Uploaded November 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
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One of the easiest ways to make radio communications less stressful is to organize all your frequencies before you need them. In this video, we’re flying a VFR cross-country from Easton, Maryland (ESN) to Atlantic City, New Jersey (ACY), and I’ll walk you through a clean, simple method for managing ATIS, Ground, Tower, Approach, and Guard using COM1 and COM2.
We start on the ground at Easton, picking up ATIS on COM2 (124.475) and setting Ground (119.075) on standby. COM1 handles the air-based frequencies, so Tower (118.52) goes active up top, and Approach (124.55) goes into standby. I’ll also explain why many pilots—including me—use COM2 only for ATIS and Guard monitoring, keeping all transmit/receive frequencies on COM1.
From taxi to run-up to departure, you’ll see how to flip between COM2 and COM1 using the audio panel, how to brief your frequencies ahead of time, and how to minimize workload during the climb and enroute phase. Once we’re airborne and clear of Easton’s Class D, we switch to Approach for flight following and start getting handoffs.
The big technique most pilots miss:
Before takeoff, set up your destination frequencies. At Atlantic City, that means putting ACY ATIS and Ground onto COM2 so they’re ready when you descend. By the time ACY Approach hands us off to Tower, all we need to do is flip the knob—we’ve already built the whole sequence.
Whether you’re a student pilot or a rusty aviator brushing up on radio flow, this method helps you stay ahead of the airplane and reduces radio workload at every phase of flight.
Black Friday Deals are on! flight-insight.com/courses
One of the easiest ways to make radio communications less stressful is to organize all your frequencies before you need them. In this video, we’re flying a VFR cross-country from Easton, Maryland (ESN) to Atlantic City, New Jersey (ACY), and I’ll walk you through a clean, simple method for managing ATIS, Ground, Tower, Approach, and Guard using COM1 and COM2.
We start on the ground at Easton, picking up ATIS on COM2 (124.475) and setting Ground (119.075) on standby. COM1 handles the air-based frequencies, so Tower (118.52) goes active up top, and Approach (124.55) goes into standby. I’ll also explain why many pilots—including me—use COM2 only for ATIS and Guard monitoring, keeping all transmit/receive frequencies on COM1.
From taxi to run-up to departure, you’ll see how to flip between COM2 and COM1 using the audio panel, how to brief your frequencies ahead of time, and how to minimize workload during the climb and enroute phase. Once we’re airborne and clear of Easton’s Class D, we switch to Approach for flight following and start getting handoffs.
The big technique most pilots miss:
Before takeoff, set up your destination frequencies. At Atlantic City, that means putting ACY ATIS and Ground onto COM2 so they’re ready when you descend. By the time ACY Approach hands us off to Tower, all we need to do is flip the knob—we’ve already built the whole sequence.
Whether you’re a student pilot or a rusty aviator brushing up on radio flow, this method helps you stay ahead of the airplane and reduces radio workload at every phase of flight.
