How do pilots say 5?

Aviators often speak “pilot English” to avoid miscommunications over radio transmission. “Tree” for instance, means three, “fife” is the number five and “niner” means nine, says Tom Zecha, a manager at AOPA. The variations stemmed from a desire to avoid confusion between similar-sounding numbers, he says.



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The phrase five by five can be used informally to mean good signal strength or loud and clear. An early example of this phrase was in 1946, recounting a wartime conversation.

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Pilots Have Their Own Secret Language. Here's What They're Really Saying
  • “Let's kick the tires and light the fires” ...
  • “Feet wet” ...
  • “We've got a deadhead crew flying to Chicago” ...
  • “There's a pilot in the jumpseat” ...
  • “It's 17:00 Zulu time” ...
  • “George is flying the plane now” ...
  • “We're flying through an air pocket”


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How do pilots greet each other in the air (from different planes)? You pull up alongside, perform the line action for undoing your window (remember manual windows in cars?), and when both yours and his windows are open, it is typical to ask for a cup of sugar.

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Pan-Pan, short for “possible assistance needed,” is used to communicate an urgent, but not emergency, situation over VHF radio, in the case of aviation, to air traffic control. Examples could include a recreational pilot getting lost, or perhaps needing to climb to a higher altitude to sort a problem out.

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Pilots mostly pronounce numbers as in regular English but with a few exceptions. Zero (0) is always “zero,” not “oh.” Three (3) becomes “tree.” Five (5) becomes “fife.” Nine (9) becomes “niner.”

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Roger simply means you have received the transmission. In other words, Roger is an acknowledgement of a transmission. Wilco is rarely used, but it means you have received the message and will comply, some old pilots combine the two in the redundant Roger wilco.

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Usually, a flight that departs after 9 p.m. and arrives at 5 or 6 am shall be considered a red-eye flight. Because these flights typically depart and arrive at unusual times of the day, they are not ideal for passengers who want to sleep on their flights.

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It can be said that V1 is the commit to fly speed. V2 is the speed at which the airplane will climb in the event of an engine failure. It is known as the takeoff safety speed.

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The word heavy means a larger aircraft type, with a Maximum Takeoff Weight of 160 tonnes or more. These aircraft create wake turbulence from their wings and require extra separation between following aircraft, and the use of heavy reminds other pilots of that fact.

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In aviation, the first officer (FO), also called co-pilot, is a pilot in addition to the captain, who is the legal commander. In the event of incapacitation of the captain, the first officer will assume command of the aircraft.

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The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requires two pilots at all times for most aircraft that exceed 12,500 pounds. Other factors, such as flight length may also demand more than one pilot. One of the biggest reasons two pilots are required for commercial flights and private jets is safety.

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