Request for crew jargon

[jmig]

My youngest son graduated from college a couple of years ago with a degree in English and a dream of becoming a poet. He has worked at several jobs to earn money as he works on his writing. One of these jobs is as a ground crewman with Delta Airlines.

He wrote to me recently requesting examples of ground crew to air crew terminology and the terms used between the various members of the air crew. He sees poetry in the marshaling of the planes and the communication between the various roles.

I have sat down and tried to remember the phrases we used in my day and the nonverbal signals used between the crew chief and pilot. What I am asking of current pilots and ground crew members here is phrases and slang you may use and find interesting. I will pass your offerings on to him.

Thanks,

 

[Panther_99FS]

Hmmm...
Our guys didn't really have much outside the norms that I can recollect...

Although I do remember some jovial mockery concerning never saying the "A-word"...(AWACS)

 

[tigisfat]

Most of that is either acronyms or nicknames unfit to print. I would embarassed to tell someone about our nicknames for various parts.

 

[jmig]

What I was looking for was standard communication between various crew members and air crew and ground crews.

 

[tigisfat]

A B-1B launch is about an hour long. During that time, the ground and flight crews have separate checklists ot which they must follow to prepare the aircraft for flight. Obviously, the aircrew's is much longer because most of a crew chief's work is before crew show.

More specifically, because there is work to be done, we keep intercom talking to a minimum because at any time, someone may be on the radio or need to focus on something. Clear and distinct language is used to avoid miscommunication and keep talking to a minimum. Throughout the process, the crew chief is the aircrew's eyes and ears on the ground.

It's pretty boring and long, actually. About half of the talking will be; "Chief, clear me for first set flight controls"...."Wings and stab are clear" so on and do forth. In the USAF, we use "ground cords" to talk via intercom to each other. The cool 'top gun' style hand signal theatrics are not neccesary most of the time.

Out of pure superstition, we do stick to canned phrases for some things. It may sound cheezy to you guys, but we believe in our routines 100%. For example, when the crew calls the before taxi checklist complete, they all sit silently until the crew chief verifies. Once that is complete, noone talks except for the aircraft commander, who will say word for word, every single time, "chief, thanks for the good jet, you are clear to disconnect and remove chocks; we'll see you in a few hours." The crew chief will respond every single time with "have a safe flight". The crew chief will always look over his shoulder at the marshaller before disconnecting.

Like I said, it's all really boring. I don't know how it was twenty years ago, but I do know now that CRM and safety have taken over. There is no cool guy stuff, just very procedural and distinct talking with little to no chit chat. If someone's talking about their lunch because they're bored on a long launch, it's hard to break in and tell everyone that a DAS component just broke, and that the jet is blasting harmful radiation around the flightline and all of it's workers, and if anyone touches the surface of the jet they're screwed.

 

[jmig]

tigisfat, thanks for the post, sir.

This is exactly what I was looking for. I did all the hand signal, "hands on canopy bow while he is under the aircraft" stuff in pilot training and F-4s. I didn't know how much of it had changed over the years.

Does anyone know if the fighter types still use the hand signals or, do they now use the headsets?

 

[tigisfat]

tigisfat, thanks for the post, sir.

This is exactly what I was looking for. I did all the hand signal, "hands on canopy bow while he is under the aircraft" stuff in pilot training and F-4s. I didn't know how much of it had changed over the years.

Does anyone know if the fighter types still use the hand signals or, do they now use the headsets?

I think they have the option of both, but I'm only basing that off of times I've been TDY and watched them do their thing. It's possible that the fighter world is still as you remember it.

 

[jmig]

I think they have the option of both, but I'm only basing that off of times I've been TDY and watched them do their thing. It's possible that the fighter world is still as you remember it.

I thought so, from watching the Blue Angles and Thunderbirds. If I recall correctly, the reason for the hand signals was the fact a fighter is low to the ground and often has armament hanging. The crew chief has to crawl under to check for leaks and the headset cord would get tangled and slow him down.