<<Personally I have a tendency to not use my callsign at the end of direct established communications. I should become better at this, but I don't feel it's a huge safety issue:

Lydd: G-ZZZZ, report passing Tenterden.
Me: Reporting Tenterden.
>>

It's a massive safety issue Adam. I can't believe that a pilot would omit his callsign from a transmission. On a busy LARS frequency it could be a nightmare for the controller. In the case above all you would need to say is "Golf Zulu Zulu passing Tenterden".

Sorry, I was being unclear - this was just acknowledging his request for me to report at Tenterden when I get there. When I reach Tenterden later I will of course use my callsign as some time then has passed and we have to re-establish communication.

Another example:

Farnborough: G-ZZZZ, re-contact me on 123.225.
Me: Re-contacting on 123.225.

I feel there's not much ambiguity here as it's specifically directed at me, although I should prob end with my callsign. It just feels like a bit of a waste of time as he knows it's me - who else would respond to that callsign?

...or a simple "Wilco, G-ZZ" would be suffice.

Some get their knickers in an awful twist over RT. The fact is we're all human and we all make mistakes. Although some don't seem to think before pressing the Tx button...

"Engage brain before opening mouth"

<<I should prob end with my callsign. It just feels like a bit of a waste of time as he knows it's me - who else would respond to that callsign?>>

All manner of people; you'd be amazed!

Please get used to using your callsign every time. It's no big deal and may prevent an incident.

Don't I know it. I was flying a DC3 on radio navigation aid calibration duties around Sydney airport in the early Seventies. BOAC or was it BA by then, arrived and in that affected drawled manner used by some members of the Royal Family, proceeded to read every bloody word of ATC transmissions back much to the annoyance of all aircraft on the frequency.

When someone jacked up and had a go at this idiot, he replied loftily that it was a requirement to read back all ATC transmissions. After this aircraft left tower frequency for ground frequency, bugger me he read back everything all over again. Highly unprofessional and distracting to others captive audience to his blathering..

They all did it! We used to refer to them as "Captain Parrot"!!

Readbacks are required for a specific number of things.
Any clearance.
Runway
Altimeter setting
Level.

No doubt others can add more.

If it isn't a clearance then don't read it back, just acknowledge with a Roger or Wilco.

And never, NEVER use the word "Fully" fer chrissakes. It is so very very gash. Quite apart from being a tortology.

(Nearly as bad is a cringe-making and pretentious "the" prefixing a callsign )

Please don't use "please" as in "Request taxi please". We're communicating, not being drawing-room smarmy-polite.

etc!

Apart from the obvious, such as what has to be read back, callsign use, general RT practical use etc, I have another little thing that I learnt during one of my first line checks during commercial aviation: "every number has a name".

Trying sound cool, like all those other pilots, I'd say something like "Callsign XXX, 159 for 240 to YYYYY". The check pilots logic was that since "every number has a name", it should be "Callsign XXX, flightlevel 159 climbing flightlevel 240 inbound YYYYY".

Obviously, since my callsign that day was "xxx 61" it would sound like "xxx 6115942402yyyyy", which makes a whole lot of sense to me, since I said it, but it might not to others.

I've never seen said "rule" in any book, but I think it makes good sense.

"XXXX standby"
 

"standing by XXXX"

MAN - DLM - MAN the other day - my Skipper and I were discussing this thread, and so were listening avidly. On 6 occasions when asked to stand-by, the pilots reported standing by! :ugh:

I don't want to turn this into a nationality thing, but all of them seemed to be Middle Eastern / Asian or Mediterranean. Perhaps it's harder when English isn't your first language?

DW.

At LHR it was quite normal for the clearance delivery frequency to say, after receiving a correct clearance readback, "Call fully ready on xyz.ab".

In places like Palma, being told to call 'fully ready' was the normal, as so many operators would call, 'ready' knowing it would take a while to get their clearance, but with steps still at the aircraft and passengers boarding.

However much one may not like the word, 'fully' it didn't creep in without good reason.

I fail to see the problem with just "ready", not "fully ready". Isn't it obvious the "fully ready" came in because people called ready when they really weren't? If you're not ready, don't :mad: say you are then, it's that easy.

And that is a classic example of verbosity. There is no requirement to read back the ATC request for you to report when you have passed Tenterden. Simply acknowledge the ATC request by giving your callsign only.

ATC: "XYZ report passing Tenterden"

Your reply "XYZ".

With you.
So very many native English speakers (ha!) use this utterly pointles and timewasting sorry piece of non-standard RT. ;)
London, good morning it's the birdseed 989 with you flight level 380 on course to bla bla bla
With or without you mate, life goes on!




And since more than one of you brought up the native tongue, a big please to all native UK-English speakers: ICAO pronunciation for two is too, three is tree. Two and three, pronounced in your native UK accents are often indistinguishable from each other to non-natives. Both sound like thuuei to our ears! UK ATC is the most professional, pleasant and non-arrogant ATC unit in Europe if you ask me, but this too/tree issue really needs to be sorted out.

bfisk - If your age given in your profile is accurate you obviously were not around in the days of the 'double Palma' etc. from UK and other European cities. It was common practice for operators, particularly Spanish ones, to call for start when clearly not ready, thus blocking all who called after them, (first come, first served), and who were (fully) ready. Delays of two or more hours were common and made for a very long four sector duty day.

The Scandinavians had the right idea, on any Saturday in summer it was a common sight to see five or six stretched DC8s on the tarmac at Palma or Ibiza etc. One round trip, well over 200 punters out and back, no problem.

RT wise, we all live in a glass house, so I'm reluctant to criticise (except for fully ready!!). However, why is is that some professional pilots don't have the wit, courtesy or common sense to wait just a few seconds before transmitting when they change frequency? Do they think they're the only aircraft in the sky?

Fred

SIDs

xxx approach this is xxx123 passing 2100ft climbing FL50 Ortac 1 Alpha departure.

SIMPLES!!!!!!!!

When I used to teach fresh PPL's from Southampton I used to drill them on RT because if it came naturally and was diciplined it allowed more capacity to fly the aircraft. But its not always the pilots, I had cause once to ask a tower controller when was the last time he had read cap 413, radio silence ensued!!!!

AND
AdamFrisch USE YOUR CALL SIGN everytime please.

Fred I'm sure if you tried you would find that after a certain frequency range change the antenna needs to retune, which is done by pressing the TX switch. Until this point you may not have heard the first exchange that you have just cut into. There is also the case of a controller transmitting on more than 1 frequency simultaneously in which case you may not hear the ongoing transmissions from another aircraft.

Posiible case of unnecessary sarcastic criticism?

Hi Torque2,

No, sorry, I don't buy that. Nice try though.;)

Fred.

Parabellum, to continue your "logic" if people start to call "fully ready" with doors still open I suppose the European RT language modification facility at Palma will begin to insist we call "Completely fully ready????" Five years later it will be "Completely fully utterly entirely doors shut stairs removed poised to leap into action like a striking slug ready".

"fully" is meaningless b&llocks and should not be used. We'll be saying "like" or "sort of thing" in every sentence next!:ugh:

AB - it was ATC that asked for 'fully' ready, knowing that there were cheats out there abusing the system, (Palma) and at LHR it was just what was said, "clearance correct, call fully ready on xyz.ab", maybe people had been cheating there too, who knows? In Spain particularly people were calling 'ready' when they were not and thereby screwing up the system.
Not sure if it still happens but things got so bad at some airports that ATC required a call from the ground crew as well, confirming all doors closed and stairs removed.

Oh yes, 'my logic' said nothing at all about calling fully ready with doors open.