Schuylkill County/Joe Zerbey (KZER) radio calls

Non-towered airport: self-announce on the CTAF

Sample calls at KZER

Schuylkill County/Joe Zerbey has no operating control tower. Every call below goes out on the CTAF, 123.075, to the other aircraft, not to a controller. The runway shown is 04; 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 123.075. 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. YouSchuylkill County/Joe Zerbey traffic, Cessna Three One Six Zero Foxtrot, taxiing to runway zero four, Schuylkill County/Joe Zerbey.
3. YouSchuylkill County/Joe Zerbey traffic, Cessna Six Zero Foxtrot, departing runway zero four, departing the pattern to the north, Schuylkill County/Joe Zerbey.
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. YouSchuylkill County/Joe Zerbey traffic, Cessna Three One Six Zero Foxtrot, one zero miles south, two thousand five hundred, landing Schuylkill County/Joe Zerbey, Schuylkill County/Joe Zerbey.
6. YouSchuylkill County/Joe Zerbey UNICOM, Cessna Six Zero Foxtrot, one zero miles south, request wind and runway information, Schuylkill County/Joe Zerbey.
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. YouSchuylkill County/Joe Zerbey traffic, Cessna Six Zero Foxtrot, entering left downwind runway zero four, full stop, Schuylkill County/Joe Zerbey.
9. YouSchuylkill County/Joe Zerbey traffic, Cessna Six Zero Foxtrot, left base runway zero four, Schuylkill County/Joe Zerbey.
10. YouSchuylkill County/Joe Zerbey traffic, Cessna Six Zero Foxtrot, final runway zero four, full stop, Schuylkill County/Joe Zerbey.
11. YouSchuylkill County/Joe Zerbey traffic, Cessna Six Zero Foxtrot, clear of runway zero four, Schuylkill County/Joe Zerbey.

If things change. Want flight following after departure? Call Harrisburg Approach on 118.25 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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