Visual Flight Concepts

What changes in visual flight

In instrument flight, ATC guides the aircraft through published procedures, with detailed clearances and full readbacks. In visual flight the logic is reversed: the pilot reports what they intend to do and the ATS unit responds with a clearance, information or a simple acknowledgement, depending on the service provided in that airspace.

Three practical consequences show up on the radio:

1. The pilot declares intentions. Expressions such as "request landing instructions", "advise intentions" and "will join downwind" are the heart of VFR communication.
2. Position replaces procedure. With no SID and no STAR, the pilot determines their position by visual references, distance, radial or estimated time, and that is how they report it.
3. Visual separation is the pilot's responsibility. When ATC reports traffic, the expected response is to confirm whether or not it is in sight.

Units you will encounter on a visual flight

Unit	Portuguese	English	Spanish	What it does for VFR
Clearance Delivery	TRÁFEGO (name)	(name) DELIVERY	(nombre) AUTORIZACIÓN	Issues the departure clearance, when the position exists
Ground Control	SOLO (name)	(name) GROUND	(nombre) TIERRA	Clears engine start and taxi
Control Tower	TORRE (name)	(name) TOWER	(nombre) TORRE	Clears takeoff and landing and organises the traffic circuit
Approach Control	CONTROLE (name)	(name) CONTROL	(nombre) CONTROL	Clears entry into, transit through and exit from the CTR and the TMA
Area Control Center	CENTRO (name)	(name) CENTER	(nombre) CENTRO	Handles VFR traffic in controlled airspace en route
Flight Information Service	INFORMAÇÃO (name)	(name) INFORMATION	(nombre) INFORMACIÓN	Provides flight and traffic information, without controlling
Aeronautical Station	RÁDIO (name)	(name) RADIO	(nombre) RADIO	Provides information at the uncontrolled aerodrome, without controlling

Callsign and abbreviation

General aviation aircraft normally use their own registration as the callsign, read letter by letter using the phonetic alphabet.

Practical rules:

1. On initial contact with each unit, always use the full callsign.
2. Once communication has been established, and provided there is no possibility of confusion with other traffic, the callsign may be abbreviated to at least the last three characters.
3. In practice, it is the ATS unit that initiates the abbreviation. If the controller keeps using the full callsign, keep using the full callsign.
4. In coordination between units, the callsign is never abbreviated.

Structure of the initial contact

A well-made VFR initial contact answers four questions, in this order:

Portuguese English Spanish

Rádio Ipatinga, PAPA TANGO VICTOR BRAVO ROMEO, um Cessna 172, procedente de Pampulha, DEZ minutos fora, a sudoeste, SETE MIL E QUINHENTOS pés, solicita informações.

Ipatinga Radio, PAPA TANGO VICTOR BRAVO ROMEO, a Cessna 172, from Pampulha, TEN minutes out, southwest, SEVEN THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED feet, request information.

Ipatinga Radio, PAPA TANGO VICTOR BRAVO ROMEO, un Cessna 172, procedente de Pampulha, DIEZ minutos afuera, al suroeste, SIETE MIL QUINIENTOS pies, solicita información.

Altitudes, the detail that causes the most errors in VFR

VFR cruising levels end in 500 feet, and that is exactly where pronunciation tends to slip. What determines how it is read is the aircraft's position relative to the transition level.

Below the transition level: altitude

The aircraft flies at an altitude, referenced to QNH, and the correct unit is feet, never flight level. Here the plain reading in thousands and hundreds is accepted, which is the established form in visual operations.

Altitude	Portuguese	English	Spanish
1,500 ft	UNO MIL E QUINHENTOS PÉS	ONE THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED FEET	UN MIL QUINIENTOS PIES
4,500 ft	QUATRO MIL E QUINHENTOS PÉS	FOUR THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED FEET	CUATRO MIL QUINIENTOS PIES
6,500 ft	MEIA MIL E QUINHENTOS PÉS	SIX THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED FEET	SEIS MIL QUINIENTOS PIES
7,500 ft	SETE MIL E QUINHENTOS PÉS	SEVEN THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED FEET	SIETE MIL QUINIENTOS PIES
5,000 ft	CINCO MIL PÉS	FIVE THOUSAND FEET	CINCO MIL PIES

That is why the example flight in this manual, which cruises at 7,500 and 6,500 feet, never says "flight level".

Above the transition level: flight level

The reference becomes the flight level, transmitted digit by digit and always with three digits. The leading zero is part of the level and must be pronounced.

Flight level	Portuguese	English	Spanish
FL 055	nível de voo ZERO CINCO CINCO	flight level ZERO FIVE FIVE	nivel de vuelo CERO CINCO CINCO
FL 070	nível de voo ZERO SETE ZERO	flight level ZERO SEVEN ZERO	nivel de vuelo CERO SIETE CERO
FL 095	nível de voo ZERO NOVE CINCO	flight level ZERO NINE FIVE	nivel de vuelo CERO NUEVE CINCO
FL 120	nível de voo UNO DOIS ZERO	flight level ONE TWO ZERO	nivel de vuelo UNO DOS CERO

Essential circuit vocabulary

Portuguese	English	Spanish
Perna contra o vento	Upwind leg	Tramo contra el viento
Través	Crosswind leg	Tramo con viento cruzado
Perna do vento	Downwind leg	Tramo con viento en cola
Perna base	Base leg	Tramo base
Final	Final	Final
Final longa	Long final	Final larga
Aproximação direta	Straight in approach	Aproximación directa
Cruzamento do campo	Crossing the field	Cruce del campo
Livre do circuito	Clear of the circuit	Libre del circuito
Toque e arremetida	Touch and go	Toque y despegue
Pouso completo	Full stop landing	Aterrizaje completo
Arremeta em frente	Go around straight ahead	Frustre aproximación en línea recta
Arremeta e circule	Go around and circle	Frustre aproximación y circule
Alongue a perna do vento	Extend downwind leg	Extienda el tramo con viento en cola
Faça 360 graus pela direita	Make a three sixty turn right	Efectúe un viraje de 360 grados por la derecha
Trem de pouso baixado e travado	Landing gear down and locked	Tren de aterrizaje abajo y asegurado
No solo aos DOIS CINCO	On the ground at TWO FIVE	En tierra a los DOS CINCO
Pista livre	Runway vacated	Pista libre
Informe intenções	Advise intentions	Informe intenciones
A seu critério	At your discretion	A su discreción
Ciente	Roger	Recibido