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My Membership will be unavailable from 4am to 2pm on Thursday 16 July. Thank you for your patience 

My Membership will be unavailable from 4am to 2pm on Thursday 16 July. Thank you for your patience 

My Membership will be unavailable from 4am to 2pm on Thursday 16 July

Chase the ace!

Practise your phonetic alphabet as you try to be the best pilot in this fun, racing game!

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You’ll need

  • Chalk
  • Masking tape
Phonetic alphabet
PDF – 126.2KB
Download Phonetic alphabet
Chase the ace call signs
PDF – 542.3KB
Download Chase the ace call signs

To watch in full screen, double click the video

Before you begin

  • Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. There’s also more guidance to help you carry out your risk assessment including examples.
  • Make sure all young people and adults involved in the activity know how to take part safely.
  • Make sure you’ll have enough adult helpers. You may need some parents and carers to help.   

The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) phonetic alphabet is a system where each letter of the English alphabet is given a code word. 

UK airports primarily use the ICAO alphabet, which is also known as the NATO phonetic alphabet, for communication between pilots and air traffic control. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standardized the phonetic alphabet in 1956, and it is widely used in aviation for radiotelephony.

Here's the list of code words:

  • A - Alfa
  • B - Bravo
  • C - Charlie
  • D - Delta
  • E - Echo
  • F - Foxtrot
  • G - Golf
  • H - Hotel
  • I  - India
  • J - Juliett
  • K - Kilo
  • L - Lima
  • M - Mike
  • N - November
  • O - Oscar
  • P - Papa
  • Q - Quebec
  • R - Romeo
  • S - Sierra
  • T - Tango
  • U - Uniform
  • V - Victor
  • W - Whiskey
  • X - X-ray
  • Y - Yankee
  • Z - Zulu 

For example, if you want to say the word ‘Scout,’ you would say ‘Sierra, Charlie, Oscar, Uniform, Tango.’

This system helps with clear communication, especially in situations where there might be background noise, or when spelling out words over the phone or radio. It's used in lots of places and industries, such as in aviation and by emergency services like the Fire Brigade, Police or Ambulance service.

Call signs are often a combination of the airline's name (or a shortened version) and a flight number. They’re designed to be easily understandable over the radio, even in noisy environments. This helps air traffic controllers quickly identify which aircraft is communicating. 

Call signs and the phonetic alphabet help keep flying safe and organised, especially when during busy periods when multiple aircraft are operating in the same airspace. 

To make sure everyone hears the letters clearly, call signs are given using the phonetic alphabet. 

British Airways has the call sign SPEEDBIRD. For example, a British Airways flight might be identified as ‘Speedbird’ followed by the flight number, such as ‘Speedbird 123’. 

Using the phonetic alphabet, that would be said like this:
‘Sierra Papa Echo Echo Delta Bravo India Romeo Delta 1-2-3’

This helps people understand the letters clearly, especially if they sound alike (such as B and D) or if the radio is noisy. 

Here’s a list with the airline name first in bold, followed by the call sign:

  • Blue Islands (commercial): BLUE ISLANDS

  • Qantas Airways (commercial): QANTAS

  • US Airways (commercial): CACTUS

  • Trans States Airlines (commercial): WATERSKI

  • Middle East Airlines (commercial): CEDAR JET

  • China Airlines (commercial): DYNASTY

  • UK Royal/VIP Helicopter Flights: RAINBOW

  • Flybe (commercial): FLYBE

  • Ryanair (commercial): RYANAIR

  • Loganair (commercial): LOGAN

  • Aer Lingus (commercial): SHAMROCK

  • British Antarctic Survey: PENGUIN

  • National Air Traffic Services Ltd: SHERLOCK

  • British Airways (commercial): SPEEDBIRD

  • Maritime and Coastguard Agency: BRITISH RESCUE

  • South African Airways (commercial): SPRINGBOK

  • Meteorological Research Flight: METMAN

  • Alaska Airlines (commercial): ALASKA

  • Hong Kong Dragon Airlines (Dragonair): DRAGON

  

Running this activity 

Learn the phonetic alphabet

  1. Ask people to think of two different letters that sound the same. Sometimes it might be hard to tell them apart. When might this be a problem?
  2. Ask if anyone’s heard of the phonetic alphabet and see if anyone knows any of the code words for any of the letters.
  3. The phonetic alphabet ensures that letters are clearly understood, even with potential background noise or accents.
  4. Give out copies of the phonetic alphabet. 
  5. Read through the alphabet together, so everyone knows how to say all of the words. 
  6. Ask everyone to spell their name to a friend using the phonetic alphabet.
  7. Now, think of who might use the phonetic alphabet in an airport, when they might use it and why. Some examples of its use include identifying aircraft or airports, and communicating flight plans and coordinates.
  8. Explain that airlines have call signs. Call signs are special names used by pilots and air traffic controllers to tell flights apart. They usually have letters and numbers. To make sure everyone hears the letters clearly, they use the phonetic alphabet. 
  9. See if anyone can guess which airlines different call signs belong to. There’s a list on this page.

Play the game

  1. Mark two separate areas in the space. They should be opposite each other. They’ll be the two hangars.
  2. Place a few copies of the phonetic alphabet in each hangar in case any pilots get stuck and grounded. Make sure they’re out of the way so no one slips on them.
  3. Choose one or two people to be the air traffic controllers. Everyone else is a pilot of their own aircraft.  
  4. Each pilot should be allocated a call sign for their aircraft. You can use the list of aircraft call signs on this page to help you. 
  5. The air traffic controllers should stand in the middle of the hangars. 
  6. One air traffic controller should call out a letter from the phonetic alphabet.
  7. Any pilots who have that letter in their call sign name should leave their hangar and try to make it to the other hangar without being caught by the air traffic controllers. 
  8. If an air traffic controller tags a pilot, the pilot becomes an air traffic controller too. 
  9. Keep playing until there is only one pilot left. They’re the ace!

Reflection

This activity helped you develop your communication. When might the phonetic alphabet be useful in everyday situations, as well as for people like pilots (spelling your name over the phone, telling someone your postcode)? Would you understand if someone spelled something using the phonetic alphabet? Was it easy or difficult to concentrate on what the air traffic controllers were saying? Did the air traffic controllers find it easy to remember the options, to choose one that would make people fly, and to say it loudly and clearly?

This activity was also a chance to be active. Was this a fun way to move? Do you like moving in games, or do you prefer activities such as hiking? What techniques did the pilots use to avoid the air traffic controllers (speed, timing, being agile and changing direction)? Do people use the same skills when they play sports? What skills from this game can you use in your favourite way to be active? Why is it important to be active in a way you enjoy?

Safety

All activities must be safely managed. You must complete a thorough risk assessment and take appropriate steps to reduce risk. Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Always get approval for the activity, and have suitable supervision and an InTouch process.

You must run your activities in line with the Safeguarding Code of Conduct for Adults (Yellow Card) and report any concerns to the UK HQ Safeguarding Team.

Active games

The game area should be free of hazards. Explain the rules of the game clearly and have a clear way to communicate that the game must stop when needed. Take a look at our guidance on running active games safely.

  • The controller could call out trick words that aren't from the phonetic alphabet, such as ‘bath’ or ‘beans’. The pilots should ignore these trick words. If a pilot leaves their hanger for one of the trick words, they become an air traffic controller.
  • If the air traffic controllers struggle to remember the alphabet, the person leading the game could call out the letters.
  • If anyone doesn’t want to be caught or tagged (or finds it difficult to join in games with lots of moving), they could be an air traffic controller responsible for announcing the letters from the side of the air field, or a dispatcher responsible for telling some of the planes when they need to fly.
  • If anyone struggles to recognise letters, they could work with a dispatcher – someone who stands in the hangar and tells planes when to fly (if they need to, they could move between hangars between letter announcements).

All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.

Beavers Communicator Activity Badge
Air Activities Stage 2

You could play this game with other codes and signals, such as semaphore or morse code. This would be a great way to practice your knowledge before writing messages to work towards requirement five of the Cub Communicator Activity Badge.