Comm Nerves

Grabo172

Grabo172

Well-Known Member
Hey all,

I have a student that is having real trouble with his radio communications. Whenever ATC calls, he just freezes. I've tried to just let him take the calls, but eventually ATC calls again and I have to take it.

We fly out of an uncontrolled field, so he has limited expirience with talking on the radio, except for traffic pattern reports.

We've run through the most common calls on the ground a bunch of times, but still gets Mike Fright.

I suggested he get the Comm 1 VFR radio simulator to practice at home with out the pressure of having to fly too.

Anyone ever used Comm 1 and does anyone have any other suggestions to help out?

Thanks!
 
Something I do just to show them it is no big deal and everyone makes mistakes is to purposely say stupid things or the wrong things. I call Tower Clearance or vice versa. I make stupid radio calls just to show them when that happens it is not the end of the world. I course I don't advocate being complacent on the radio. I teach by the "less is more' theory. But this usually gets them laughing and calms them down a bit.

I have also called up with student pilots in the plane and told the tower I was a student just to demonstrate to them that the tower and approach will help, if they know you need it. Seems to work
 
Sounds like fun
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That might help a bit...
 
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Something I do just to show them it is no big deal and everyone makes mistakes is to purposely say stupid things or the wrong things. I call Tower Clearance or vice versa. I make stupid radio calls just to show them when that happens it is not the end of the world. I course I don't advocate being complacent on the radio. I teach by the "less is more' theory. But this usually gets them laughing and calms them down a bit.

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that's the same way i taught my cousin how to drive a stick! laugh if you want, it seems to work. as soon as the student, in this case, sees that the people on the other end of the radio are human and aren't mean/cold/etc, and that messing up is no big deal, they'll be fine.
 
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Anyone ever used Comm 1 and does anyone have any other suggestions to help out?

Thanks!

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I got comm 1 in anticipation of wanting some extra practice and found it to be completely worthless. Granted I fly out of a class C airport and get tons of practice everytime I fly, I still don't think it would be worth the price for those that don't get as much experience.

What my instructor did for me that really taught me how to use the radio, and gave me confidence as well, was he typed up a script of the communications for a typical flight. It included everything from the initial call to ground, the handoff to tower, then departure, then termination, and everything for the trip back into the airport as well. Then using that script I had my wife read the part of ATC and I would read the part of "Cessna 123AB" Once I had my "lines" memorized, I knew the format of the initial call, I knew what to say and what to expect ATC to say. At that point I understood what was going on rather than just repeating what my instructor told me to say and I made a 500% improvement overnight.
 
I hate to say this, but I got used to the flow of Comms using FS2000. "Wait a minute!," everyone screams. "FS2000 didn't have ATC!" True, but there was a cool add-on called Radar Contact that was actually a pretty decent copy of ATC. In some ways, it's better than what Microsoft has come up with. I used that on my sim flights, and it got me used to call-ups, the natural flow of radio traffic, and what to expect. Maybe a little work with MSFS just doing that what help a LITTLE.
 
Oh, come on Kell...we all know that you can learn anything from a video game!!

(spoken in my best 47-year old, "didn't have any video games when I was a kid" voice...)
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Thanks!

I'll work on the script. I did that before for another student I had MANY (4) years ago. It worked pretty good. I'll just have to sit down an plunk it all out again, since I don't think I saved it for my new computer... (I should burn everything I do for flying on CD! (and the light turns on above my head)
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I know this thread is pretty old but I thought I would offer another idea anyway. I found that listening to streaming ATC on the web helped me get a better idea for what to expect in radio calls.
 
I picked a handheld comm unit and found listening to other traffic to be a great help. I would copy clearances and everything and talk to myself when reading back.
 
here is a non-technical solution to this problem, and its kind of at the human level....:

1) tell your student this, something that is in most cases true: "most air traffic controllers, the first time they had to key the mike and talk to a PILOT, they were nervous, unsure, and apprehensive ALSO."

2) Offer up an anologous experience from your OWN training (doesnt apply to those who always thought they were great): ie: when I was learning to fly, I could NOT turn the airplane AND talk to ATC at the same time. I was overloaded and nervous, so I would wait til i was wings level on downwind. Most students laugh when I tell them this and I think it makes them realize that, heck.. it ISNT easy at first, but it DOES get easier over time.
 
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