in my example), is it OK to guesstimate the mileage for the controller as long as i am not way off?

Marcus Becker wrote:Either is a perfectly acceptable VFR positional report as long as you're accurate with your position.

Thanks, I am not always sure of exactly how many miles out I am from a particular airfield and was thinking that a large landmark like Twitchell (in this case) would be sufficient.

It's always good to know why we're doing the things we're doing as a pilot. The reason for a position report is to give the controller a fighting chance to find you on the scope (ie, to know where to look), and also to ensure that the instruction to squawk a particular code has been received by the correct pilot.

If you're off by a couple of miles on a position report when you're in the process of being radar identified, it really doesn't matter too much. The position report will serve its purpose.

Keith Smith wrote:It's always good to know why we're doing the things we're doing as a pilot. The reason for a position report is to give the controller a fighting chance to find you on the scope (ie, to know where to look), and also to ensure that the instruction to squawk a particular code has been received by the correct pilot.

If you're off by a couple of miles on a position report when you're in the process of being radar identified, it really doesn't matter too much. The position report will serve its purpose.

I totally understand how important it is to get identified correctly. Thanks again for the rapid clarification

Jiva