Airport Operations and Radio Communications
The Airport Operations and Radio Communications domain covers the practical mechanics of moving on and around an airport: traffic patterns, signs and markings, radio calls, and the light signals you need when the radio quits.
Traffic patterns and self-announce
The standard pattern is left-hand at 1,000 ft AGL unless charted otherwise; enter on a 45° to the midpoint of the downwind at pattern altitude. At a non-towered airport, broadcast on the CTAF (122.7, 122.8, 122.9, or 123.0) about 10 nm out and on each leg, with the airport name first and last, aircraft type and call sign, position, and intentions. UNICOM may provide airport advisories; MULTICOM is 122.9.
Signs and markings
Red-and-white signs are mandatory instructions, such as runway hold short. Black-and-yellow taxiway lettering identifies a location; yellow with a black arrow or lettering gives direction or destination. A runway hold-short marking is two solid bars with two dashed bars - do not cross the solid bars without a clearance. White chevrons mark blast pads and stopways, which are not landing surface. Displaced-threshold arrows mark pavement usable for taxi and takeoff but not for touchdown.
Radio and transponder
Squawk 1200 for VFR, 7700 for emergency, 7600 for radio failure, 7500 for hijacking. Read back runway assignments, hold-short instructions, and altimeter settings, because readback is the cheapest defense against a runway incursion.
Worked example
Your radio fails while inbound to a Class D airport. Squawk 7600, stay clear of the Class D airspace, and orbit while watching the tower. A steady green means cleared to land; a steady red means give way to other traffic and continue circling; a flashing red means the airport is unsafe, do not land; alternating red and green means exercise extreme caution.
Traps
Expecting other traffic to sequence you at a non-towered field - nobody is separating you but you. Calling "any traffic in the area, please advise," which clogs a shared frequency. Turning crosswind the wrong way at a right-traffic field. Treating a flashing red light as permission to land.