PrcDevelopment: Choosing A Callsign on VATSIM

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Most recent edit on 2008-02-18 01:12:48 by AlexStjepanovic

Additions:

PREFIX	COUNTRY	EXAMPLE
G	Great Britain	G-ABCD
PH	Netherlands	PH-ABC
D	Germany	D-ABCD
LY	Lithuania	LY-ABD

Note that letters, not numbers, are used in these examples. Most European countries use only letters in their General Aviation callsigns. Also, please do not use the "-" in the callsign when signing on to VATSIM. For example, if you wanted to fly as G-ABCD, you would sign in as GABCD.

Deletions:

PREFIX	COUNTRY	EXAMPLE
G	Great Britain	G-ABCD
PH	Netherlands	PH-ABC
D	Germany	D-ABCD
LY	Lithuania	LY-ABD

Note that letters, not numbers, are used in these examples. European countries use only letters in their General Aviation callsigns. Also, please do not use the "-" in the callsign when signing on to VATSIM. For example, if you wanted to fly as G-ABCD, you would sign in as GABCD.

Edited on 2008-02-10 00:38:21 by AlexBailey

Additions:
Thank you for sticking with this throughout the entire article. You should find yourself thinking thoughts like "I-can-do-it" regarding callsigns!

Deletions:
Thank you for sticking with this throughout the whole article. This should have left you with a feeling of "I-can-do-it" ness regarding callsigns. If you still have any questions, please email me at rochem11891@hotmail DOT com.

Edited on 2008-02-06 22:59:38 by TomSeeley

Additions:

PREFIX	COUNTRY	EXAMPLE
G	Great Britain	G-ABCD
PH	Netherlands	PH-ABC
D	Germany	D-ABCD
LY	Lithuania	LY-ABD

Deletions:

PREFIX	COUNTRY	EXAMPLE
G	Great Britain	G-ABCD
PH	Netherlands	PH-ABC
D	Germany	D-ABCD
LY	Lithuania	LY-ABD

Note that letters, not numbers, are used in the examples above. European countries use only letters in their General Aviation callsigns. Also, please do not use the "-" in the callsign when signing on to VATSIM. For example, if you wanted to fly as G-ABCD, you would sign in as GABCD.

Edited on 2008-02-06 22:28:21 by TomSeeley

Additions:

In this image, courtesy of FlightAware∞ you can see how the various callsigns look in action. Several of those in the table above are present, including Delta, American, US Air, and JetBlue. What other airlines can you identify? There is also one general aviation aircraft near the bottom left: N5626Y.

Edited on 2008-02-06 22:11:51 by TomSeeley

Additions:
There are two main types of callsigns found on the VATSIM network. The first and most common are Airline callsigns. Many of you have probably listened to LiveATC.net∞ and heard ATC (Air Traffic Control) address airlines as "Jazz", "Cactus", or even "Speedbird". These are all airline callsigns. The three listed here are slightly harder to connect to the airline they refer to, but others such as "American", "US Air", or "Northwest" are more obvious. Every airline has a 3-letter code that is placed at the beginning of their callsigns which tells the controller what callsign to use for the aircraft.
The other type of callsign is the type used by General Aviation. Every aircraft sold is issued a unique registration consisting of anywhere from 1 to 7 letters and/or numbers. This registration is painted on the side of the aircraft and remains with the aircraft throughout its whole life unless changed by new registration.
If you want to fly a General Aviation aircraft, feel free to put anything as your callsign, as long as it is not vulgar or obscene. For example, many pilots choose to use their name, date of birth, initials, or any other personal memory, but for realism purposes, a general aviation callsign should be similar to those in normal use. One factor to consider is that you cannot have the same callsign as someone else while they are on the network. For example, if you are trying to connect to the network as N63019, but John Doe is already on the network and connected as N63019, you will get an error message and must choose a different callsign. However, once John Doe has finished his flight and logged off the network you can go ahead and log on as N63019. Additionally, don't feel that you are obligated to use just one callsign. Log on as one callsign and complete a flight, then log on as a completely different callsign for the next flight! Just remember that you will have to be alert to ATC trying to contact you via that callsign, so it sometimes helps to stick with one that you become familiar with, at least at first.
Airlines use the flight number behind their Airline Code in the callsign, however you can use any number you wish to. So if you were flying US Airways flight 3846, your callsign would be USA3846. It is always fun to look up the real flight number on the airlines website, then fly with that callsign. Even more fun is departing at the same time as the real-world version of your flight to see who arrives first.
Every aircraft, including the large jets of the airlines, has a unique Identification number painted on its fuselage. Every aircraft registered in the United States will have a registration code that begins with the letter "N" or "November". (If you do not understand why "N" is said as "NOVEMBER", please click here∞). When communicating with ATC, this "N" is routinely omitted, thus an aircraft registered as N63019 would be referred to simply as "63019". Also, at the beginning of a General Aviation callsign, the letter N ("November") is replaced by the aircraft type or manufacturer. For example, if N63019 was a Cessna 172, he would be called "Cessna 63019". If N497DW was a Learjet 45, he would be called "Learjet 497DW". If you are unsure of what to say as your aircraft type, just simply ask ATC and they will tell you what to say.

PREFIX	COUNTRY	EXAMPLE
G	Great Britain	G-ABCD
PH	Netherlands	PH-ABC
D	Germany	D-ABCD
LY	Lithuania	LY-ABD

Advanced Callsign Selection
For those who really do want to make it "as real as it gets", here are some more advanced ways of choosing a callsign. Every aircraft is assigned a registration code anywhere from 1 letter/number to 7 letters/numbers. To find real registration codes of aircraft registered in the United States, go to the FAA Aircraft Registry Database∞ and search for the registration of an aircraft the same type as yours. For realistic airline callsigns, simply find the flight number of the flight you wish to fly from the airline's website. Another good resource for this information is FlightAware.com∞, which shows the flight plan of every airline's flights (and many General Aviation plans too!). This site only provides information in the continental United States, however.
Airline Identification codes are ALWAYS 3 letters long, no shorter, no longer. Therefore, AA, AF, SW, NW, US, etc. DO NOT represent any airlines. Also, many new pilots log on with callsigns such as AMERICAN76, USAIR58, DELTA519, NORTHWEST24, etc. These are also not airline codes, and controllers can get very annoyed when a pilot has a callsign like this. Please Please PLEASE, if you want to fly for a certain airline but do not know the code, either look it up here∞ or here∞, or log on and ask a controller what the correct code is. Most, if not all, controllers will appreciate you asking instead of using an improper callsign. A controller's job is made much easier when you file with the correct airline code.
(Exception: If the flight number part is 5 letters/numbers long, then the airline identification code is reduced to 2 letters. Air France has such callsigns for national flights : AF780UM, AF640QI, AF704YH and the like. There might be other companies using this scheme as well.)

Deletions:
There are two main types of callsigns found on the VATSIM network. The first and most common are Airline Callsigns. I know many of you have probably listened to LiveATC.net∞ and heard ATC (Air Traffic Control) address airlines as "Jazz", "Cactus", or even "Speedbird". These are all airline callsigns. The three listed here are slightly harder to comprehend who they refer to, but others, such as "American", "US Air", or "Northwest" are more obvious. Every airline has a 3-letter code that they place at the beginning of their callsigns which tells the controller what callsign to use for the aircraft.
The other type of callsign is a General Aviation callsign. Every aircraft sold is issued a unique Identification code consisting of anywhere from 1 to 7 letters and/or numbers. This Identification is painted on the side of the aircraft and remains with the aircraft throughout its whole life, even if the aircraft changes owners.
If you want to fly a General Aviation aircraft, feel free to put anything as your callsign, as long as it is not vulgar or obscene. For example, many pilots choose to use their name, date of birth, initials, or any other personal memory. One factor is that you cannot have the same callsign as someone else while they are on the network. For example, if you are trying to connect to the network as N63019, but John Doe is already on the network and connected as N63019, you will get an error message and must choose a different callsign. However, once John Doe has finished his flight and logged off the network you can go ahead and log on as N63019. Additionally, don't feel that you are obligated to use just one callsign. Log on as one callsign and complete a flight, then log on as a completely different callsign for the next flight! Just remember that you will have to notice when your callsign is being called by ATC, so it sometimes helps to stick with one that you become familiar with, at least at first.
Airlines use the flight number behind their Airline Code in the callsign, however you can use any number you wish to. So if you were flying US Airways flight 3846, your callsign would be USA3846. It is always fun to look up the real flight number on the airlines website, then fly with that callsign. Even more fun is departing at the same time as the real-world version of your flight and seeing who makes it there first.
Every aircraft, including the large jets of the airlines, has a unique Identification number painted on its fuselage. Every aircraft registered in the United States will have a registration code that begins with the letter "N" or "November". (If you do not understand why "N" is said as "NOVEMBER", please click here∞). When communicating with ATC, this "N" is left out, thus an aircraft registered as N63019 would be referred to simply as "63019". Also, at the beginning of a General Aviation callsign, the letter N ("November") is replaced by the aircraft type or manufacturer. For example, if N63019 was a Cessna 172, he would be called "Cessna 63019". If N497DW was a Learjet 45, he would be called "Learjet 497DW". Once again, you should NEVER say "N" or "November" in front of your aircraft's callsign. In my many hours of controlling on VATSIM, I have only heard one or two pilots do this correctly. If you are unsure of what to say as your aircraft type, just simply ask ATC and they will tell you what to say.

PREFIX	COUNTRY	EXAMPLE
G	Great Britain	G-ABCD
PH	Netherlands	PH-ABC
D	Germany	D-ABCD
LY	Lithuania	LY-ABD

Advanced Callsign Choosing
For those people out there who really do want to make it "as real as it gets", here are some more advanced ways of choosing a callsign. Every aircraft is assigned a Registration code anywhere from 1 letter/number all the way up to 7 letters/numbers. To find real registration codes of aircraft registered in the United States, go to the FAA Aircraft Registry Database∞ and search for the registration of an aircraft the same type as yours. For realistic airline callsigns, simply find the flight number of the flight you wish to fly from the airline's website. Another good resource for this information is FlightAware.com∞, which shows the flight plan of every airline's flights (and many General Aviation plans too!). This site only provides information in the continental United States, however.
Airline Identification codes are ALWAYS 3 letters long, no shorter, no longer. Therefore, AA, AF, SW, NW, US, etc. DO NOT represent any airlines. Also, many new pilots log on with callsigns such as AMERICAN76, USAIR58, DELTA519, NORTHWEST24, etc. These are also not airline codes, and controllers can get very annoyed when a pilot has a callsign like this. Please Please PLEASE, if you want to fly for a certain airline but do not know the code, either look it up here∞ or here∞, or log on and ask a controller what the correct code is. Most, if not all, controllers will appreciate you asking instead of using an improper callsign. A controller's job is made much easier when you file the correct airline code.
(exception: If the flight number part is 5 letters/numbers long, then the airline identification code is reduced to 2 letters. Air France has such callsigns for national flights : AF780UM, AF640QI, AF704YH and the like. There might be other companies using this scheme elsewhere too.)

Edited on 2008-01-25 18:40:17 by AlexBailey

Additions:
If you want to fly a General Aviation aircraft, feel free to put anything as your callsign, as long as it is not vulgar or obscene. For example, many pilots choose to use their name, date of birth, initials, or any other personal memory. One factor is that you cannot have the same callsign as someone else while they are on the network. For example, if you are trying to connect to the network as N63019, but John Doe is already on the network and connected as N63019, you will get an error message and must choose a different callsign. However, once John Doe has finished his flight and logged off the network you can go ahead and log on as N63019. Additionally, don't feel that you are obligated to use just one callsign. Log on as one callsign and complete a flight, then log on as a completely different callsign for the next flight! Just remember that you will have to notice when your callsign is being called by ATC, so it sometimes helps to stick with one that you become familiar with, at least at first.
European Callsigns are vastly different than those in the United States. The first and/or second letter of the callsign indicates the country in which the aircraft is registered. See the chart below for some of the countries' prefixes. A complete list of prefixes for different countries can be found Here∞ or Here∞.
Airline Identification codes are ALWAYS 3 letters long, no shorter, no longer. Therefore, AA, AF, SW, NW, US, etc. DO NOT represent any airlines. Also, many new pilots log on with callsigns such as AMERICAN76, USAIR58, DELTA519, NORTHWEST24, etc. These are also not airline codes, and controllers can get very annoyed when a pilot has a callsign like this. Please Please PLEASE, if you want to fly for a certain airline but do not know the code, either look it up here∞ or here∞, or log on and ask a controller what the correct code is. Most, if not all, controllers will appreciate you asking instead of using an improper callsign. A controller's job is made much easier when you file the correct airline code.
Thank you for sticking with this throughout the whole article. This should have left you with a feeling of "I-can-do-it" ness regarding callsigns. If you still have any questions, please email me at rochem11891@hotmail DOT com.

Deletions:
If you want to fly a General Aviation aircraft, feel free to put anything as your callsign, as long as it is not vulgar or obscene. For example, many pilots choose to use their name, date of birth, initials, or any other personal memory. One factor is that you cannot have the same callsign as someone else while they are on the network. For example, if you are trying to connect to the network at N63019, but John Doe is already on the network and connected as N63019, you will get an error message and must choose a different callsign. However, once John Doe has finished his flight and logged off the network you can go ahead and log on as N63019. Additionally, don't feel that you are obligated to use just one callsign. Log on as one callsign and complete a flight, then log on as a completely different callsign for the next flight! Just remember that you will have to notice when your callsign is being called by ATC, so it sometimes helps to stick with one that you become familiar with, at least at first.
European Callsigns are vastly different than those in the United States. The first and/or second letter of the callsign indicates the country in which the aircraft was registered. See the chart below for some of the countries' prefixes. A complete list of prefixes for different countries can be found Here∞ or Here∞.
Airline Identification codes are ALWAYS 3 letters long, no shorter, no longer. Therefore, AA, AF, SW, NW, US, etc. DO NOT represent any airlines. Also, many new pilots log on with callsigns such as AMERICAN76, USAIR58, DELTA519, NORTHWEST24, etc. These are also not airline codes, and controllers can get very annoyed when a pilot has a callsign like this. Please Please PLEASE, if you want to fly for a certain airline but do not know the code, either look it up here∞ or here∞, or log on and ask a controller what the correct code is. Most, if not all controllers will appreciate you asking instead of using a bad callsign. Controllers' lives are made so much easier when you file the correct airline code.
Thank you for sticking with this throughout the whole article. This should have left you with a feeling of "i-can-do-it" ness regarding callsigns. If you still have any questions, please email me at rochem11891@hotmail DOT com.

Edited on 2007-08-05 09:38:13 by MikeBevington

Additions:
The beauty of VATSIM is that you can fly with any callsign you like as long as it is not potentially offensive to other members. Offensive callsigns would include those related to major events in history involving loss of life or otherwise politically sensitive acts.
If you want to fly a General Aviation aircraft, feel free to put anything as your callsign, as long as it is not vulgar or obscene. For example, many pilots choose to use their name, date of birth, initials, or any other personal memory. One factor is that you cannot have the same callsign as someone else while they are on the network. For example, if you are trying to connect to the network at N63019, but John Doe is already on the network and connected as N63019, you will get an error message and must choose a different callsign. However, once John Doe has finished his flight and logged off the network you can go ahead and log on as N63019. Additionally, don't feel that you are obligated to use just one callsign. Log on as one callsign and complete a flight, then log on as a completely different callsign for the next flight! Just remember that you will have to notice when your callsign is being called by ATC, so it sometimes helps to stick with one that you become familiar with, at least at first.

Deletions:
The beauty of VATSIM is that you can fly with any callsign you like! If you want to fly a General Aviation aircraft, feel free to put anything as your callsign, as long as it is not vulgar or obscene. For example, many pilots choose to use their name, date of birth, initials, or any other personal memory. One factor is that you cannot have the same callsign as someone else while they are on the network. For example, if you are trying to connect to the network at N63019, but John Doe is already on the network and connected as N63019, you will get an error message and must choose a different callsign. However, once John Doe has finished his flight and logged off the network you can go ahead and log on as N63019. Additionally, don't feel that you are obligated to use just one callsign. Log on as one callsign and complete a flight, then log on as a completely different callsign for the next flight! Just remember that you will have to notice when your callsign is being called by ATC, so it sometimes helps to stick with one that you become familiar with, at least at first.

Edited on 2007-02-04 20:55:08 by MikeBevington

Additions:
General Aviation Callsigns in Australia
Australian registrations: VH-XXX where the "XXX" is any three alphabetic characters. ie, VH-ABC or VH-XYZ. All civil aircraft in Australia are registered in this manner.

Edited on 2007-02-03 15:28:07 by MikeBevington

Additions:
(exception: If the flight number part is 5 letters/numbers long, then the airline identification code is reduced to 2 letters. Air France has such callsigns for national flights : AF780UM, AF640QI, AF704YH and the like. There might be other companies using this scheme elsewhere too.)

Edited on 2007-01-28 12:14:54 by MichaelRoche

Additions:
After spending countless hours configuring software and getting a VATSIM password, many new pilots get as far as the "Enter Your Callsign Here" box in the login window and freeze. This tutorial is intended to show the VATSIM pilot what callsign he or she should use.
The beauty of VATSIM is that you can fly with any callsign you like! If you want to fly a General Aviation aircraft, feel free to put anything as your callsign, as long as it is not vulgar or obscene. For example, many pilots choose to use their name, date of birth, initials, or any other personal memory. One factor is that you cannot have the same callsign as someone else while they are on the network. For example, if you are trying to connect to the network at N63019, but John Doe is already on the network and connected as N63019, you will get an error message and must choose a different callsign. However, once John Doe has finished his flight and logged off the network you can go ahead and log on as N63019. Additionally, don't feel that you are obligated to use just one callsign. Log on as one callsign and complete a flight, then log on as a completely different callsign for the next flight! Just remember that you will have to notice when your callsign is being called by ATC, so it sometimes helps to stick with one that you become familiar with, at least at first.
General Aviation Callsigns in the United States
Every aircraft, including the large jets of the airlines, has a unique Identification number painted on its fuselage. Every aircraft registered in the United States will have a registration code that begins with the letter "N" or "November". (If you do not understand why "N" is said as "NOVEMBER", please click here∞). When communicating with ATC, this "N" is left out, thus an aircraft registered as N63019 would be referred to simply as "63019". Also, at the beginning of a General Aviation callsign, the letter N ("November") is replaced by the aircraft type or manufacturer. For example, if N63019 was a Cessna 172, he would be called "Cessna 63019". If N497DW was a Learjet 45, he would be called "Learjet 497DW". Once again, you should NEVER say "N" or "November" in front of your aircraft's callsign. In my many hours of controlling on VATSIM, I have only heard one or two pilots do this correctly. If you are unsure of what to say as your aircraft type, just simply ask ATC and they will tell you what to say.
General Aviation Callsigns in Europe
Note that letters, not numbers, are used in the examples above. European countries use only letters in their General Aviation callsigns. Also, please do not use the "-" in the callsign when signing on to VATSIM. For example, if you wanted to fly as G-ABCD, you would sign in as GABCD.

Deletions:
After finally spending countless hours configuring software and getting a VATSIM password, many new pilots get as far as the "Enter Your Callsign Here" box in the login window and freeze. This tutorial is intended to show the VATSIM pilot what callsign he or she should use.
The beauty of VATSIM is that you can fly with any callsign you like! If you want to fly a General Aviation aircraft, feel free to put anything as your callsign, as long as it is not vulgar or obscene. For example, many pilots choose to use their name, date of birth, initials, or any other personal memory. One factor is that you cannot have the same callsign as someone else while they are on the network. For example, if you are trying to connect to the network at N63019, but John Doe is already on the network and connected as N63019, you will get an error message and must choose a different callsign. However, once John Doe has finished his flight and logged off the network you can go ahead and log on as N63019. Additionally, don't feel that you are obligated to use just one callsign. Log on as one callsign and complete a flight, then log on as a completely different callsign for the next flight!
Callsigns in the United States
Every aircraft, including the large jets of the airlines, has a unique Identification number painted on its fuselage. Every aircraft registered in the United States will have a registration code that begins with the letter "N" or "November". (If you do not understand why "N" is said as "NOVEMBER", please click here∞). When communicating with ATC, this "N" is left out, thus an aircraft registered as N63019 would be referred to simply as "63019". Also, at the beginning of a General Aviation callsign, the Aircraft Type is stated where an Airline callsign would be. For example, if N63019 was a Cessna 172, he would be called "Cessna 63019". If N497DW was a Learjet 45, he would be called "Learjet 497DW". Once again, you should NEVER say "N" or "November" in front of your aircraft's callsign. In my many hours of controlling on VATSIM, I have only heard one or two pilots do this correctly. If you are unsure of what to say as your aircraft type, just simply ask ATC and they will tell you what to say.
Callsigns in Europe
Note that letters, not numbers, are used in the examples above. European countries use only letters in their General Aviation callsigns. Also, the "-" is not included in the callsign when signing on to VATSIM. For example, if you wanted to fly as G-ABCD, you would sign in as GABCD.

Edited on 2006-10-07 20:27:02 by MikeBevington

No differences.

Edited on 2006-06-21 08:34:57 by MichaelRoche

Deletions:
NOTE: Some of the information contained in this article may be incorrect or out of date. If you find anything that you know to be incorrect, please email me at rochem11891@hotmail DOT com. Thanks!!

Edited on 2006-05-23 19:05:19 by MichaelRoche

Additions:

PREFIX	COUNTRY	EXAMPLE
G	Great Britain	G-ABCD
PH	Netherlands	PH-ABC
D	Germany	D-ABCD
LY	Lithuania	LY-ABD

Deletions:

PREFIX	COUNTRY	EXAMPLE
G	Great Britain	G-ABCD
PH	Netherlands	PH-ABC
D	Germany	G-ABCD
LY	Lithuania	LY-ABD

Edited on 2006-05-01 14:49:47 by MichaelRoche

Additions:
NOTE: Some of the information contained in this article may be incorrect or out of date. If you find anything that you know to be incorrect, please email me at rochem11891@hotmail DOT com. Thanks!!
The other type of callsign is a General Aviation callsign. Every aircraft sold is issued a unique Identification code consisting of anywhere from 1 to 7 letters and/or numbers. This Identification is painted on the side of the aircraft and remains with the aircraft throughout its whole life, even if the aircraft changes owners.
You may now be wondering, "How do controllers know what to call the different aircraft?" When an airline becomes officially recognized, it is given a unique 3-letter code that represents that airline. A phonetic callsign is then created for the airline. Controllers can very simply find what to call a given airline by looking Here∞ in the United States. Another source for this information is at AirlineCodes.co.uk∞. These pages have complete lists of each and every airline code that could transit a controller's airspace. Below are some of the most popular callsigns used on VATSIM:
Callsigns in the United States
Every aircraft, including the large jets of the airlines, has a unique Identification number painted on its fuselage. Every aircraft registered in the United States will have a registration code that begins with the letter "N" or "November". (If you do not understand why "N" is said as "NOVEMBER", please click here∞). When communicating with ATC, this "N" is left out, thus an aircraft registered as N63019 would be referred to simply as "63019". Also, at the beginning of a General Aviation callsign, the Aircraft Type is stated where an Airline callsign would be. For example, if N63019 was a Cessna 172, he would be called "Cessna 63019". If N497DW was a Learjet 45, he would be called "Learjet 497DW". Once again, you should NEVER say "N" or "November" in front of your aircraft's callsign. In my many hours of controlling on VATSIM, I have only heard one or two pilots do this correctly. If you are unsure of what to say as your aircraft type, just simply ask ATC and they will tell you what to say.
Callsigns in Europe
European Callsigns are vastly different than those in the United States. The first and/or second letter of the callsign indicates the country in which the aircraft was registered. See the chart below for some of the countries' prefixes. A complete list of prefixes for different countries can be found Here∞ or Here∞.

PREFIX	COUNTRY	EXAMPLE
G	Great Britain	G-ABCD
PH	Netherlands	PH-ABC
D	Germany	G-ABCD
LY	Lithuania	LY-ABD

Note that letters, not numbers, are used in the examples above. European countries use only letters in their General Aviation callsigns. Also, the "-" is not included in the callsign when signing on to VATSIM. For example, if you wanted to fly as G-ABCD, you would sign in as GABCD.
For those people out there who really do want to make it "as real as it gets", here are some more advanced ways of choosing a callsign. Every aircraft is assigned a Registration code anywhere from 1 letter/number all the way up to 7 letters/numbers. To find real registration codes of aircraft registered in the United States, go to the FAA Aircraft Registry Database∞ and search for the registration of an aircraft the same type as yours. For realistic airline callsigns, simply find the flight number of the flight you wish to fly from the airline's website. Another good resource for this information is FlightAware.com∞, which shows the flight plan of every airline's flights (and many General Aviation plans too!). This site only provides information in the continental United States, however.
Note on Airline Callsigns
Airline Identification codes are ALWAYS 3 letters long, no shorter, no longer. Therefore, AA, AF, SW, NW, US, etc. DO NOT represent any airlines. Also, many new pilots log on with callsigns such as AMERICAN76, USAIR58, DELTA519, NORTHWEST24, etc. These are also not airline codes, and controllers can get very annoyed when a pilot has a callsign like this. Please Please PLEASE, if you want to fly for a certain airline but do not know the code, either look it up here∞ or here∞, or log on and ask a controller what the correct code is. Most, if not all controllers will appreciate you asking instead of using a bad callsign. Controllers' lives are made so much easier when you file the correct airline code.
Thank you for sticking with this throughout the whole article. This should have left you with a feeling of "i-can-do-it" ness regarding callsigns. If you still have any questions, please email me at rochem11891@hotmail DOT com.

Deletions:
NOTE: This author is not farmiliar with the callsign procedures of other countries, and therefore, this article is based on operations within the United States. If you have knowledge of the procedures of other countries, please email me at rochem11891 AT hotmail DOT com with this information. Thanks!
The other type of callsign is a General Aviation callsign. Every aircraft sold is issued a unique Identification code consisting of anywhere from 1 to 6 letters and/or numbers. This Identification is painted on the side of the aircraft and remains with the aircraft throughout its whole life, even if the aircraft changes owners.
You may now be wondering, "How do controllers know what to call the different aircraft?" When an airline becomes officially recognized, it is given a unique 3-letter code that represents that airline. A phonetic callsign is then created for the airline. Controllers can very simply find what to call a given airline by looking in the Controllers Bible, the 7110.65∞. This has a complete list of each and every airline code that could transit their airspace. Below are some of the most popular callsigns used on VATSIM:
Pronouncing General Aviation Callsigns
NOTE: These procedures apply to the United States ONLY. Other countries have their own procedures for General Aviation Aircraft
Every aircraft, including the large jets of the airlines, has a unique Identification number painted on its fuselage. Every aircraft registered in the United States will have a registration code that begins with the letter "N" or "November". (If you do not understand why "N" is said as "NOVEMBER", please click here∞). When communicating with ATC, this "N" is left out, thus an aircraft registered as N63019 would be referred to simply as "63019". Also, at the beginning of a General Aviation callsign, the Aircraft Type is stated where an Airline callsign would be. For example, if N63019 was a Cessna 172, he would be called "Cessna 63019". If N497DW was a Learjet 45, he would be called "Learjet 497DW". Once again, you should NEVER say "N" or "November" in front of your aircraft's callsign. In my many hours of controlling on VATSIM, I have only heard one or two pilots do this correctly. If you are unsure of what to say as your aircraft type, just simply ask ATC and they will tell you what to say.
For those people out there (myself included!) who really do want to make it "as real as it gets", here are some more advanced ways of choosing a callsign. In the United States, aircraft are assigned Registration codes anywhere from 1 letter/number all the way up to 6 letters/numbers (excluding the "N" at the beginning). A callsign can consist of any combination of letters and/or numbers, but numbers can never follow a letter (excluding the leading "N"). For example, the Registration N53KB is acceptable, but N53KB9 is not because a number follows a letter. If you really want to be realistic, go to the FAA Aircraft Registry Database∞ and search for the registration of an aircraft the same type as yours. For realistic airline callsigns, simply find the flight number of the flight you wish to fly from the airline's website. Another good resource for this information is FlightAware.com∞, which shows the flight plan of every airline's flights (and many General Aviation plans too!).
Common Mistakes
Probably the most-made mistake on VATSIM concerning callsigns is saying "NOVEMBER" at the beginning of a General Aviation aircraft's callsign. Even many controllers have gotten into this habit due to pilots consistently using this incorrect phraseology. If we can get more General Aviation pilots to use the correct phraseology, I'm sure controllers would start to take note and change their habits.
Another common mistake is the shortening of callsigns. To get it out of the way, Airline callsigns are never shortened. On initial contact with a facility, a General Aviation pilot should use their FULL callsign (without the "N"!), not a shortened version.
N583KC: Boston Center, Cessna 583KC with you
Thereafter, a controller may, and usually will, respond to the pilot by using an abbreviated callsign, which consists of the aircraft type and the last three letters/numbers of the registration. However, if a controller continues to use the full callsign, YOU MUST ALSO DO SO. A controller could have another aircraft on the frequency with a similar callsign, and the full callsign is required to avoid confusion.
Boston Center: Cessna 3KC, Boston Center, Roger

Boston Center: Cessna 583KC, Boston Center, Roger
Airline Identification codes are ALWAYS 3 letters long, no shorter, no longer. Therefore, AA, AF, SW, NW, US, etc. DO NOT represent any airlines. Also, many new pilots log on with callsigns such as AMERICAN76, USAIR58, DELTA519, NORTHWEST24, etc. are also not airline codes, and controllers can get very annoyed when a pilot had a callsign like this. Please Please PLEASE, if you want to fly for a certain airline but do not know the code, either look it up here∞ or log on and ask a controller what the correct code is. Most, if not all controllers will appreciate you asking instead of using a bad callsign. Controllers' lives are made so much easier when you file the correct airline code.
Thank you for sticking with this throughout the whole article. This should have left you with a feeling of "i-can-do-it" ness regarding callsigns. If you still have any questions, please email me at rochem11891 AT hotmail DOT com.
Thanks to:
Owen Catherwood

Edited on 2006-04-08 09:40:10 by MikeBevington

Additions:
CategoryLessons

Deletions:
CategoryLessons CategoryBasic CategoryPrereq

Edited on 2006-04-08 09:26:12 by MikeBevington

Additions:
Categories

Deletions:
Categories:

Edited on 2006-04-08 09:24:36 by MichaelRoche

Additions:
You may now be wondering, "How do controllers know what to call the different aircraft?" When an airline becomes officially recognized, it is given a unique 3-letter code that represents that airline. A phonetic callsign is then created for the airline. Controllers can very simply find what to call a given airline by looking in the Controllers Bible, the 7110.65∞. This has a complete list of each and every airline code that could transit their airspace. Below are some of the most popular callsigns used on VATSIM:

Deletions:
You may now be wondering, "How do controllers know what to call the different aircraft?" When it becomes officially recognized, an airline is given a unique 3-letter code that represents that airline. A phonetic callsign is then created for the airline. Controllers can very simply find what to call a given airline by looking in the Controllers Bible, the 7110.65∞. This has a complete list of each and every airline code that could transit their airspace. Below are some of the most popular callsigns used on VATSIM:

Edited on 2006-04-08 09:22:21 by MikeBevington

Additions:
Categories:
CategoryLessons CategoryBasic CategoryPrereq

Deletions:
MichaelRoche

Edited on 2006-04-08 03:11:31 by AlanSutherland [spelling changes]

Additions:
The other type of callsign is a General Aviation callsign. Every aircraft sold is issued a unique Identification code consisting of anywhere from 1 to 6 letters and/or numbers. This Identification is painted on the side of the aircraft and remains with the aircraft throughout its whole life, even if the aircraft changes owners.
The beauty of VATSIM is that you can fly with any callsign you like! If you want to fly a General Aviation aircraft, feel free to put anything as your callsign, as long as it is not vulgar or obscene. For example, many pilots choose to use their name, date of birth, initials, or any other personal memory. One factor is that you cannot have the same callsign as someone else while they are on the network. For example, if you are trying to connect to the network at N63019, but John Doe is already on the network and connected as N63019, you will get an error message and must choose a different callsign. However, once John Doe has finished his flight and logged off the network you can go ahead and log on as N63019. Additionally, don't feel that you are obligated to use just one callsign. Log on as one callsign and complete a flight, then log on as a completely different callsign for the next flight!
Every aircraft, including the large jets of the airlines, has a unique Identification number painted on its fuselage. Every aircraft registered in the United States will have a registration code that begins with the letter "N" or "November". (If you do not understand why "N" is said as "NOVEMBER", please click here∞). When communicating with ATC, this "N" is left out, thus an aircraft registered as N63019 would be referred to simply as "63019". Also, at the beginning of a General Aviation callsign, the Aircraft Type is stated where an Airline callsign would be. For example, if N63019 was a Cessna 172, he would be called "Cessna 63019". If N497DW was a Learjet 45, he would be called "Learjet 497DW". Once again, you should NEVER say "N" or "November" in front of your aircraft's callsign. In my many hours of controlling on VATSIM, I have only heard one or two pilots do this correctly. If you are unsure of what to say as your aircraft type, just simply ask ATC and they will tell you what to say.
For those people out there (myself included!) who really do want to make it "as real as it gets", here are some more advanced ways of choosing a callsign. In the United States, aircraft are assigned Registration codes anywhere from 1 letter/number all the way up to 6 letters/numbers (excluding the "N" at the beginning). A callsign can consist of any combination of letters and/or numbers, but numbers can never follow a letter (excluding the leading "N"). For example, the Registration N53KB is acceptable, but N53KB9 is not because a number follows a letter. If you really want to be realistic, go to the FAA Aircraft Registry Database∞ and search for the registration of an aircraft the same type as yours. For realistic airline callsigns, simply find the flight number of the flight you wish to fly from the airline's website. Another good resource for this information is FlightAware.com∞, which shows the flight plan of every airline's flights (and many General Aviation plans too!).
Probably the most-made mistake on VATSIM concerning callsigns is saying "NOVEMBER" at the beginning of a General Aviation aircraft's callsign. Even many controllers have gotten into this habit due to pilots consistently using this incorrect phraseology. If we can get more General Aviation pilots to use the correct phraseology, I'm sure controllers would start to take note and change their habits.

Deletions:
The other type of callsign is a General Aivation callsign. Every aircraft sold is issued a unique Identification code consisting of anywhere from 1 to 6 letters and/or numbers. This Identification is painted on the side of the aircraft and remains with the aircraft throughout its whole life, even if the aircraft changes owners.
The beauty of VATSIM is that you can fly with any callsign you like! If you want to fly a General Aviation aircraft, feel free to put anything as your callsign, as long as it is not vulgular or obscene. For example, many pilots choose to use their name, date of birth, initials, or any other personal memory. One factor is that you cannot have the same callsign as someone else while they are on the network. For example, if you are trying to connect to the network at N63019, but John Doe is already on the network and connected as N63019, you will get an error message and must choose a different callsign. However, once John Doe has finished his flight and logged off the network you can go ahead and log on as N63019. Additionally, don't feel that you are obligated to use just one callsign. Log on as one callsign and complete a flight, then log on as a completely different callsign for the next flight!
Every aircraft, including the large jets of the airlines, had a unique Identification number painted on its fuselage. Every aircraft registered in the United States will have a registration code that begins with the letter "N" or "November". (If you do not understand why "N" is said as "NOVEMBER", please click here∞). When communicating with ATC, this "N" is left out, thus an aircraft registered as N63019 would be referred to simply as "63019". Also, at the beginning of a General Aviation callsign, the Aircraft Type is stated where an Airline callsign would be. For example, if N63019 was a Cessna 172, he would be called "Cessna 63019". If N497DW was a Learjet 45, he would be called "Learjet 497DW". Once again, you should NEVER say "N" or "November" in front of your aircraft's callsign. In my many hours of controlling on VATSIM, I have only heard one or two pilots do this correctly. If you are unsure of what to say as your aircraft type, just simply ask ATC and they will tell you what to say.
For those people out there (myself included!) who really do want to make it "as real as it gets", here are some more advanced ways of choosing a callsign. In the United States, aircraft are assigned Registration codes anywhere from 1 letter/number all the way up to 6 letters/numbers (excluding the "N" at the beginning). A callsign can consist of any combination of letters and/or numbers, but numbers can never follow a letter (excluding the leading "N"). For example, the Registration N53KB is acceptable, but N53KB9 is not because a number follows a letter. If you really want to be realistic, go to the FAA Aircraft Registry Database∞ and search for the registration of an aircraft the same type as yours. For realistc airline callsigns, simply find the flight number of the flight you wish to fly from the airline's website. Another good resource for this information is FlightAware.com∞, which shows the flight plan of every airline's flights (and many General Aviation plans too!).
Probably the most-made mistake on VATSIM concering callsigns is saying "NOVEMBER" at the beginning of a General Aviation aircraft's callsign. Even many controllers have gotten into this habit due to pilots consistently using this incorrect phraseology. If we can get more General Aviation pilots to use the correct phraseology, I'm sure controllers would start to take note and change their habits.

Oldest known version of this page was edited on 2006-04-04 18:22:34 by MikeBevington []

Page view:

Choosing A Callsign on VATSIM

By Michael Roche

NOTE: This author is not farmiliar with the callsign procedures of other countries, and therefore, this article is based on operations within the United States. If you have knowledge of the procedures of other countries, please email me at rochem11891 AT hotmail DOT com with this information. Thanks!

Introduction
After finally spending countless hours configuring software and getting a VATSIM password, many new pilots get as far as the "Enter Your Callsign Here" box in the login window and freeze. This tutorial is intended to show the VATSIM pilot what callsign he or she should use.

Understanding the Callsign
There are two main types of callsigns found on the VATSIM network. The first and most common are Airline Callsigns. I know many of you have probably listened to LiveATC.net∞ and heard ATC (Air Traffic Control) address airlines as "Jazz", "Cactus", or even "Speedbird". These are all airline callsigns. The three listed here are slightly harder to comprehend who they refer to, but others, such as "American", "US Air", or "Northwest" are more obvious. Every airline has a 3-letter code that they place at the beginning of their callsigns which tells the controller what callsign to use for the aircraft.

The other type of callsign is a General Aivation callsign. Every aircraft sold is issued a unique Identification code consisting of anywhere from 1 to 6 letters and/or numbers. This Identification is painted on the side of the aircraft and remains with the aircraft throughout its whole life, even if the aircraft changes owners.

Choosing A Callsign
The beauty of VATSIM is that you can fly with any callsign you like! If you want to fly a General Aviation aircraft, feel free to put anything as your callsign, as long as it is not vulgular or obscene. For example, many pilots choose to use their name, date of birth, initials, or any other personal memory. One factor is that you cannot have the same callsign as someone else while they are on the network. For example, if you are trying to connect to the network at N63019, but John Doe is already on the network and connected as N63019, you will get an error message and must choose a different callsign. However, once John Doe has finished his flight and logged off the network you can go ahead and log on as N63019. Additionally, don't feel that you are obligated to use just one callsign. Log on as one callsign and complete a flight, then log on as a completely different callsign for the next flight!

Pronouncing Airline Callsigns
You may now be wondering, "How do controllers know what to call the different aircraft?" When it becomes officially recognized, an airline is given a unique 3-letter code that represents that airline. A phonetic callsign is then created for the airline. Controllers can very simply find what to call a given airline by looking in the Controllers Bible, the 7110.65∞. This has a complete list of each and every airline code that could transit their airspace. Below are some of the most popular callsigns used on VATSIM:

CODE	AIRLINE NAME	PHONETIC (SPOKEN) CALLSIGN
AAL	American Airlines	American
DAL	Delta Airlines	Delta
UAL	United Airlines	United
USA	US Airways	US Air
JBU	Jet Blue Airways	Jet Blue
BAW	British Airways	Speedbird

Airlines use the flight number behind their Airline Code in the callsign, however you can use any number you wish to. So if you were flying US Airways flight 3846, your callsign would be USA3846. It is always fun to look up the real flight number on the airlines website, then fly with that callsign. Even more fun is departing at the same time as the real-world version of your flight and seeing who makes it there first.

Pronouncing General Aviation Callsigns
NOTE: These procedures apply to the United States ONLY. Other countries have their own procedures for General Aviation Aircraft

Every aircraft, including the large jets of the airlines, had a unique Identification number painted on its fuselage. Every aircraft registered in the United States will have a registration code that begins with the letter "N" or "November". (If you do not understand why "N" is said as "NOVEMBER", please click here∞). When communicating with ATC, this "N" is left out, thus an aircraft registered as N63019 would be referred to simply as "63019". Also, at the beginning of a General Aviation callsign, the Aircraft Type is stated where an Airline callsign would be. For example, if N63019 was a Cessna 172, he would be called "Cessna 63019". If N497DW was a Learjet 45, he would be called "Learjet 497DW". Once again, you should NEVER say "N" or "November" in front of your aircraft's callsign. In my many hours of controlling on VATSIM, I have only heard one or two pilots do this correctly. If you are unsure of what to say as your aircraft type, just simply ask ATC and they will tell you what to say.

Advanced Callsign Choosing
For those people out there (myself included!) who really do want to make it "as real as it gets", here are some more advanced ways of choosing a callsign. In the United States, aircraft are assigned Registration codes anywhere from 1 letter/number all the way up to 6 letters/numbers (excluding the "N" at the beginning). A callsign can consist of any combination of letters and/or numbers, but numbers can never follow a letter (excluding the leading "N"). For example, the Registration N53KB is acceptable, but N53KB9 is not because a number follows a letter. If you really want to be realistic, go to the FAA Aircraft Registry Database∞ and search for the registration of an aircraft the same type as yours. For realistc airline callsigns, simply find the flight number of the flight you wish to fly from the airline's website. Another good resource for this information is FlightAware.com∞, which shows the flight plan of every airline's flights (and many General Aviation plans too!).

Common Mistakes
Probably the most-made mistake on VATSIM concering callsigns is saying "NOVEMBER" at the beginning of a General Aviation aircraft's callsign. Even many controllers have gotten into this habit due to pilots consistently using this incorrect phraseology. If we can get more General Aviation pilots to use the correct phraseology, I'm sure controllers would start to take note and change their habits.

Another common mistake is the shortening of callsigns. To get it out of the way, Airline callsigns are never shortened. On initial contact with a facility, a General Aviation pilot should use their FULL callsign (without the "N"!), not a shortened version.

N583KC: Boston Center, Cessna 583KC with you

Thereafter, a controller may, and usually will, respond to the pilot by using an abbreviated callsign, which consists of the aircraft type and the last three letters/numbers of the registration. However, if a controller continues to use the full callsign, YOU MUST ALSO DO SO. A controller could have another aircraft on the frequency with a similar callsign, and the full callsign is required to avoid confusion.

Boston Center: Cessna 3KC, Boston Center, Roger

Boston Center: Cessna 583KC, Boston Center, Roger

Airline Identification codes are ALWAYS 3 letters long, no shorter, no longer. Therefore, AA, AF, SW, NW, US, etc. DO NOT represent any airlines. Also, many new pilots log on with callsigns such as AMERICAN76, USAIR58, DELTA519, NORTHWEST24, etc. are also not airline codes, and controllers can get very annoyed when a pilot had a callsign like this. Please Please PLEASE, if you want to fly for a certain airline but do not know the code, either look it up here∞ or log on and ask a controller what the correct code is. Most, if not all controllers will appreciate you asking instead of using a bad callsign. Controllers' lives are made so much easier when you file the correct airline code.

Conclusion
Thank you for sticking with this throughout the whole article. This should have left you with a feeling of "i-can-do-it" ness regarding callsigns. If you still have any questions, please email me at rochem11891 AT hotmail DOT com.

Thanks to:
Owen Catherwood

MichaelRoche