Small Transport
Communication Breakdown
ATC Issue All Types; Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe
Flight Crew Overcame Equipment Problem
Aircraft; Human Factors
We were issued a clearance to fly direct to NARFU which is one of the IAF's on the GPS approach to Runway 6. We were at 4;000 feet and had yet to be cleared for the approach. We were in and out of the clouds; so a visual approach at that altitude wasn't possible. As we were approaching NARFU; we discussed how we hadn't yet been cleared for the approach; so we queried ATC. We were unable to get a response and there was a lot of static on the radio; which is common for the Phenom in the clouds. We pressed the squelch and tried ATC again. This time we could make out broken transmissions that were obviously directed at us. It sounded like ATC was trying to contact us but wasn't giving any instructions or appearing to hear our transmissions. At this point; passing NARFU was imminent and we were at our planned arrival time. We decided to follow lost communication procedures and continue the approach as NARFU was an IAF. Shortly after this; we discovered there was a different center frequency printed on the approach plate than the one we had been on during our descent. We tried this frequency and were able to speak to ATC and cancel our IFR clearance as we had picked up the airport visually by this time. We continued our approach and landing without incident.I believe this event was caused by two issues. The first is the poor performance of the Phenom's radios. The radio strength is very weak and is susceptible to static while flying into clouds. The other seems to be the controller with whom we lost contact possibly forgetting to give us a frequency change before we were out of her range.
Small corporate jet FO reported difficulty communicating with ATC on approach to UUV; citing the Phenom's 'weak radios' as contributing.