Do you need a radio license to fly a plane in the US?
Not for flights inside the US. What the FCC requires for international flights, and what the FAA expects of your radio work instead.
Read the guide Try the free radio checkRadio guides
Plain-English guides to aviation radio for US student pilots
Short introductions to the radio calls every student pilot needs, written from the FAA Aeronautical Information Manual and the Pilot/Controller Glossary with the paragraph for each point. Then say each one out loud to an AI controller that talks back.
Scared to talk on the radio? Every student pilot is
Radio anxiety is a normal part of flight training. What the AIM gives you to lean on, what to do when you freeze, and where to practice with nobody listening.
Read the guide Try the free radio checkFirst solo radio calls, from the ramp to the tie-down
Every call of a first solo in the pattern, in order, at a towered airport and a non-towered one: ATIS, Ground, Tower, each leg, the option, the go-around and back to Ground.
Read the guide Practice the patternYour first radio call as a student pilot
The shape of the first call to Ground or Tower, how your identification works, saying 'student pilot', and the readbacks the controller is listening for.
Read the guide Practice the first callFAA radio phraseology basics
Letters and numbers, altitudes and frequencies, the altimeter setting, ATIS and 'have numbers', and which facility you are talking to.
Read the guide Practice numbers and the altimeterCTAF radio calls at non-towered airports
Self-announcing from ten miles out to clear of the runway, the airport name first and last, UNICOM, and the phrase the AIM says never to use.
Read the guide Practice CTAF callsHow to request VFR flight following
The request to Approach or Center, the squawk and 'radar contact', answering a traffic call, and how the service ends.
Read the guide Practice flight followingLine up and wait, cleared for takeoff, cleared to land
What each tower clearance authorizes, what must be read back with the runway, and the calls from the hold line to 'contact Ground'.
Read the guide Practice tower clearancesClass B clearance and Class C, D radio calls
'Cleared into the Class Bravo' before you enter, two-way communication for Class C and D, and what Special VFR needs.
Read the guide Practice controlled airspaceSquawk codes: 1200, 7500, 7600, 7700
The VFR code, the three emergency codes, when to ident, and how to change codes without setting off an alarm.
Read the guide Practice squawks and identLight gun signals and radio failure
Every tower light signal on the ground and in the air, how to acknowledge one, and what to do when the radio dies inbound to a towered field.
Read the guide Practice non-standard situationsHow to read the ATIS
What the recording contains, in what order, saying 'with Information Charlie', and what 'have numbers' does and does not tell the controller.
Read the guide Practice reportsFirst time flying into a Class D airport
When to call, the five things the call contains, the reply that lets you enter and the one that does not, the pattern instructions you will hear, and the readbacks.
Read the guide Practice a towered arrivalClass C airport radio calls: Approach first, then Tower
The call to Approach with position, altitude, squawk and destination, what establishes communication, sequencing, the hand-off to Tower, and departing a Class C.
Read the guide Practice controlled airspaceHow to call Ground for taxi
The request, why the controller never says 'cleared' for taxi, what must be read back, progressive taxi when you are lost, and the call after landing.
Read the guide Practice the taxi callCalling the tower inbound
When to make the arrival call, its five parts, 'with Information' versus 'have numbers', the pattern instructions the tower gives, and the landing clearance readback.
Read the guide Practice a towered arrivalTraffic pattern position reports
The legs and their names, reporting only where told at a towered airport, every leg on the CTAF, what each call contains, and the phrases the AIM rules out.
Read the guide Practice the patternRequesting touch-and-goes, closed traffic and the option
How to ask for pattern work, what 'closed traffic approved' and 'unable' mean, 'cleared for the option' and the five things it allows, and what to tell the tower on a stop-and-go.
Read the guide Practice the patternWhat "cleared for the option" means
The FAA definition in one line, the five things the clearance authorizes, what to read back with the runway, and what to tell the tower if you stay on it.
Read the guide Practice the patternWhat "cleared to land" means
The FAA definition, what "predicated on known traffic" leaves with you, and the readback with the runway — including left, right or center.
Read the guide Practice the patternWhat "cleared for takeoff" means
The FAA definition, why "line up and wait" is not a takeoff clearance, and the readback with the runway that the tower is listening for.
Read the guide Practice the patternThe go-around radio call
Fly first, then one short call; what 'go around' from the tower means and where you go next; the go-around on the CTAF; and go-around versus low approach.
Read the guide Practice non-standard situationsHow to pick up an IFR clearance
The call to Clearance Delivery, the order the clearance comes in, 'cleared as filed' and what it leaves out, the readback, void times, non-towered airports, and picking one up in the air.
Read the guide Practice readbacksATC phraseology cheat sheet
The standard words and what each commits you to, numbers, what must be read back, squawk codes, airspace in one line each, and the two emergency calls. One page for the kneeboard.
Read the guide Practice every callClass B transition: asking to cross the Bravo
What you need, the request, the exact words that clear you in and the words that do not, altitude and route inside, 'leaving Bravo airspace', and the VFR corridor alternative.
Read the guide Practice controlled airspaceSpecial VFR clearance: when you can ask, and what to say
What it is, the one-mile and clear-of-clouds limits, who issues it, how to ask, why the clearance has no altitude, IFR priority and 'expect delay', and where it stops.
Read the guide Practice services and airspaceHow to talk to Flight Service
'(Name) Radio', the 122.2 common frequency, stating your frequency and position, opening and closing a VFR flight plan, weather in the air, and what Flight Service cannot do.
Read the guide Practice services and airspaceVFR radio failure: what to do when the radio dies
The checks first, squawk 7600, the AIM procedure for a towered airport with a dead receiver, transmitter or both, the light signals and how to acknowledge them, and failure before departure.
Read the guide Practice non-standard situationsDeparture radio calls: from the hold line to leaving the airspace
When to switch to Tower, the 'ready' call, the takeoff clearance and its readback, intersection departures, leaving Class D, departing Class B and C, and the hand-off.
Read the guide Practice the departureCheckride oral prep: the radio questions you should be able to answer
Twenty radio communication questions with short answers and the AIM or Pilot/Controller Glossary paragraph for each: airspace entry, readbacks, standard words, squawks, light signals, radio failure, Special VFR and emergencies.
Read the guide Take the radio checkDon't just read it, say it
Every guide links to live practice. Make the calls to the AI controller and get feedback with the AIM paragraph for each one.
These guides are a study aid written in our own words from the FAA AIM and Pilot/Controller Glossary. They do not reproduce those documents and are not a substitute for them. Always defer to the AIM, current FAA publications, your instructor and your examiner. TowerTalk is not FAA approved.