Is it Finals or Final?
 

I've been following a thread on another aviation web site - one with a photographic bias - and there is a debate about the correct phraseology during the landing approach. Is it final or finals? I seem to see both as often as each other. Is one right and one wrong. Does it matter? I thought I would ask the professionals.

JT

Yes, absolutely, the one is WRONG...!

It is FINAL or FINAL APPROACH.

There is only one approach that you can be doing at any one time.

:D

Having not yet witnessed a pilot flying two planes, or one about to land on two runways

a) it should (logically) be, 'Final',

b)as an ATCO I know what the pilot means when he/she says, 'Finals', so I don't need to get uptight about it,

c)I'm baffled that so much has been written about something that
is impossible to do so surely doesn't need discussing.

Does it?........:uhoh:

RAF phraseology manuals state FINALS as the correct terminology.

It is referred to as either finals, or final approach.

Perhaps the plural refers to long and short finals

CAP 471 contradicts this though, by refering to "final", so who knows!!!

Personally, I have never heard a UK pilot call "final", only "finals"

Clear as Mud!!!

(There isn't an option for paraphrase.)

Yes, absolutely, the one is WRONG...!

It is FINALS or FINAL APPROACH CHECKS, or FINAL CHECKS.

Not a thing to ge too worked up about, but I don't recall ever hearing anyone report Final Complete, or Final Check Complete. Could account for all those wheels-up landings, I suppose.

From what I understand it should be FINAL although to be honest I have only heard one pilot call it FINAL everyone else has added that rogue S. Said pilot did have a one man crusade to get everyone to call it FINAL over the RT but urinating and force nine springs to mind !:ok:

Thanks for the replies folks. That's er.. made it much clearer. I think. :confused:
I don't suppose it matters much as long as what is being called is understood.

JT

Can't get worked up myself but as a controller when I give an aircraft a clearance it goes "Report final". I'll live with it if the pilot suffers from schizophrenia!

Well, you can probably guess what I think :D

Cap 413 says it's FINAL.


....and that's final!!!

Well if one joins downwinds and then turns bases, then finals is the obvious call, otherwise it’s downwind, base and final in the singular!

Well said VisaG!

I always thought that people who called it "finals" were going to go around and do it again at least one more time!

There is no reference to "finals" in the Australian AIP or the WWT as far as I can see.

Keeeristsakes ,get a life!
(or lifes)

"Well if one joins downwinds and then turns bases, then finals "

... and the Captain's name is Gollum!

Always used/heard 'finals' in the military. From formations possibly?

'x formation, 3 helicopters turning finals'

Agree that it was also used for singletons (insert chardonay/Bridget Jones joke here)

Final
 

As it happens over heard the other day an instructor telling a ppl student it is final and not finals.

There are many standard phraseologies used in aviation, which, even if only slightly modified, can put an entirely different meaning upon a transmission or a standard call, thus creating a safety hazard. I don't think that Final Vs Finals is one of them.

The Chinese love to pluralise words, and the first time that a Chinese F/O called to me "Gears Up", I looked over and said "No it's not, it's Down". There's one case of pluralising a word and giving it the opposite meaning intended. Again, I don't think that Final or Finals could be misinterpreted to have any other meaning.

If we put aside whatever phraseologies may be standard from place to place, and take the grammatically correct meaning of the word "Final", there can, by definition, be only one Final at any one time......and that's FINAL :O

Regards,

Old Smokey

Someone has too much time on his hands...

Signed, pedantic :E

Reminds me of a certain instructor who berated me for saying on the CTAF " xxx crossing runway 27".
Apparently the 'correct' phraseology was: " xxx crosses runway 27".

:rolleyes:

Me thinks were picking fly**** out of pepper!