Why do pilots say "Roger" after a message?

Answer 1

If you want the long answer...

Roger simply means "I received your transmission." It DOESN'T mean "yes", or even "I understand" necessarily. It just means the words came through and I heard them.

Pilots usually don't say "roger." We're supposed to read back the instruction, or in other words, repeat it back. This ensures that we heard what the controller wanted us to hear. It can get tricky sometimes when you are busy and the radio is chattering non-stop, so this confirmation helps keep bad things from happening.

Pilots should only say "Roger" to confirm that they heard a very long, cumbersome transmission, or one that is somewhat unimportant anyway, and therefore doesn't really require a readback.

I hear pilots saying "roger" when they mean "affirmative" all the time. That's wrong. Roger cannot be an answer to a question. It would only mean that you heard the question. I love it when the controllers rag them for it - "Cessna 123, did you want the ILS approach?" "Roger." "Ok, so do you want the ILS approach or not?"....

Answer 2

From Straight Dope:
Pilots and other military types say “roger” to acknowledge receipt of a message or instructions. “Roger” at one time was the phonetic designation for the letter R, which in turn stood for “received.” Why not just say "received"? From a safety perspective, it makes sense to use standardized language, particularly when dealing with international operations. An American pilot may not understand German, but they both understand aviation terminology. The International Civil Aviation Organization oversees this standardization and disseminates it accordingly.
The use of “roger” isn't all that old. In the military's phonetic alphabet, "roger" didn't become the designation for R until 1927. (Previously the designation had been "rush.") The first citation given by the Oxford English Dictionary for “roger” in the sense of "received" dates from 1941, coinciding with U.S. entry into WWII. The term made the big time in 1943, when the Army Signal Corps incorporated it into one of its procedural manuals.
In 1957 "roger" was replaced by "romeo," the current designation, but by then "roger" = "received" was so entrenched that the brass knew better than to try and change it.
As for the use of “roger, roger” in Phantom Menace, the consensus seems to be that it's a sly (OK, not that sly) reference to Airplane (1980). The co-pilot in the latter movie, played by Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, was named Roger Murdock. This was the pretext for such lines as:
Captain Oveur (Peter Graves): Roger, Roger. What's our vector, Victor?
Variations on this theme include Oveur/over and clearance/Clarence. Trust me, it's pretty funny in the movie.

Answer 3

As it has already been said, Roger is an acknowledgment of a transmission. It is used when there is not a need for a specific reply such as "Turn right to a heading of 0-5-0, Northwest 293". Sometimes you might here it appended to a reply like that because, well, it justs sounds cool to some folks.

Answer 4

Roger also means "copy", "heard you" on the radio in the military and civilian aviation. This usage comes from the letter "R" of "received" which in the old phonetic alphabet was called "roger" (now called Romeo) in radio alphabets (such as the Joint Army/Navy Phonetic Alphabet.

"Roger WIlco" means-" Received. Will comply."

Answer 5

ROGER -- "in the meaning of 'Yes, O.K., I understand you -- is voice code for the letter R. It is part of the 'Able, Baker, Charlie' code known and used by all radiophone operators in the services in the 40's - 50's. From the earliest days of wireless communication, the Morse code letter R (dit-dah-dit) has been used to indicate 'O.K. -- understood.' So 'Roger' was the logical voice-phone equivalent.

Answer 6

It means they understand , Roger?

Answer 7

Its a radio code used to confirm information.

Answer 8

Rent the movie "Airplane" It will answer this and many other questions.

Answer 9

THEY DON'T. It's highly discouraged.