W_a_s_p_i_e From United Kingdom, joined Feb 2002, 170 posts, RR: 0 Posted (11 years 1 month 2 weeks 6 days 8 hours ago) and read 1359 times:
Can someone tell me if American controllers say "point" instead of "decimal". If you refer to CAP413 (by BAA), they state that you must not say "point "when refering to a channel (119.85,135.05...).
Thanks,
Mark
Rick767 From United Kingdom, joined Jan 2000, 2662 posts, RR: 52 Reply 1, posted (11 years 1 month 2 weeks 6 days 7 hours ago) and read 1340 times:
Officially, in the UK at least, pilots must say "decimal" pronounced "dey-see-mal" (I recall the pronunciation spelling from memory of training days long past... may not be correct!).
American pilots tend to say "point" though I'm not sure officially what they are supposed to use in the USA.
I used to love the smell of Jet-A in the morning...
Tom in NO From United States of America, joined Nov 1999, 7194 posts, RR: 40 Reply 2, posted (11 years 1 month 2 weeks 6 days 6 hours ago) and read 1322 times:
Most pilots and controllers over here in the US say "one-two-five-point-five", although I do in rare occasions hear "one-two-five-decimal-five", and on some occasions, pilots will simply read back "one-two-five-five" and not say either "point" or "decimal".
As an aside, we have a flight out of here, American 2601, that goes, I believe, to STL. There has been a certain pilot that in the last couple of weeks (he's been here twice that I know of), has been answering as "American twenty-sick-oh-one". Sounds kind of funny on the radio.
Tom in NO (at MSY)
"The criminal ineptitude makes you furious"-Bruce Springsteen, after seeing firsthand the damage from Hurricane Katrina
ZID From United States of America, joined Jan 2002, 294 posts, RR: 4 Reply 4, posted (11 years 1 month 2 weeks 6 days 5 hours ago) and read 1306 times:
In the United States the FAA's publication 7110.65 (the US atc rule book) states that you must use "point" when issuing a frequency.
A) Point is succinct, uncluttered and less likely to be confused with some other word, number or phrase.
B) Most facilities in the US are too busy to be using a three syllable word instead of a one syllable word. During a normal session of working traffic at a high altitude sector at Indy Center I save 120 syllables per hour using "point" instead of "decimal".
Believe me, when you're working twenty aircraft at a time with a thousand knot closure rate that extra minute of time to think, plan, implement and react can make all of the difference.
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