Cub Driver wrote in message . ..

I'd be taking off and instructed to make a turn at 400 feet, much too
low by my way of thinking, and simultaneously to change freqs. I'd
scramble and scramble and finally breathlessly say: Six Two Echo is
with you! and behold! the same voice would come back. Why was I
changing freqs if I wasn't changing controllers? I found the radio
work more exhausting than the aerobatics!


First, make your turn when you're comfortable. I generally make my
1st turn at 600 ft. When the tower asks for an earlier turn, it's
almost always prefaced with "when able...". Unless they're requesting
an immediate manuver, you can take your time (just don't wait an
inordinately long time).

The reason you were changing frequencies is that there are separate
freqs. for the north and south runways. Although they may be run by
the same person when traffic is light, they are split when traffic
spikes up. This is not uncommon at airports that have a high level of
training activity. One minute slow, then next minute there can be a
dozen planes in the pattern. If you're already on the correct
frequency, you won't even know that the tower was split unless you get
the new controller. Otherwise, the controllers would have to figure
out who is on what freq. and get pilots to the right one before
splitting the tower.

Note : This is only done for traffic remaining in the pattern. If I'm
departing the north runway southbound, I'll keep the original north
runway frequency all the way out.

John Galban=====N4BQ (PA28-180)