That's what they painted on the outside of the airplanes, but in the cockpit, the call sign pilots used for the combined lines was “Cactus,” which had been the call sign for America West.
America West was based in Phoenix, Arizona near the Sonoran Desert – home of the giant Saguaro cactus. In 2006, America West merged with US Airways. The Cactus call sign survived the merger and all US Airways flights were soon known as “Cactus” on the radio.
Long story short, pilots say rotate as a verbal queue that the aircraft has reached its predetermined Vr and hence appropriate inputs can be applied to safely pitch the aircraft in a nose-up attitude to gain lift.
“Let's kick the tires and light the fires” Famously uttered by Harry Connick Jr. in Independence Day, the military phrase signals that a plane is just about ready for takeoff, says Mark Baker, a commercial pilot of 35 years and current president of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA).
The name comes from an old logo of a bird, but whatever its origins, it is clearly the perfect call sign to evoke the speed and grace of an airliner cruising through the sky.
At that time “FOX 1” signified a semi-active radar missile (such as the AIM-7 Sparrow). “FOX 2” signified an infrared missile (such as the AIM-9 Sidewinder), and “FOX-3” indicated you had switched to guns.
The callout from the pilots like "LOC blue" serves to remind themselves of the current flight guidance modes, and to maintain awareness of mode changes. This is also to ensure that their mental idea of "what the aircraft will do next" is up to date and fits to the current flight situation.
So, in short, "Roger" means "r" which stands for "received." The word "Roger" means nothing more. Taking it a step further, some may know "Roger" as part of the full reply "Roger Wilco." Translated into typical English, that phrase actually means "Received, will comply."
“On behalf of the flight crew, we would like to welcome you aboard Easy Airlines flight number 123.” -The term “welcome aboard” is often said by the flight crew to greet passengers when they first board the aircraft. The captain may also say this at the end of the announcement such as “once again, welcome aboard.”
Today, getting a call sign is a rite of passage. Pilots and naval aviators do not get to pick their own call signs. If they did, they would probably sound more like the X-Men or the American Gladiators going into combat than anything else. There would be a Royal Rumble over who gets to be "Maverick" or "Iceman."
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.
Three Stripes indicate that the person is the co-pilot or second in command. They assist the captain through flight planning and updating communication and flight mechanisms. Four Stripes insignia is worn by the captain; the one ultimately in charge of the safety and operations of the flight.
A pilot reports "no joy" when an attempt to establish visual or radio contact with another aircraft is unsuccessful; or when an attempt to acquire a target - either visually or on tactical radar - is unsuccessful.
When he surprises Anastasia down in Savannah for a post-breakfast glider ride, that's a Flugzeugbau DG-1001 sailplane.
In the world of aviation, pilots and air traffic controllers use special jargon to communicate with one another. This special jargon, called the Aviation Alphabet, uses the same 26 letters many of us learned in kindergarten.
The origins of aviator call signs are varied. Most call signs play on or reference on variants of the aviator's firstname or surname. Other inspirations for call signs may include personality traits, middle name, references to historical figures, or past exploits during the pilot's career.
Given all of the above, we can answer that pilots can generally passengers clapping. Of course, there are also situations and factors that can prevent pilots from hearing you as you clap, in which case pilots will find out that you clapped only if they are notified by cabin crew.
Make shortly after landing, once the engine noise has subsided. “Ladies and gentlemen, [Airline Name] welcomes you to [city]. The local time is [time]. For your safety and the safety of those around you, please remain seated with your seat belt fastened and keep the aisle(s) clear until we are parked at the gate.
Ladies and gentlemen, good morning / afternoon / evening. Welcome on board (flight reference). This is Captain / Co-pilot (your name) speaking and I have some information about our flight.
Charlie-Charlie is a fancy substitution for a standard affirmative. It comes from the convention of abbreviating Correct/Yes by letter C in codes. It was early standardized and used at sea since 1857.
Did you know that in aviation, 9 is pronounced "niner" instead of "nine"? The reason for this is to encourage the pilot to enunciate clearly. “Nine” can be easily muffled, slurred, or confused with other words, like five.
But obviously as far as US aviation goes, both are completely acceptable. And as for the etymology, that's already been covered in another answer: "Wilco" is short for the phrase "will comply," meaning that the speaker will follow the instructions to which they are replying.
The radiotelephony message PAN-PAN is the international standard urgency signal that someone aboard a boat, ship, aircraft, or other vehicle uses to declare that they have a situation that is urgent, but for the time being, does not pose an immediate danger to anyone's life or to the vessel itself.
It means they can no longer be on duty/complete the flight. There are rather complicated crew duty regulations in place for airlines pilots. Some examples: A pilot always needs to have 10 hours of uninterrupted rest in the past 24 hours.
Pilots and flight crews use several colors of flight suit. NASA crews, for example, wear blue flight suits as a sort of functional dress uniform during training. The orange suits that they wear during launch and re-entry/landing are designed for high visibility, should there be an emergency recovery.