Class D Airspace MADE EASY (Departure) | ATC Comms

Class D Airspace can range from quite mellow and quiet on the radio, to absolutely chaotic. No matter where you are, it’s important to communicate effectively with ATC. In this video, we go through a Class D Airspace Departure and show you how to talk to ATC.

Of course, depending on where you are, there are all sorts of different procedures at Class D Airports. But it still comes down to the basics with ATC. Plan, Ask, Comply, and Listen.

We start off by getting the weather and making sure we have the ATIS. Then, we look at ForeFlight and the airport chart to make our plan. Once we get our taxi clearance, we draw that on the chart.

As we taxi, we are heads out and pay attention to where we are, keeping situational awareness. We’ll taxi to the hold short point, do any preflight checks, and then call the tower when we’re ready to go.

Then we depart the pattern, depart the airspace, and comply with any instructions on the way out.

Want to be a pilot? Take online ground school and do checkride prep with us at Angle of Attack.

AUTHOR

Chris Palmer

Chris Palmer has been in aviation training and creating educational content since 2006. As a career CFI (Certified Flight Instructor) and Master Aviation Educator* Chris trains dozens of pilots year round at his Alaska-based flight school, Angle of Attack HQ. He’s one of Youtube’s leading Aviation Training Content Creators with over 120K subscribers. With a focus on developing and sharing new flight training methods, techniques, and tips. Chris founded Angle of Attack to offer a new, fresh and modern spin on aviation training. AOA does this by keeping the building on the wonderful knowledge passed down through the generations, married with new and modern media.