Class Delta: how to talk to a control tower
To enter
Two-way radio communication with the tower before entering.
Establish contact first
Call the tower before you enter the airspace (typically a 4-NM radius to 2,500 ft AGL). If the tower answers with your call sign, you are cleared to enter; "stand by" alone is not contact established.
The call
"Palmdale Tower, Cessna One Two Three Four Five, one zero miles west, two thousand five hundred, inbound landing with information Bravo." Have the ATIS first.
Read back the pattern
Read back runway and pattern instructions: "Make left traffic runway two five, report midfield, Cessna One Two Three Four Five." And read back the landing clearance with the runway.