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A320 FMA ''G/S'' callout

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A320 FMA ''G/S'' callout

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Old 1st Sep 2018, 11:44
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A320 FMA ''G/S'' callout

Been looking around this answer in the manuals, but cannot seem to find something clear cut about the following. Unless I am missing something.

When you fly a ILS. How do you guys here prenounce the ''GS*'' and ''G/S'' modes? Do you say ''Glideslope'' or do you keep it short and say ''G/S''? Same goes for ''LOC'' and LOC*'' modes.

First I always said the full wording like ''glideslope'' or ''localiser''. Every now and then I catch myself doing it the short way around and just say ''G/S''. And captains aswell, off course it gets the message across but it made me wonder how often this happens to other people.
I know it's a silly topic but I guess a little bit of curiosity won't hurt too much...
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Old 1st Sep 2018, 12:00
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‘FFS.’
Do you need the full version!

Last edited by Capt Fathom; 1st Sep 2018 at 12:15.
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Old 1st Sep 2018, 12:07
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Well, when the guy on the left went a little ''mental'' so to say, I had the same thought.... LOL
But since this is the public discussion forum of all places, I figured why not ask here and see how everyone is going to bash around regarding something silly as this. I see I forgot to mention why I ask this in my first posts....whoops, well now you now....
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Old 1st Sep 2018, 12:15
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What the heck. This ought to be fun. "Glideslope" and "Loc"
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Old 1st Sep 2018, 13:45
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As ever, FCOM, pro-nor-sop will have the Airbus / Your company definitive answer, but...

“Gee-Ess”, “Glide” and “Glideslope” are all things I’ve said in the past, and will probably say again in the future. Never been picked up on it (who has the energy to get worked up about it, really?)

The important thing (as per Airbus golden rules) is to know and understand the FMA.
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Old 1st Sep 2018, 14:33
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I wonder about the personal securities of a captain who berates a FO who says “gee ess” as opposed to Glideslope.
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Old 1st Sep 2018, 14:44
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Don't get me wrong, the captain was really not a bad guy and I would like to think he does it with the best intentions. As a relatively new FO I try to always remember advice given to me by captains, but I feel this is just one of those things that goes in the ''Do we really care'' area....
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Old 1st Sep 2018, 14:51
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Originally Posted by Lexsis
Don't get me wrong, the captain was really not a bad guy and I would like to think he does it with the best intentions. As a relatively new FO I try to always remember advice given to me by captains, but I feel this is just one of those things that goes in the ''Do we really care'' area....
That's not advice. He's a clown.
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Old 1st Sep 2018, 15:53
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There was a long thread not too long ago about wording issues with standard callouts.

But i believe it was related to checklists, can't find it though.
Maybe someone else remembers the title.
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Old 1st Sep 2018, 21:21
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Yet we say "alt" not "altitude", "thrust" not "thr". The list goes on. Compressor stall asks the real question.


If you really want to conufuse an Airbus pilot, at altitude capture say " alt cyan".
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Old 2nd Sep 2018, 07:58
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How would you say THR DES DES?
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Old 2nd Sep 2018, 09:55
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‘Thriddle Opdess’
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Old 2nd Sep 2018, 10:45
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About ECAM , how do you call HYD G RSRV LO LVL

» Hide Gee AR essRV Elle O Lvi elle » ?

do we really have these guys in the cockpit today?
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Old 2nd Sep 2018, 12:26
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Thanks for all the input here. Normally I woudn't even care, and stuff like this goes in one ear, and leave from the other. But this was just one of many little things during the flight that made flying a very ''fun'' and long day. And it did spark some interest in what others think about this.
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Old 2nd Sep 2018, 13:51
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Lexsis, my sympathies. I agree with your skipper. Calling alternately "Gee Ess" or "Glideslope" is ridiculous. They sound completely different, and as my SOP says "Glideslope" if an effo said "GS" I'd pull them up. There's millions of ways to fly aeroplanes, and FOs are driven mad by captains doing things differently. In the end it doesn't really matter, but standardise it. Flying's supposed to be fun, not trying to guess what the captain wants or likes to hear. Put it in the SOPs and stick with it. That said, with all the Airbus SOP prescription, surely this is already covered somewhere?
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Old 2nd Sep 2018, 17:24
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I flew recently with one captain who insisted it should be "Gee-Es" because "glideslope" is reserved for calling out of stabilization criteria. His reasoning being, that when he hears "Glideslope", one cannot be sure whether it's mode annunciation or a callout that something is wrong with the glideslope.

I have to admit, there is some merit to his thinking, but as with many other things in aviation - I cannot think of any situation when there could be any confusion regarding those two events, even more so one that would affect safety at all.
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Old 3rd Sep 2018, 00:39
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Originally Posted by BarryMG
I flew recently with one captain who insisted it should be "Gee-Es" because "glideslope" is reserved for calling out of stabilization criteria. His reasoning being, that when he hears "Glideslope", one cannot be sure whether it's mode annunciation or a callout that something is wrong with the glideslope.
My oh my, one of those "confused" aviators. That's a bit of "over-engineering problems". I mean, really? The thing is boxed right in front of you and you just called "glide slope star" (or gee ess star, whatever ) a couple of seconds ago. The ability of some pilots to engineer problems amazes me sometimes.

In regards to the OP, check your SOP. Is there a specific way to call it written in there? Call it that way. Is there not? Then call it as you like, preferably in the most clear way possible to your partner! I call it simply "glide slope (star)", but then again, I call "Loc", "nav", "Alt", or even a mix: "alt constraint star"! So what do I know...

As you know, not all things are written and in those cases, I believe things should be as concise and clear as possible, so as long as you don't call it something like "sliding down the glide" or something as or more ridiculous than that, you're fine. So if you call "gee ess" (I'd probably raise an eyebrow though as I'm not used to hearing it) or "glide slope" I guess I wouldn't care. Just my 2c though.

PS: Save yourself some unnecesary exposure and call it as your partners call it (so long as it's something acceptable!)
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Old 3rd Sep 2018, 03:24
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The level of pedantry on this thread makes me thankful that for better or worse, my company does not make FMA calls.
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Old 3rd Sep 2018, 06:59
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I flew recently with one captain who insisted it should be "Gee-Es" because "glideslope" is reserved for calling out of stabilization criteria. His reasoning being, that when he hears "Glideslope", one cannot be sure whether it's mode annunciation or a callout that something is wrong with the glideslope
If he’s that pedantic, he should know the standard Airbus call is “GLIDE” when out of tolerance.

Last edited by compressor stall; 3rd Sep 2018 at 11:40. Reason: Added capitals as my idevice doesn’t upload quotation marks to pprune.
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Old 3rd Sep 2018, 07:42
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Thanks for the replies.

So I looked around a bit more in the OM and sop's. The only mention about FMA calls in the OM I can find with, is an example regarding armed modes that they should be called with their color.

And it gives a clear example. ''G/S BLUE'', ''LOC BLUE''. It then goes on about active modes being called out without their color, and gives a few more examples. And goes on about the usual stuff like challenging when nothing or wrong thing is said etc.

I guess this is the answer for my own question and we can close this discussion. I do not at all like to be such a pedantic f*ck. But when constantly being challenged about little things (some were good hints though), its gonna spark my interest aswell.
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