My Jeppesen Private Pilot Manual tells student pilots that radio communication is very serious stuff. “When speaking on the radio,” the good book says, “it is important to speak in a professional manner. Radio transmissions should be as brief as possible to help avoid frequency congestion. Incorrect radio procedures can compromise your safety and the safety of others.”
All valid points, and all absolutely true-at least, as a rule. But what Jeppesen doesn’t tell students is that some of the funniest and most helpful, memorable and wonderful connections and moments they will encounter in the course of their flying will also be through their aircraft radio. And those communications will, at times, bend all of those strictures.
