[JCBird1012]

It depends on the airport! Some smaller airports (like Corona Municipal Airport where the story is based) - are untowered, meaning that there's no central ATC to chat with when taking off/landing - everyone announces what they're doing as they're doing it and there's a traffic pattern/flow that everyone follows to ensure there's no conflicts - it works surprisingly well.

In the US, you can get shockingly very far without having to chat with ATC.

[duskwuff]

That's true of most small airports. There are over 5,000 public airports in the US (and another ~14k private airports), but only about 500 with ATC.

[geoffeg]

> everyone announces what they're doing

Well, most people. :)

There's no "requirement" that pilots announce their intentions on the common frequency at uncontrolled airports, some aircraft may not even have radios.

[JumpCrisscross]

> no "requirement" that pilots announce their intentions on the common frequency at uncontrolled airports, some aircraft may not even have radios

Got to love it when a Citation whose pilot is to arrogant to radio and a crop duster that doesn’t have any instruments to speak of are both in the pattern.

[geoffeg]

There have been many times I just decided to come back to the airport a bit later. Or circle well above the airport and watch the chaos below.

[JumpCrisscross]

> circle well above the airport and watch the chaos below

Having been cut off by that particular pilot once in the pattern and once when I was holding short, I’m absolutely there for everyone on CTAF absolutely tearing them apart for a straight two minutes until someone from UNICOM tells the Vietnam vets in their hangars to shut the fuck up. (Eastern Idaho. Uncontrolled.)