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SESK: Stuff Everyone Should Know · sesk.info/pilot-altitude-5500-phraseology

What is the correct way to say 5,500 feet MSL to ATC?

Five thousand five hundred.

  1. Five point five
  2. Five thousand five hundred ✔
  3. Fifty-five hundred feet MSL

Why: The AIM says altitudes below 18,000 feet are spoken in thousands and hundreds, like 'four thousand five hundred.' Above 18,000 feet they become flight levels.

Huh, didn't know that: Radio numbers have special sounds: three is 'tree,' five is 'fife,' and nine is 'niner.'

The dad joke
Why was six afraid of seven? Because seven eight nine.
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Sources

  1. AIM 4-2 Radio Communications Phraseology and Techniques https://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/publications/atpubs/aim_html/chap4_section_2.html
  2. FAA Private Pilot Airplane sample questions https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/training_testing/testing/test_questions/par_questions.pdf

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