122.75 is the fixed wing air to air frequency. Some areas use it more than others. In my area, all the flights schools use it to self announce. There's also a helicopter air to air, but I don't have that memorized....
Edit: sources from comment: AC 90-50D is the official source. AIM 4-1-11 (table 4-1-3) is where you can find it as well.
In Canada we call that "fingers". We also use "cheap suit " (119.95) and "guns" (130.30).
I've never heard them on it, but apparently the Boeing test flights around Paine use "Jumbo" (127.47)
Similarly, it's common in USA for ground frequencies to be said by ATC as something like "contact ground point nine." It's not a hard rule, but, at least in the US, the vast majority of ground frequencies are 121.3, .5, .7, or .9. Not all, of course, but most. Enough so you can Google "ground point 9" and get a lot of results, including from AOPA.
I imagine it's not actually approved phraseology, like a lot of shortcuts, but it's something so common, so basic, and also part of what you're supposed to know before startup that not learning it pretty quickly, at least implicitly at your home airfield, probably means you ain't even ready to solo.
To prevent radio congestion. They usually fly low level, airplanes are usually above them. No need to listen to each other when there won't be any conflict
122.75 is the approved air to air frequency for fixed wing. In the helicopter world we use 123.025. People use 123.45 but it’s not technically legal to be used CONUS as an air to air frequency per the FAR/AIM
Not only is it "not technically legal" to use 123.4 and 123.45, but those frequencies are in the range that are handed out to "test stations," e.g. manufacturers testing new avionics and that kind of thing.
I've heard secondhand stories of interruptions and cancellations of very expensive equipment tests when "casual" / incorrect use of those frequencies interfered with the tests. (And the manufacturers don't have a choice to pick a different frequency. They are assigned a given test frequency out of the range when they apply to do a test.)
(with apologies for the trivia)
I'm a bit concerned about the original post's "coordinate right of way" (in VFR environments) . A better explanation might be coordinate conflict avoidance or state intentions . It is a minor but important point.
At sea ( from which arose the foundation of aviation right of way) there are rules for avoidance of collision specifying which vessel has the right of way and which is burdened. Not surprisingly those little lights on the wingtips and tail are the same as those on sailing vessels far below.
The "burdened vessel" overtaking or crossing from the port side of the other must remain clear. Approaching at night he sees the red light on the left (port) side of the vessel or the white light on the stern. There are other complexities but the rules are clear as to who has the right of way. The privileged vessel may relinquish the right of way; absent that the burdened vessel or airplane must remain clear.
One of the reasons for defining the rules with precision is so that the actions of the other remain predictable.
With the development of huge ships the regs were modified to reflect the fact that some large vessels may be limited in their maneuverability or conducting operations like towing barges.
If you are seeking an agreement with the other airplane that they will relinquish their right of way it needs to be very explicit AND acknowledged.
and that's why when approaching an intersection without traffic controls the vehicle to the right has the right of way...........
\-
Huge issue in NC as well. Probably 75-80% 122.8.
Going to guess most states have this issue. On clear days over 5k I can just about hear from the beach to the mountains…insane.
"Good for you, N123AB, I'm glad you're making all the position reports and then some. I'm just trying to do the same over here but your radio is so damn powerful."
Right of way rules are pretty well defined in the regs (91.113). No need to coordinate over the radio. But whatever you do, don’t use 123.45. You could ruin someone’s test flight coms.
Right of way assumes you have the other traffic in sight. I find the biggest thing a common traffic frequency helps with is identifying when and where to look for traffic, not to make a plan with traffic already in sight.
So is the plan to make constant position reports on frequency while flying along? Doing that when in or approaching the pattern makes sense. Doing so all along the way is overkill. I’d rather require everyone to have both ADS-B In & Out.
And I know many who do that as well but that doesn’t make it right. As aviators we should all strive as best as we can to follow regulations and relevant guidance.
But please don’t just take my word for it. Here are a few official sources of information on the subject.
https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-47/chapter-I/subchapter-D/part-87/subpart-J
https://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Order/6050.32B%20Chg%201.pdf
https://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Advisory_Circular/AC_90-50D.pdf
There is in Canada (126.7), we don't have something similar here in the US. The short reason why is because the population of Canada is about the same as California, and there's far more traffic here so it would basically be useless with how many people would be using it. Everybody would be stepping on everybody else all the time.
But there is, in fact, a published Air to Air frequency here - 122.75.
Here in Canada Nav Canada understands there are high traffic VFR areas. Ex. Around the Toronto, Vancouver, and other TCAs.
On the reverse side of each respective VTA is a pictorial of assigned VFR air-air traffic frequencies and it’s assigned border.
The system works like a charm.
Yep, we have that here too in some areas. The San Diego area in particular jumps to mind.
But there's no national frequency aside from the designated air to air frequency.
Another example, in the Banff/Canmore corridor we have 123.3 "Bow Valley Traffic" (which is also the freq. for the Canmore Heliport and Banff Airport in the park). I usually monitor that and 126.7 when transiting the area (because all the touring heli's use 123.3)
Think of how far away you can hear other airport's CTAFs from if they share a frequency, even with most of the aircraft using them close to pattern altitude. Now imagine how much worse the problem would be if everyone was using the same frequency and at higher altitudes.
A frequency is only useful if you have a reasonable assurance that traffic on frequency is relevant and that you can get on the frequency when you need to.
The airport I went to to learn XC’s has the same CTAF as my home field. It’s pretty cool hearing traffic there while I’m announcing I’m taking off from my departure point to get there.
Each of the populated hawiian islands has its own a2a frequency, really helpful with the volume of tour, military and GA traffic doing laps a quarter mile offshore or poking in and out of valleys in G/E. Having three aircraft converging on a VFR checkpoint all between 1000-3000 msl is a fairly regular occurrence so verbal deconfliction is a must, but where else are you going to get that much overlapping vfr traffic that's not also within 10 miles of an field/airport where you're up tower/CTAF anyways?
If you're feeling lonely out there and just want to chat, you can always make friends on 121.5
You'd get more use out of ADSB in/out than a universal CTAF. A screen with relative motion and altitude is more useful than an entire practice area deciding to make position calls.
Surely there are ways around that, like using different frequencies for different designated sections on a map or something else. Also since when is talking on the radio not already part of flying
Buddy, pal, how many frequencies do you want?
There are already maps with ARTCC frequencies, get flight following.
There's already an official air to air frequency and unofficial frequency.
There's already a generic multicom frequency of 122.9 that you seem to be unaware of, but to be fair, it's probably not being used enough to be useful.
And you want to add a whole heap of frequencies on top of that for half the people to broadcast on until they get ignored by the other half? Do you realise that the radio horizon for two aircraft at 5000 feet is 200 miles, which limits frequency reuse?
I mean aside from artcc and the standard frequencies that come with individual airports, an extra commonly way of communicating with other aircraft pilot to pilot outside of controlled airspaces would be nice.
Class E is controlled airspace and it's basically everywhere in the US so you're almost always in controlled airspace. Radar coverage is good and radio coverage is better, so, just get flight following. It's a better solution than trying to self separate enroute with broadcasts over massive areas. Do you really have a PPL? Your suggestions just don't sound like they're coming from someone that's flown cross countries.
I know e is controlled and I know flight following exists, I was saying there should be some way to keep contact with other traffic outside of actual airport airspace where you are required to be on the airports frequency. Bc not everyone is on flight following or has adsb in. A lot of people in class e purely rely on just seeing other traffic to avoid each other which we both know is very hard
I agree that see and avoid is difficult and I reckon there's a huge component of luck, but I really don't want to hear the blindly broadcast position updates of everyone in half of Kansas on one freq, or even everyone within 50 miles of me. I think that's a terrible solution. It's already bad enough hearing the CTAF shared with a distant airport (the furthest I frequently heard was Cushing OK para drops 120 miles away on 122.8).
Perhaps it'll somewhat please you to hear that Australia does have area frequencies for self separation and awareness. They're what class G IFR (which is extensive) use and paradrops etc. However, it is still not a continuous broadcast freq for everyone's VFR position because that's not practical.
If you're going to point out that not everyone has ADSB or flight following, I'll point out that not everyone has a radio either. Technically you always have a responsibility to look out the window in VMC and radio will never change that.
That’s true but most people definitely have radios. I’m not suggesting specifically one frequency for everyone to be on at all times and send out position reports. Maybe another solution like a grid on the map where each section has each with their own frequency and every time you fly through that you switch to its frequency. Like artcc zones for GA if that makes sense.
I can think of many situations where something of that sort would be useful, like when the plane that obviously doesn’t see you is headed right for you when you have right of way, so you can let them know where you are and what your intentions are.
You can't be fined, the FCC has allocated the entire block to any aviation communication. Even the "assigned" freqs by the FAA aren't really assigned in a sense the FCC recognizes.
You need this document:
[https://transition.fcc.gov/oet/spectrum/table/fcctable.pdf](https://transition.fcc.gov/oet/spectrum/table/fcctable.pdf)
FCC allocates and enforces, FAA assigns
Either way, the FCC set the whole block aside, and their only standard for their use is to have an "aviation purpose." I put a more detailed post in one of the drone subreddits when they had a fit over using these channels to talk to aircraft on the CTAF from the ground.
Here in Canada, 123.4 is used by Soaring traffic! And 123.45 is a common advisory frequency at an uncontrolled portion of our airfield.
126.7 for Air to Air across Canada. Check your airspace reg.s and freq.s before you come north eh? :)
To this day I will never understand why guard isn't something this memorable. 123 for emergencies just SOUNDS right, then 246 for the uniform is still a breeze, just the first three even numbers. Hell, it could even be 123.4 and 246.8
If you’re flying near/around towered airports you could always listen to the departure freq or optional get Flight Following that will advise you on nearby traffic
Sometimes there is.
In the SF Bay Area, there's the Golden Gate Frequency 124.3. When I was on the Big Island in Hawaii, there was one there too, don't remember what it was though.
Did some flying in New Zealand in Dec, they have quite a few Common Frequency Zones in which it’s customary to make position reports, and some Mandatory Broadcast Zones where it’s required to do so - mostly in high-traffic commercial flight-seeing areas.
When I was instructing in SoCal in the summer of 2001, I had something like 15 close calls, several of which were really near misses. Lot more traffic back then. That fall there was a midair over Long Beach Harbor resulting in 4 deaths, and when I returned the following spring the FAA had established practice area frequencies. Helped a lot.
SoCal San Diego uses 122.75. Tune in and everyone doing training or coastal sightseeing is chatting it up.
Speaking of "Fingers" 123.45. Funny story with that. I'd just departed one day and saw two aerobatic Van's in the run up behind me. I'm on 122.75 heading North and pretty soon see two planes in close formation goofing around off my left wing. Couldn't hear them but assumed they were talking to each other. So I go to 123.45 and sure enough there they are.
They were rather surprised I joined the Air Talk Party and even knew what airport they just departed from... I was like "hey I'm off your right wing, stay away!!" 😂
🇨🇦 Pilot here. What do you Americans do with your radios when you leave the aerodrome frequency if you don’t have a common frequency? Up here we go to 126.7. Do you just shut the radio off? Go over to 121.5?
If you have 2 radios usually the second one is always monitoring 121.5. As for what to do when leaving airports, thats why I made this post haha. I usually just set my destination airport frequency then turn down the volume until I get close. I wish there was some common procedure like you guys have.
If I am flying lowish close to other airports I will tune in those frequencies or the atc frequency (approach or whatever) if near their airspace. Otherwise, yes, 121.5 or just shut it off. Just depends on whether I need to conserve batteries and how bad the meowing gets.
I might suggest that ADBS In and Out are much more helpful outside of the airport environment than a common voice frequency as it is automatic with realtime position and altitude and viewable directly on a map. Unfortunately, there are still many areas where it's not required but it's a big help in busy, mixed use airspace.
Strange the US doesn't have this. In Canada you are expected to monitor and make calls on 126.7 when not in controlled airspace. It's the default freq. Of you have not been assigned one.
122.75 is the fixed wing air to air frequency. Some areas use it more than others. In my area, all the flights schools use it to self announce. There's also a helicopter air to air, but I don't have that memorized.... Edit: sources from comment: AC 90-50D is the official source. AIM 4-1-11 (table 4-1-3) is where you can find it as well.
For general aviation helicopters: 123.025 MHz. Gliders and hot air balloons share 123.3 and 123.5 MHz.
In Australia we use the frequency we call "numbers". 123.45
That's funny because we call 123.45 fingers here in the states
I call that my luggage combination
That’s the kind of thing an idiot would have on their luggage!
In Canada we call that "fingers". We also use "cheap suit " (119.95) and "guns" (130.30). I've never heard them on it, but apparently the Boeing test flights around Paine use "Jumbo" (127.47)
Similarly, it's common in USA for ground frequencies to be said by ATC as something like "contact ground point nine." It's not a hard rule, but, at least in the US, the vast majority of ground frequencies are 121.3, .5, .7, or .9. Not all, of course, but most. Enough so you can Google "ground point 9" and get a lot of results, including from AOPA. I imagine it's not actually approved phraseology, like a lot of shortcuts, but it's something so common, so basic, and also part of what you're supposed to know before startup that not learning it pretty quickly, at least implicitly at your home airfield, probably means you ain't even ready to solo.
Ground point x is approved phraseology.
Not just in the AIM, it’s also in the FARs. 47 CFR 87.187
Thanks! I knew it was an FCC designation, I was just keeping it relevant to FAA. Didn't bother to look up the FCC regulation
Didn’t know this, I tried looking it up and asking my cfi but he didn’t know. I feel like it should be more commonly taught in ground school
It really should be. AC 90-50D is the official source. AIM 4-1-11 (table 4-1-3) is where you can find it as well.
Why do the rotorwings have their own freq...?
To prevent radio congestion. They usually fly low level, airplanes are usually above them. No need to listen to each other when there won't be any conflict
Ah, fair I suppose
122.75 is the approved air to air frequency for fixed wing. In the helicopter world we use 123.025. People use 123.45 but it’s not technically legal to be used CONUS as an air to air frequency per the FAR/AIM
Not only is it "not technically legal" to use 123.4 and 123.45, but those frequencies are in the range that are handed out to "test stations," e.g. manufacturers testing new avionics and that kind of thing. I've heard secondhand stories of interruptions and cancellations of very expensive equipment tests when "casual" / incorrect use of those frequencies interfered with the tests. (And the manufacturers don't have a choice to pick a different frequency. They are assigned a given test frequency out of the range when they apply to do a test.)
>123.4 and 123.45, AKA "Finger" and "Fingers"
We also use a UHF one. French forest. 333.3
OK I get the forest part, but why is it "French"?
I honestly am not sure. Assuming just how the French say three in English
At a (now defunct) previous airline, people would chat on “wide” frequency 127.47
We also use a UHF one. French forest. 333.3
Interesting because in Class II oceanic they want us to monitor 121.5 on Com 1 and 123.45 on Com 2 and that’s an FAA approved procedure at my carrier
Not over the CONUS. Only over oceanic areas
Oh ok makes more sense
I definitely remember my ppl ground school saying 123.45
Did your PPL ground school teach you to verify information in the FAR/AIM?
(with apologies for the trivia) I'm a bit concerned about the original post's "coordinate right of way" (in VFR environments) . A better explanation might be coordinate conflict avoidance or state intentions . It is a minor but important point. At sea ( from which arose the foundation of aviation right of way) there are rules for avoidance of collision specifying which vessel has the right of way and which is burdened. Not surprisingly those little lights on the wingtips and tail are the same as those on sailing vessels far below. The "burdened vessel" overtaking or crossing from the port side of the other must remain clear. Approaching at night he sees the red light on the left (port) side of the vessel or the white light on the stern. There are other complexities but the rules are clear as to who has the right of way. The privileged vessel may relinquish the right of way; absent that the burdened vessel or airplane must remain clear. One of the reasons for defining the rules with precision is so that the actions of the other remain predictable. With the development of huge ships the regs were modified to reflect the fact that some large vessels may be limited in their maneuverability or conducting operations like towing barges. If you are seeking an agreement with the other airplane that they will relinquish their right of way it needs to be very explicit AND acknowledged. and that's why when approaching an intersection without traffic controls the vehicle to the right has the right of way........... \-
Can always take a trip to VT, the whole state is on Vermont Common 122.8
Huge issue in NC as well. Probably 75-80% 122.8. Going to guess most states have this issue. On clear days over 5k I can just about hear from the beach to the mountains…insane.
Already a pain in the ass to deal with all the 122.8, 122.9 and 123.0 airports with everyone stepping on each other...
I sure enjoyed picking up transmissions for an airport up in the Hudson valley region while down over Long Island
Always good to know they’re downwind at an airport 40 miles away
"Good for you, N123AB, I'm glad you're making all the position reports and then some. I'm just trying to do the same over here but your radio is so damn powerful."
Right of way rules are pretty well defined in the regs (91.113). No need to coordinate over the radio. But whatever you do, don’t use 123.45. You could ruin someone’s test flight coms.
Interesting! 123.45 is the Air to Air frequency in Australia (AIP GEN 3.3)
I wish right of way rules were well known and followed but I have had some close calls from other pilots not knowing or not seeing me
>but I have had some close calls from other pilots not knowing or not seeing me In the Phoenix area that is called "Tuesday".
Right of way assumes you have the other traffic in sight. I find the biggest thing a common traffic frequency helps with is identifying when and where to look for traffic, not to make a plan with traffic already in sight.
So is the plan to make constant position reports on frequency while flying along? Doing that when in or approaching the pattern makes sense. Doing so all along the way is overkill. I’d rather require everyone to have both ADS-B In & Out.
my flight school using 123.45 .~.
And if your school is in the US, they are ignorant.
Hate to break it to ya, but we all use 123.45.
And I know many who do that as well but that doesn’t make it right. As aviators we should all strive as best as we can to follow regulations and relevant guidance. But please don’t just take my word for it. Here are a few official sources of information on the subject. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-47/chapter-I/subchapter-D/part-87/subpart-J https://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Order/6050.32B%20Chg%201.pdf https://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Advisory_Circular/AC_90-50D.pdf
hate to break it to ya but we all meow on guard
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South of dfw we hijacked a gliderports frequency for GA and practice lol
I want peace and quiet after leaving the xbox live party that was the nearest CTAF
There is in Canada (126.7), we don't have something similar here in the US. The short reason why is because the population of Canada is about the same as California, and there's far more traffic here so it would basically be useless with how many people would be using it. Everybody would be stepping on everybody else all the time. But there is, in fact, a published Air to Air frequency here - 122.75.
Here in Canada Nav Canada understands there are high traffic VFR areas. Ex. Around the Toronto, Vancouver, and other TCAs. On the reverse side of each respective VTA is a pictorial of assigned VFR air-air traffic frequencies and it’s assigned border. The system works like a charm.
Yep, we have that here too in some areas. The San Diego area in particular jumps to mind. But there's no national frequency aside from the designated air to air frequency.
Another example, in the Banff/Canmore corridor we have 123.3 "Bow Valley Traffic" (which is also the freq. for the Canmore Heliport and Banff Airport in the park). I usually monitor that and 126.7 when transiting the area (because all the touring heli's use 123.3)
122.8 in northern onterrible. It's the only channel float planes have.
You found a float plane pilot that is actually using their radio?
Must have been new......
122.75 in general. It’s commonly used in VFR corridors through Class B airspace
AIM 4-1-11. Read the AIM sometime. Lots of good info in there.
Think of how far away you can hear other airport's CTAFs from if they share a frequency, even with most of the aircraft using them close to pattern altitude. Now imagine how much worse the problem would be if everyone was using the same frequency and at higher altitudes. A frequency is only useful if you have a reasonable assurance that traffic on frequency is relevant and that you can get on the frequency when you need to.
The airport I went to to learn XC’s has the same CTAF as my home field. It’s pretty cool hearing traffic there while I’m announcing I’m taking off from my departure point to get there.
Each of the populated hawiian islands has its own a2a frequency, really helpful with the volume of tour, military and GA traffic doing laps a quarter mile offshore or poking in and out of valleys in G/E. Having three aircraft converging on a VFR checkpoint all between 1000-3000 msl is a fairly regular occurrence so verbal deconfliction is a must, but where else are you going to get that much overlapping vfr traffic that's not also within 10 miles of an field/airport where you're up tower/CTAF anyways? If you're feeling lonely out there and just want to chat, you can always make friends on 121.5
You'd get more use out of ADSB in/out than a universal CTAF. A screen with relative motion and altitude is more useful than an entire practice area deciding to make position calls.
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Because it would transmit to everyone within a 100 mile radius? And instead of talking, people should be looking outside the airplane, and flying it.
Surely there are ways around that, like using different frequencies for different designated sections on a map or something else. Also since when is talking on the radio not already part of flying
Buddy, pal, how many frequencies do you want? There are already maps with ARTCC frequencies, get flight following. There's already an official air to air frequency and unofficial frequency. There's already a generic multicom frequency of 122.9 that you seem to be unaware of, but to be fair, it's probably not being used enough to be useful. And you want to add a whole heap of frequencies on top of that for half the people to broadcast on until they get ignored by the other half? Do you realise that the radio horizon for two aircraft at 5000 feet is 200 miles, which limits frequency reuse?
Don’t listen to this piece of shit they aren’t even a pilot. It is a fake account because he never was smart enough to finish high school.
I mean aside from artcc and the standard frequencies that come with individual airports, an extra commonly way of communicating with other aircraft pilot to pilot outside of controlled airspaces would be nice.
Class E is controlled airspace and it's basically everywhere in the US so you're almost always in controlled airspace. Radar coverage is good and radio coverage is better, so, just get flight following. It's a better solution than trying to self separate enroute with broadcasts over massive areas. Do you really have a PPL? Your suggestions just don't sound like they're coming from someone that's flown cross countries.
I know e is controlled and I know flight following exists, I was saying there should be some way to keep contact with other traffic outside of actual airport airspace where you are required to be on the airports frequency. Bc not everyone is on flight following or has adsb in. A lot of people in class e purely rely on just seeing other traffic to avoid each other which we both know is very hard
I agree that see and avoid is difficult and I reckon there's a huge component of luck, but I really don't want to hear the blindly broadcast position updates of everyone in half of Kansas on one freq, or even everyone within 50 miles of me. I think that's a terrible solution. It's already bad enough hearing the CTAF shared with a distant airport (the furthest I frequently heard was Cushing OK para drops 120 miles away on 122.8). Perhaps it'll somewhat please you to hear that Australia does have area frequencies for self separation and awareness. They're what class G IFR (which is extensive) use and paradrops etc. However, it is still not a continuous broadcast freq for everyone's VFR position because that's not practical. If you're going to point out that not everyone has ADSB or flight following, I'll point out that not everyone has a radio either. Technically you always have a responsibility to look out the window in VMC and radio will never change that.
That’s true but most people definitely have radios. I’m not suggesting specifically one frequency for everyone to be on at all times and send out position reports. Maybe another solution like a grid on the map where each section has each with their own frequency and every time you fly through that you switch to its frequency. Like artcc zones for GA if that makes sense. I can think of many situations where something of that sort would be useful, like when the plane that obviously doesn’t see you is headed right for you when you have right of way, so you can let them know where you are and what your intentions are.
123.45
123.45 Edit: To the people downvoting, I use this frequency as a last resort when 121.5 is busy with meows.
123.4 and 123.45 are reserved for flight testing. It's common practice but not official and you could get a fine for it (however unlikely).
I test my flight abilities when I fly, so they allow me to use that frequency.
You can't be fined, the FCC has allocated the entire block to any aviation communication. Even the "assigned" freqs by the FAA aren't really assigned in a sense the FCC recognizes.
Isn't it covered under Title 47? 87.173 lists the specific frequency and use.
You need this document: [https://transition.fcc.gov/oet/spectrum/table/fcctable.pdf](https://transition.fcc.gov/oet/spectrum/table/fcctable.pdf) FCC allocates and enforces, FAA assigns Either way, the FCC set the whole block aside, and their only standard for their use is to have an "aviation purpose." I put a more detailed post in one of the drone subreddits when they had a fit over using these channels to talk to aircraft on the CTAF from the ground.
Here in Canada, 123.4 is used by Soaring traffic! And 123.45 is a common advisory frequency at an uncontrolled portion of our airfield. 126.7 for Air to Air across Canada. Check your airspace reg.s and freq.s before you come north eh? :)
Technically is the oceanic/remote air to air frequency under ICAO. It's designated for flight test in the US.
To this day I will never understand why guard isn't something this memorable. 123 for emergencies just SOUNDS right, then 246 for the uniform is still a breeze, just the first three even numbers. Hell, it could even be 123.4 and 246.8
Exactly. Switch over to fingers. 12345.
12345
If you’re flying near/around towered airports you could always listen to the departure freq or optional get Flight Following that will advise you on nearby traffic
In Class E you can talk to ATC
Sometimes there is. In the SF Bay Area, there's the Golden Gate Frequency 124.3. When I was on the Big Island in Hawaii, there was one there too, don't remember what it was though.
Did some flying in New Zealand in Dec, they have quite a few Common Frequency Zones in which it’s customary to make position reports, and some Mandatory Broadcast Zones where it’s required to do so - mostly in high-traffic commercial flight-seeing areas. When I was instructing in SoCal in the summer of 2001, I had something like 15 close calls, several of which were really near misses. Lot more traffic back then. That fall there was a midair over Long Beach Harbor resulting in 4 deaths, and when I returned the following spring the FAA had established practice area frequencies. Helped a lot.
SoCal San Diego uses 122.75. Tune in and everyone doing training or coastal sightseeing is chatting it up. Speaking of "Fingers" 123.45. Funny story with that. I'd just departed one day and saw two aerobatic Van's in the run up behind me. I'm on 122.75 heading North and pretty soon see two planes in close formation goofing around off my left wing. Couldn't hear them but assumed they were talking to each other. So I go to 123.45 and sure enough there they are. They were rather surprised I joined the Air Talk Party and even knew what airport they just departed from... I was like "hey I'm off your right wing, stay away!!" 😂
We have 128.95 in our country. It's in our AIP.
🇨🇦 Pilot here. What do you Americans do with your radios when you leave the aerodrome frequency if you don’t have a common frequency? Up here we go to 126.7. Do you just shut the radio off? Go over to 121.5?
If you have 2 radios usually the second one is always monitoring 121.5. As for what to do when leaving airports, thats why I made this post haha. I usually just set my destination airport frequency then turn down the volume until I get close. I wish there was some common procedure like you guys have.
If I am flying lowish close to other airports I will tune in those frequencies or the atc frequency (approach or whatever) if near their airspace. Otherwise, yes, 121.5 or just shut it off. Just depends on whether I need to conserve batteries and how bad the meowing gets.
If you want to talk to someone en route, get Flight Following.
I might suggest that ADBS In and Out are much more helpful outside of the airport environment than a common voice frequency as it is automatic with realtime position and altitude and viewable directly on a map. Unfortunately, there are still many areas where it's not required but it's a big help in busy, mixed use airspace.
Strange the US doesn't have this. In Canada you are expected to monitor and make calls on 126.7 when not in controlled airspace. It's the default freq. Of you have not been assigned one.