Welcome Guest. Sign in or Signup

1 Answers

ATC communication in class d airspace and satellite airports

Asked by: 4954 views FAA Regulations

I am a new pilot with 70 hours. I am planning a cross country flight to a location that is a satellite airport in class d airspace. I believe I need to contact the controlling ATC before entering the class d airspace on the approach frequency at least 10 miles out. At what point will I switch to the Unicom frequency for the destination airport and announce my intention? Or will the controlling ATC for the class d airspace provide approach and departure instructions in and out of the satellite airport? Ron

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.

1 Answers



  1. John D Collins on Mar 22, 2015

    91.129 prescribes the rules for operating in the Class D airspace. In summary, you must establish communications with the tower prior to entering the Class D airspace. The tower controller will indicate when you can switch frequency to the satellite airport for landing. This may occur before you ever enter the class D airspace, depending on the traffic situation. There isn’t a specific distance mandated by the rule, but 10 NM is a good guide. If you have dual Navcom radios, you might want to first listen to the weather and monitor the satellite frequency on one radio while you establish contact with the tower on the other.

    Assuming there isn’t a tower at the satellite airport, you are required to contact the primary Class D tower as soon as practical. I would stay on the satellite frequency until clearing the pattern if there is local traffic or leave the frequency sooner if there isn’t any local traffic at the time. Before leaving the satellite frequency, self announce the direction of flight and then switch to the Class D tower.

    +2 Votes Thumb up 2 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.