Back in the air? Get your radio back up to speed.

Your FRTOL is valid for life, but two things may have moved on while you were away: your English language endorsement, and the phraseology itself. CAP 413 is now at Edition 24. This refresher covers what to check, what is easy to get wrong after a break, and how to practise your calls out loud before you are back on a busy frequency.

Practise a refresher flight FRTOL explained

Your FRTOL hasn't expired, but check your language endorsement

The CAA says the FRTOL is valid for life, subject to a valid English Language Proficiency endorsement. A level 4 endorsement lasts 4 years from assessment and level 5 lasts 6 years; only level 6 is for life. If yours has lapsed, you need a new assessment before you transmit.

Say all six figures of a frequency

CAP 413 Edition 24 says all six figures are used when identifying a frequency, whether it is 25 kHz or 8.33 kHz spaced, so 118.125 is "one one eight decimal one two five". Only when the last two digits are both zero can you stop at four. If you trained when four or five figures were normal, this is the first habit to update.

Know which service you are asking for

Outside controlled airspace, the UK Flight Information Services in the CAA's CAP 774 are Basic, Traffic, Deconfliction and Procedural Service. Each means something different about who is responsible for avoiding other traffic, and a FISO can only give a Basic Service. Ask for the one you mean.

The calls you make every flight, done properly

Readbacks, callsign abbreviation only after the ground station has done it first, joining and leaving frequencies, and the position report format: the everyday calls are where rust shows. TowerTalk grades each one against CAP 413 and shows the standard wording it compared you with.

Practise at your home airfield

Choose your own airfield and aircraft, then fly the calls you will actually make: the departure, a transit or zone crossing, the rejoin. You hear the controller answer what you actually said, so mistakes surface on the ground, not on the frequency.

Emergencies, before you need them

MAYDAY and PAN calls are the ones nobody practises in normal flying. Run them a few times out loud, in order, until they come back without thinking.

How it works

1
Check
Find the date and level on your language endorsement.
2
Read
Skim SafetySense 22 and the CAP 413 sections you use most.
3
Practise
Fly your usual calls out loud and read the feedback.
4
Fly
Book your check flight with the radio already back to fluent.

Frequently asked

Do I need to retake the FRTOL after years away?

No. The CAA says the FRTOL is valid for life, subject to a valid English Language Proficiency endorsement. Your pilot licence, rating and medical have their own requirements, which your instructor or the CAA will confirm.

Has my language proficiency endorsement expired?

It depends on the level. Level 4 lasts 4 years from the assessment date and level 5 lasts 6 years; level 6 does not expire for pilots. Check the date on your licence before you fly.

What has changed in CAP 413?

It is now at Edition 24. Two changes that most often catch returning pilots: all six figures of a frequency are spoken, and the services outside controlled airspace are the UK Flight Information Services (Basic, Traffic, Deconfliction, Procedural). The current CAA publication is the authority on everything else.

Is this a CAP 413 refresher or an FRTOL refresher?

Both. The FRTOL is the licence; CAP 413 is the phraseology it is assessed against. A refresher is really about getting your CAP 413 phraseology fluent again, so you sound like you never left.

How long does a refresher take?

That depends on how long you have been away and how much you flew before. Most of the value is in the first few sessions of speaking your usual calls out loud and correcting what the feedback flags.

Make your first call back somewhere it doesn't matter

Free to start. Fly your usual calls at your own airfield and find out what's rusty before a controller does.

Start practising free