How many times do you correct your tail number before giving up.

I’ve gotten “say full callsign” after checking in with 4WJ. I simply reply 4WJ and they typically get it.


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Pilawt said:
I used to own a Grumman Cheetah N116MC. By coincidence, based at another field three miles away was a Grumman Tiger, N16MC. I had lunch with the Tiger's owner one day, and he jokingly suggested we fly in formation to a nearby tower-controlled field to shoot some touch-and-goes and play with the controller's mind. :p
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Have some real fun. Do that for awhile, let them get use to your voices, and then switch airplanes.
 
My homebuilt soon to be finished has reserved number: 12 Foxtrot Uniform. If they ask twice I could use unofficial phonetics.
 
One of the planes I fly gets called the wrong call sign on every flight, for some reason. It doesn't matter how slow and deliberate I say it. Cherokee 651KC often ends up as 1JC or 10C. Flying yesterday, I was called Cessna 1JC even though I read back Cherokee 651KC for every call across two controllers. Finally the third controller verified the call sign and fixed it in the computer.

One time I was flying 494SP and 784SP, 748SP and 584SP were all in the pattern. Even reading back full call signs, tower mixed us up a few times.
 
Never give up, making them get it right. You are setting the stage so that when the call you and call you incorrectly, they incur some responsibility.

Seriously, they should know about this issue. It has opened the federal treasury multiple times, and cost some lives....and not in the tracon, those lives.
 
paflyer said:
What's involved with that?
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Since the time you posted the question, you may have already done the research, and know what I'm about to say.....

Applying for an FAA callsign is something that you can do for an organization or large fleet. I.E., an airline, or a group of volunteer pilots on mercy missions.

Won't work for individuals.

That all said, if I had a plane with a complex, often-mis-quoted tail number, I'd work hard to try and stretch the rules for my own use. (Wag the dog, right?)

Doesn't mean I'd win. Just means I'd try.
 
File a call sign instead of your tail number. Up to seven characters. Sometimes, I will file as Duck1 in the local area (you have to coordinate with ATC) No mistaking that ID though.
 
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You really can't give up on the tail number, cause eventually you may be in airspace where the call sign is important (B, C, D). You don't want the strip confusing them. I've been flying an Arrow lately that has an all number callsign where the middle numbers are easy to swap. Had to fix a strip with them on one flight, and I don't even remember if it was my fault or ATC's fault.
 
SbestCFII said:
File a call sign instead of your tail number. Up to seven characters. Sometimes, I will file as Duck1 in the local area (you have to coordinate with ATC) No mistaking that ID though.
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Technically there’s an official call sign list and you’re not supposed to just make one up, but I still like that you’ve figured out the system doesn’t care.

One should also really figure out if one has an ADS-B transponder how to send that callsign if one is using a callsign. The Garmin 345 will do it and many charity flights have authorized callsigns that can be used for whatever reasons.

The 345 has to be told at installation time the pilot is allowed to change the tail number to a callsign and then it’ll give that option in a menu during normal ops. It’s locked by default so people who don’t need the feature or even know what it’s for, don’t accidentally change things.
 
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