Mea culpa:

I was flying into OSU airport at Columbus, OH on Friday. I contacted
Columbus approach at the appropriate time, was given a squawk, and continued
on inbound for OSU. The controller tried to call traffic for "Archer 411" a
couple of times, so I asked if he was calling "Archer 44511". He seemed
exasperated, but gave me traffic, which I immediately spotted and announced
that "511 has traffic". I'm not the greatest on the radio in controlled
airspace, but was by myself, and handling things pretty well. I next heard
a call for "Brsst 511". I heard the call, but thought that there must be
someone else in the area with a similar call sign, since it sounded nothing
like "Archer" or "Cherokee" (which we Archer pilots also get a lot). I did
start listening even more carefully, but did not ask him if the call was for
me, probably partly because of his reaction when I questioned him earlier
when he got my call sign wrong. Again he called the same aircraft, which
sounded almost like "Bravo 511". I decided that this could not be for me,
although I did hear no acknowledgement of the call. He made a third call to
"Bravo 511" telling them to "Squawk 1200, contact OSU tower on 118.8."
Again I hesitated, thinking that while this might be for me, I'd never
having been told to squawk VFR at this point. I was about to ask him if
these calls were for me when he then called "Archer 511, are you still with
me?", to which I replied "Affirmative, 511." At this point he really reamed
me out, saying "I know it's spring, and you haven't been flying all winter,
but you really need to pay attention. I've called you three times, and it's
really busy down here.", or words to that effect. I replied that I had been
listening very carefully, but he repeated his tirade again about it being
spring and that I needed to concentrate. He then repeated the last call
about squawking 1200 and contacting the tower. Not wanting to tie up the
frequency any more, and being more than a bit embarrassed, I complied and
completed the flight without further incidents.

I really wished that I could have pointed out that if he'd been a bit more
careful with his pronounciation, I would have acknowledged his first call
immediately, since I heard very clearly his final call about whether or not
I was still with him. I was smarting about the whole thing for the rest of
the evening. I realize that it is normal procedure for a controller not to
abbreviate a call sign if there is more than one plane in his airspace with
the same final three digits, but had he been even a bit more articulate in
saying "Archer", as he was in his final call, I would not have been
confused.

I guess I learned that you need to ask immediately if you think a call might
be for you, even though the call is a bit garbled. Is the aircraft type an
official part of the call? Any other actions I should have taken?

--
Bob (Chief Pilot, White Knuckle Airways)