Exercise M · for US student pilots
IFR clearances
Asking for a clearance, copying it, and reading back the parts that actually have to come back.
Worked here at Palo Alto (KPAO). In the app the same prompts use your own home airport and call sign.
Prompt 1 of 5
You are on the ramp at Palo Alto, IFR to Hayward Executive, flight plan filed and unchanged. Call Palo Alto Ground on 125.0 for your clearance.
What the AIM says: AIM 5-2-6 h 2: call sign, where you are on the field, the type of operation (IFR), and the airport you expect clearance to. Four things. 'Ready to copy' is common usage but is not published phraseology, so it is not required — say it if you like.Prompt 2 of 5
Palo Alto Ground reads you a clearance: cleared to Hayward Executive as filed, maintain three thousand, expect six thousand one zero minutes after departure, departure frequency 121.3, squawk four six two one. Read it back.
What the AIM says: AIM 4-4-7 b: altitudes, vectors and runway assignments are what must come back, with your call sign in the readback. In practice the numbers — altitude, the expect altitude, the frequency and the squawk — are what the controller is listening for. There is no FAA requirement to read back the whole clearance (JO 7110.65 4-3-2 NOTE), so a complete readback and a numbers-only readback are both correct.Prompt 3 of 5
You filed an hour ago but have since changed your destination. Call Palo Alto Ground for your clearance.
What the AIM says: AIM 5-2-6 h 3: say on the INITIAL call that the plan has been amended, and request a full route clearance. Do not accept 'as filed' when the route or destination has changed since filing — 'cleared as filed' covers the route only and not the altitude, the departure procedure or its transition (AIM 5-2-6 f).Prompt 4 of 5
You are climbing away from Palo Alto on a departure procedure you were cleared to climb via, leaving two thousand for six thousand. Make your first call to NorCal Approach.
What the AIM says: AIM 5-2-9 h: cleared to 'climb via', state the altitude you are LEAVING and any assigned restriction that is not published on the procedure. That replaces the plain 'level / climbing to' form. Altitudes printed on the chart are not read back unless the controller spoke them (AIM 4-4-7 b 3).Prompt 5 of 5
You are at Half Moon Bay, which has no tower, departing IFR. You have been given a clearance void time of one five past the hour. Acknowledge it.
What the AIM says: AIM 5-2-7 a 1: acknowledge it, and note the time. The FAA publishes no required readback for a void time — what it does require is that if you have not departed before it, you tell ATC as soon as possible. ATC normally gives a time by which you must report, no more than 30 minutes after the void time. 'Hold for release' is different: it means you may not depart on the clearance at all until released.
What this exercise is graded against
| Call or readback | Graded against |
|---|---|
| Initial call to clearance delivery: call sign, position on the field, IFR, and where to | AIM 5-2-6 h 2 |
| What must be read back from a clearance, and what need not be | AIM 4-4-7 b; JO 7110.65 4-3-2 NOTE |
| Charted altitudes are not read back unless spoken | AIM 4-4-7 b 3 |
| Requesting a full route clearance after amending the plan | AIM 5-2-6 h 3 |
| What "cleared as filed" does and does not cover | AIM 5-2-6 f; P/CG: CLEARED AS FILED |
| First call after a climb-via departure | AIM 5-2-9 h |
| Clearance void time and hold for release | AIM 5-2-7 a 1, a 2 |
| The order a clearance is issued in | JO 7110.65 4-2-1 |
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.