The following are excerpts and paraphrases from a recent article on AVweb.com. The article provides analysis and insight regarding what a pilot ought to know about Air Traffic Control communications and systems.

First and foremost, recognize that the frequency is a "party line" -- that is, many people are on it listening and could speak at any moment. So, know what you want to say before you open your mic to say it. This keeps the party line open for others to communicate effectively and efficiently.

"If a controller gives you a command, don't abbreviate it any less than they did when they gave it to you. Everything is stated for a reason and we need to hear it all said back to us." Readbacks (repeating the instruction back to the controller after receiving and understanding it) cover two major bases: 1. It lets the controller know that you heard and understood the instruction. 2. It lets the controller hear the instruction again, to ensure it was complete, accurate, and appropriate in the first place. If you've ever tried controlling, you may recall a scenario in which you said one thing, heard it back, and then realized it wasn't the best idea, so you revised the instruction and started over.

Ask for VFR Flight Following. Even though ATC isn't required to tell little old VFR you about all the traffic that you're supposed to be "seeing and avoiding" by yourself, ATC will indeed do just that if you ask -- workload permitting. Especially here, in the virtual simulated skies, if you want to fly VFR but still be part of the experience, initiate contact with the controller if for nothing less than to request VFR flight following and get those notifications of traffic. Don't rely on ATC separation, though. It's still up to you to "see and avoid."

This one applies at all times, in all circumstances, everywhere: Listen first, then talk. First point: Unless you're flying state-of-the-art avionics in your cockpit, you don't see what the controller sees. But, as you switch to a new sector/frequency, you can get a good idea of what's going on before you get into it yourself by listening to the current chatter on the frequency. For example, in the approach environment, you'll likely know: what the weather is, what runway(s) is in use, what other traffic is out there, where everyone is, etc. Second point: If you enter the frequency while ATC and a pilot are mid-conversation, you can probably figure out when that conversation is over. I'm talking about actual ATC conversation, by the way... stuff like "N12345, cleared direct HOKEY, descend and maintain one one eleven thousand," "cleared direct HOKEY and descending to one one thousand, N12345." Now that that 'conversation' is over, nobody can blame you for making your call. Expect that each instruction will be followed by a readback, and please, give the pilot time to make that readback call.

Click the link above for the rest of that article. If you want to learn even more, I found a really really really really old (can you believe 1995 was 20 years ago!?) AVweb article on the topic here.