CPL Communications and Radio Telephony 3

Question 1

After experiencing a two-way radio communication failure in IMC, what is the standard procedure for selecting an altitude to fly?

Accepted Answer

Fly the highest of: last assigned altitude, expected altitude, or MEA for the route

Answer

Under 14 CFR 91.185, a pilot in IMC after radio failure should fly the highest altitude among the last ATC-assigned altitude, the altitude ATC advised to expect, or the MEA/MOCA for the segment.

Question 2

What does SELCAL stand for and what is its primary use in commercial aviation?

Accepted Answer

Selective Calling System — alerts specific aircraft on HF frequencies so crew can reduce monitoring workload

Answer

SELCAL (Selective Calling System) allows ATC to alert a specific aircraft over noisy HF frequencies, enabling the crew to mute the channel until called rather than continuously monitoring static-heavy frequencies.

Question 3

What is the maximum range limitation of VHF radio communications, and what phenomenon causes it?

Accepted Answer

VHF is essentially line-of-sight, so range increases with altitude

Answer

VHF radio waves travel in a straight line and do not follow the Earth's curvature, so communications range is limited by line-of-sight, which increases as aircraft altitude increases.

Question 4

A pilot squawks 7700 on the transponder. What is the significance of this code?

Accepted Answer

General emergency

Answer

Squawk 7700 is the general emergency transponder code, indicating an aircraft emergency; it causes the aircraft's radar return to alert ATC that immediate priority handling is needed.

Question 5

When flying in oceanic airspace without ATC radar coverage, how do pilots typically report their position?

Accepted Answer

Via HF radio position reports to an oceanic control center or by ACARS datalink

Answer

Over oceanic airspace beyond VHF range, pilots submit position reports over HF radio to an oceanic control center or use ACARS datalink, providing separation assurance without radar coverage.

(CPL) Commercial Pilot Licence Practice Test

(CPL) Commercial Pilot Licence Practice Test

CPL Communications and Radio Telephony 3