Remember when you first picked up the mic in an airplane, either to ATC or at a non-towered field? Most of us were probably as tentative as a boy trying to get his first date . Even if you’re good at public speaking, few of us gain the comfort without first practicing with prepared remarks. But, on the radio our scripts are too vague and variable; we have to learn along the way. Meanwhile we’re so worried about sounding bad or saying the wrong thing, we often sound bad and say the wrong thing. Fortunately, practice makes perfect—or at least better.
While the objectives of pilots and controllers overlap, their needs and processes don’t. What do pilots need? Aviate, navigate, and communicate, in that order, right? In contrast, nothing in ATC starts without communication, which leads to us navigating pilots accordingly, while the pilot aviates. Pilots might not even have a need for ATC. A perfect example would be a non-towered field out in the middle of nowhere. However, in the world where most of us operate, we’re regularly talking to ATC.
