Radio Basics: Phonetics, Phraseology and the Callup

Aviation radio uses the phonetic alphabet so that letters are never confused: Alfa, Bravo, Charlie, and so on through Zulu, with numbers spoken as individual digits and "tree" and "niner" replacing three and nine. Standard phraseology keeps calls short and unambiguous — "roger" means received, "wilco" means received and will comply, "affirmative" and "negative" mean yes and no, and "say again" asks for a repeat. The initial callup follows a fixed order that answers four questions in sequence: who you are calling, who you are, where you are, and what you want. Saying the facility name first tells them the call is theirs, and stating your position and request lets the controller plan. Listening before you transmit avoids stepping on another pilot already using the frequency.