Radio calls between Pilots and Air Traffic Control are conducted in English, worldwide. But the airwaves get busy with lots of aircraft vying for attention, so our conversations use a specific set of phrases for each situation. We don't want to hog a radio channel for longer than necessary. We certainly don't want other pilots hogging the radio as we're trying to make a call.
Pilots need a Flight Radiotelephony Operator's Licence (FRTOL) so they can legally make calls on the radio in their aircraft. If your Flying School doesn't have a Radio Instructor/Examiner, you can find one via the CAA, here:
https://www.caa.co.uk/our-work/publications/documents/content/cap1585e/
You operate the Radio in your training aircraft under the authority of your Flying Instructor. Once you qualify, you need your own FRTOL to legally operate the same piece of kit.
On the upside, submit your initial PPL(G) application WITH your FRTOL application and you save yourself a few bob.
I attended a Radio Brush-Up Course at Popham last night, specifically aimed at dusting off the grey cells of long-time pilots who don't get out much. Even if you do get out a lot, CAP413 gets updated periodically, so it's useful to check-in with a Radio Instructor to (as it says on the tin) brush-up your skills.
The Instructor told us the CAA had recently carried out documentation spot checks on pilots arriving and departing Popham. Their Enforcement Branch take a dim view of anyone flying without a FRTOL. They won't be too impressed with un-Permitted aircraft or un-Licenced Pilotes, either, but that wasn't the subject of last night's meeting.
We were joking amongst ourselves last night that some of the radio calls we hear are shoddy and you wonder if the voices you hear are actually qualified. 5 minutes later, our Radio guy said he'd recently coached a long-standing Flying Instructor through a Course and Exam to gain his FRTOL. He'd been flying and instructing for many years without one.
Every day's a school day.
