San Martin (E16) radio calls

Non-towered airport: self-announce on the CTAF

Sample calls at E16

San Martin has no operating control tower. Every call below goes out on the CTAF, 122.7, to the other aircraft, not to a controller. The runway shown is 14; 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 122.7. 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. YouSan Martin traffic, Cessna Three One Six Zero Foxtrot, taxiing to runway one four, San Martin.
3. YouSan Martin traffic, Cessna Six Zero Foxtrot, departing runway one four, departing the pattern to the north, San Martin.
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. YouSan Martin traffic, Cessna Three One Six Zero Foxtrot, one zero miles south, two thousand five hundred, landing San Martin, San Martin.
6. YouSan Martin UNICOM, Cessna Six Zero Foxtrot, one zero miles south, request wind and runway information, San Martin.
7. A UNICOM operator, if one is on, answers with the wind and the runway in use (AIM 4-1-9 h). If nobody answers, choose the runway from the wind and the pattern traffic you can hear.
8. YouSan Martin traffic, Cessna Six Zero Foxtrot, entering left downwind runway one four, full stop, San Martin.
9. YouSan Martin traffic, Cessna Six Zero Foxtrot, left base runway one four, San Martin.
10. YouSan Martin traffic, Cessna Six Zero Foxtrot, final runway one four, full stop, San Martin.
11. YouSan Martin traffic, Cessna Six Zero Foxtrot, clear of runway one four, San Martin.

If things change. Want flight following after departure? Call NorCal Approach on 124.525 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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