To ident, or not ident…. that is the question!
Asked by: RickS 2434 views FAA Regulations, General Aviation
As I wrap up my training, I have just completed my 5 hours of XC, and had a question about proper transponder use. Way back when, some 28 years ago, whenever I was given a squawk code, I was always told to ident. Now, when contacting the local class C approach, or the center for flight following, I am given a squawk, but I've never been asked to ident. Sometimes they say "radar contact", sometimes they do not. If I don't hear "radar contact" within 30-45 seconds, I push the ident button, and invariably they come back right away with the magic words. Am I doing something improper? They have never complained when I ident. If they don't say "radar contact", and I don't ident, how would I know they have me?