Hi.
Would like to know if each plain rural airfield in anysmalltown, US has permanent listening to a specific assigned frequency to handle its local traffic ?
And that frequency is unlikely shared by other rural airfields in the vicinity ?
Perhaps also listens to some additional channel (as emergency 121.5MHz) full time ?

How does it work ?

 

Yes the facility is called Unicom. There is no guarantee that anyone will be listening. The way it works is that you get on the frequency and announce your "intentions". That way if anybody is listening they know what you will be doing. For example: "Entering left downwind for landing on Runway 24, West Podunk Municipal Airport: is there any conflicting traffic? You might repeat this announcement to see if anyone is listening.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNICOM

 

Thanks, PB. Unicom was the keyword. And from your link, I assume FCC/FAA assigns frequencies that from a low altitude -as approaching for landing- is unlikely other unintended airports will receive the traffic.

 

Thanks, PB. Unicom was the keyword. And from your link, I assume FCC/FAA assigns frequencies that from a low altitude -as approaching for landing- is unlikely other unintended airports will receive the traffic.

Tower and Ground frequencies, in my experience, are generally below the Unicom range, while Approach, Departure, and ARTCC frequencies are above it.
ATIS is generally in the 133-136 MHz. range.

 

Unicom used to be 122.8 and 123.0 MHz. Now it appears 122.7 MHz has been added. Most pilots respect Unicom frequencies and announce the intended airport in their transmissions. It is voluntary. It is still see and be seen under Visual Flight Rules (VFR). The biggest violators are nervous new pilots and Ag pilots. If you land at an airport where Ag pilots are active, you need to be especially alert. They have a reputation of landing from whatever direction is most convenient. Most pilots I have known fly IFR except at a local/home airport.

The only problem I ever had was at Athens Airport (University of Georgia) with a scud runner (VFR below the clouds) in a Piper J3 who landed in some trees short of the runway many years ago. The controllers seemed to forget they had an IFR departure (me) at the same time. He kept yelling in the mic for help blocking other uses. Athens is now an international airport.

Sailplane pilots are another exception. They may not have altitude to circle, but sailplane activities are usually noted in transmissions and on VFR charts. They have the right of way. No one wants a collision.

 

To add a bit, if you’re monitoring Unicom at altitude, it’s not uncommon to hear more than one airport on the same Unicom frequency due to the limited number of frequencies available. That’s why you’ll hear pilots beginning and ending their transmissions with the airport name
‘ Airpark traffic, Cessna Alpha Alpha Charlie turning base runway 18 Airpark’ to avoid confusion. I usually monitored Unicom a ways out when approaching a non-towered airport to get a mental picture of what was happening at and around the field.
Unicom is sometimes used at towered airports to do things like arrange ground transportation, fueling, etc.

 

At the airport, unicom is typically monitors by the FBO, not ATC.