In search of Roger
On 27-08-2010, in Just to let you know..., by steve
Looking for Roger...
When I opened my mail this morning, there was an item with the greeting “Aloha”… As a big fan of the islands and a subscriber to Aloha Joe’s newsletter, I do occasionally get mail from Hawai’i but reading this email touched my heart like no other has in a long time.
The sender is the co-founder of Wings Over Hawaii, a non-profit organization based in Honolulu, with the mission of promoting aviation education in their schools, grades 5-12. This is a wonderful mission by any measure but there is more.
Marissa, the sender of the email, is planning to launch a web site and blog dedicated to finding Roger. So who is Roger?
Well, if you are a pilot or an air traffic controller, you will have invoked his name thousands of times to acknowledge a transmission on the radio. But Marissa believes that there is another side to Roger which has never been described in the ICAO books but which is nevertheless equally real to those who love aviation.
Roger is the spirit of the sky and the essence of flight. Pilots touched by Roger have that special twinkle in their eyes and their hearts on their wings. We all encounter Roger somewhere, some time.
But how did the name Roger assume the meaning: correct receipt of the transmission is acknowledged?
The origins of Roger are quite pedestrian. It all goes back to the days of Morse-code, where the letter R (dot-dash-dot) was used to acknowledge receipt of a transmission. So back then, it was an R for “receipt” and had no connection to a name as such.
When voice radio transmissions were introduced, all the letters were given designators so that even in poor reception conditions it remained possible to convey words (in the form of the letters of the word being spelled out as their designators). Most of the letters had names allocated to them but there were a few exceptions like Uncle for U for example. Anyway, R got the name Roger allocated to it and this is how the thing started.
In the early days of radio telephony, the letter R was still used as the indicator of receipt and of course its spoken form “roger” assumed a meaning all its own. Saying roger became equal to acknowledging a transmission.
When ICAO introduced its standard spelling alphabet, R got another name, Romeo and Roger as a word was retained as the standard expression of acknowledgement. Not very exciting I am afraid…
If anyone, she will find him!
But who says there is nothing more to this mystical name Roger? If you live under the watchful eyes of Pele, the Volcano Goddess, and feel part of the aviation “ohana” (extended family), you may be able to discover what Roger is really about. Marissa is about to set out on this adventure and we wish her the very best!
Stay tuned as Roger-Wilco will be reporting on her discoveries.
You can also check out the website dedicated to finding “Roger” here.
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You are welcome to re-use the article. Please do make sure that yuo mention Marissa also as the idea of looking for Roger came from her!
I’m inspired by your story. After all these years in the ATC profession, now I’m learning the origin of ROGER. I have to promulgate this story.