Course materials
The course consists of a set of videos, backed up by pdfs of the slides which take you through different parts of the course. There is also some useful pre-reading.
The course assumes you have Bronze standard knowledge (that is, you've passed the Bronze badge theory). If not, you may well find it useful to look at the Background Theory page, which links to some resources that will be useful reading and viewing.
The six parts of the course are listed below.
Pre-reading
The pre-reading contains material you need to know - at least look it over before getting too deeply into the videos.
As of May 2020 I've updated this package to contain the slides from the following presentations which relate to the theoretical knowledge exam for the FRTOL. Additionally, red change bars mark material which has been added since the original on-line course took place - these are worth paying attention to.
Part 2 - The flight
In this part we carry out a fairly typical cross country flight in a glider.
The slides for Part 2 can be found here.
During the online session we will make use of the following. It would be useful if you could make sure that you can see them during the session (either on screen, or by printing).
The Script Rehearser scripts for these examples can be found here, and the instructions for installing and using Script Rehearser here.
Part 3 - The flight (continued)
The second half of our flight
The slides for Part 3 can be found here.
During the online session we will make use of the following. It would be useful if you could make sure that you can see them during the session (either on screen, or by printing).
The Script Rehearser scripts for these examples can be found here, and the instructions for installing and using Script Rehearser here.
Part 4 - The TMG flight
In this section we look at how a powered flight would work, using a TMG flight between Sywell and Cambridge as an example.
The slides for Part 4 can be found here.
During the online session we will make use of the following. It would be useful if you could make sure that you can see it during the session (either on screen, or by printing).
For this part, we've put some new content in the online session slides, so we've published them. You can download them here.
The Script Rehearser scripts for these examples can be found here, and the instructions for installing and using Script Rehearser here.
The video below is a good example of a real life flight from Redhill to Norwich by The Flying Reporter. The RT isn't perfect, but it will give you a good sense of how it all actually works.
The slides from the online session for Part 4 are here
In the same series we have a flight to an airfield with an AGCS
A flight to an airfield with an AFIS
A flight to an airfield with ATC
And a flight to an airfield in CAS
Lastly a helicopter flight. The RT in this is not bad, though not perfect. It's a well made video though - it's a nice flight.
Part 5 - Emergencies
Here we deal with emergencies and direction finding
The slides for Part 5 can be found here.
The breakouts are going to be a little different for this week. You can find the brief for them here.
The flight is going to be based on the Sywell to Cambridge flight from Part 4. To help, we've included an extract of the half million map for that flight. You may need to download it to make it big enough.
Map © Copyright Civil Aviation Authority 2019. Used under copyright teaching exemption. See: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/exceptions-to-copyright
Part 6 - The test (but mostly practice)
The video for the slides describing the arrangements for the exam is below.
However, most of the time will be spent practising in breakouts. To be getting on with, here is the route that you can practice, with a full script. Try and get to the point where you don't need the script, and can cope with different things happening.
We updated the following scripts as of 31 March 2021, so if you have earlier versions it's worth downloading these, and replacing the ScriptRehearser scripts
There are two further routes to practice before the exam.
I've added the Script Rehearser script for all three of these routes to the appropriate folder which can be found here. Please note that we've missed the word 'altitude' from a lot of the position reports (ie it should be "altitude 2000 feet QNH 1003" or whatever). They've been added to the scripts.
Course Completion Certificates
If you have registered for the test you should have been sent a Course Completion Certificate on 2bd April. That will need to be signed by your coach when you both think you're ready for the test. A dummy certificate can be found here.
A video describing how to use Adobe Fill and Sign (on a iPad, iPhone or Android) is below. Note that the latest version of Adobe Acrobat on the PC also has Fill and Sign functionality (it's just a neat way of adding some text and a signature to a pdf file).
References
General RT references
CAP 413 - the primary reference for RT. Edition 23 A1 (2021)
CAA Safety Sense leaflet 22C - a good primer aimed at GA covering much of the syllabus.
RT Discipline - Safety Sense leaflet. An interesting background read.
RT Reference Guide for Commercial and Air Transport pilots. Another interesting background read.
D&D Cell leaflet - A useful guide to what happens at the D&D Cell (London Centre).
The CAA's GA Supplement to CAP413. This is no longer published, but is quite useful, and has embedded audio to listen to. It's a pdf, and you'll probably need to select your pdf reader carefully to play the audio in it. The RT is a little out of date in one or two places.
An EASA guide to good RT practice. Once again a pdf with embedded audio. Very similar to the CAA's guide mentioned in the bullet point above.
Useful books
Pooley's EU Par-FCL PPL - Radiotelephony Communications Manual. Useful if you like reading books, but all the content is covered in the course
Pooley's EASA PPL (A) and (H) Communications Examination Preparation. Again, everything in here is covered in our course, but if you want the book...
Examiners
Current CAA list of FRTOL examiners - under Radio Telephony here
Crib sheet
This is a useful crib sheet that we expect you will be able to use in the exam.
The Flight Reference Cards that you'll need in the exam can be found here and the Gliding FRC here.
General flying references
The Skyway code. V3, published in March 2021 is a useful reference
SFCL regulations. If you want to know all the licensing detail. You want Annex III.
Acknowledgements
Chula Rupasinha (London GC) and Andrew Watson (Cambridge GC) for their substantial input to the course materials and online course. Chris Marren (Lasham GC) particularly for input on the routes.
All the coaches who have given up their time to help.
Airspace for All for their facilitation of the original course materials.
Changes
V1 - 24 March 2020 - Original release
V1.1 - 10 April 2020
Changes to reflect CAP413 SI 2020-01 (already in V1 but marked as subject to completion). Effective date is 8 June 2020
Slight change to phraseology for level instructions (Not above X -> X or below ; Not below X -> X or above). CAP413 change.
Change to order of wind report and clearance in take off and landing clearances ( "Runway 21, cleared to land, wind 270 10" -> "Runway 21, wind 270 10, cleared to land"). CAP 413 change.
V1.1b - 14 April 2020
Slight changes to the Annex (pre-reading) to reflect improved way of explaining how to pronounce numbers. A few references fixed.
Course material for coaching sessions: V1 added 19 April 2020
Example videos for Part 4 added 9 May 2020
References and acknowledgement added 13 May 2020
Pre-reading extended to include TK material - 18 May 2020
V2.0 January 2021 - Various minor changes and updates to the course slides.
20 March 2021 - minor revisions to the Part 6 scripts.