[tonyw]

I've done that. Rather than having ATC try to query an airplane a million times which I can hear responding but they can't, if the frequency is relatively quiet, I'll relay the messages.

The one I'll remember was one of my first flights without an instructor in a Cardinal. Someone had some issues with their gear, and wanted to return to GAI. ATC couldn't hear them, and after about the third time, I told ATC what they were saying, because I could hear them loud and clear.

They were cleared to return, and ATC couldn't have been nicer -- they even asked if there should be emergency equipment on hand!