North Pickens (3M8) radio calls

Non-towered airport: self-announce on the CTAF

Sample calls at 3M8

North Pickens has no operating control tower. Every call below goes out on the CTAF, 122.9, to the other aircraft, not to a controller. The runway shown is 01, which has a right-hand pattern; use whichever runway the wind and the traffic dictate on the day.

The aircraft is the AIM’s own example, Cessna Three One Six Zero Foxtrot; the squawk codes, altitudes and headings are illustrative. Frequencies, station names and runway numbers are this airport’s, from the FAA data.

1. Tune 122.9. Nobody clears you; you announce and you listen. The airport name goes at the start and the end of every call, and the runway is always a number, never "the active" (AIM 4-1-9 g 8).
2. YouNorth Pickens traffic, Cessna Three One Six Zero Foxtrot, taxiing to runway zero one, North Pickens.
3. YouNorth Pickens traffic, Cessna Six Zero Foxtrot, departing runway zero one, departing the pattern to the north, North Pickens.
4. Announce until you are about 10 miles out; on the way back, start announcing at 10 miles (AIM 4-1-9 c 1, TBL 4-1-1).
5. YouNorth Pickens traffic, Cessna Three One Six Zero Foxtrot, one zero miles south, two thousand five hundred, landing North Pickens, North Pickens.
6. YouNorth Pickens traffic, Cessna Six Zero Foxtrot, entering left downwind runway zero one, full stop, North Pickens.
7. YouNorth Pickens traffic, Cessna Six Zero Foxtrot, left base runway zero one, North Pickens.
8. YouNorth Pickens traffic, Cessna Six Zero Foxtrot, final runway zero one, full stop, North Pickens.
9. YouNorth Pickens traffic, Cessna Six Zero Foxtrot, clear of runway zero one, North Pickens.

If things change. Want flight following after departure? Call Columbus Approach on 135.6 once clear of the pattern: identification, type, position, altitude, destination, "request VFR flight following" (AIM 4-1-18 a 3). Do not use "any traffic in the area, please advise"; the AIM says it is not to be used under any condition (AIM 4-1-9 g 1).

Phraseology from AIM 4-1-9 c 1, g 1, g 8, h; TBL 4-1-1; 4-3-3. What TowerTalk grades against →

The calls you will make here

• CTAF radio calls at non-towered airports →
• Traffic pattern position reports →
• How to request VFR flight following →

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