Originally Posted by
rvrabel2002
In 12 years as a CFI, I must say I've never heard of an ATC courtesy call as being a violation of the FARs. Ask your instructor if (s)he can give you the FAR number that references this so-called reg. I'm willing to bet (s)he can't. Most likely, this is just the instructor's pet peeve, so (s)he's trying to discourage your class from doing something that (s)he personally finds annoying.
Regarding courtesy calls, just use your best judgment as PIC. If you're making a standard ATC request (ie. on the ramp, ready to taxi for departure to the practice area), I'd say go ahead and make your full call sans courtesy call. If, however, you have some kind of unique situation or complicated request, a courtesy call might be nice to make sure the controller's workload allows him/her to accommodate you. As you gain flight experience, you'll get a feel for what works and what doesn't.
As a favor, please do report back if your instructor is able to show the existence of such a "courtesy call" regulation.
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The only thing I'll add is to not to be intimidated. It's a balance but sometimes newer pilots try to stay "too much out of the way". You are a part of the ATC system as much as that UAL 777. If you're circling the VFR reporting point and the weather is closing down on you, and you have nowhere else to go...it might not be the right time to be timid on the radio
Radio Comms is one of the harder things to master. The basics are easy, but only years of practice will get you to be "fluent." When a newb keys up on the radio everybody on the frequency can immediatelly tell before he's done saying his call sign that he's a newb, much like native speakers KNOW when someone else is not a native speaker of a language...they are saying all the same words, but yet everybody still knows. Listen to as much ATC comms as possible. When you plan your X-ctry, don't only choose the lonely Class E airports in the middle of nowhere. The only way to get good at talking on the radio is to do it A LOT.
"with-you" has become one of my pet-peeves also. Not because people use it, but because it bothers some people SOO much. Yes...i'm a "with-you" guy. I'm also a "ga'day" guy. I once had an FO criticize me for my "with-you". I asked him why? He gave me the usual about taking up airwave space, who else would we be with, not in the p/c glossary, etc. His very next radio call was "Roger, We're IMC, we got 'um in the box". So what letter do I find "we got 'um in the box" filed under in the P/C Glossary? Why do people even say that, there is no such a thing as "TCAS seperation". We called a truce after 2 legs of every "Q, P, 3, 5, 9, 0, ten-thousand, saying 350 instead of FL350, not saying our call sign, not checking out of altitudes, every frequency read-back (NOBODY reads back frequencies properly all the time), etc." was pointed out.
Roger-Wilco, Over & Out!