![]() ![]() We look at our Albuquerque sectional chart and find Socorro centered on the left third of the chart. Let’s say today we are going to fly into the Socorro Municipal Airport near Socorro, New Mexico. We’ll check the AIM’s table, and proceed from there. Let’s look at 2 of the most typical radio arrangements at uncontrolled airports. In that case, you are expected to self-announce on the Multicom frequency of 122.9. There is also one listing covering the oddball airport with no facility of any kind. The choices in that column talk about whether the airport uses Unicom, a dedicated Flight Service Station frequency, or the frequency of a tower that is closed. If you look in the left column of this table, you will see the column heading “Facility at Airport”. Look for the table just below Section 4-1-9 which is titled Traffic Advisory Practices at Airports Without Operating Control Towers. You’ll find those rules in Table 4-1-1, which is kind of hard to find in the AIM. There are general rules in the AIM for selecting the appropriate CTAF frequency. How’s your near vision? If you look in Chapter 4 of the AIM, you’ll find a version of this table that is actually readable. Here’s the definition from the AIM: “The CTAF may be a UNICOM, MULTICOM, FSS, or tower frequency and is identified in appropriate aeronautical publications.” I put Table 4-1-1 in here as an eye test. The confusion arises because Unicom may be a CTAF. This was my reply: “Should pilots make position reports on the CTAF? The answer is yes. ![]() A call to the Unicom might be helpful to learn the active runway or if there was some activity which might be of concern to you – should someone answer the frequency, but we were told that all traffic in the vicinity of an uncontrolled airport with a designated CTAF should make all their self announcements on that CTAF rather than on the Unicom frequency.” When I was getting my lessons in that region we were warned about the transition from Unicom’s to CTAF’s - essentially that many Unicom frequencies are not manned continuously or at all. I’m an Alaska pilot and I also have some time in Eastern Washington, Oregon and Western Idaho. “I have a question regarding Unicom’s vs CTAF’s. A pilot named Michael recently wrote to me with this question about the use of a Common Traffic Advisory Frequency (CTAF). ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |