Cross-Country (pt 7): more on radio communications

While we are still on the ground at Lehigh Valley International (KABE), Rob tells the controllers our course -- KABE to Sparta VOR to Westchester County Airport (KHPN) -- and requests flight following. Flight following, aka traffic advisories, is a service provided by controllers to pilots flying under visual flight rules (VFR). The VFR pilot asks the controllers, as Rob does, for flight following. The catch is that controllers grant flight following on a space available basis, meaning they can say no if their work load is too heavy. In our case, after we leave KABE airspace, the NY Approach controller grants Rob flight following.

As we get closer to and then enter class B (or bravo airspace), I get to listen to and learn what traffic advisories mean. The controller will say something like the following:

"Cherokee 2345 alpha , traffic three o'clock, five miles west bound, 6,000 feet"

The pilot looks for the other aircraft and if he immediately sees the aircraft will respond by saying something like:

"NY Approach Cherokee 2345 alpha , traffic in sight."

Or if the pilot does not immediately site the other aircraft (this may have happened to Rob once or twice) he might say something like:

"NY Approach Cherokee 2345 alpha, looking."

In the above response, I believe that pilot is telling the controllers that he is looking for the other aircraft. He sights the other aircraft very quickly and then tells the controllers something like:

"NY approach, Cherokee 2345 alpha, traffic in sight."

As we are flying along on our way to KHPN, I listen to the communications. Sometimes, but not always, I can hear the controller calling Rob and follow along as Rob responds. Other times, I miss the controllers call, but because the protocol is that the pilot repeats back the instructions to the controller, I get a sense of what is going on. An example of this is the traffic advisories that I have just discussed. Rob turns the traffic advisories into an opportunity for teaching and asks me if I can see the aircraft. I admit that I often did not see the aircraft on the first try. But I do see some or most of the traffic in question. This takes some getting used to, and I have to be honest and say that I do not see all the aircraft that Rob has me looking for.

As the controllers give Rob traffic advisories, I practice looking for the traffic. Some times I see the traffic and sometimes I don't. At the same time I am listening to the fast paced radio communications over my headset. I am glad that I have listened to aviation communications using online scanners such as LiveATC.net, providing me with the opportunity to get used to listening to communications in the confines of my house.

I begin to appreciate that radio communications take some getting used to. I have new found respect for student pilots learning radio communications. This is my first time in airspace with such busy and fast paced radio communications, I understood more than I thought I would. I am pleased.

We continue to fly, Rob piloting the aircraft and I listening and looking. In the distance, I see the Hudson River. I know that we are north of the Hudson River Exclusion Zone adjoining NYC. We are getting close to KHPN.

Next up: the Tappen Zee Bridge and KHPN