Listen & Shadow
Use when the pace or phraseology feels new. Hear a generated example call and speak behind it without a score.
Tower Drill field guide
Your first practice session, step by step.
Start with one low-pressure call. Once that feels comfortable, pick the mode that matches the radio skill you want to work on.
Your first ten minutes
Learn the controls with one short session.
The goal of session one is not a high score. It is to hear a call, find your push-to-talk button, say a response, and understand the feedback screen.
- 01Open Practice and choose Listen & Shadow.
- 02Hear a short call, then repeat it without scoring.
- 03Open an early lesson in Training mode.
- 04Hold push-to-talk and say the shown response.
- 05Review one miss, retry once, then stop.
A small session is a successful session.
Five to ten attentive spoken reps are enough for a first visit. Come back before the next lesson instead of trying to finish the course.
Choose by purpose
Each mode answers a different training need.
Training
See the expected response while you say it. Best for a new call or a first pass through a lesson.
Coached
Use key items as a prompt instead of reading a full script. This is the bridge to independent recall.
Solo
Remove the hints and respond to the controller. Save this for material you have already practiced.
Practice My Misses
Let the app assemble a short session from failed calls and your weakest radio category.
Taxi Trainer
Put a taxi route in order and identify the runway crossing or hold-short instruction that must be protected.
Tape Review
Replay recent transmissions, read the transcript, and compare your attempt with the ideal response.
Flight Day
Brief official sources, choose the expected operation, and connect separate calls into one mission.
ACS Readiness
See which common private-pilot radio areas you have practiced and take a no-hints radio checkride. It is a practice estimate, not an FAA result or instructor endorsement.
Flight Day tutorial
Check each briefing item before the rehearsal.
Tap a row to open its detail. Current and official sources are labeled separately from the simulated radio practice so you always know which information comes from Tower Drill.
See the current reported observation
Tower Drill loads the latest available METAR from the Aviation Weather Center. For NOTAMs, it copies the FAA location ID and explains how to paste it after the FAA agreement screen.
Compare the training reference
See the app’s bundled ground, tower, and approach values, then open FAA Chart Supplement Search and NOTAM Search to verify current information.
Open the airport diagram
Review the FAA airport diagram, runway layout, hotspots, and the route you expect to discuss with your instructor before marking the step complete.
- What is current?The METAR is requested from the Aviation Weather Center. Its observation time and age appear in the app.
- What is an official-source link?Weather, NOTAM, and Chart Supplement pages open inside Tower Drill in a secure browser view so you do not lose your place.
- What remains simulated?The controller instructions and mission are a radio rehearsal. They are never an operational clearance or a go/no-go decision.
- Why confirm each row?Your confirmation records that you performed the check; it does not mean Tower Drill independently verified the flight.
Flight Day is a radio warm-up, not a complete preflight briefing.
Use current official information and your instructor’s or operator’s process for every actual flight.
Review and adapt
Use your misses to choose the next drill.
After practice, Tape Review shows what you actually said. Radio Skills shows performance by category. Practice My Misses turns that history into the next focused session, and ACS Readiness shows areas that have not had enough coverage yet.
This is more useful than chasing a single perfect score: you are looking for repeated patterns that become more reliable over time.
- Tape ReviewUse immediately after an awkward call while you still remember what you intended to say.
- Radio SkillsLook for a category that trails the others, such as runways, frequencies, or squawk codes.
- CFI reportShare the one-page report when you want your instructor to see what you practiced on the ground.
- Reset Practice ProgressOpen Settings, choose Reset Practice Progress, review what will be removed, then confirm. Setup preferences and your Pro purchase remain.
Suggested routines
Pick a short routine and give it your full attention.
Make one call feel ordinary
Listen & Shadow for five generated calls, then complete the same call type once in Training mode and stop on a clean repetition.
Try this path ›Warm up the next operation
Open Flight Day, check the three briefing sources, then practice the next focus area or run the complete mission.
Review Flight Day ›Close the loop
Recreate the call that felt difficult, inspect Tape Review, then run Practice My Misses while the flight is still fresh.
Review the tools ›
Practice what you expect to hear next.
Download free, or visit Support when something is not behaving as expected.