Pilot Radio's Communications Handbook [Hardcover]

Paul E. Illman (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 007031831X | ISBN-13: 978-0070318311 | Publication Date: April 1, 1998 | Edition: 5th

A Volume in McGraw-Hill's Practical Flying Series of skill-building books for pilots, this edition includes the most current information and continuing education instruction needed to become proficient in the area of radio communications. Everything from the fundamentals to the technical how-tos have make this a valued reference for pilots, year after year. This edition includes the most updated regulations and procedures, human factors information, and all the essential charts and figures needed by pilots.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

An up-to-the-minute revision of the VFR pilots' sourcebook, this handbook adds important depth to the most thorough treatment of how to communicate confidently from the cockpit. In addition to updates of preceding editions, there are two brand-new chapters: one covers NTSB-provided examples of incidents caused primarily by human errors in communications; the other gives guidelines designed specifically to help pilots become more skilled communicators in an era of ever-busier airspaces and airports. VFR communications skills are surprisingly underaddressed in modern pilot training. This essential reference fills the gap with detailed coverage encompassing all the fundamentalsÑincluding radio facilities and communication responsibilities. With specific examples of how to conduct dialogue, and how dangerous assumption-making can be in the course of communicating, the book offers thorough grounding in: competence in cockpit communications; how to avoid communication failures; airspace classifications summaryÑcontrolled and uncontrolled airspaces defined; Multicom airport radio communications (including a simulated landing and takeoff using Multicom); Unicom airport radio communications (including a simulated landing and takeoff using Unicom); Flight Service Stations and radio communications; Automatic Terminal Information Service; Ground Control; transponders; Approach/Departure Control; working with Air Route Traffic Control Centers on VFR flights; what to do if you have radio failure; cross-country flight. This is the only place that gives pilots everything they need to be excellent VFR communicators.

About the Author

Paul E. Illman (Prairie Village, KS) is an experienced single- and multiengine pilot. He is also the author of the Pilot's Air Traffic Control Handbook, Second Edition, and the Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge, Third Edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Professional; 5th edition (April 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 007031831X
• ISBN-13: 978-0070318311
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 7.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,081,778 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Really good book to get you ready to take on mic fright, October 21, 2001

By 

Albert Haber (Lewiston, ME) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pilot Radio's Communications Handbook (Hardcover)

This is an excellent book to familiarize yourself with air traffic control and tower talk. I'm a private pilot and I learned in a relatively low trafficked area in Maine. The Portland tower was nearby but I didn't take advantage of it too much. I read the book one summer while I was still a student pilot . . . when I went up with an instructor and we headed to a towered airport he was very impressed on how I knew how to call them up and respond to them, I understood the flow of frequency changes well, and understood all the instructions I received from ATC before he ever taught me any of that stuff. Even if you are already a pilot, but still avoid going to towered airports because you're afraid of getting embarassed you should most definitely get this book.
The actual examples he gives are right on the money. The good part is that he give you variations on how to say the same thing so in case you hear it differently from someone you'll be ready. I don't really have any complaints with this book that I can think of at the moment. It's helpful to VFR student, and actual pilots, it has realistic examples, good explanation of why things are the way they are with ATC, explains the ATC environment well. Get it!

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Useful, but not written very well., June 21, 2001

By 

Jason Fossen (Dallas, Tx) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Pilot's Radio Communications Handbook (Paperback)

The book is useful, and it was badly needed when it was first published, but it was not written very well. For every paragraph of substantial or useful information, there is a page of repetition and imprecise fluff-- the book would have been twice as good had it been half as long. Again, the book is good and will not be a waste of money, but there are other pilot communication books out now that deserve a closer look. Don't assume that this book is better simply because it is longer.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book for learning communications protocol, June 1, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Pilot's Radio Communications Handbook (Paperback)

This is a great book for learning communications protocol for the various conditions a private pilot will encounter, and for helping to organize the cockpit relative to radio communications management. I believe it's a "must-read" for every private pilot.