Welcome Guest. Sign in or Signup

4 Answers

ATC radar

Asked by: 4176 views ,
General Aviation, Student Pilot

We practice our maneuvers in class C airspace under the control of ATC with a transponder code. Before we simulate an emergency landing, my instructor gives a call to the ATC letting them know that we will call once back up to altitude. My question is at what altitude does ATC lose us and how should a call be made in right ATC phraseology?

Ace Any FAA Written Test!
Actual FAA Questions / Free Lifetime Updates
The best explanations in the business
Fast, efficient study.
Pass Your Checkride With Confidence!
FAA Practical Test prep that reflects actual checkrides.
Any checkride: Airplane, Helicopter, Glider, etc.
Written and maintained by actual pilot examiners and master CFIs.
The World's Most Trusted eLogbook
Be Organized, Current, Professional, and Safe.
Highly customizable - for student pilots through pros.
Free Transition Service for users of other eLogs.
Our sincere thanks to pilots such as yourself who support AskACFI while helping themselves by using the awesome PC, Mac, iPhone/iPad, and Android aviation apps of our sponsors.

4 Answers



  1. Jonathan Seitz on Aug 27, 2014

    The first part of your question really depends on your location, and is dynamic. ATC’s ability to see you on radar is limited by the height of the radar antenna, the curvature of the earth, terrain, and weather. If you are in a flat area with good weather and close to the radar, they will likely be able to see you as low as 500′ AGL. If you are in mountainous (or even large hills) terrain, or far from the radar station, or the weather is heavy rain at the surface, then it may be that you get lost on their screen as high as 5,000′ AGL.

    Since the call your CFI is making to the ATC controller is basically a position report, you would do well to phrase it as such.

    +2 Votes Thumb up 2 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  2. psequeira on Aug 28, 2014

    Thank you Jonathan!

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  3. Heather McNevin on Aug 29, 2014

    As a controller, I am thankful that your instructor knows to call and let the controller know they will be descending. You’d be surprised how many pilots don’t think to warn me before they do unexpected maneuvering. I’ve even had a training flight practice spins without telling me! Imagine how that looked on my end…rapid descent, lost radar contact, lost radio contact. I was both ecstatic at their being unharmed and irritated at their lack of communication when they did finally reappear as though nothing had happened.
    The “when do they lose me in radar” is a difficult question to answer. Every area is different. Some areas of my airspace I lose radar coverage below 8,000 and in some spots I can see aircraft taxi. Sometimes we have a radar outage (planned and unplanned) and I might not be able to see people 45,000 and below.
    If possible, call the facility that you have been working with on the phone (the number is in the AFD or you can get it through FSS, the internet, or asking on frequency, and set up a tour. You can learn A LOT by spending some time watching the other side of the radar and having a nice chat with the controllers who you have been working with. Usually these have to be set up with some advanced notice, and there is extra paperwork to fill out if you are a foreign national. Good luck and let me know if you have any questions!

    +2 Votes Thumb up 2 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  4. psequeira on Sep 12, 2014

    Thank you Heather! Great insight

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes


The following terms have been auto-detected the question above and any answers or discussion provided. Click on a term to see its definition from the Dauntless Aviation JargonBuster Glossary.

Answer Question

Our sincere thanks to all who contribute constructively to this forum in answering flight training questions. If you are a flight instructor or represent a flight school / FBO offering flight instruction, you are welcome to include links to your site and related contact information as it pertains to offering local flight instruction in a specific geographic area. Additionally, direct links to FAA and related official government sources of information are welcome. However we thank you for your understanding that links to other sites or text that may be construed as explicit or implicit advertising of other business, sites, or goods/services are not permitted even if such links nominally are relevant to the question asked.