Manufacturer/Model callsigns?

sacex250 Newcomer

A question that's been bugging me for two decades.

Once on a tower visit I heard a controller griping about a pilot who got his panties in a wad and stopped responding to the controller because the controller kept calling his "Archer" a "Cherokee." [Yes, I get that all Archers, Warriers, Dakotas, etc. are all type certificated Cherokees, that's not the point.]

My question is, is there an approved list of what callsigns are used for each make and model of aircraft somewhere? If not, who decides what call sign an aircraft should use?

irishcarbomb Moderator Houston, TX

it's in the back of the .65

and before you ask

http://www.faa.gov/documentlibrary/media/order/atc.pdf

sacex250 Newcomer

You scared me there for a minute that I was probably just some dufus who didn't bother to check the back of .65, but I have already looked there. I'm not asking about the Type Designators, I'm referring to the verbal radio callsigns for GA aircraft.

I haven't found any official specific guidance on this other than using the generic make or model of aircraft. So, in the example above, is it just a personality conflict between pilot and controller?

Who has the final say on what manufacturer or model callsign is used?

Let's say for an extreme example that I'm flying a C172 and decide that today I'm going to use "Skyhawk 1234 Alpha Bravo" as a callsign which would obviously tick-off every controller in the US who would by custom, tradition, and force-of-habit say "Cessna 1234 Alpha-Bravo" despite Skyhawk meeting the legal requirement. Is this just a case of do what everybody else does?

mikecoyne34 Trusted Contributor BNA

Go with what the pilot is calling himself. If you can't do that for some reason use November for GA.

WatchThis Trusted Contributor Arizona

Call the pilot what he calls himself and/or use November. Not sure where you were going with this but I, and others I work with, use Skyhawk several times a day. Don't let a DB pilot impel you to change what is right.

mikefsfr Senior Analyst Train Me.

Cherokee-archer-Dakota- arrow -warrior thing you were talking about usually just upsets the pilots cause he paid extra for retractable gear or 10 extra horse power so they want to be called what they paid extra for

sacex250 Newcomer

I just always wondered who was right in that argument. Obviously, the pilot was a jerk for throwing a tantrum and ignoring the controller, but I wasn't sure if there was a concrete answer to the conflict.

Thanks for the responses.

phillyman2633 Epic Member KDAB

Nah he was pissed at his shitty climb rate

FM_Weasel Trusted Contributor

Piper pilots are really the pickiest in this situation. Sorry, a PA32 can be 8 different things. If I have twenty planes on freq, maybe I won't always remember what they called themselves. I've started to just use "piper" or "November" for all piper aircraft just to avoid their on frequency prima donna bitching.

phillyman2633 Epic Member KDAB

And only in a PA44 do you need to add 80lbs of ballast to the baggage area to keep in CG with 2 regularly-sized adults in the front.