Military and Phraseology
"On to Hold" and "Clearance on request" (when talking to C/D) seem to be unique to the Air Force. I remember that the emphasis placed on us in UPT was get the point across on the radio with a short and succinct transmission. The key to doing that was to know and use proper phraseology. Adding fluff like "with you" and "checking in" would garner stern disaproval from most IP's.
In regards to "N123AC with a request" tying up the frequency, the word "request" often works well in the following situation:
You: "123AC, request direct ABQ"
ATC: "123AC, make that request with ABQ center, 125.82, good day"
You: "125.82, 123AC"
You: "Center, 123AC, level one-two thousand, request"
ABQ center: "123AC, go ahead with request (or standby)"
Now of course, if the new freq is not busy at all, the request for direct to the specific fix can be placed in the 4th transmission above, but an initial call-up that is as brief as possible seems to work the best.
Another common faux-pas that seems to crop up quite often is the use of the word "point" when discussing altitude on the radio. Taking the time to say "Cessna 123AC climbing one-thousand fife hundred to maintain four-thousand" on initial call up to departure is the correct method as opposed to "123 Aey Sea wit ya thru one point five for four"
It all boils down to the 'ol law of primacy with one's initial instructor regarding radio useage and the willingness for one to know the proper way of doing things and the discipline to professionally utilize the radio as tool of your craft.
On a related note, am I the only one that cringes a little when folks commonly misuse homynms (sp?) such as their, there and they're as well as your and you're? It makes me wonder why some airlines don't just have us write a short 5 paragraph paper on some aviation related topic as part of the interview process. I imagine they could garner a lot about the quality of one's education from that. Just my .02.
-Stepclimb
