FWIW
 

Lately, I had several issues when checking in (IFR flight plan). Three times on long cross countries, the controllers were working multiple frequencies and although I could not hear, they were busy. Very busy, so I have begun to just call out my tail # and wait. Then "RV226 whiskey lima level eight thousand"

I add the "level" because in a flight (two different flights) with 13 handoffs, ATC asked if I was level more than once. I don't know what they may be seeing as I was level on AP the whole time. Usually in smooth air.

Anyone know why they would ask, and should I continue with the "level" call out?

there are no pronouns in air traffic. say,,call sign, altitude,anything important, then listen,,,,,,

Sounds like fingernails on a chalkboard.

122.8
 

Try that in Central Texas where most airports are on 122.8. The guys that say this usually forget to start with the airport name. Almost as bad as a meow-war on guard. Lots of fun!

...and
 

"...so I have begun to just call out my tail # and wait. Then "RV226 whiskey lima level eight thousand"..."

...and you contribute to the congestion on the frequency because now he has to ASK for the information that you should have provided on the initial call and you have to answer...again...

They likely haven't paid much attention to your blip on the radar until you checked in. The fact that your blip doesn't show a vertical velocity at the moment they look at it, doesn't necessarily mean that you won't be in another few seconds. ATC is always looking to confirm "your understanding" of your clearance and intentions when checking in, not just what the strip says. You should always include "level" or other mode when checking in, IMO. It is a redundancy designed for safety in the IFR environment.

Larry

Larry

Nope, read again what he wrote. He?s checking in (holy cr@p I said the bad words!) on a IFR flight plan, not calling to request flight following. No extra congestion caused here.

Exactly! A huge peeve of mine is just this; flipping to a new frequency, mash the PTT and start yakking. I hear it multiple times every day and it drives me nuts, it?s just freakin rude. The worst I?ve seen was one night at Denver; on a visual approach I switched to tower with the usual ?Good evening Tower, United XXX visual 17L?. One second after I released the PTT some idiot Southwest guy starts talking, also checking in with tower. I wanted to hug the tower guy as he ignored SWA and cleared us to land...

Bill, just curious if it was a point to point normal XC or a multiple airport multiple approaches bouncing in and out of different facilities.
Flight plan info to/from centers, approach controls as towers doesn?t process the same. Some routes like IAF?s versus landing airports and temporary versus filed altitude can raise questions as to what the aircraft is or wants to do.

Atc
 

?...Nope, read again what he wrote...?

I did... and I read it to mean he called atc with his call sign, waited (unkey the mic) and then made another call. If he actually kept the mic keyed, the result is the same; no one else can talk...leading to frequency congestion.

The guide on proper phraseology is pretty specific and can be found in a link posted in a previous reply.

Overall, I think the majority of folks using the system do a pretty good job, even if the phraseology isn?t quite standard...there will always be the couple percent that mess it up, though...

Perhaps that I always found controllers helpful when I lived in the US!!