Your Ideal Aircraft Belongs on ATC Radar

Routinely talking with controllers makes flying safer, more efficient, and less stressful.

Jonathan Welsh

Monday, April 24, 2023 at 11:57 AM ET

Verified

Getting to Cape May County Airport (KWWD) is easier when you talk to ATC. [Credit: Jonathan Welsh]

Key Takeaways:

Initially, the author, a private VFR pilot, preferred the freedom of flying without air traffic control (ATC) for local trips from a non-towered airport.
As the author began taking longer, more ambitious flights with a faster aircraft and passengers, priorities shifted towards direct routes and a professional, airline-like experience.
This led to a "conversion" where the author now regularly uses ATC, finding it makes flights faster, less stressful, and enables direct navigation through complex controlled airspace that previously required time-consuming diversions.
The article encourages other ATC-averse pilots to overcome their apprehension and embrace ATC, suggesting it significantly improves the flying experience and opens up new travel possibilities.

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One of the best things about flying from my home airport in Sussex, New Jersey (KFWN), is that it is a non-towered field with plenty of uncontrolled airspace surrounding it. For a long time, that meant freedom for me, as it does for many VFR-only private pilots.

The airport is near the northern tip of the state, and you can fly into New York and Pennsylvania, and all over New England, without ever having to speak with an air traffic controller. For many years this arrangement suited me well because I rarely traveled long distances, and when I did, avoiding busy airspace around Boston and New York was easy.