One of the most difficult parts of learning to fly has always been learning to talk on the radio. I know it was for me when I was a teenager negotiating with controllers at my first few towered airports. With no experience in the system, simulated or otherwise, I had to scramble to figure out what the controller was saying, what it meant and what I was supposed to say in response.
I had some practice — the best instructors have always drilled their students on the proper procedures — but even that wasn’t enough for me to feel comfortable in the system. And my experience is hardly the exception.
