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communications
This is a very basic guide to aviation communications. You won't find here the procedure to call an aircraft when you're on approach, for example. However you will find which range of frequencies to listen to approach, if you are an aviation enthusiast and have a scanner. You will find how the aircraft identify themselves on the radio with the callsigns, and other useful information. Enjoy!
Frequency ranges

    
    VHF mHz
    108.000 - 117.975 Navigational aids
    118.000 - 121.400 Control towers
    121.500           International emergency frequency
    121.600 - 122.900 Ground and apron control
    122.700 - 123.900 UNICOM frequencies
    123.450 -         Air to air communications
    124.000 - 128.800 Arrivals and departures
    129.000 - 131.775 Company operations
    132.000 - 135.975 ATC Center (enroute control)
    
    UHF mHz
    225.000 - 400.000 Military traffic (mostly)
    243.000           International emergency frequency
    
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Phonetic alphabet/Numbers

    
    Alpha        Juliett        Sierra
    Bravo        Kilo           Tango
    Charlie      Lima           Uniform
    Delta        Mike           Victor
    Echo         November       Whisky
    Foxtrot      Oscar          X-ray
    Golf         Papa           Yankee
    Hotel        Quebec         Zulu
    India        Romeo
    
    1 One        6 Six
    2 Too        7 Seven
    3 Tree       8 Ate
    4 Fower      9 Niner
    5 Fife       0 Zero
    
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Figures


    UTC - Coordinated Universal Time
    UTC is expressed in the 24-hour time format, followed by the word Zulu.
    Example: 6PM UTC becomes 1800Z
    On the radio, this would be expressed as "One Eight Zero Zero Zulu"

    Altitudes
    Altitudes below 18,000 ft. are expressed in hundreds or thousands of feet:
     8,000 ft. - "Eight Thousand"
    10,000 ft. - "One Zero Thousand"
    14,600 ft. - "One Four Thousand Six Hundred"
    Altitude of 18,000 ft. and more are expressed as "Flight levels" (FL):
    20,000 ft. - "Flight Level Two Zero Zero"
    28,000 ft. - "Flight Level Two Eight Zero"
    30,400 ft. - "Flight Level Three Zero Decimal Four"
                 "Flight Level Thirty Point Four"
    Winds, airspeed...
    This is how you or the ATC control should state, respectively, wind speed before take-off or landing, a traffic advisory, a heading or an airspeed.
    Winds coming from bearing 090 (East), 12 knots:
        "Winds: Zero Niner Zero at One Two"
    
    Traffic at the right handside, 1000 feet above you:
        "Traffic at three o'clock, one thousand feet above you"
    
    Heading 270 (West)  (all numbers pronounced one by one):
        "Heading Two Seven Zero"
    
    Reduce speed to 150 knots:
        "Reduce speed to One Five Zero knots"
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Aircraft callsigns


    General aviation aircraft
    These aircraft include private aircraft, or belonging to a large corporation. At first, the callsign is the entire registration code (e.g. N234S for a aircraft registered in the USA) for the first transmission. After a couple of transmissions, the last two or three characters can be used. Sometimes the callsign is the aircraft's model followed by the last two or three characters of the registration code
    Private Cessna Citation, registry N1451W:
       "November One Four Five One Whisky"
       "Citation Five One Whisky"
    
    Private Raytheon King Air, registry N18769:
       "November One Eight Seven Six Niner"
       "King Air Seven Six Niner"
    
    Private Cessna 411, registry C-FFTG:
       "Charlie Foxtrot Foxtrot Tango Golf"
       "Twin Cessna (Foxtrot) Tango Golf"
    
    Private Boeing 707, registry N2811S:
       "November Two Eight One One Sierra"
       "(November) Eleven Sierra"
    
    Private Mitsubishi MU-2, registry JA8845:
       "Juliet Alpha Eight Eight Four Five"
       "Mitsubishi Eight Four Five"
    Commercial aircraft
    The flight number is used as reference, preceeded by what is called the airline's callsign, and followed by the word "Heavy" if it is an aircraft capable of generating a large amount of wake turbulence (see the glossary). Once the identification is done, after a couple of transmissions, the word "Heavy" can be left out, and for expedited communications, the airline's callsign can be ommited.
    Air Canada flight ACA404, an Airbus A340:
       "Air Canada Four Oh Four Heavy"
    
    Air France flight AFR1561, an Airbus A320:
       "Air France Fifteen Sixty-One"
    
    British Airways flight BAW592, a Boeing 747-400:
       "Speedbird Five Ninety-Two Heavy"
    
    Singapore Airlines flight SIA333, a Boeing 777-300:
       "Singapore Triple Tree (Heavy)"
       (Singapore Airlines operates only heavy aircraft
        on its passenger flights)
    Military aircraft
    Among the most important military callsigns, there is of course "Air Force One", which identifies any aircraft carrying the President of the United States. In the case of a helicopter, it becomes "Marine One". The pattern is similar for other types of transports. The "One" is replaced by "Two" when the aircraft is carrying the Vice President: "Air Force Two", "Marine Two", etc. In the case of members of the President or Vice President's family, the callsigns used are "Executive One Foxtrot" or "Executive Two Foxtrot".

    In many countries, military aircraft use "tactical callsigns" which differ depending on the mission, followed by a series of numbers. Some other examples include: "Liberty 24", "Voter 51", "Kasey 15", "Top Gun 71", "Jolly 31", "Navy Rescue 18".

    Aircraft in the Force's passenger fleet (used, for example, for flying in VIPs or diplomats) often bear civilian-type callsigns. For example, in the Canadian Forces, it could be "Canforce 814".

    Priority handling
    The usage of the callsign prefix "Lifeguard" indicates a priority status of the aircraft in what could be called a life-or-death mission, i.e. transportation of time-sensitive cargo (such as organs for transplants) or medical emergencies. Example: "Lifeguard TWA 800 Heavy" (the real flight 800 involved in the 1996 Long Island crash had the "Lifeguard" prefix).

    Medical voluntary flights that require some kind of priority status (however not as high as "Lifeguard") use another special callsign. The Air Care AllianceExternal link and the FAAExternal link defined "Compassion" as the callsign prefix to be used for such flights, followed by the last three characters of the aircraft's registry. N1234X would become "Compassion 34 X-ray" and would be displayed as CMF34X on flight plans and radar scopes.

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