14 comments on “Squawk 0214
  1. Fbs says:

    Shouldn’t it be the reverse ? Controller ordering to squawk 241, and Chuck dreaming he’s flying as 214 in his nice corsair ?….

  2. v says:

    so, a translation for non-pilots?

  3. Myself says:

    Why does one need a translation? This is a comic strip by pilots for pilots. What’s the point of looking at a comic out of place? *shrug*

  4. eMko says:

    Because a lot of these strips are a lot of fun even for non-pilots 😉

  5. mike says:

    I’m actually curious to see how many non-aviators read our stuff. I am sure I have mentioned this before but we’re trying to walk this fine line where we try to keep it interesting and amusing for the aviation buff while at the same time not being overly technical so the newcomer or general comic enthusiast can also get something out of it. It doesn’t always work of course and we do tend to lean towards the technical side when in doubt. And all that while trying to stay as clean as possible (dirty jokes are easy, we like the challenge – well, that and we have a ton of restrictions being put on us by the magazines we write for in this new “overly-cautious-and-PC-can’t-offend-anybody” kind of world)
    😉

  6. CDG says:

    I still don’t get it…
    Transponders obviously don’t have an “autocorrect” feature…
    …was he messing with his cellphone (?), GPS, or reset his transponder by accident?

    Nice strip anyway!

  7. mike says:

    Uhm …

    The joke is that Chuck blames “autocorrect” for his incorrect transponder setting and/or his dyslexia (whichever came first) and then gets immediately identified and called out by the ATC controller because transponders do NOT have an autocorrect feature. The other intended joke in there is that autocorrect can be very annoying when it happens at the wrong time and the third intended joke was the re-occurring theme of the controller identifying and Chuck asking “Chuck, is that you?” every time Chuck makes a mistake on the radio.
    😉

  8. markm says:

    Non-pilot here. I was ground crew in the Air Force and have been rather interested in aviation ever since, but I never figured it would be a good idea to go for a license. I’d be more absent-minded than Chuck (although I’m only arrogant in quite different ways), and with bad eyesight to boot. So I’m faster at catching the references than most non-pilots, and if not, there’s Wikipedia and Google.

  9. CDG says:

    Haha got it now!
    Yep, the “Chuck, is that you?” running joke is a strong point of the series!
    BTW I’ve read all of your strips on your site since the 2004 B/W ones, keep up the good work!

  10. flyingfisch says:

    I am not a pilot but hope to be at some point. I do love aviation though, and that is why I follow this. Love this strip, keep it up!

  11. ScrawnyKiwi says:

    Quick question; has Chuck missed the mandatory read-back for the transponder code? Not being picky, just curious, as I’m reading this while procrastinating on my air law revision 🙂

  12. mike says:

    Of course he missed it, Kiwi! You’re not supposed to say only “roger”, transponder code is a mandatory read-back. It’s hard to convey in a comic strip but I bet the controller is already angry at him by the beginning of panel #2 😉
    If you read all of our strips you’ll find that Chuck isn’t 100% up on proper radio procedure among other things…. 🙂

  13. ScrawnyKiwi says:

    Chuck not following proper procedures, that doesn’t sound like him at all….. 🙂

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