Calling out last of tail number

TheOneMarine

TheOneMarine

Well-Known Member
I was wondering from all the ATC guys out there.... I was in Tallahassee (THL) waiting for clearance to taxi, ground calls me up as "zero Foxtrot Tango" rather than the full aircraft call sign. At first, I had no idea that they were calling me.... I guess my question is, is there a respectful way to request Tower, or more particularly ground, to call by at least the last two in the tail number? I don't want to be a pain in thier butt by any means and if thats all that can be done is suck it up and roll with it then thats fine. Just wanting to know and thanks for the help in advance. :nana2:
 
is there a respectful way to request Tower, or more particularly ground, to call by at least the last two in the tail number?

didnt they call you be the last 'three' in the n number
 
Negative, they just used "Zero" which was the last number in the tail number.... I get it a lot because at my school a lot of the N numbers end in Zero. So I wasn't sure if he was talking to me when I was out there.
 
Crockrocket94 said:
What was your full call sign?

Usually ATC shortens it to the LAST three number/letters.

Like N210FT, to 0FT.
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They shouldn't be doing that. It's wrong. The book says we have to use the prefix and then last three.

a. Use the identification prefix and the last 3 digits or letters of the aircraft identification after communications have been established. Do not abbreviate similar sounding aircraft identifications or the identification of an air carrier or other civil aircraft having an FAA authorized call sign.

There's nothing wrong with asking the tower to use your prefix when making calls to you. Since it's what they SHOULD be doing anyways, they shouldn't make an issue out of it.
 
Thanks Dave, I'll be sure to ask them next time. Crockrocket, it was 0FT, but I didn't know if he was calling me or another 0 FT, because at my school, almost all the Tailnumbers end in 0FT :banghead: lol
 
If he asks them to use his prefix then its going to be "N0FT". And he still won't know its him. ATC won't abbreviate if there is another "0FT" on the freq so if you hear that, its you.
 
mikecweb said:
If he asks them to use his prefix then its going to be "N0FT". And he still won't know its him. ATC won't abbreviate if there is another "0FT" on the freq so if you hear that, its you.
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You never know what might help. However, nothing says he can't ask them to use his full callsign. It's not unheard of, especially in the lower hour pilots/students, etc. Most controllers shouldn't lose sleep over it. They will, however, mock you in the tower! Gotta do something to pass the time. :D
 
Just be polite and quick about it.

The worst that I could see happening is them exaggerating the callsign everytime they called you.

:P
 
TheOneMarine...


I think SteveC was trying to give you a subtle hint, but you may have missed it. There is a way to convey your concern to the controller in a way that doesn't put either of you on the spot.

TOWER: "Zero Foxtrot Alpha, taxi to runway XX"

YOU: "Tower, was that for Two Zero Foxtrot Alpha?"

TOWER: "Roger, Two Zero Foxtrot Alpha, taxi to runway XX"

YOU: "Two Zero Foxtrot Alpha, taxiing to Runway XX, Thank you, we have several Zero Foxtrot Alphas at our club, and I just wanted to make sure you were talking to me."

TOWER: "OK, understand. You're the only one on the freq at the moment. Advise when ready for takeoff."



or something along those lines.



whatcha think?




(But file this away: They're going to shorten your callsign to the last three characters. They won't do it if there is another airplane with the same three, and they should alert you if there's a similar "sounding" callsign. Those controllers are pretty smart folks, generally speaking. ;))
.
 
We used to have this problem in PHX with ATP. All of the 2000 models ended in AT and we would sometimes have multiple similar numbers. 244AT and 254AT are two that stick. We would get in the habit of after the initial call up using 4AT or 6AT. That didn't work so well and caused some minor screw ups. A simply quary to tower (or tower asking which AT you were) normally fixed the problem.

For those of you who haven't got the chance to go up a tower, definatly do so, and a quieter one is normally better as you will actually be able to follow what is going on and watch the controllers make fun of people.
 
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