Exercise B · for US student pilots
Readbacks
Read back what must be read back: runways, hold-short lines, altitudes, headings, squawks.
Worked here at Palo Alto (KPAO). In the app the same prompts use your own home airport and call sign.
Prompt 1 of 5
Palo Alto Ground says: "N172SP, Palo Alto Ground, runway 13, taxi via Alpha, hold short of runway 13 at Alpha." Read it back.
What the AIM says: AIM 4-3-18 a 9: read back the runway assignment and the hold-short instruction, with your call sign. The hold short must be word for word; the route may be acknowledged.Prompt 2 of 5
Palo Alto Tower says: "N172SP, runway 13, line up and wait." Read it back.
What the AIM says: P/CG: 'line up and wait' is not a takeoff clearance. Read back 'runway 13, line up and wait' with your call sign; never add 'cleared for takeoff'.Prompt 3 of 5
Palo Alto Tower says: "N172SP, runway 13, cleared for takeoff, right turn on course approved." Read it back.
What the AIM says: AIM 4-4-7 b 4: the initial readback of a takeoff clearance includes the runway. The tower has abbreviated your call sign, so you may too.Prompt 4 of 5
NorCal Approach says: "N172SP, squawk 4521, climb and maintain four thousand five hundred, fly heading zero niner zero." Read it back.
What the AIM says: AIM 4-4-7 b: read back altitudes and vectors in the sequence given, with your call sign. Altitude as 'four thousand five hundred'; heading as three digits.Prompt 5 of 5
Palo Alto Tower says: "N172SP, runway 13, cleared to land, wind two seven zero at one zero." Read it back.
What the AIM says: Runway and 'cleared to land' with your call sign (AIM 4-4-7 b 4). The wind is information — acknowledged, not read back.
What this exercise is graded against
| Call or readback | Graded against |
|---|---|
| Taxi readback: runway assignment and hold-short instruction | AIM 4-3-18 a 9 |
| 'Line up and wait' read back with the runway; not a takeoff clearance | P/CG: LINE UP AND WAIT; AIM 4-3-18 a 9 (c) |
| Takeoff and landing clearances read back with the runway | AIM 4-4-7 b; JO 7110.65 3-9-10 a |
| Squawk, altitude and heading read back in the order given | AIM 4-4-7 b; 4-1-20 |
| Wind is information, acknowledged rather than read back | JO 7110.65 3-10-1 |
Now say them to a controller
Push-to-talk, at your airport, with today’s altimeter. The AI controller answers and the grader tells you what the AIM says about each call.
Prompts and notes are written in our own words from the FAA Aeronautical Information Manual (Change 3, 7/9/26) and the Pilot/Controller Glossary, with paragraph references. Frequencies are from the FAA NASR data and are for training only. Study aid; not approved or endorsed by the FAA. Always defer to the AIM, current FAA publications, your instructor and your examiner.