IFR Acronyms

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Georgeyk17

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Georgeyk17
Please tell me that learning all the acronyms for my IR training will get easier.? I settled in on the Kingschool training videos which is going well but I’m a bit overwhelmed with all the acronyms they are throwing at me. Is there somewhere I can print out a cheat sheet to reference back as I’m going through the course? Will it become much easier as I start my flying with my instructor ( should be this week). Advise is always appreciated!
I did go to the FAA.gov site and saw an acronym sheet which was ridiculously large.
 
Nothing to do with your question... are you flying out of Nut Tree or Concord?

[I lived in Benicia for a while]
 
The best ones are the acronyms within acronyms. VOR is one of the best examples.

o_O
 
Georgeyk17 said:
Please tell me that learning all the acronyms for my IR training will get easier.? I settled in on the Kingschool training videos which is going well but I’m a bit overwhelmed with all the acronyms they are throwing at me. Is there somewhere I can print out a cheat sheet to reference back as I’m going through the course? Will it become much easier as I start my flying with my instructor ( should be this week). Advise is always appreciated!
I did go to the FAA.gov site and saw an acronym sheet which was ridiculously large.
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Acronyms usually only become easier after repeated use. Or lots of repeat in studying. I am working on all the M acronyms first (MEA, MOCA, MDA, etc).
 
Georgeyk17 said:
Please tell me that learning all the acronyms for my IR training will get easier.? I settled in on the Kingschool training videos which is going well but I’m a bit overwhelmed with all the acronyms they are throwing at me. Is there somewhere I can print out a cheat sheet to reference back as I’m going through the course? Will it become much easier as I start my flying with my instructor ( should be this week). Advise is always appreciated!
I did go to the FAA.gov site and saw an acronym sheet which was ridiculously large.
Click to expand...
Are you talking out acronyms which are in regular use, like VOR, RAV, GPS? Those will get easier because you will use them

Or are you talking about the huge number of ridiculous mnemonics which supposedly help you learn but actually prevent it?
 
Yes, it gets easier. Mostly what rgbeard said.
 
It’s get easier we you start understanding what the mean vs memorizing them. It takes a bit. There is a lot of info to go over.
 
midlifeflyer said:
Are you talking out acronyms which are in regular use, like VOR, RAV, GPS? Those will get easier because you will use them

Or are you talking about the huge number of ridiculous mnemonics which supposedly help you learn but actually prevent it?
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Same question as Mark. If it's acronyms like "ILS", well you just have to know what that system is. If it's all these weird made-up acronyms, well... let's just say I only teach a very few memory joggers and ignore the rest.

I generally like Bold Method's stuff - but this? Unless it's a satire, it's ridiculous (most important acronyms?):
https://www.boldmethod.com/blog/lists/2017/05/8-acronyms-for-every-instrument-pilot/

N-DRUMS?
ICE FLAGGS?

WTF?

And the ones in the comments are just as bad. Understand the concepts. Understand how things work. Understand why you're doing things. But trying to remember what PM CADAVER means? Spend your brain cells elsewhere.
 
War story. 20+ years ago I was in charge of putting together a two screen Power Point briefing for the commander of US Forces Korea, a 4 star Army general. My boss told me to go through the briefing and make a glossary of every acronym used, every abbreviation and every weapon/aircraft referenced. The briefing was over 4 hours long and had information from all the combat components so there were acronyms and jargon from every service on every slide. My boss stopped me after I reached 20 typed pages and I wasn't even close to being done. I really had sympathy for my ROKAF counterpart who had to translate all our acronyms into Hangul for his general. You've never experienced acronym hell unless you've been in the military.
 
Witmo said:
You've never experienced acronym hell unless you've been in the military.
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Well we had the DICNAVAB for that.

The Dictionary of Naval Abbreviations. :D Some days I thought my job was to engage in the full scale production of abbreviations.
 
They will get easier as you use them and hear them more often. As the others have said, if you learn the concepts, the acronyms will come. Just know where to look up the others.
 
midlifeflyer said:
Or are you talking about the huge number of ridiculous mnemonics which supposedly help you learn but actually prevent it?
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my thoughts exactly....those things just don't resonate with me and I don't even try....
 
I probably shouldn’t, but I will anyway.

Most of these “acronyms “ aren’t actually acronyms :). Ex: VOR, GPS, MEA, MDA - not acronyms. VORTAC, MOCA - acronyms.

They do get easier with use and understanding.

Time to run and hide now.
 
AggieMike88 said:
REEPIR
COCOFATS
DR DR CPR
PIM

oh my aching FOI head....
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My favorite FOI one, RUAC for the levels of learning.
Use acronyms to learn everything by Rote, so that you never have to Understand anything, let alone Apply it or Correlate it to any other experiences you ever had or will have.
 
Brad W said:
my thoughts exactly....those things just don't resonate with me and I don't even try....
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Truth - The DPE for both my private and instrument (same guy) asked how can I not know these acronyms. I pointed out I was able to answer the question so why bother memorizing an aid to answer the question.
 
genna said:
I probably shouldn’t, but I will anyway.

Most of these “acronyms “ aren’t actually acronyms :). Ex: VOR, GPS, MEA, MDA - not acronyms. VORTAC, MOCA - acronyms.

They do get easier with use and understanding.

Time to run and hide now.
Click to expand...

Huh? I'm not following your logic. For example, how is MOCA an acronym but GPS not? Also seems to me folks are confusing mnemonics with acronyms.
 
Pugs said:
Truth - The DPE for both my private and instrument (same guy) asked how can I not know these acronyms. I pointed out I was able to answer the question so why bother memorizing an aid to answer the question.
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True story. I've told it before.

My first student to take a checkride. When he went over the logbooks the morning of the checkride, he caught something that no one else had for months - an annual that had not been signed off by an IA. Apparently, with all the 100 hours before and after, it was missed and no one caught on.

My student showed it to me, switched airplanes for the ride, and told the DPE what had happened.

Great, right? Student applicant reads the logs better than anyone else and understands what it means. Best indication of airworthiness knowledge in a private oral ever!

Yes he passed with flying colors. But the DPE's comment to me afterward? "I couldn't believe he didn't know TOMATO FLAMES."

That DPE is in prison now.
 
tsts4 said:
Huh? I'm not following your logic. For example, how is MOCA an acronym but GPS not? Also seems to me folks are confusing mnemonics with acronyms.
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Level 5 grammar police. An acronym is supposed to be pronounceable. MOCA can be said as a word, GPS is spoken as a series of letters. It's an "Initialism", not an acronym. Running to hide now too.
 
Hang 4 said:
Level 5 grammar police. An acronym is supposed to be pronounceable. MOCA can be said as a word, GPS is spoken as a series of letters. It's an "Initialism", not an acronym. Running to hide now too.
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Ah so-- I see now, thanks. GPS, as an example, is an abbreviation and not an acronym. Learned something today. I can now go have a beer!
 
Hang 4 said:
Level 5 grammar police. An acronym is supposed to be pronounceable. MOCA can be said as a word, GPS is spoken as a series of letters. It's an "Initialism", not an acronym. Running to hide now too.
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VOR "can" be said as a word, mostly because of the cenrtal vowel. It is not the general use but I've actually heard people say it.

So, in the grammar police (actually, linguistics police, if we want to continue to be technical) point of view it's a hybrid since it "can" be pronounced as a word.

Funny... years ago a lawyer who handled cases under FELA, the Federal Employers Liability Act, asked me to cover a court conference for him. I referred to it in our phone conversion as "fela." He corected me immediately. "It's F-E-L-A, not fela. If you say fela they will know immediately you don't practice in that field."
 
tsts4 said:
Ah so-- I see now, thanks. GPS, as an example, is an abbreviation and not an acronym. Learned something today. I can now go have a beer!
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No, it's, as he said, an initialism. Both acronyms and initialisms are subcategories of abbreviations. If you look at the definition of either, it starts with, "an abbreviation which..."
 
tsts4 said:
Huh? I'm not following your logic. For example, how is MOCA an acronym but GPS not? Also seems to me folks are confusing mnemonics with acronyms.
Click to expand...

It was all answered by linguistics police smarter than me above, but I’d add that most mnemonics would probably be acronyms by their nature
 
midlifeflyer said:
No, it's, as he said, an initialism. Both acronyms and initialisms are subcategories of abbreviations. If you look at the definition of either, it starts with, "an abbreviation which..."
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I got it that both are abbreviations. The point I was trying to make, apparently unsuccessfully, was that I now understood how GPS, and "initialisms" like it, was not an acronym. My bad if by saying only abbreviation and not initialism that I confused you.
 
Well if it was easy everyone would do it. It’s a lot of work to earn your IFR ticket. Like others have said the acronyms will become easier as you spend more time flying and understanding the system. Rote memorization is never good


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
tsts4 said:
I got it that both are abbreviations. The point I was trying to make, apparently unsuccessfully, was that I now understood how GPS, and "initialisms" like it, was not an acronym. My bad if by saying only abbreviation and not initialism that I confused you.
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I wasn't confused, but if we are going to be that technical, we might as well be that technical :D
 
MOCAs and OROCAs sound like something you'd get from your barista. But, you get used to it pretty quick.
AggieMike88 said:
PM CADAVER.... let sleeping bodies lie?
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I ran across this one recently. And, I think I like it. I had a couple of occasions where that pneumonic would have come in handy!

PM CADAVER as a pre approach reminder
P - procedure loaded in equipment
M - missed approach briefed
C - course for final approach loaded in HSI (if being vectored)
A - ATIS/AWOS
D - duplicate with backup instruments if possible
A - Altimeter setting entered or MDA put on bug
V - verify ILS/VOR/LPV signal
E - Enter tower or common traffic frequency
R - Review the plate
 
midlifeflyer said:
VOR "can" be said as a word, mostly because of the cenrtal vowel. It is not the general use but I've actually heard people say it.
Click to expand...

My bet is those people were from rural Virginia and actually thought they were saying V.O.R.

;)
 
wilkersk said:
MOCAs and OROCAs sound like something you'd get from your barista. But, you get used to it pretty quick.


I ran across this one recently. And, I think I like it. I had a couple of occasions where that pneumonic would have come in handy!

PM CADAVER as a pre approach reminder
P - procedure loaded in equipment
M - missed approach briefed
C - course for final approach loaded in HSI (if being vectored)
A - ATIS/AWOS
D - duplicate with backup instruments if possible
A - Altimeter setting entered or MDA put on bug
V - verify ILS/VOR/LPV signal
E - Enter tower or common traffic frequency
R - Review the plate
Click to expand...

See, this is the type of acronym I REALLY don't understand the need for, or to expend brain cells on. If you use the approach chart to brief the approach, starting from the top and working your way to the bottom, you will have covered all of those items without having to remember what the acronym stands for. An approach chart is, after all, essentially its own checklist if you treat it as such.
 
wilkersk said:
I ran across this one recently. And, I think I like it. I had a couple of occasions where that pneumonic would have come in handy!

PM CADAVER as a pre approach reminder
P - procedure loaded in equipment
M - missed approach briefed
C - course for final approach loaded in HSI (if being vectored)
A - ATIS/AWOS
D - duplicate with backup instruments if possible
A - Altimeter setting entered or MDA put on bug
V - verify ILS/VOR/LPV signal
E - Enter tower or common traffic frequency
R - Review the plate
Click to expand...

Cripes. I don't even like the flow let alone the idea of trying to memorize that in hopes that it gets me through an approach. Just think through what you need to do.

Get ATIS/AWOS and set altimeter
Bring up approach plate on Foreflight or whatever you use.
Enter tower or common traffic frequency (as the flop frequency from approach)
Procedure loaded in equipment (and activate!)
Verify ILS/VOR/LPV signal and you have the correct selection for steering
Course for final approach loaded in HSI (if being vectored)
Missed approach briefed
 
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