What's Our Vector, Victor?

Learning the radios is probably the single most nerve-wracking skill a pilot needs to master.

Proper radio procedure is essentially another language. Yes, it sounds mostly like English - sometimes remarkably like English - but it is not regular English. Just like any other foreign language, there is a unique vocabulary, grammar, and a cadence that needs to be internalized before one can be proficient in speaking it.

There are just a few simple rules to follow that will have you sounding like a real pilot in no time. Follow these and you're most of the way there:

1. Thou shalt not utter the name any number above 9 (pronounced "niner"), for they are unclear and profane. Numbers higher than niner shall be pronounced by their individual digits. For example: thirteen is "one-three", 270 is "two seven zero", etc.
2. Thou shalt identify yourself after every transmission, JanDrees.
3. Thou shalt utilize the NATO Alphabet when spelling anything or saying any letter. Only November-Oscar-Oscar-Bravos use civilian letter pronunciations.
4. Thou shalt speak rapidly and with a marked vocal fry. You are a pilot and in a damned hurry, but you also need to sound cool and collected.

A Typical Conversation in Aviation Procedural English
Any flight departing a towered airport requires a call to Ground Control to let them know who and where you are, and what you want to do:
 
"Oakland Ground this is Cessna SevenFiveSevenJulietDelta, a Cessna onefivetwoslantUniform at Landmark West. We'd like to taxi to two-eight right for VFR to San Pablo Bay with Romeo."

Ground will come back with an acknowledgement and taxi directions. At Oakland, there's pretty much just one taxiway for GA aircraft, so it's easy:

"SevenfivesevenJulietDelta taxi two-eight right via Delta Charlie maintain VFR at or below two-thousand squawk zero three five six"

...to which you reply: "Taxi two-eight right via Delta Charlie squawk zero three five six, SevenJulietDelta".

Next, after preparing the airplane for blastoff, you switch your radio to the tower frequency and ask for permission to use the runway:

"SevenJulietDelta holding short of two-eight right ready for departure." Which gets reply:

"SevenJulietDelta winds three four zero at one-two, runway two-eight right cleared for takeoff, maintain VFR at or below two-thousand, follow the freeway north-west" to which you reply:

"Cleared for takeoff two-eight right, SevenJulietDelta."

Being thus properly blessed, you may now escape gravity's surly bonds.

You probably see the pattern here - identify and request, response with instructions, acknowledge by repeating the relevant parts of the instructions and identify. At the basic level this is how most exchanges go.

Why Not Just "Rrrrrroger"?
Instructions are read back to double-check that the pilot understands the instructions. Simply acknowledging ATC with a "roger" is not the same as verifying you heard it correctly. It may seem pedantic, but there's a very good reason for this.

Imagine a complex traffic situation, where the controller is attempting to wrangle five or six aircraft in the pattern at the same time.  Bonanza FiveSixSevenPapaOscar is a fantastically important pilot-guy in a big hurry, and he doesn't hesitate to let the controller know that he's not happy about being kept waiting. She gets fed up and tells him to "Continue holding short at two-eight left. I will TELL you when you are cleared for take off !" SevenPapaOscar, half his attention diverted by his girlfriend in the right seat, and the other half occupied with the letter that his wife's lawyer just sent him, doesn't hear the whole transmission - he hears only "blah blah cleared for take off". Playing the part of the fantastically important pilot-guy for his girlfriend, he responds "rrrrroger". The controller assumes pilot-guy has been sufficiently told-off and shifts her attention to the other aircraft to let PapaOscar cool his heels a bit longer.  PapaOscar, thinking he finally got his clearance, proceeds to attempt a takeoff directly into the path a Gulfstream on short final, resulting in a really neat explosion and a handsome insurance payout to his widow and her boyfriend.

This is more than just a scary story - the worst accidental air disaster in history happened in almost exactly this way.

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To not end this post on a total downer, I will relate a story that happened recently to me a friend of mine. I My friend thought he was getting pretty good at this flying thing, having just completed twelve touch-and-goes in a busy pattern. After the last landing he clears the runway and calls ground "SevenJulietDelta is clear of runway two-eight right on Golf".

Those of you paying attention will notice that I left off the "where to" part of the transmission.

The controller replies "SevenJulietDelta, say parking." (meaning: "where are you parking so I can tell you how to get there."  "Uhh, Parking!" Fiona laughed all the way back to the tie-down.

Until next time, straighten up and fly right.

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If you want to listen to professionals speaking the aviation language at a busy airport, go here.  KOAK also has some streams; if you listen, you just might get to hear me making a fool of myself on the radios.