Although the term „roger wilco” is sometimes used, it is considered redundant because it implies „roger” (meaning „to receive and understand”). Pilots often learn to use the word „wilco” on the radio through contextual interpretation. In my experience as a pilot who communicated on the radio, I often observed pilots use the word „wilco” inappropriately. What is the true meaning of the word „wilco” and what is its origin? I recently texted a good friend and after a short exchange I received the following message from him: wilco. Of course, I immediately understood what he meant: „Of course I will do it; You can count on me. I think I recognized the expression from cartoons in my youth or maybe old movies, although I always knew him as Roger Wilco, who also happens to be the name of the main character in the Space Quest video game series. (See image above.) But what was the origin of this sentence? When I searched for it online, I hit myself on the head. Of course, wilco is short for „will comly”. And Roger comes from the old phonetic abbreviation of the word „receive.” Note, however, that Roger Wilco`s sharing marks you as a beginner because it is redundant. When you say Wilco – that is, „I will comply with your wishes” – it is already clear that you have understood and the Roger is completely useless.

Expand your vocabulary and you will make your writing much more accurate. That is why I am giving you a word of the week. Today`s word: wilco. The problem I see with using wilco is that you confirm that you are following an instruction, but if you don`t read the instruction too, the controller has no way of knowing what you`re doing. Maybe you got it wrong or misunderstood, then you should repeat it. But if you repeat it, then wilco is useless. Outside the US, I was first taught never to use Roger or Wilco for this reason: the controller wonders what you really heard and what you`re going to do next. But as far as U.S. aviation is concerned, both are perfectly acceptable. As other responses have mentioned, WILCO is a concatenation of Will Comply.

To give a British perspective, there are a number of ATC instructions that need to be reread, but in other cases, „Wilco” is preferred. The CAA radiotelephony manual CAP 413 states (emphasis added): „Wilco” is short for „will abide by it”, meaning that the speaker follows the instructions to which he responds. Merriam-Webster places the origin on the year 1938, some time after the invention of the radio, probably for military use. I have been a pilot for 47 years. The use of the word WILCO in relation to the proofreading of a press release is defined. Keep in mind that the first radios were not easy to understand and the phonetic alphabet was formed. An ATC statement „Plan on crossing XXXXX at FL280” may be called WILCO because it is not a release. „Cross XXXXX at FL280″ is a version and needs to be proofread. WILCO – I have received your message, I understand it and I will comply with it If a reading is specified in the response and it is truncated, the controller could.” Abeam Farmoor Reservoir G-ABCD”, which could be confusing. Confirmation with „Wilco G-ABCD”, „Roger G-ABCD” or even simply „G-ABCD” reduces the risk of confusion if the answer is truncated and provides brevity. „The instructions submitted must be followed and in most cases should be proofread to reduce the risk of ambiguity or misunderstanding, e.g.

`G-ABCD, taxi to tarmac via taxiway Charlie`. Chapter 2 specifies the instructions to be read in full. However, if the instruction is short, clear and unambiguous, confirmation of the instruction using standard phrases such as „Roger” (I received all your last transmission) or Wilcoâ (I understand your message and will follow it) will be preferred for brevity when using broadcast time. In both scenarios, „Wilco” is the only answer that clearly indicates that the pedagogical element of the transmission has been received, understood and implemented. For this reason, „Roger” is preferred if brief recognition is desirable. (Note that this is slightly different from roger, which is just a confirmation and doesn`t mean you`ll comply with anything.) Again, in this scenario, a truncated reading can be confusing („. G-ABCD final”). However, „Roger G-ABCD” (or simply „G-ABCD”) simply means that the transmission has been received.

This can refer to traffic information, instructions, or both. The investigation could have been neglected, particularly in the context of a longer and more complicated transfer. „Wilco” is short for „will comply”, which means that the speaker follows the instructions to which he responds Based on the fairly strong opinions of a CAA auditor, the following scenarios illustrate an example of confirmation of instructions to report the position: An earlier version of this post first appeared on my blog on June 22/16. Alfa; Well done; Charlie; Delta; Echo; Foxtrot; Gulf; Hotel; India; Juliet; Kilo; Lima; Microphone; November; Oscar; Dad; Quebec; Don Juan; Sierra; Tango; Uniform; Winner; Whisky; X-ray; Yankee; Zulu. Here`s the full alphabet, in case you need to use it: Today, the International Orthographic Alphabet of Radiotelephony, commonly known as the NATO Phonetic Alphabet, uses Romeo instead of Roger for the letter R. Interestingly, to stay truly international, it spells Alfa with an F instead of a PH to be easier for Europeans to understand. And the extra T in Juliett is meant to signal to the Frenchman that the last T is pronounced and not silent.