By Howard Deevers
Some pilots I know are really good at writing things down as they fly, getting instructions from ATC, or getting the ATIS or AWOS. Some are not so good.
I got into the habit of taking notes long ago in my early aviation training. There was so much to learn and to remember, and in some cases, read back to ATC. I was just overwhelmed. Of course, I had to invent my own form of shorthand for note taking. I think we all develop our own shorthand as we go. It seemed to me that all ATC instructions that I was expected to read back, came at rapid fire speeds. It was difficult to copy all of that, and then read it back to the controller. We get better with time and practice.
I was flying with a student returning to Ryan Airport, near Tucson. We listened to the ATIS broadcast. I wrote down my notes but noticed that the student had not written anything. I asked the student: “Did you get the ATIS information at RYN?” the student replied, “Yes, information Charlie is current.” Naturally, the information had changed since we departed from Ryan over an hour ago. I asked the student, what runway are we going to land on? Student: “I don’t know.” I said, “OK, what are the winds at the airport?” Student: “I didn’t get that.” I said, “OK. What is the tower frequency?” Student: 125.8.” My reply, “Nope, not correct.”
Now the student looked at me in disbelief. “It was that when we departed there.” I had to explain to the student that things change, and ATIS is the latest information that we should use when contacting the tower in-bound to land. I said: “So far all you have is Information Charlie, and if you tell the tower that you have information Charlie they are going to believe that you know the wind direction and speed, altimeter setting, runway in use, and other important information that you should know to make a safe landing at that airport. Since the winds have changed, they are using another frequency for arrivals from our direction, and 125.8 for arrivals from the South. The frequency we need to use is 120.35. That is why I write all of that information down on my notepad.”
ATIS or AWOS are only one of the things I write down. If you want to get an Instrument rating added to your Pilot Certificate, there will be many more items to write down. Instrument clearances can be lengthy, and you DO have to read back the clearance correctly before you take off. While flying, you will get many frequency changes to different ATC controllers, possible squawk code changes, amendments to your planned route, and all of these should be read back to the controller, so they know you got the information correctly. Reading back is important because pilots get numbers transposed or wrong codes for the transponder all the time. I even hear airline pilots reading back incorrect frequencies at times. The controller will catch the mistake and correct it quickly. Having the old number written down is a good idea in case the new frequency is out of reach. You can go back to the old number and let the controller know that you were unable to contact anyone on the new frequency. That is better than flying along looking up frequencies that you might be able to use in that area. It is even more important if you are IFR.
At the end of a long cross-country flight, I might have more than one page full of notes and frequencies, all written in my own shorthand. It might not make sense to anyone but me, but it helps me when I need it most.
It may be hard to take notes while you are flying. Some pilots do have very good memories and can remember the ATIS word for word. I’m not one of them. I do need to make notes while flying. Invent your own form of shorthand. I never took shorthand in school but have looked at shorthand notes from secretaries many times, and wondered how they made sense of that, but they do, and they do a very good job of recording dictation by shorthand.
Aviation is full of helpful charts and abbreviations. Instrument flying may require even more. In order to aid the copy of an instrument clearance, we use C-R-A-F-T : Cleared to_____, Route______(this might be long), Altitude ______, Frequency ____ (for departure control), and Transponder ____ (code). That is the shortest version of an instrument clearance. There could be other details added to each step. In order to learn how to copy clearances while working on my instrument rating, sat in a plane with the Ground Control frequency on, and listened to and copied every instrument departure from Allegheny County Airport I could hear (be careful not to run down the battery on the plane, or use a hand held receiver for this idea).
To learn more, come to a Safety Seminar sponsored by your ARIZONA PILOTS ASSOCIATION, and FAASTeam at a location near you. These are free. Check the website for location near you, and “Don’t forget to bring your wingman!”