You’ve worked hard and long to build up the experience you needed to get your instrument rating. You learned how to control the plane better, understand airspace and communication better and learned a whole new set of aviation terms. You should definately feel good about yourself for the hard work you put into it to accomplish that goal. The problem is that many instrument pilots forgot where they came from and what it was like to be a VFR only pilot.
So, what am I referring to? I’m talking about your new found IFR language! It’s great to know it and it’s fun to use it, but there is a time for it. Let me explain in simple terms:You’re a pilot who just went out and got his instrument rating or could have even had it for years. Either way, you know all the terms and you know the waypoints, etc
After practing a perfect IFR approach in plane, you get on the common traffic advisory frequency and make a perfectly executed call on the radio using your new IFR language. “Lake in the Hills traffic, Warrior 12345 Tonic inbound on a practice GPS approach.
Why did you make this call? I’m assuming that the reason was to announce your position so that the pilots at Lake in the Hills would know that you are coming in, right? Now answer this question: how is a VFR only pilot going to have a clue where TONIC is? You might as well be speaking a foreign language! VFR pilots know distance and direction, they don’t know the names of the waypoints on your IFR only approach plates nor the distance or direction they are from the airport! I can’t learn spanish, and go around speaking it to english speaking people and expect them to understand, just like you can’t expect VFR pilots to understand your IFR terms.
The whole point of changing to the advisory freqeuency is to let people know WHO you are, WHERE you are and WHAT you are going to do. If you are making a position call and you want people to understand what you are talking about, you must make it in VFR terms. “Lake in the Hills, Warrior 12345, 9 miles west, landing runway 8 (or 26 if circling). Making the calls this way will make it easier for pilots to find you and everyone will have a better picture of what is going on.