Question about making fun of people on guard

SixPapaCharlie

May the force be with you
Joined
Aug 8, 2013
Messages
16,016
Display Name

Display name:
Sixer
When people make fun of other people on guard, you often see it emphasized like
"GUUUUAAAAARRRRDD!" or some other variation.

I haven't at this point had the opportunity to poke fun at anyone on guard as I am not really one to monitor it. I have probably listened to it 2-3 times just to see what's on it.

Lets say I opt to monitor it more frequently and I hear some old chap start CTAFing away like crazy and I want to call them out, I want to do it right but it would help if I knew the history of the "GUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAARD!" thing. I don't have the background information on why that specific emphasis.

Can anyone on POA help?
 
Also could I pretend that I don't know I am on 121.5 and make radio calls and expect this piratey sounding (as I imagine it) response?
 
I know it is a stretch but my best guess was that maybe it was somehow connected to this

 
A SWA (I think) pilot made his goodbye announcement on guard today and got ripped.
 
There are plenty of idiots that say idiot stuff on guard. No need to add to it.

A simple "You're on guard, sir." works fine.
 
I certainly don't yell at the offenders. I just say "You are on guard, please switch to a different frequency". Even at that, it is better to let someone else be the Radio Nazi.

-Skip
 
Last edited:
Don't be guard police. I once heard a guy in an Arrow make a call on guard something like "Madison Approach, Arrow N12345" and all these people started jumping all over him until he said "Madison approach, Arrow N12345, WE'RE ON FIRE, declaring an emergency..."
 
I fail to see the big deal here. Everyone makes silly mistakes like this.
I have never heard "guaaaaaaarrrd" in my life.
 
It's comforting that so many people are listening to guard.

I'm going to add it to my emergency checklist.
Tune radio 121.5
Call: ATITAPA
wait for the jackasses to tell me I'm on guard
Call: While I got you, bugdestroyer 666 engine out x miles from y help!
 
Not sure other than it's annoying and also quite fun
 
It's comforting that so many people are listening to guard.

I'm going to add it to my emergency checklist.
Tune radio 121.5
Call: ATITAPA
wait for the jackasses to tell me I'm on guard
Call: While I got you, bugdestroyer 666 engine out x miles from y help!
I'm missing your point here.
Are you single radio? You would purposely be announcing on guard?
I'm confused.
 
I'm missing your point here.
Are you single radio? You would purposely be announcing on guard?
I'm confused.

There was no point to miss... it was a goof. I was proposing that I intentionally put a call on guard to get people's attention, and then when I get barked at I could make the actual call.

But your reply has me wondering... do you think people who mistakenly talk on guard single radio - or are they the two radio types that like to use 4 freqs and forget to switch the audio panel?

I always use Comm1 to talk, Comm2 to monitor, so when monitoring guard I can't make that mistake.
 
I did it once but in my defense I never put 121.5 into the radio. Turns out if you forget to turn the alternator on and your battery is low the garmin 430 turns off the display and set the active frequency to 121.5. At least that's what I assume happened.
 
There was no point to miss... it was a goof. I was proposing that I intentionally put a call on guard to get people's attention, and then when I get barked at I could make the actual call.

But your reply has me wondering... do you think people who mistakenly talk on guard single radio - or are they the two radio types that like to use 4 freqs and forget to switch the audio panel?

I always use Comm1 to talk, Comm2 to monitor, so when monitoring guard I can't make that mistake.
Okay...

To your question, I do think multiple radio users often forget to flip the transmit button.
I have done worse. I have read back a clearance to the folks in the back. :redface:
 
Most inadvertent guard calls in the US seem to be either cabin announcements, or calls to ops.

In the case of cabin announcements, I like to reply with "Hope you have a great landing" or some such. Don't have a great come back for ops calls, but I wish I had a company freq so I could say, "Airliner 123, this is Airliner ops. Contact me on my freq, 123.45" or some such thing. It would be fun to make them think that everyone in Ops knows he screwed, along with everyone in the air.
 
The thing that annoys me on Guard are pranksters. I've heard two.

One just said silly stuff and laughed, and got worse when somebody scolded him. I wanted to switch frequencies to tune him out, but I couldn't because I was close to Washington DC and so I was required to monitor.

Another time a prankster was elaborating on a declaration that pilots for a certain airline are all sexual deviants, so to speak. Luckily that was nowhere near DC, so I changed frequencies.
 
This brings me back to USAF days working at the Wing Command Post....... A simple "Check Guard" was the response when they called CP on the wrong frequency... Might be better and more professional to use that rather than the Chiding "GUAAAAAAAARD!" call... Just say'n
 
There was a big swell in 121.5 stupidity over the last couple years after both of the Living The Dream videos. It seems to be subsiding somewhat after the FCC announcement last month, fortunately.

I like a good funny moment on the radio as much as the next guy, but it has just gotten so idiotic that I have been flying with the volume on the Guard-monitoring radio so low that it probably isn't functioning in its intended purpose anymore.

Please, if you see this crap, remind the person doing it that it isn't as funny as they think it is.
 
You're a professional pilot and you've never heard "guaaard"

Really??
Nope. I have heard chatter, and I've heard "you're on guard", but never some silly long drawn out thing.
Now that I've said that I'll probably here it six times tomorrow.
 
There was a big swell in 121.5 stupidity over the last couple years after both of the Living The Dream videos. It seems to be subsiding somewhat after the FCC announcement last month, fortunately.

I like a good funny moment on the radio as much as the next guy, but it has just gotten so idiotic that I have been flying with the volume on the Guard-monitoring radio so low that it probably isn't functioning in its intended purpose anymore.

Please, if you see this crap, remind the person doing it that it isn't as funny as they think it is.

So... have a conversation on guard to contest people telling people not to talk on guard guard after they reminded someone that they accidentally transmitted on guard....


Saying "guaaaard" takes like 1 second and sure as heck gets the message across, not seeing the issue here.
 
I think y'all are missing the point. I suspect Bryan is doing research for his next training video.

So...

Give him some better feedback, will ya?!?!
 
So... have a conversation on guard to contest people telling people not to talk on guard guard after they reminded someone that they accidentally transmitted on guard....

Saying "guaaaard" takes like 1 second and sure as heck gets the message across, not seeing the issue here.

Yes, saying "Transmitting on guard" like a professional is just insufferable compared to a snarky call such as you endorse.
 
Don't be guard police. I once heard a guy in an Arrow make a call on guard something like "Madison Approach, Arrow N12345" and all these people started jumping all over him until he said "Madison approach, Arrow N12345, WE'RE ON FIRE, declaring an emergency..."

So much this.^^^ The self appointed guard police are so spring loaded to chide folks that they refuse to listen to what's being said. They're worse than the guard transmissions, which are inadvertent the vast majority of the time.

This phenomenon is what we all expected when the Feds started recommending that folks keep their #2 radio tuned to 121.5.
 
Monitoring guard wasn't a thing when I went through my PPL training, and it wasn't THAT long ago.
 
I try to monitor guard. Last cross country I picked up an ELT and helped get someone zeroed into it. Dunno if it helped someone or not, but I certainly would want someone paying attention if I went down in the swamp.
 
Back
Top