Every radio call at a non-towered airport follows one shape: airport name, aircraft type and full call sign, where you are, what you are about to do, airport name again. Say that at the seven points the FAA recommends and you are done: before taxi, before you take the runway, ten miles out inbound, entering downwind, base, final, and clear of the runway. The scripts below are word for word, so you can read them off a kneeboard until they come out on their own.
Radio nerves are the most common thing new pilots admit to on the forums. The fix is a script, not confidence.
What to say on CTAF: the self-announce template
AIM 4-1-9 and AC 90-66C, dated 6/6/23, define a self-announce call as your call sign, position, altitude, and intended flight activity on the Common Traffic Advisory Frequency. Five slots: airport name, aircraft type and full call sign, position and altitude, intention, airport name again.
That last slot feels redundant until you have flown near Cape Cod. One pilot on Pilots of America described six airfields within a 30-mile radius all using 122.8, where “sometimes it’s near impossible to get a call in.” Both the AIM and paragraph 10.1 of the AC tell you to bookend the transmission with the airport name for that reason.
Use the published airport name. AC 90-66C gives a pointed example: at Midwest National Airport you say “Midwest National traffic,” not the town name “Mosby traffic” and not “Clay County traffic.”
Departure scripts: taxi and takeoff
Two ground calls, then one airborne. Swap “Lakeview” and runway 27 for your field and your runway.
Before taxi. “Lakeview traffic, Skyhawk Seven Two Five Sierra Papa, at the south ramp, taxiing to runway two seven, Lakeview.”
Before you take the runway. “Lakeview traffic, Skyhawk Seven Two Five Sierra Papa, holding short runway two seven, departing runway two seven, straight out, Lakeview.”
Staying in the pattern. “Lakeview traffic, Skyhawk Seven Two Five Sierra Papa, departing runway two seven, left closed traffic, Lakeview.”
Leaving the pattern. “Lakeview traffic, Skyhawk Seven Two Five Sierra Papa, departing runway two seven, departing the pattern to the south, climbing three thousand five hundred, Lakeview.”
Say the runway number, never “active runway.” That is AC 90-66C paragraph 9.8.1, and the reason is that nothing makes a runway active at a non-towered field. Somebody may be using the other one for length or an instrument approach.
Arrival scripts: ten miles, downwind, base, final
Ten miles out. “Lakeview traffic, Skyhawk Seven Two Five Sierra Papa, one zero miles south, three thousand five hundred, inbound for landing runway two seven, Lakeview.”
Entering the pattern. “Lakeview traffic, Skyhawk Seven Two Five Sierra Papa, entering left downwind runway two seven, full stop, Lakeview.”
Base. “Lakeview traffic, Skyhawk Seven Two Five Sierra Papa, left base runway two seven, Lakeview.”
Final. “Lakeview traffic, Skyhawk Seven Two Five Sierra Papa, final runway two seven, full stop, Lakeview.”
Clear of the runway. “Lakeview traffic, Skyhawk Seven Two Five Sierra Papa, clear of runway two seven, Lakeview.”
Paragraph 9.11.2 of the AC spells out that leg wording almost verbatim. Doing pattern work? Say “touch and go” instead of “full stop,” so the airplane behind you knows whether the runway frees up.
A VFR straight-in changes the timing. The FAA discourages straight-ins here, but paragraph 9.11.1 says if you fly one anyway, announce between 8 and roughly 10 miles out and coordinate with the other traffic. The same paragraph adds that a straight-in has no particular priority over aircraft in the traffic pattern and must comply with 14 CFR 91.113(g). That paragraph gives the lower aircraft on final the right of way, but says a pilot shall not take advantage of the rule to cut in front of another aircraft on final approach to land or to overtake it, so being low and fast buys you nothing.
The phrase to never say: “traffic in the area, please advise”
This is the one call that gets you talked about in the FBO. AIM 4-1-9 puts it plainly: the phrase “is not a recognized Self-Announce Position and/or Intention phrase and should not be used under any condition.” AC 90-66C carries the same note and adds the reason: “Any traffic that is present at the time of your self-announcement that is capable of radio communications should reply without being prompted to do so.”
It carries no position information, so it burns airtime without telling anyone where you are. It invites several airplanes to key up at once, which produces a squeal and nothing usable. And silence hands you a false sense of an empty pattern, when non-radio aircraft are legal at most non-towered fields and the Cub on downwind may have no electrical system at all.
Pilots on POA have argued about this for years, across more than one thread. Make a real position report and the traffic that matters answers you.
Ten miles, not fifteen
The other common complaint is the pilot who starts calling at 15 miles and keeps calling every three miles after. A POA thread titled “Announcing on CTAF 15 miles out, why is this a thing?” opens with that scene at busy Catalina, where the extra calls step on aircraft already in the pattern: “If you do this and you think your helping, you aren’t!”
AIM 4-1-9 says inbound pilots should monitor and communicate from 10 miles to landing, and AC 90-66C paragraph 10.4.1 repeats the figure. One call at ten, then your pattern legs, covers it.
Faster pilots make a fair counterpoint in that thread: ten miles is six minutes in a trainer and about two in something quick, so one distance rule fits everyone badly. That argues for judgment, not more transmissions.
Full call sign, or “white Cessna”?
A POA poll on CTAF use of call sign splits along a narrower line than the argument suggests: 76.5 percent give the full tail number on first call and abbreviate after, and 17.3 percent use type or color alone. So the common practice is the whole number once, then a short form, and a real minority never says the number at all. One reply caught the pragmatic middle: “Option 4, type and last 3. More important for them to have an idea of what kind of airplane I am for a speed reference”.
AC 90-66C paragraph 9.8.1 draws the line. Self-announcing “should include aircraft type to aid in identification and detection, but should not use paint schemes or color descriptions to replace the use of the aircraft call sign.” Type helps me find you, because a Skyhawk on downwind and a Bonanza on downwind are different closure problems. Color does not, at a mile, into the sun.
AIM 4-2-4 makes shortening a call sign something ATC initiates and pilots pick up afterward. Nobody on a CTAF is there to initiate it, so give the whole thing at least on the first call, and keep giving it when another airplane on frequency has a similar-sounding number.
Habits that clutter the frequency
Do not announce your own sequence. AC 90-66C paragraph 10.1 addresses this directly: “Pilots should not broadcast their assumed sequence for landing when transmitting their position in the pattern. For example, ‘N1234 downwind, number 3 for landing.’” Sequencing is a controller’s job, and your count may be wrong.
Avoid “to” and “for” where you can, which is paragraph 10.3. “Taxiing to two seven” and “taxiing two two seven” sound identical on a scratchy radio.
Put the scripts where your hands are
Repetition beats confidence, and it is free where the stakes are zero. Listen to your home field on LiveATC while you do the dishes, and read the calls out loud in the car. The first time the words come easily should not be the first time you press the button.
Then get them onto paper. I keep my pattern calls printed on the same page as my before-landing items, since the calls hang off the pattern flow anyway, which is the idea behind running flows first and checking after. If you are building your own, the layout reasoning is in how to build a checklist for your aircraft, and the Cessna 172 template is a fast starting point in the builder. Students usually want the calls in the checkride binder too, and the AIM is free in the student pilot hub.
One caveat, stated once: AIM and AC 90-66C phraseology is advisory, while right-of-way under 14 CFR 91.113 is not. If your CFI teaches a local variation, ask why, and check the Chart Supplement before you assume a left pattern.
Print the scripts on the back of your checklist tonight, then read them out loud on the ramp tomorrow before you start the engine.
Common questions
What do you say on CTAF at a non-towered airport?
Every self-announce call uses the same five slots: airport name, aircraft type and full call sign, your position and altitude, what you intend to do, then the airport name again. For example: 'Lakeview traffic, Skyhawk Seven Two Five Sierra Papa, ten miles south, three thousand five hundred, inbound for landing runway two seven, Lakeview.' AIM 4-1-9 recommends speaking the airport name at the beginning and end of each transmission because nearby airports often share a frequency.
Should you say 'traffic in the area, please advise' on CTAF?
No. AIM 4-1-9 states that 'Traffic in the area, please advise' is not a recognized self-announce position or intention phrase and should not be used under any condition, and AC 90-66C repeats it. Any traffic that hears your position report and has a radio should answer without being prompted, and silence proves nothing because non-radio aircraft are legal at most non-towered fields.
How far out should you make your first CTAF call?
About 10 miles. AIM 4-1-9 says inbound pilots should monitor and communicate on the CTAF from 10 miles to landing, and AC 90-66C paragraph 10.4.1 repeats the 10-mile figure. If you elect a VFR straight-in without entering the pattern, AC 90-66C paragraph 9.11.1 says to announce between 8 and roughly 10 miles out.
Should you use your full N-number on CTAF, or just say 'white Cessna'?
Use aircraft type plus your full call sign. AC 90-66C paragraph 9.8.1 says self-announcing should include aircraft type to aid identification but 'should not use paint schemes or color descriptions to replace the use of the aircraft call sign.' Abbreviating to the last three is an ATC-initiated shortcut under AIM 4-2-4, and on a CTAF there is no controller to initiate it.
Which pattern legs do you have to announce?
The recommended reporting points are before taxi, before taxiing onto the runway for departure, 10 miles out inbound, entering downwind, base, final, and clear of the runway. AC 90-66C paragraph 9.11.2 gives the wording for the pattern legs: 'Entering left downwind for runway two seven,' 'On left base for runway two seven,' 'On final for runway two seven.'