Rod Machado recently answered a query in Flight Training Magazine from a student pilot who is learning to fly in a Cessna 172 at a non-towered airport. The student had asked about how to identify his aircraft. In other words, should he identify himself by saying the name of the manufacturer (Cessna) or the specific aircraft model (Skyhawk) he is flying? Apparently, his instructor told him to say Skyhawk while another pilot told him to say Cessna while the Aeronautical Information Manual states that pilots should say the “aircraft type, model, or manufacturer’s name, followed by the digits/letters,”
However, Ron answered the question by saying that he identifies himself by using the name of the manufacturer. His reasoning is that a Cessna and a Piper aircraft can be spotted based upon their wing profiles whereas its harder to tell the difference between, say, a Skyhawk and a Skylane.
Meanwhile, Todd McClamroch of My Flight Blog picked up on Rod’s answer to say that he always identifies himself using the manufacturer’s name to avoid such confusion. His exception to this is when he is talking to controllers and then he provides both the manufacturer and model in order for the controller to estimate his speed. At uncontrolled airports, Todd uses just the manufacturer’s name.
Hence, what are your preferences? Are you flying a Cessna or a Skyhawk or a Cessna Skyhawk or something else?
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I was original taught to just say Cessna, but started saying Skyhawk after I was based at a towered field for a while. I started doing that so the tower could estimate my performance and kept doing it b/c it makes sense to me – a “cessna” could be a citation or a 152.
I had the same thing doing my CPL at Kissimmee. I was in an Arrow but there were a lot of different ‘Pipers’ in the circuit including some slower and some faster. In the UK, of course, we don’t give aircraft type except in the initial call and I think the American system has much to recommend it.