If you’re learning to fly, there are many considerations when choosing a flying school, an instructor, an airplane and an airport.\u00a0 When it comes to which airport to choose, you’ll want to think about the benefits of towered airports versus non-towered airports.\u00a0 Fullerton Municipal Airport in Orange County, California is an excellent learning airport for many reasons.\u00a0 Just one of which is because it is a towered airport.<\/p>\n
Of course, the weather in southern California is perfect for learning to fly.\u00a0 Almost all year round, you get good flying days.\u00a0 However, today, we’re talking about choosing a towered airport when you’re working on private pilots’ license.\u00a0 But why is that?\u00a0 People might argue that without having to deal with a tower and the complicated communications that come along with a tower, you get to learn much faster.\u00a0 Plus, you’re not locked in to waiting for clearances and following instructions.<\/p>\n
I have spoken to many private pilots who have learned in many different environments.\u00a0 What I have discovered is the pilots that come from non-towered airports and enter towered airport environments, they tend to have communication problems.\u00a0 Whether that’s a fear or simply a lack of self confidence, it amounts to the same result.\u00a0 This is not always the case and some people come in to flight training with their own assertiveness but this is a small subset of student pilots.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As a student pilot, when you’re first exposed to the busy airspace this southern or northern California, it can feel like drink water from a fire hose.\u00a0 The confidence to speak to ATC will have to come with time.\u00a0 These controllers are good at what they do and they are very busy.\u00a0 Sometimes so busy that you wonder if they are even taking time to catch their breath.\u00a0 If you’re unsure of what you’re going to say or how to make a request, the whole situation becomes intimidating.\u00a0 If you’re shy, that just adds to the anxiety of it all.<\/p>\n
So, how do you overcome this?\u00a0 The answer is to start your training at a towered airport.\u00a0 Even though this can be a little bit overwhelming at the start, the good news is that your instructor or CFI will be there to handle those communications at first.\u00a0 The good new is that you are exposed to the comms from day one.\u00a0 You’ll hear how they are speaking.\u00a0 You’ll subconsciously start to process the intonations, the inflections and cadence of the interactions.\u00a0 You’ll hear the tower or controller respond.\u00a0 You will soon realize how second nature it all becomes over time.\u00a0 Yes, you’ll still be overwhelmed the first time you’re expected to dial up ground control and call for your own clearance.\u00a0 But don’t worry, ground will be a bit more forgiving then tower.\u00a0 And tower will be understanding when you announce, “student pilot” before each call.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The key here is to get going on your towered communications from the outset of you pilot training.\u00a0 Learn to fly in an immersive environment such as a towered airport like Fullerton, CA.\u00a0 Later, you’ll appreciate that you didn’t have a skill left behind where you need to fill in the gaps on your own after you’ve passed your checkride.\u00a0 A well rounded pilot has sound communications skills on the radios and knows how to be assertive and to the point.\u00a0<\/p>\n