"zero" versus "oscar" versus "sierra"

On Fri, 17 Dec 2004 15:19:56 -0600, "Dan Luke" wrote:

"SIERRA" is a failure as a phonetic letter and should be changed, IMO.
"SUGAR" was better, but it is too much of an oddball pronunciaton to be
successful internationally.

One of the worst! A Spanish speaker would presumably render it
SOO-harrr.

I learned the old phonetic alphabet, and when I began flying I found
that the term that stuck with me despite my best effort to abolish it
was Baker in lieu of Bravo. The FSS briefer would always correct me.

all the best -- Dan Ford
email: (put Cubdriver in subject line)

Warbird's Forum www.warbirdforum.com
Piper Cub Forum www.pipercubforum.com
the blog www.danford.net

"Cub Driver" wrote:
"SIERRA" is a failure as a phonetic letter and should be changed,
IMO.
"SUGAR" was better, but it is too much of an oddball pronunciaton to
be
successful internationally.

One of the worst! A Spanish speaker would presumably render it
SOO-harrr.

Nope; "g" is pronounced hard in Spanish when followed by "a". Spanish
speakers might have trouble with the "sh" sound, though.

I learned the old phonetic alphabet, and when I began flying I found
that the term that stuck with me despite my best effort to abolish it
was Baker in lieu of Bravo. The FSS briefer would always correct me.

A least you have an excuse! On two occasions I've said "october"
instead of "oscar."
--
Dan
C172RG at BFM

Ron Garret wrote:

Allowing "zero poppa" to be "oscar
poppa" instead would alleviate this confusion.

So would using your full N-number.

George Patterson
The desire for safety stands against every great and noble enterprise.

G.R. Patterson III wrote :
Ron Garret wrote:

Allowing "zero poppa" to be "oscar
poppa" instead would alleviate this confusion.

So would using your full N-number.

I think Ron previously mentioned that his full number is identical to
the other plane's, with the exception of the second to last character
(0 vs. S).

John Galban=====N4BQ (PA28-180)

"G.R. Patterson III" wrote in message
...

Allowing "zero poppa" to be "oscar
poppa" instead would alleviate this confusion.


So would using your full N-number.


Not if the other characters are identical, as they are in this case.

On Fri, 17 Dec 2004 09:35:58 -0800, Ron Garret
wrote:

Does anyone know what it
would take to try to make this case to the FAA to try to get them to
change their minds?

The short answer, I suspect, is no, never, not on your life.

I am continually irritated by the assumption that Zero and Capital O
are the same thing. I think it arises from two factors: first, that on
the manual typewriters of the 1940s and 1950s that many of us learned
to type on, there was no zero, so we managed by typing a capital O.

And second, the dial telephones of the same era had 10 numbers on
them, including zero, but the zero also meant O for Operator.

I suspect the reason the FAA came up with this strange rule is that a
large proportion of the population would read Oscar as "zero", to the
great confusion of reporting miscreant aircraft.

(I know what you mean about the confusion arising from a
similar-sounding designator. I fly out of Hampton NH airport, which is
on the same freq as Sanford ME. Over the radio, it's often hard to
know which airport is meant. And at Sanford there is a Cessna whose
tail number ends in the same three digits as the J-3 I fly. So I am
always careful to specify that I am Piper Cub XXX, or in many cases
simply "the Cub".)


all the best -- Dan Ford
email: (put Cubdriver in subject line)

Warbird's Forum www.warbirdforum.com
Piper Cub Forum www.pipercubforum.com
the blog www.danford.net

Does anyone know what it would take to try to make this
case to the FAA to try to get them to change their minds?

rg

I'd say about 20 years ... to change the FAR.

I was flying out of Jefferson County Airport in Colorado around the time
that the T.V. show Mork and Mindy was popular. There was a fella who often
was in the pattern when I was who's callsign ended with 99. He would always
say "nano-nano" to acknowledge a call.

-Frank

Ah yes, call signs.

Great for confusion, well at least for me.
Over here we use the ICAO system to abbreviate call signs (not sure for
the US)
Any way, as a student I was not always sure they were talking to me.
For example PH-SPA can be papa alfa, papa papa alfa or sierra pappa
alfa. Next time I flew it was in something like PH-APS. Very confusing,
certainly for somebody who can not remember his telephone number,
license plate, bank account number or even what day of the week it is.
Now I'm happy.
I fly with D-EDMB. It always ends with mike bravo with maybe a delta to
start with.

That is, if you fill in your flight plan clearly.
Can remember that an air traffic controller tried to contact oscar mike
bravo all the way over Belgium, untill it dawned on delta mike bravo
that it was meant for him. Ok, neat writing is also one of my short
comings :-(

-Kees.