Slow day #59: phonetic alphabet

It's likely from all those years of listening to traffic reporters intone, "There's a wreck on the southbound 405 just past the 10, and it's backed up all the way back to the 101; the southbound 170 and the 101 are a little better ... "
The title of this famous aviation video is "405," but the radio traffic definitely says "The 405"....
Ron Wanttaja
 
There’s a street named Baby in my hometown. If you don’t pronouce it “Bobby” then everybody knows you’re an out of towner.

Of course, 80% of the population in Joliette, QC only speaks french, 19% some english, while 1% are fully bilingual. It’s a low income, low education city with only a Bridgestone tire factory and a hospital, and lots of people on welfare.
 
And you can always tell whether someone is a local, or visitor in eastern Washington / northern Idaho. It's Moscoe, Idaho and Mos Cow Russia (spelled the same in both cases).

Now, in amateur radio the "official" phonetic alphabet is the same as in aviation. There are a bunch of variations out there, however. One guy I knew in California had (at the time, he's changed since then ) the call NF6S. Nuts For 6 Squirrels. Or, if he was feeling off a bit, Nine Five Six Seven. :) Another was WA6D, Wobbly After 6 Daiquiris. Which I would be. :) Another friend had N6SRT. Seemingly harmless, except we said N 6 Spinnaker Right Turn, because he did that once and drug the mast into the water on an Islander 36.


Weird mnemonics for ham callsigns can help one stand out in pile-ups, like when working a special event station or rare DX. I have occasionally given my call (AJ4CM) as Anemic Julio 4 Cerebral Mnemonic. :D
 
Weird mnemonics for ham callsigns can help one stand out in pile-ups, like when working a special event station or rare DX. I have occasionally given my call (AJ4CM) as Anemic Julio 4 Cerebral Mnemonic. :D

Ok, but tell me, do you pronounce it "hoolio" of "jewelio", also couldn't "mnemonic" easily be confused as "Gewurtztraminer" "?
 
Once heard someone, XXXSP, calling himself "Sugar Pop" on the radio . . . . Don't recall where, but not down here.
A good friend of mine owned a heavily modified C-180, N38SP. It was once a North Carolina State Police airplane (.38 Special) and we always called it "three eight sugar pop" on the radio.
 
I flew for an FOB in the 70's that had a Baron we used for Part 135 charters. The last two letters of the N numbers were UC. When we flew it we called it "XXX Uncle Charlie". Funny thing was, most of the ATC controllers also called it "Uncle Charlie". Back then, it flew a lot.
 
Reminds me of this scene in Archer. Has minor foul language.
 
Talking to a bloke from OK, he was from Miami....pronounced me-am-ahh
Taught a batch from British Airways, they wanted to know why our town here in MI is Char-Lotte' when everyone knows it's pronounced Char'-let.
 
Talking to a bloke from OK, he was from Miami....pronounced me-am-ahh

Miami, OK is pronounced My-am-uh.
Miami, FL is pronounced My-am-ee.

It's just the way it is. We pronounce town names how the townspeople pronounce it.
 
Worcester Mass. My favorite mis-pronounced and mis-spelled city.
 
I would take students to Gallipolis first. Then I would go to Lawrence County for night landings before attempting any night landings in Ona.

I met 5 dollar Frank a couple of times, but I never got a chance to fly with him. Very interesting person to listen to. Did you ever try landing at Mallory?

I went into Mallory once as a pax but never got to try it myself. I took my written there but I came in by car,which is almost hairy as flying in lol.

By the way, they cut the trees at the approach end of 26 at HTW. It’s a different world going in there now,especially at night. Not as much fun lol
 
I've been there, only where I'm from we pronounce it EYE-oh-a.

I thought EYE-oh-a was well to the west of o-HI-a, with a long, crooked river in between? I've only been to EYE-oh-a twice, once headed west from Keokuk to KRAP, then again east across Nebraska and back through Keokuk. Nice place, great people, but I never mastered the pronunciation of "Keokuk" either!
 
Follow Highway 4 along the north bank of the Columbia River from Longview WA to the coast, and you'll go through Cathlamet and Skamokawa (both in Wahkiakum County) until you come to Ilwaco. Or you could go along the south bank in Oregon through Clatskanie. :confused:
 
Follow Highway 4 along the north bank of the Columbia River from Longview WA to the coast, and you'll go through Cathlamet and Skamokawa (both in Wahkiakum County) until you come to Ilwaco. Or you could go along the south bank in Oregon through Clatskanie. :confused:

Thanks! I'll be there mangling those names in the spring.
 
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