For US student pilots
How to pick up an IFR clearance
The IFR clearance is the longest thing anyone will ever say to you on the radio, and the first few times it arrives faster than you can write. The way through it is knowing the order it always comes in, so the pen is already in the right place, and knowing that a readback of what you heard is the right answer even when you heard half of it.
Who to call, and when
At an airport with a pre-taxi clearance programme you call Clearance Delivery, or Ground where there is no separate frequency, not more than 10 minutes before you plan to taxi, and the clearance is issued on that first call (AIM 5-2-1 a 2, a 3). Once you have it, call Ground when ready to taxi; you normally need not tell Ground that you have the clearance (a 4, a 5). If you cannot raise Clearance Delivery, tell Ground (a 6). Pilots on IFR flight plans should talk to the tower on Ground or Clearance Delivery before starting engines (AIM 5-2-4).
The call
The AIM gives the contents when the filed flight plan is unchanged: call sign, location, the type of operation (IFR) and the airport you expect clearance to (AIM 5-2-6 h 2). If you have changed the route or destination since filing, say so and request a full route clearance (h 3).
Oakland Clearance Delivery, Cessna Three One Six Zero Foxtrot, at the Kaiser ramp, IFR to Sacramento Executive.
The order it comes in
Controllers issue a departure clearance in a fixed order: the clearance limit, normally “cleared to (destination) airport”; the departure procedure or initial heading; the route of flight; the altitude; then the additional items such as the departure frequency and the transponder code (JO 7110.65 4-3-2 b through e; AIM 5-2-6 g 1). Pilots often remember it as clearance limit, route, altitude, frequency, transponder. Lay your kneeboard out in that order before you call.
Cessna Three One Six Zero Foxtrot, cleared to Sacramento Executive Airport as filed, maintain three thousand, expect five thousand one zero minutes after departure, departure frequency one two zero point niner, squawk four six one two.
“As filed”, and what it does not include
“Cleared to (destination) airport as filed” means the route you filed, provided it could be approved with little or no change (AIM 5-2-6 a; P/CG CLEARED AS FILED). It does not include the altitude: an altitude is always stated, or you are told when to expect it (AIM 5-2-6 f). If a departure procedure is to be flown, its name and transition are stated before “then as filed” (5-2-6 d).
The readback
Read back the parts containing altitudes, headings and the route, in the same order, with your call sign (AIM 4-4-7 b). Controllers or pilots may initiate a readback of a clearance (JO 7110.65 4-3-2 note). If any part is not clearly understood, ask for verification or clarification; the AIM says so in capitals (AIM 5-2-6 h 4).
Cleared to Sacramento Executive as filed, maintain three thousand, expect five thousand in one zero, departure one two zero point niner, squawk four six one two, Cessna Six Zero Foxtrot.
Void times and hold for release
At a non-towered airport the clearance often carries a time limit. “Clearance void if not off by (time)” means the release is cancelled if you are not airborne by then; it withdraws your authority to depart IFR until a new release, and a pilot who departs VFR afterwards must not use the assigned code (P/CG). “Hold for release” means the clearance is not valid for departure until a release time or further instruction (P/CG HOLD FOR RELEASE, RELEASE TIME).
At a non-towered airport
The Chart Supplement lists the frequency or telephone number for clearance delivery at that airport. On initial contact, say the flight is IFR and give the departure and destination airports (AIM 5-2-3 a, b). The same entry may carry the number for cancelling IFR after landing (b).
Picking it up in the air
For the IFR portion of a VFR flight, request the clearance before the fix where you want IFR to begin, in time to avoid a delay, using the AIM’s form: facility, call sign, VFR, your estimate for the fix, altitude, request IFR to the destination (AIM 5-2-6 h 5).
Oakland Center, Cessna Three One Six Zero Foxtrot, VFR estimating Sacramento VOR at four five, three thousand five hundred, request IFR to Redding.
Acknowledging & reading back
Acknowledge every call-up and clearance with your identification — at the start or the end — and one of the standard words. [AIM 4-2-3 c]
- Wilco
- Received, understood, will comply. [P/CG]
- Roger
- Received all of your last transmission. Never an answer to a yes/no question. [P/CG]
- Affirmative / Negative
- Yes / No. [P/CG]
- Unable
- Cannot comply with the instruction. Say what you can do instead. [P/CG]
- Say again
- Repeat — “say again all after (fix)”. [P/CG]
- Stand by
- A pause, not an approval or a denial. Call again if the wait is long. [P/CG]
What must be read back
- Runway assignments
- The runway, including left/right/center, in the first readback of a taxi, departure or landing clearance. [AIM 4-4-7 b 4]
- Hold-short instructions
- Word for word. ATC is required to obtain this readback. [AIM 4-3-18 a 9, 10]
- Any clearance to enter a runway
- Line up and wait, cross runway (number), cleared for takeoff. [AIM 4-3-18 a 9]
- Altitudes, vectors, altitude restrictions
- In the sequence given, with your identification. [AIM 4-4-7 b 2]
- Squawk codes and frequency changes
- Read back the code; acknowledge the frequency. [AIM 4-2-3 d]
- Not read back
- Wind, traffic information, weather — acknowledged, never required.
November Five Charlie Tango, roger, cleared to land runway nine left.
Runway three six left, taxi via Alpha, hold short of taxiway Charlie, Cessna Six Zero Foxtrot.
Who you are talking to — ground station names
Call a facility by its name and its type. [AIM 4-2-6, TBL 4-2-1]
- (Name) Ground
- Ground control in the tower — taxi, before you move on the movement area.
- (Name) Tower
- The airport traffic control tower — runway, takeoff, landing, the pattern.
- (Name) Clearance Delivery
- IFR clearances at busier airports.
- (Name) Approach / Departure
- Radar approach control — VFR flight following, Class B and C airspace, sequencing to the tower.
- (Name) Center
- The air route traffic control center — en route, flight following away from a terminal area.
- (Name) Radio
- A Flight Service Station — weather, flight plans, in Alaska airport advisories.
- (Name) UNICOM
- The non-government station at an airport — wind and runway on request.
- (Name) traffic
- Not a station: the self-announce address on a CTAF at an airport with no operating tower. [AIM 4-1-9]
Copy a clearance from a controller who reads it at real speed
TowerTalk's Exercise B drills readbacks with an AI controller at a real US airport: clearances, altitudes, headings and frequencies, graded with the AIM paragraph.
Related
Study aid, written in our own words from the FAA Aeronautical Information Manual (Change 3, 7/9/26) and the Pilot/Controller Glossary, with paragraph references so you can check each point. Last reviewed 10 September 2026; awaiting review by a US flight instructor. It does not reproduce those documents and is not a substitute for them — always defer to the AIM, the current FAA publications, your instructor and your examiner. TowerTalk is not approved or endorsed by the FAA.