Canadian
term
|
US
term
|
Explanation
|
snag
|
squawk
|
A defect in an aircraft, such
as a
broken radio, missing screws or an oil leak. Squawk also means
"transmit via
transponder" on both sides of the border.
|
journey log
|
no close equivalent
|
Every flight a Canadian airplane
makes
is recorded in a book that remains with the airplane on all trips.
Snags and
rectifications are also recorded there.
|
U/S
|
INOP
|
Unserviceable or inoperative: the
abbreviation
used when reporting or labelling a broken instrument or system.
|
VNC
|
sectional
|
VFR Navigation Chart: a 1:500,000
scale
aviation map
|
VTA
|
TAC
|
VFR Terminal Area or Terminal Area
Chart:
a 1:250,000 scale aviation chart used below 12,500' in the area around
certain
large airports
|
MF
|
CTAF
|
Mandatory Frequency or Common
Traffic Area
Frequency: a radio frequency which all aircraft in the vicinity of an
uncontrolled
aerodrome are required to monitor and position report on.
|
ATF
|
CTAF/UNICOM
|
Aerodrome Traffic Frequency: in
Canada:
a radio frequency which all radio-equipped aircraft in the vicinity of
an
aerodrome are strongly encouraged to monitor and position report on.
A
Canadian UNICOM is a ground station, probably the fueller or a flying
school.
|
UNICOM
|
FBO frequency
|
In Canada when we call the UNICOM,
we are
usually talking about a frequency on which we can call ahead for
services.
At a small airport that is the same frequency used by circuit
traffic,
so we might address the UNICOM for a traffic or wind advisory.
|
civil registration
OR
skin letters
|
tail number
OR
N-number
|
The numbers and/or letters painted
on the
outside of the aircraft, and by which ATC refers to the aircraft.
US
tail numbers start with N and then have 1 to 5 numbers, followed by 0
to 2
letters, to a maximum of six characters, including the first N.
Canadian
civil registrations start with C-F or C-G followed by three letters.
Some
older Canadian aircraft have their registrations painted with CF- at
the beginning.
|
controlled airport
|
towered airport
|
An airport where you are required to
call
ATC before using their airspace.
|
uncontrolled airport
|
non-towered airport
|
An airport where you broadcast your
intentions
to other traffic, not to a controller.
|
CFI
|
flight school ops manager
|
In Canada the CFI is the Chief
Flight Instructor
at any one flying school.
|
licenced, licence
|
certificated, certificate
|
Legally entitled to exercise the
specified
privileges, the piece of paper that says so
|
flight instructor
|
CFI
|
In the US, any "Certificated" Flight
Instructor
is a CFI.
|
rating
|
endorsement
|
An additional privilege added to
your licence.
In Canada, ratings include night, instrument, seaplane and flight
instructor.
In the US flight instructor is a separate grade of licence, and
night
privileges are included with the private licence. American pilots
require
endorsements for different activities than Canadian pilots. For example
in
the US an endorsement is required to tow a banner, or fly an airplane
equipped
with skis or conventional gear.
|
PTR
|
no equivalent
|
The Pilot Training Record is a legal
document
in which a flight instructor records the training progress of a
student. On
completion of the course, the PTR goes into the pilot's permanent file
at
Transport Canada.
|
Transport Canada
|
FAA
|
The federal government authority
that oversees
aviation. The FAA also hires air traffic controllers.
|
circuit
|
pattern
|
The rectangular path
flown by an aircraft preparing to land at an airport.
|
circuit altitude
|
TPA
|
The altitude above
sea level that traffic in the circuit/pattern fly ("traffic pattern
altitude")
|
departure leg
|
upwind leg
|
The leg of a
circuit/pattern flown straight from the runway, immediately after
taking off.
|
Nav Canada
|
FAA
|
The organization responsible for air
traffic
control and, in Canada, the distribution of aviation charts.
|
flight test
|
checkride
|
A flight taken with an examiner in
order
to obtain or maintain pilot privileges. In Canada a checkride is
a flight
to ensure the safety of a prospective renter, or a stage check during a
student's
progress.
|
CAME
|
AME
|
(Certified) Aviation
Medical Examiner: a doctor licenced to perform the medical examination
and sign documents required to renew your medical certificate.
|
AME
|
A&P
|
Aviation Maintenance
Engineer or Airframe & Powerplant: a person licenced to perform
maintenance on airplanes.
|
nine
|
niner
|
Canadians know that
the official aviation word for nine is niner, but we don't usually say
it, unless we're feeling especially pretentions. Americans use it
routinely. You're more likely to hear a Canadian controller say "fife"
or "tree," which Americans never do.
|
runway zero one
|
runway one
|
Canadians paint and
pronounce a leading zero on runways 01, 02, 03 and so on. One Canadian
reader wrote to tell me he'd been chewed out by a US tower controller
for adding the zero in a readback.
|
| AMO |
Certified Repair
Station
|
Approved Maintenance
Organization: a shop approved by the appropriate regulatory authority
(Transport Canada or the FAA) to perform maintenance. In each country,
some work may not be done by an independent AME or A&P, but must be
done by an employee of an AMO or Certified Repair Station.
|
| no equivalent |
BFR
|
American pilots must
receive a biannual flight review from a CFI in order to keep their
licences valid. Canadians may continue to fly as long as they have
received some kind of currency training, usually a seminar, in the last
24 months, and have flown in the last five years. Canadians, however,
must renew their instrument ratings every two years with an examiner.
|
Flight Services
|
Flight Watch
|
In Canada FSS
personnel give weather briefings, receive PIREPs, receive flight plans
and take position reports. In the US, these duties are divided between
Flight Services, which looks after flight plans, and Flight Watch which
solicits PIREPs and gives en route weather.
|