Type specific call signs

[DaveUnwin]

Hi All, I'm the Editor of GASCo Flight Safety Magazine, and in my most recent column I opined that situational awareness in the circuit would be enhanced if pilots used “Warrior Charlie Delta or “Skylane Charlie Delta” rather than “Golf Charlie Delta. (CAP 413 does allow this, but few pilots do it, although it's a very common procedure in the US). The piece generated the largest mailbag to the editorial office since I became Editor, and the column was subsequently picked up and reprinted by Flight Training News. I was wondering if the many ATCOs, FISOs, and A/G operators of PPRuNe had an opinion? Cheers, Dave

[whowhenwhy]

Hi All, I'm the Editor of GASCo Flight Safety Magazine, and in my most recent column I opined that situational awareness in the circuit would be enhanced if pilots used “Warrior Charlie Delta or “Skylane Charlie Delta” rather than “Golf Charlie Delta. (CAP 413 does allow this, but few pilots do it, although it's a very common procedure in the US). The piece generated the largest mailbag to the editorial office since I became Editor, and the column was subsequently picked up and reprinted by Flight Training News. I was wondering if the many ATCOs, FISOs, and A/G operators of PPRuNe had an opinion? Cheers, Dave
Hi Dave,
It's an interesting subject but it is not for pilots to abbreviate their callsigns. An abbreviated callsign can only be used once the ATS unit has first abbreviated it (I think this is laid down in ICAO Annex 10 Volume II and, for a European audience, is contained in SERA Section 14) and thus it is the ATS unit that dictates the form of abbreviation used.
Aircraft operators could talk to the ATS units at their aerodrome because there are some benefits to this form of abbreviation but there are also some problems. Not least the number of different names applied to variants of the same aircraft type.

[chevvron]

Duplicate posting - see 'Private Flying'.