Acronym Follies

tinerj

tinerj

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tinerj
CFI: For engine out, remember ABCDE.
Me, puzzled: Does A mean find an Airport?
CFI: No, No. A means Airspeed. Go to the best glide airspeed. B means find Best airport/landing site.
Me: So C means Communicate.
CFI: No, No. C means look for possible Causes for the engine out.
Me: I can't imagine what D means, but I would think E means tune the Emergency frequency 121.5
CFI: No, No. D means Declare an emergency.
Me: All right, what does E stand for?
CFI, looking as if I were as dumb as a tree stump: Prepare for Egress.

That "Who's on First" routine actually did take place during transition training. I did know the best order but could not conceive of how the letters made it easier to remember.

I also think GUMPS is one of the silliest acronyms ever invented: G stand for Fuel, U stands for Landing Gear . . .
 
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100% Agree! Especially with some of the ADM acronyms.
 
Heh, agreed, silly acronyms and even sillier enforcement.

FWIW, when I perform my GUMPS checklist with pax onboard, I don't say "GUMPS" out loud. After completing the checklist, I say out loud "landing checklist complete" to put them a little at ease (if they need it) before we land.
If I started spewing out GUMPS, FULAPY and other stuff that many YouTube flyboys show off, my pax would give me strange looks. :)
 
U for undercarriage though we never say:

Retractable undercarriage
Is the undercarriage down?
He had an undercarriage up landing.
What position is the undercarriage handle in.
Etc.

We use the word "gear" in all those instances. Gear starts with G.

We also say fuel a lot more than gas when discussing our go juice. Fuel starts with F.

The G in GUMP kept throwing me when I first started flying as it was so counterintuitive.
 
I remember as a kid:
AB, C D Goldfish
L, M N O Goldfish
O S A R

Now if I could only type with my thumbs
 
Gear
Undercarriage
Make sure the gear is down
Put the gear down
Set the gear switch in the down position
 
It is also like that Aviate, Navigate, Communicate that is driven into every pilot to the point that communication is actually feels like it is discouraged.

While yes...flying the plane is first and foremost in a actual emergency I want all the help I can get!...case in point...my PPL checkride DPE pulls throttle to simulate engine out...find a suitable field, line up..."nice job, but why didn't you land at that grass strip we were right over when we lost the engine?"...DOH!

ATC could have helped point that out had I been talking in an actual emergency. I for one am talkin as soon as I can if able in an emergency!
 
Shawn said:
It is also like that Aviate, Navigate, Communicate that is driven into every pilot to the point that communication is actually feels like it is discouraged.

While yes...flying the plane is first and foremost in a actual emergency I want all the help I can get!...case in point...my PPL checkride DPE pulls throttle to simulate engine out...find a suitable field, line up..."nice job, but why didn't you land at that grass strip we were right over when we lost the engine?"...DOH!

ATC could have helped point that out had I been talking in an actual emergency. I for one am talkin as soon as I can if able in an emergency!
Click to expand...

You just have to aviate and navigate more quicker.
 
Shawn said:
It is also like that Aviate, Navigate, Communicate that is driven into every pilot to the point that communication is actually feels like it is discouraged.

While yes...flying the plane is first and foremost in a actual emergency I want all the help I can get!...case in point...my PPL checkride DPE pulls throttle to I for one am talkin as soon as I can if able in an emergency!
Click to expand...
You and the guy who Vmc rolled into the FlightSafety building in Wichita.

The examiner was probably more interested in your situational awareness.
 
labbadabba said:
You just have to aviate and navigate more quicker.
Click to expand...

During an emergency I figure I'll already be aviating, and if I was going in any particular direction on purpose, I was already navigating. So, first thing to do in an emergency is start yelling for help, known as communicating.
 
Shawn said:
my PPL checkride DPE pulls throttle to simulate engine out...find a suitable field, line up..."nice job, but why didn't you land at that grass strip we were right over when we lost the engine?"...DOH!
Click to expand...

Same thing happened on my checkride. I guess being based at an AFB with a 10000' runway somewhat minimized my awareness of grass strips:cool:

Cheers
 
Lachlan said:
During an emergency I figure I'll already be aviating, and if I was going in any particular direction on purpose, I was already navigating. So, first thing to do in an emergency is start yelling for help, known as communicating.
Click to expand...
You've obviously never had a real emergency.
 
Mtns2Skies said:
I'm just impressed that pilots managed to get an acronym IN an acyonym:
VOR:
VHF Omni-direciontal Range
Click to expand...

d4ec32609f70012f2fe600163e41dd5b
 
GUMPS is good, but for home I rearrange it and do an UG PMS check.

Honey, you wanna fool around?

Leave me alone!

UG PMS - that's affirmative.
 
I always thought I was just "special" since remembering acronyms to me always seemed more effortful and complicated than just remembering the thing itself
 
FWIW, I was taught "Checklist" for C in the "ABCDE" mnemonic.
 
Too lazy to quote all the various GUMPS interpretations/changes.

The first retract I flew was a C-177RG and that's when I was first introduced to the GUMP check. I was broke and could only afford one. Anyway, I was working on my instrument rating at the same time and doing it the traditional way made my head go back and forth when I really should have been focusing on the instruments. So, I decided to change the words a bit, which made the flow go much smoother...

Gear ( I would look out the window and make sure at least the left main was down)
Unlead (Reach down and make sure the desired tank was selected)
Mixture (Full rich)
Prop (High RPM)

Worked fine and it was a smooth flow.
 
A (Aw sh...)
B (Beotch!! What the hell?)
C (Come on, start working!!)
D (Dammit!!)
E (Emergency Emergency!!)
F (If in a multi: Flaps, Undercarriage, Check, Kill... Magnetos, Electric)
 
SkyDog58 said:
U for undercarriage though we never say:
Click to expand...

That's probably because FGMPS would make a terrible acronym.

G - check the Gear
U - Undercarriage
M - Make sure the gear is down
P - Put your finger on the gear lights and touch the gear down switch
S - make Sure again that the gear is down
 
Tantalum said:
I always thought I was just "special" since remembering acronyms to me always seemed more effortful and complicated than just remembering the thing itself
Click to expand...
You are not alone. I abhor at least 90% of the mnemonics out there as ways to avoid learning something.
 
midlifeflyer said:
You are not alone. I abhor at least 90% of the mnemonics out there as ways to avoid learning something.
Click to expand...
By the same token, there are obviously SOME that are useful. The real key is to use the ones that are useful to you (I've always found CIGAR TIPS and GUMPS to be useful) and ignore the ones like TOMATO FLAMES that are obviously incorrect or at least only useful in one specific instance.
 
cgrab said:
I remember as a kid:
AB, C D Goldfish
L, M N O Goldfish
O S A R

Now if I could only type with my thumbs
Click to expand...

C M snakes
M R not snakes.
O S M R. C M B D eyes.
Wil I B, M R snakes.

C M pilots.
M R not pilots
O S M R. C M M T pockets.
Wel I B, M R pilots.
 
After a while all these acronyms gives me nausea. Ok?

No
Acronym
Ultimately
Saves
Each
Airplane Pilot


Only
Knowledge
 
MauleSkinner said:
By the same token, there are obviously SOME that are useful. The real key is to use the ones that are useful to you (I've always found CIGAR TIPS and GUMPS to be useful) and ignore the ones like TOMATO FLAMES that are obviously incorrect or at least only useful in one specific instance.
Click to expand...
That's why I said 90%. That's actually being very liberal. I can't think of more than three I would use beyond a student pilot's rote learning phase, and not many more even for that.

Don't get me started on the burning fruit. For a number of years, I periodically did survey on that one, both online and off. I discovered pilots who learned it were more likely to get a simple airworthiness scenario wrong than those who never heard of it. At worst I might get an "I'm not sure" if they never heard of it, but the burning fruit pilot would say with confidence, "It's not one of the [expletive deleted] items, so we are good to go." Even from CFIs who were teaching it!
 
Tantalum said:
I always thought I was just "special" since remembering acronyms to me always seemed more effortful and complicated than just remembering the thing itself
Click to expand...

That's because for an acronym to be a good mnemonic it needs to be somewhat intuitive. Most are not.

Besides acronyms originally were intended to be just an abbreviated way to say or write something (RADAR is an example), not for use as a mnemonic. Many mnemonics are not even acronyms or abbreviations. For instance there are several versions of sentences that use the first letter of each of the nine (or eight) planets to recall their order from the sun.
Example:
"Men Very Easily Make Jugs Serve Useful Needs, Perhaps".
 
SkyDog58 said:
"Men Very Easily Make Jugs Serve Useful Needs, Perhaps".
Click to expand...
this also very well illustrates your point on "should be somewhat intuitive", or lack thereof

I always liked "Engines Turn Or People Swim" for ETOPS
 
SkyDog58 said:
That's because for an acronym to be a good mnemonic it needs to be somewhat intuitive. Most are not.

Besides acronyms originally were intended to be just an abbreviated way to say or write something (RADAR is an example), not for use as a mnemonic. Many mnemonics are not even acronyms or abbreviations. For instance there are several versions of sentences that use the first letter of each of the nine (or eight) planets to recall their order from the sun.
Example:
"Men Very Easily Make Jugs Serve Useful Needs, Perhaps".
Click to expand...
Then of course, there's the mnemonic for mnemonic sake. My example is ANDS for compass acceleration error and a separate one, UNOS for turning errors. Thesingle mnemonic, ANDS works quite well for both types of compass errors. But why have one mnemonic for an instrument when you can have two?
 
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