VATSIM 121g – Using the Phonetic Alphabet

by Mike Bevington

While flying with ATC on VATSIM, as in the real-world, letters are easily misunderstood on radio transmissions.  Any time that ATC or a pilot is referring to a letter in a radio call (voice call), the phonetic alphabet is used in place of saying a letter.  For example the call sign “N123CP” would be spoken “November One Two Three Charlie Papa”.   Please take time to familiarize yourself.  Copy and print this out for daily use when flying on-line.

The Phonetic Alphabet

Letter    Word                Pronunciation

A          ALFA                AL-FAH

B          BRAVO             BRAH-VOH

C          CHARLIE          CHAR-LEE

D          DELTA              DELL-TAH

E          ECHO               ECK-OH

F          FOXTROT          FOKS-TROT

G          GOLF               GOLF

H          HOTEL              HOH-TELL

I           INDIA                IN-DEE-AH

J           JULIET              JEW-LEE-ETT

K          KILO                 KEY-LOH

L          LIMA                 LEE-MAH

M         MIKE                MIKE

N          NOVEMBER     NO-VEM-BER

O          OSCAR             OSS-CAH

P          PAPA               PAH-PAH

Q          QUEBEC          KEH-BECK

R          ROMEO            ROW-ME-OH

S          SIERRA            SEE-AIR-AH

T          TANGO             TANG-GO

U          UNIFORM         YOU-NEE-FORM

V          VICTOR            VIK-TAH

W         WHISKEY         WISS-KEY

X          X-RAY               ECKS-RAY

Y          YANKEE           YANG-KEY

Z          ZULU                ZOO-LOO

Number                         Pronounciation

0          Zero                  ZE-RO

1          ONE                 WUN

2          TWO                 TOO

3          THREE             TREE

4          FOUR               FOW-ER

5          FIVE                 FIFE

6          SIX                   SIX

7          SEVEN             SEV-EN

8          EIGHT               AIT

9          NINE                 NIN-ER