Flight Training - March/April 2023 - 8

UNUSUAL ATTITUDE BY DAVE HIRSCHMAN
Awesome? The word is so overused
as to have become devoid of all practical
meaning. Goody? Too foolish to contemplate.
Got it and gotcha? These are
precisely the kinds of imprecise terms that
roger was meant to banish.
Do any of these roger replacements
offer real improvements?
Of course not. They're too cute, too
Editor at Large DAVE HIRSCHMAN learned
to fly at a sleepy, nontowered airport,
and talking on the radio was the most
intimidating aspect of flight training. He
avoided towered airports and busy airspace
for fear of saying the wrong thing on the
radio. dave.hirschman@aopa.org
trendy, and too inflexible to be useful
over the long term. Those who dabble
in them now will surely be embarrassed
next month or next year when such fashionable
words of the moment fall out of
favor. It's the verbal equivalent of wearing
disco clothes in the 1970s. It might have
seemed like the right thing to do at the
time, but now the photos are cringeworthy
blackmail fodder.
The aviation origins of roger are
WHAT'S WRONG
WITH ROGER?
If brevity is the soul of wit, then the aviation term " roger " is
pure genius.
The one-word reply means a radio transmission-even a complicated one-has
been received and understood. Roger isn't the answer to a question the way " affirmative "
and " negative " are. And pilots who say roger aren't tying themselves to any
particular course of action.
If a controller says there's turbulence ahead, or to expect a climb or descent, or
that surface winds have shifted and takeoffs and landings will be made on different
runways, a thoughtful and considerate pilot will acknowledge such timely new information
with a succinct roger.
But the word is much more than that.
An enthusiastic " Roger that! " exclamation means, " Yes! I fully agree with you! "
A half-hearted " Rodge " signals disappointment or reluctance. " I got your message,
and it's not exactly what I was hoping to hear. "
When delivered in a low growl, roger is synonymous with " shut up. " Or, " I heard
you the first time, and you really ought to stop talking now. "
But lately, on the airways, roger seems to have fallen from favor. Perhaps the
word is too formal, too stodgy, or too colorless for today's highly individualistic
and expressive flight crews. I jotted down a few of the roger substitutes that came
through my headset recently, and they're appalling.
" Awesome. " " Bueno. " " Goody. " " Got it. " " Gotcha. " " Perfecto. " " Right on. "
Right on? Are you kidding? Have we time-traveled back to the 1960s?
If so, should we expect " Sock it to me " -the punchline from Rowan & Martin's
Laugh In-to show up in the Pilot/Controller Glossary?
8
FLIGHT TRAINING MARCH/APRIL 2023
murky, but it's generally believed to have
been born from an acronym: " received
order given, expect results. " Fair enough.
Pilots aren't the only group to have
adopted and implemented a term of
mysterious origin. U.S. Army soldiers
have their own a catch-all acknowledgment
that can mean just about anything:
" Hooah. " It's a battle cry, an affirmation,
and even a question: You understand me?
Hooah? And it's often said over the radio.
(It's also different than the U.S. Marines'
ubiquitous " Oorah, " although both defy
easy definition.)
Standard phraseology doesn't inhibit
pilots and controllers from lightening up
and sharing some laughs on the frequency.
I recently heard a Washington Center
controller embarrass his teenage daughter
by asking the crew of an airliner she
was traveling on to wish Isabella a happy
birthday via the airplane's public address
system. Another controller near Charlotte,
North Carolina, with a distinctive voice
and lilting Southern accent, was recognized
on frequency by a pilot he went
to high school with more than a decade
prior. The banter was genuinely warm,
friendly, surprising, and funny.
Punctuality is said to be the " courtesy
of kings. " To me, standard phraseology
provides that kind of tonic for aviation.
Clear and timely communication helps
avoid mistakes and makes the entire system
operate more smoothly. If that crimps
your style or inhibits your self-expression,
you're not trying hard enough.
I fervently hope roger makes a comeback.
FT

Flight Training - March/April 2023

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