Paul E. Illman (1949–2018)

Quite a useful reference book ..though it tends to be focused on rather large multinationals who need to have managers abroad. And, I think , it is now rather dated because of the use of the internet, rapid communications, video conferencing and the skills of local workforces. It is actually pretty hard to beat a highly skilled local who knows the culture, knows the language and has their own networks and connections. (Of course, sometimes this can be a disadvantage because the foreign manager comes with no local cultural baggage....whilst the local manager might belong to a particular religious or economic group and be labelled as such...thus reducing their effectiveness). It's a book that I will no longer be using and hence I'm donating it ...either to my daughter or to charity.… (más)

This is a review of the fifth edition of this book, published in 1998. I recommend seeking out a newer edition if you can, but if not, this version will suffice.

I wish I had borrowed a copy of this book during my first couple weeks of flight training. It is super thorough, and much more useful than Say Again, Please. First, the author makes a case for good radio communication (as if you really need him to). I haven't been flying for too long, and even I regularly hear unintelligible radio calls, useless radio calls (no airport given, no location given, no runway given), people stepping over other calls (listen first please!!), people giving their life story to ATC, etc. You can't be a good pilot without making good radio calls, and practice makes perfect. The point of this book is to give you a lot of examples and a lot of practice, based on the type of airspace in which you fly.

The book starts with uncontrolled airports and using MULTICOM to make radio calls. Then UNICOM / CTAF is explained. (There's really not a huge difference between the two.) Then the game gets stepped up with class D airspace and communications with tower and ground. The author even explains ATIS and the type of weather information that you will receive, and the importance of listening to and understanding the ATIS before talking to tower/ground. Finally, the author goes over TRSA (of which there are still a few left in the US) and the big guys: classes C and B.

There are a lot of full, back and forth radio conversations in here that can be used to practice. All of them use proper ATC terminology so that you can get into good habits early on. There's also information on VFR flight services in class E, which you may use on a cross-country flight.

I really liked this book, and highly recommend it to anybody who needs to work on their radio communication (which I think is pretty much everyone!).… (más)