Phraseology — Page 73, Lesson 57

I want to walk you through the phraseology chapter. This chapter gives you the standard words and phrases and their meanings. It covers general phraseology, coordination between units, various procedures, and the whole range of services available on area, approach, ground, and radar control. To show you how correct phraseology works in practice, let's consider a VFR flight — that's Visual Flight Rules — from Oxford to Gloucester, with some radar assistance from Brize Norton along the way. Remember, we're only talking about VFR communications here. Let's step through the event sequence. Before engine start, the pilot selects and listens to the ATIS broadcast. ATIS stands for Automatic Terminal Information Service — it's a continuous broadcast of the current aerodrome information. In this example, the broadcast message says: "Oxford Departure information Bravo at 0830 Zulu. Surface wind 210 degrees 10 knots. QNH 1019 QFE 1009. Brize Norton outside air temp 15 dewpoint 14. Call 121.950 for taxi and report QNH and information Bravo." Let me break that down. "Information Bravo" is the ATIS code — each new broadcast gets the next letter of the alphabet so pilots know they have the latest. "Zulu" means UTC, Coordinated Universal Time. QNH is the pressure setting that, when set on the altimeter, gives you altitude above mean sea level. QFE is the pressure setting that gives you height above the aerodrome. The pilot is told to call 121.950 for taxi and to report the QNH they're using and which ATIS information they have received. After engine start, on the ground frequency 121.950, the pilot requests taxi. The pilot says: "Oxford Ground. GBODA Radio check and request taxi for (solo VFR to Gloucester). Information Bravo received QNH 1019." The callsign GBODA is the aircraft registration. The pilot states they have received Information Bravo and are using QNH 1019. ATC replies: "Holding point runway 20. GDA Readability 4 Taxi to the holding point runway 20." "Readability 4" means the transmission is readable — on the readability scale, 4 means readable. "Holding point runway 20" is the position where the aircraft waits before entering the runway. The pilot acknowledges: "GDA to tower. Out." — that means switching to tower frequency. After pretake-off checks, the pilot taxis to the holding point. On tower frequency 118.875, the pilot says: "Oxford Tower GBODA Ready for departure." ATC replies: "Clear take-off GDA" and then gives the wind: "GDA wind 220 10 knots Clear take-off." The pilot acknowledges: "GDA Airborne. To approach." — meaning they're airborne and switching to approach frequency. On approach frequency 125.325, the pilot says: "Oxford Approach GBODA Departing VFR to Gloucester." ATC replies: "GDA Roger Report passing 2500 feet." "Roger" means received. On passing 2500 feet, the pilot reports: "GDA passing 2500 feet" and then says "Brize Radar 134.3 GDA" — that's the pilot requesting a frequency change to Brize Radar. ATC replies: "GDA Roger Contact Brize Radar 134.3." On Brize frequency, the pilot says: "Brize Radar GBODA Request Radar Information Service." Radar Information Service, or RIS, is a service where radar provides traffic information and, if requested, advice on avoiding action. The pilot then gives their details: "GBODA is a PA28 from Oxford 5 miles NW of Oxford Heading 270 degrees at 3000 feet QNH 1019 Routing to Gloucester Squawk 4311 GDA." PA28 is the aircraft type — a Piper PA-28. "Squawk 4311" is the transponder code assigned. ATC replies: "GBODA Pass your message" — that's an invitation to state the request. The pilot says: "GDA Roger Squawk 4311" — acknowledging the squawk code. Then: "Brize RIS Traffic not sighted request avoiding action." The pilot reports traffic not sighted and asks for avoiding action. ATC responds: "Right 360 degrees GDA" — that's a turn instruction. Then: "GDA identified 8 miles north of Oxford Traffic Service 12 o'clock 5 miles closing rapidly." "Identified" means the radar controller has positively identified the aircraft on radar. "12 o'clock" means directly ahead. "5 miles closing rapidly" means traffic is 5 nautical miles away and approaching quickly. The instruction: "GDA turn right 360 degrees" — a complete 360-degree turn to avoid the traffic. Then the pilot requests radar vectors: "GDA request vectors for Gloucester." "Vectors" means radar headings to steer. ATC replies: "Left 250 degrees GDA." The pilot acknowledges: "GDA Roger Turn left 250 degrees." En route, ATC says: "Squawk 7000 Gloucester 125.650 GDA." Squawk 7000 is the standard VFR conspicuity code — it's the code used when no specific code is assigned. The pilot is told to contact Gloucester Approach on 125.650. The pilot acknowledges: "GDA 20 miles NE Gloucester Squawk 7000 Contact Gloucester Approach 125.650." Finally, for VDF bearing information — VDF stands for VHF Direction Finding, which gives the bearing from the ground station to the aircraft. The pilot says: "QDM QDM Gloucester Approach GBODA Request QDM GBODA." QDM is the magnetic bearing from the aircraft to the station — it's the heading to steer to fly directly to the station in still air. ATC replies: "QDM 240 degrees Class Bravo GBODA." "Class Bravo" indicates the bearing accuracy classification — Class Bravo means an accuracy of plus or minus 5 degrees. That's the complete VFR flight sequence showing standard phraseology in action.