In the infamous “Pearl Harbor” movie one of the characters, while being chased by Zeros, claims to have “Five on his six!”. So I wondered if the term “Check Six” was actual fighter pilot parlance used in World War two or was this just a case of pandering to modern audiences?
By: italian harvard - 3rd May 2006 at 21:23
Hello Jules!
Glad to see that you still post here! I didnt have the chance to thank you for your email, it was a really interesting reading! 🙂
Alex
By: Jules Horowitz - 3rd May 2006 at 20:00
My recollection is “six o’clock high,or low” always o’clock. Check your six seems logical, but I would think that it would be more likely to be used by fighters, because the action is quicker.
By: DazDaMan - 3rd May 2006 at 17:47
I learnt about the clock code from watching Memphis Belle! 😀
By: italian harvard - 3rd May 2006 at 16:28
good question, i’ve always been interested in getting to know the “pilot slang”, expecially referred to the various aviation eras. I dont know when they started to use the “clock” position language, but i’m sure the “check yr six” was right after that, it’s just immediate, fast to pronounce and faster to understand!! 😮
Alex
By: Moggy C - 3rd May 2006 at 14:26
Can’t remember ever hearing it in any of the immediate post-war movies. Flying Leathernecks etc.
Suspect that it was anachronistic in Pearl Harbour. They got so little else right I wouldn’t have expected them to get radio parlance even close.
Moggy
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May 3, 2006 at 1:12 pm