LEFT SEAT CULTURE PILOT TOOLS
Aviation abbreviations & acronyms glossary
UK general aviation study material is thick with abbreviations that get used before they're ever explained. This is a plain-English reference for the ones that come up most often across this site's quiz banks, lessons and tools.
Licensing & training
- ANO
- Air Navigation Order — the main UK statutory instrument for aviation rules.
- BMAA
- British Microlight Aircraft Association — the UK microlight licensing and technical body.
- CAA
- Civil Aviation Authority — the UK's aviation regulator.
- EASA
- European Union Aviation Safety Agency.
- FCL
- Flight Crew Licensing — the EASA/UK regulation part covering licences and ratings.
- FI(R)
- Flight Instructor Rating — the qualification to teach and instruct.
- FRTOL
- Flight Radiotelephony Operator's Licence — needed to operate an aircraft radio.
- GST
- General Skills Test — the NPPL(M) practical flight test.
- LAPL
- Light Aircraft Pilot Licence.
- NPPL
- National Private Pilot's Licence — a UK national licence, not an ICAO/EASA one.
- PPL
- Private Pilot's Licence.
- SEP
- Single Engine Piston — a common aircraft class rating.
- SSEA
- Single-Seat de-regulated Aeroplane — see SSDR below.
- SSDR
- Single Seat De-Regulated microlight — a UK category that can't leave the UK.
- TMG
- Touring Motor Glider.
Airspace & procedures
- AIAA
- Area of Intense Aerial Activity — a non-mandatory but recommended-avoid area.
- AIP
- Aeronautical Information Publication — the UK's official source of aeronautical data.
- ATZ
- Aerodrome Traffic Zone — protected airspace around an aerodrome.
- CAS
- Controlled Airspace.
- CTA
- Control Area — controlled airspace that doesn't reach the surface.
- CTR
- Control Zone — controlled airspace that does reach the surface.
- FIR
- Flight Information Region.
- GAR
- General Aviation Report — the form/notification for a flight crossing the UK border.
- MATZ
- Military Aerodrome Traffic Zone.
- NOTAM
- Notice to Airmen — a time-limited notice of a hazard or change.
- SERA
- Standardised European Rules of the Air.
- SVFR
- Special VFR — a clearance to operate VFR in a control zone outside normal VMC minima.
- TMA
- Terminal Manoeuvring Area — controlled airspace around a busy airport.
- VMC / IMC
- Visual / Instrument Meteorological Conditions.
Weather (including METAR/TAF)
- METAR
- A routine actual-weather report for an aerodrome, in coded format, issued hourly or half-hourly.
- TAF
- Terminal Aerodrome Forecast — a coded forecast for an aerodrome, usually valid 9-30 hours.
- SIGMET
- A warning of significant en-route weather hazards (severe turbulence, icing, thunderstorms).
- GAMET
- A low-level area forecast in abbreviated plain language, for flights below FL100.
- VOLMET
- A continuously looping recorded VHF broadcast of METAR/TAF for a list of major aerodromes.
- QNH
- The altimeter setting that reads altitude above mean sea level.
- QFE
- The altimeter setting that reads height above a specific aerodrome's elevation.
- RPS
- Regional Pressure Setting — a forecast QNH for a wider altimeter-setting region.
- ISA
- International Standard Atmosphere — the reference atmosphere performance figures are calculated against.
- OAT
- Outside Air Temperature.
Radio & ATC
- AFIS
- Aerodrome Flight Information Service — a non-ATC unit giving traffic/airfield information.
- ATIS
- Automatic Terminal Information Service — a looping recorded broadcast of airfield weather/info.
- FIS
- Flight Information Service — the enroute service for Basic/Traffic Service outside controlled airspace.
- FMC
- Frequency Monitoring Code — a 'listening squawk' selected while monitoring, but not in contact with, an ATC frequency.
- SAFETYCOM
- The shared UK frequency (135.480 MHz) for self-announcing at an unattended aerodrome.
- SSR
- Secondary Surveillance Radar — the system a transponder responds to.
- PAN PAN
- The urgency radio call, for a situation that's serious but not yet an immediate threat to life.
- MAYDAY
- The distress radio call, for a situation of grave and imminent danger needing immediate assistance.
Performance & planning
- AGL
- Above Ground Level.
- AMSL
- Above Mean Sea Level.
- FL
- Flight Level — a pressure altitude expressed in hundreds of feet (e.g. FL100 = 10,000 ft on the standard setting).
- MTOM
- Maximum Take-Off Mass.
- PIC
- Pilot in Command.
- Vx
- Best angle of climb speed — steepest climb path, most height per distance (obstacle clearance).
- Vy
- Best rate of climb speed — most height gained per minute.
- W&B
- Weight & Balance.
Human factors & airmanship
- PAVE
- A pre-flight risk checklist: Pilot, Aircraft, enVironment, External pressures.
- IMSAFE
- A pre-flight fitness self-check: Illness, Medication, Stress, Alcohol, Fatigue, Eating.
- TEM
- Threat and Error Management — managing Threats, Errors and Undesired Aircraft States.
- CHIRP
- The Confidential Human Factors Incident Reporting Programme.
- GASCo
- The General Aviation Safety Council.
Not exhaustive by design
This covers the terms that show up most across this site rather than every abbreviation in UK aviation. For a live decoded METAR/TAF, see the Weather tool; for radiotelephony phraseology and procedure, see the FRTOL Companion.
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