Radio procedures

The radio check, your pre-briefed flight plan, the calls your instructor makes and how you acknowledge them, what to do if the radio goes quiet, and the radio rules where you fly.

In this lesson you will

On your first high flight your instructor’s voice in your ear is a lifeline: a calm “hands up”, then “start your turn to the left”. Halfway down, the radio goes quiet. Is the battery flat, did the volume get knocked, or does your instructor simply have nothing to correct?

Many schools teach high flights by radio¹², but it works as a pair: the radio, and a briefed plan that covers a silent radio too. This lesson covers both.

Why schools use radio

A radio link is the ideal way for an instructor to correct you in flight. Shouting from the field does not work, and some schools add a second instructor with bats in the landing field (LZ)². Where the landing field cannot be seen from launch, SafePro wants two instructors, one at each end, talking to each other³.

Standards differ Radio in training

Common ground: Most schools guide students on high flights by radio¹².

USHPA (USA): No public USHPA radio procedure was found. P1 pilots fly under direct instructor supervision⁴; ask your school how it communicates.
BHPA (UK): Recommended for longer solo flights, and required when only one instructor supervises your high solos. Instructions must be simple, and early students repeat them back².
APPI (international): APPI 1 and 2 students fly only under supervision with radio, and a radio check is part of getting ready⁵⁶.
FAI/CIVL SafePro (international reference): If the landing field cannot be seen from take-off: two instructors with two-way communication³.

Summarised from each body’s published material, which changes over time. Check the current official documents and follow your school.

Before launch

The flight plan

Every radio-guided flight starts with a briefed plan: where to go after launch, which exercises and at what height, how to set up the landing, and what to do if the radio fails. USHPA’s P2 asks you to plan each witnessed flight yourself and discuss it with your instructor⁷. APPI’s instructor briefing covers the wind and traffic, minimum heights, routes you must not fly, the radio-failure procedure and what to do if an instruction is obviously wrong⁸⁹.

Then repeat the plan back. The BHPA asks early students to do exactly that, because a misunderstanding is far easier to fix on the ground than in the air².

The radio check

Once you are clipped in, check the radio with your instructor. In APPI’s routine they call from their radio and listen for the call coming out of yours⁸. If it is faint, crackly or silent, sort it out before you launch. Personal kit covers charging, mounting and switching voice activation off.

Before every radio-guided flight

Switch on, check the battery and the channel, and lock the keypad.
Cue The display shows your school’s channel and the lock symbol.
Why A radio that switched itself off or changed channel sounds just like one that failed. APPI’s theory covers these controls⁶.
Mount it where you can hear it and nothing can press the transmit button.
Why A pressed button blocks the channel for everyone¹⁰.
Do a radio check with your instructor once you are clipped in.
Cue You hear their call clearly, above the wind and your own breathing.
Why This is the last chance to fix a problem on the ground⁸¹⁰.
Agree how you will show that you heard a call.
Why As a student you usually only receive⁸.
Repeat the plan back, including what you will do if the radio fails.
Why Your instructor hears what you understood, not what they meant²⁹.

In the air: instructor calls

Your instructor’s calls are short and simple, so they cannot be misunderstood². Each school has its own words, and your briefing comes first. Most calls ask for one thing: a turn, a speed, a change of posture or the flare.

Where two instructors work together, the one at launch hands you over to the one in the landing field, passing on your name, your wing’s make and colour, your position and your heading⁸. That is why the landing instructor may first ask you to confirm that you can hear them.

As a student you usually only receive, so you answer with your body. APPI’s landing instructor asks the student to move their feet if they hear the call, and watches for it before going on⁸. Some pilots who cannot speak use a click code instead: one press of the transmit button for yes, two for no, three for “say again”. Use it only if your school has agreed it¹⁰.

Act on each call smoothly and at once, unless it would clearly take you into danger, such as a turn towards the hill. That case belongs in your briefing⁹.

Figure: The radio routine on one card. The example calls are typical, not standard: your school’s words and procedures come first.

The radio routine on one card. The example calls are typical, not standard: your school’s words and procedures come first²⁶⁸¹⁰.

Common mistake Waiting for the radio

Symptom: You fly on past the point where your plan said turn, waiting for the next call.
Cause: Treating the radio as the plan, instead of a way to correct it.
Fix: Fly your briefed plan; in most schools the calls correct it rather than replace it².

Common mistake Acting on half a call

Symptom: You start a turn on the first word, and the rest of the message turns out to say something else.
Cause: Messages get clipped when the speaker starts talking before the transmit button engages¹⁰.
Fix: If a call is unclear, keep flying your plan safely and wait for it to be repeated.

If the radio goes quiet

Silence does not always mean failure: your instructor may have nothing to correct. But if an expected call never comes, or you suspect the radio has died, fly the radio-failure plan from your briefing⁹. For the landing itself, APPI teaches a simple procedure from its very first level⁶.

If the radio fails

Keep flying the wing, away from the terrain.
Why You have lost the radio, not your skills. Flying comes first.
Fly the radio-failure plan from your briefing. It may mean dropping any exercises still to come.
Cue You know where to go next without anyone telling you.
Why Your instructor briefed this case before launch⁹.
For the landing, forget about the target.
Why APPI’s landing procedure starts by not worrying about accuracy⁶.
Choose the widest part of the field that is free of obstacles.
Cue Open grass ahead, and nothing tall near your final.
Why The biggest clear area leaves the most room for error⁶.
Land into wind, checking the windsock as you set up your final.
Cue The sock streams towards you on final.
Why APPI’s procedure ends by landing into the wind⁶.

Standards differ If the radio fails

Common ground: Agree the radio-failure plan in your briefing, as part of how you and your instructor communicate²⁹.

USHPA (USA): No public USHPA radio-failure procedure was found: learn your school’s.
BHPA (UK): No public BHPA procedure was found either. Some schools back the radio up with an instructor using bats in the landing field; mind the mirror image².
APPI (international): For the landing: don’t worry about accuracy, choose the widest place free of obstacles, and land into the wind⁶.

Summarised from each body’s published material, which changes over time. Check the current official documents and follow your school.

Instructor's note Two traps I brief every time

Left and right. An instructor facing you in the landing field sees your left on their right. With bats this is a known trap². On the radio, agree in the briefing that calls always use your left and right, as you sit in the harness.
The radio that only seems dead. Auto power-off, an unlocked keypad or a knocked volume knob all sound like silence. APPI’s theory covers these controls⁶: learn yours on the ground. In the air, flying comes first: if the radio goes quiet, fly the radio-failure plan.

Talking on the radio

Later you will transmit too, to your instructor or to other pilots. Press and hold the transmit button for about a second before you speak, and let go only when you have finished; otherwise half the message is lost¹⁰. Keep messages short and useful. APPI’s format is name, location, altitude, subject⁶: “Sam, over the landing field, about 100 m330 ft, setting up to land.”

Never leave a radio transmitting: voice activation and a trapped button block the channel for everyone¹⁰. If a rescue helicopter arrives, clear the area or land, and warn other pilots by radio¹¹.

Standards differ Radios and licences

Common ground: Radio law belongs to each country, not to the training bodies, and some countries require a licence for the frequencies pilots use. Use your school’s radio and channel¹⁰.

USHPA (USA): US federal rules (no USHPA rule found). FRS radios need no individual licence but have low power limits; GMRS needs an FCC licence (age 18 or over). Transmitting on the 2-metre amateur band, used at many US sites, needs an amateur licence and, in flight, the pilot in command’s approval; MURS radios may not be used in flight¹²¹³¹⁴.
BHPA (UK): UK: transmitting on amateur bands always needs an amateur licence. The BHPA says amateur radios on 144 MHz may not be used in flight, only licensed airband radios¹⁵; a 2024 Ofcom change reportedly allows licensed amateurs low-power airborne use, so this guidance may be out of date¹⁶. Licence-free radios such as PMR446 sets may be used in the air only if their own rules allow it, which is unconfirmed for PMR446, so ask your school¹⁷.
APPI (international): Follow the law of the country you fly in¹⁸.

Summarised from each body’s published material, which changes over time. Check the current official documents and follow your school.

Questions students ask

Can I talk back to my instructor?

Usually not while training. You receive, and answer with the signal you agreed⁸. If your school gives you a transmit button, keep calls short and use its format⁶.

Do I need a licence just to listen?

In the US the licence rules cover transmitting, so a student who only listens does not need one¹³. Elsewhere, ask your school which radio and channel it uses and why.

Will I always fly with a radio?

Not for ever. In BHPA terms, near the end of training your instructor approves your plan and watches rather than talking you down¹⁹. The simulator’s Final checkride is flown with the radio silent for the same reason.

Key points

Before every radio-guided flight: a charged, locked radio on the school’s channel, a radio check once clipped in, and an agreed “I heard you” signal.
Know your plan well enough to fly it without the radio, and repeat it back.
Calls are short and simple. Act on them smoothly, unless one would clearly take you into danger.
Radio quiet? Fly your briefed radio-failure plan, then land as APPI teaches: forget the target, take the widest clear area, land into wind.
When you transmit: press, pause, speak, release, and keep it short.
Radio law belongs to each country: use the radio and channel your school gives you.

Ground to Solo is a study aid. Paragliding is learned in person with a qualified instructor at a recognised school; nothing here certifies you to fly.