RTC – MOD-02 – Pt.10 – Common Word and Phrasal Mistakes

Within the online community there are a couple of the standard words and phrases that people often get confused with, this lesson will hopefully iron those meanings out to you so you can use these words and phrases correctly and with confidence:

AFFIRM – Yes.

AFFIRM should only be used in place of words like “yes” or if something is correct, it should not be used to show any willingness to comply with an order or instruction, for this purpose you should use WILCO – Will Comply.

CONFIRM – I request verification of: (clearance, instruction, action, information).

CONFIRM should only ever be used as a question, never as an answer.

example

“Confirm gear down”

“Affirm gear down”

ROGER – I have received all your last transmission.

ROGER should only be used to tell someone that you have received their message and understood it (if you didn’t understand it you should be asking them to say it again or to rephrase it). ROGER does not infer any willingness to comply with an instruction so should only be used in response to informational calls, it also isn’t a substitution for “yes” or “affirm”.

example

“Traffic right two o’clock one zero miles crossing right left flight level 200”

“Roger”

Additionally, instead of using ROGER, you can just say your callsign only as a response. A controller will use your callsign to “ROGER” a call you made to them.

example

“HAMMER 3-2, You’re number 3, Vectoring behind HAMMER 3-1 and HAMMER 3-3”

“HAMMER 3-2”