I tune this frequency whenever we're working in the practice area. Other instructors and any solo students should be doing the same. But the comms between airplanes has historically been weak, and was based on a GPS distance instead of simply using your eyes.

To report on air-to-air, you have to know where you are. I made the overlay specifically to assist with this, as those of you who are not from here (and maybe some of you that are) might not know much about what you're flying over.

But the goal is not to stare at an overlay! Instead, learn the local landmarks and report the best estimate of your position by looking outside.

Nobody expects to hear how many tenths of a mile you are from a town, so use your powers of basic reasoning to estimate your distance from a given landmark. If you're heading to a specific area to practice, call it/claim it. If you want to split an area with others, let them know you'll stay "east of X" or "south of Y..." Use your head.

Example Calls:

• "Academy traffic, 425DB is over Bell City at 3000, stalls, Academy"
• "Academy traffic, 381J south of Cape heading east of Benton for ground ref, Academy"
• "Academy traffic, 4202Q aproaching Daisy northbound. 172CG, are you on frequency?"

The goal is for us to understand each other's positions and intentions, and the former system of using a Direct To CGI and reporting mileage isn't helpful. Learn where you're training, and remember to look outside the airplane!