Wilco...

[south coast]

A question...

When can WILCO be used?

ATC: Call next mike-november-alpha...
PILOT: WILCO

Correct or not?

ATC: Climb level 240...
PILOT: WILCO

Correct or not?


I have had several different answers from various people.
Would just like to be clear.

[Notso Fantastic]

WILlCOmply. It's an acknowledgement of obeying rather than just acknowledging as in "Roger". BTW, if you are cleared to an altitude or flight level, you had better repeat the figure back- we all know what we have to repeat back to ATC.......

[south coast]

sorry notss, what does BTW mean?

Play up Pompey...

[expedite_climb]

south coast;

W.r.t. (with respect to), B.T.W. - it means By The Way, at least I.M.H.O it is....

[fatboy slim]

Perfect time for Wilco is when ATC do not require a readback, for example

ATC: 'right heading 120 degrees call established localiser 15'

the reply should be 'right heading 120 degrees wilco'

no blather about calling established.


Flight levels, headings, direct to etc all cannot be replied to with Wilco, unless you're from the US it seems.

Another EG, 'Squawk Ident' from ATC should be replied with Wilco,
BTW Who came up with the bloody stooopid 'Ident you have' anyway?

Have a look at CAP413, good old 'fastair 345'...

[mbcxharm]

"Fastair 345 squawk ident"

"Squawk ident, Fastair 345"

(CAP413)

[dudduddud]

When I use 'wilco' it's directly related to readback requirements. Any instructions not requiring a readback are acknowledged with the word 'wilco'.
It's brief and it lets the other party know you also copied the less important instructions.

[fatboy slim]

Thanks. I stand corrected. Still cant stand ''Ident you have''!!

[mbcxharm]

I agree - it sounds rubbish! :)

[DB6]

Not as bad as "Ident coming down".:yuk: .

[Pilot Pete]

Or

"London, Fastair345 with you ":p

PP

[Lou Scannon]

"Wilco" used to mean "Will comply".
It is added to the words-"Roger, Wilco and out" usually now only heard in the old black and white war films with "Old Chap" added at the end!

[InTheAir]

What's wrong with "ident you have"....

It sounds quite seasoned if you ask me.... :cool:

[G-ANDY]

Sorry for sounding like a thicko,

But what does "ident you have" mean and in what context would it come in?

Cheers,

G-ANDY

[DB6]

It's non-standard R/T and is used by some as a response to an ATC request to 'squawk ident' i.e. operate the special position identification feature. The correct response is to read back the instruction. e.g. (ATC) 'Fastair 345 squawk ident'. (Pilot) 'Squawk ident, Fastair 345' (see mbcxharm's post above).
Call me a bluff old traditionalist but I always think the people who sound best are those who get it right.
south coast, if you want the definitive answer look up CAP413 on the CAA's website. It's free to download in pdf format and is the current UK civilian R/T bible.

[No_Speed_Restriction]

Bluff old traditionalist

[G-ANDY]

Thanks DB6. I thought that was the case but had never come across the lingo before.

Heres another question which tends to cross my mind everytime I do a standard overhead join:

When I report 2miles and the controller says "descend deadside and report downwind 27 right hand"

I always say: "Wilco and report downwind 27 righ hand G-****"

Is this correct? I hope it is as I try to do everything by the book!

G-ANDY

[IRRenewal]

Andy,

In that case just a single 'wilco' is sufficient. There is nothing there that MUST be read back, like an altitude or pressure setting.

Cheers

Gerard

[G-ANDY]

Thanks Gerard,

I plead gulity as when doing a standard overhead join at Staverton this evening, I rattled off the whole lot!!!

Lovely clouds as the sun was setting!! Sunset is a great time to fly as the contours of the ground show up much better.

G-ANDY

[Rhodie]

Greetings G-A

My earliest days of R/T use were in the military - well, that's when I learnt the 'proper' radio speak and the phonetic alphabet.. (many moons ago now..).

WILCO was a pretty standard response to an instruction or request of sorts - standard would be "Roger, Wilco" - understood and Will Comply.

No, we never used "Over and Out" - that was only for the movie makers. We did however use "over" on standard ops.

I still use some hangover expressions from those days now with ATC instructions - the occassional "Roger that" comes out when a read back is not required.

My version of your response above in reply to the tower would be; "Wilco on decent, right downwind 27 next G-xxx"

I think as long as the tower (and you) are happy that you understood the instruction/advisory, then short and sweet is good.

Cheers

Rhodie Out :ok:

[mbcxharm]

There are quite a few circumstances I seem to come up against where what to read back is not clear and CAP413 is not specific (I like to get it right if I can and I've recently been trying to get my climb and descent clearance readbacks perfect! :) Personally, to G-ANDY's instruction from the controller I would reply "descend deadside, wilco", since I would intrepret the former part as my clearance (limit) and the report request just needs a "wilco". I like it when I get something like:

"XXX good afternoon, it's radar vectors for the ILS runway 26 you're number 4, traffic ahead of you is a 737 on a left base, information now is foxtrot, radar advisory service below controlled airspace. Descend altitude 1500 ft, QNH 1026"

<Head explodes>

[Tinstaafl]

'Roger' means 'Message understood'

'Wilco' means 'Message understood and will comply'

It's superflous to say 'Roger, wilco'.

So sayeth the Royal Australian Signal Corps when I qualified as a radio operator 20 years ago.

The UK has a very specific set of information that must be said, read back, when and in what order. It's all contained in whatever that publication is that the CAA publish. Failing that, always remember that the goal is to communicate so if you really are having trouble then talk to the ATC bloke as if he's a human being on the other end of a telephone if that's what it takes.

[Snigs]

Talking of blasts from the past, I still hear QSY, although I haven't seen it in CAP413.

With regards to the overhead join at Glos, shouldn't the runway in use be read back?

[flyboy007]

In theory, if asked to sqwark ident,, the fact the the little symbol on the controllers screen flashes is indication enough that you understand and will/have complied!?!?!

[dada]

roger roger that's a big ten 4 rubber duck - correct ???? or not?

[Lump Jockey]

I didn't think "Over and out" could ever be applicable due to the fact that "Over" requires a reply and "Out" does not. Thus "Over and out" would mean "I'm ending this conversation with you, but I still want a reply"!!! Bizarre!
LJ.

[Tinstaafl]

Yes, the 'over & out' thing is another anathema to proper radio use. About the only way you could use them in the same sentence would be 'Over....correction, out'. No 'and' though.

'Repeat' instead of 'say again' is also a no-no. Use 'repeat' & you can expect another round of HE or whatever was last used to get lobbed towards someone. Bad luck if all you meant was to hear something a second time around... :ooh: