why do pilots say roger?

Answer 1

it might be part of the alphabet they use like alph beta charlie etc. so Rodger might be for r as in respond or received. because its sometimes hard to hear what they say over the engine noises and battle if they are in the military the noise of war so they say words instead of the letters.

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

Roger is part of standard phraseology for aircraft radio communications. It means "I have received your transmission and understand." It does not mean "yes" or even that you will comply with whatever was stated in the transmission you are responding to. The reason for use of contractions such as Roger, Wilco, Over, Out, etc. is to save time and limit frequency congestion, especially in busy airspace. It simply takes less time and, especially, available frequency usage, to use those one-word contractions (which, BTW, are officially sanctioned - see the FAA Airman's Information Manual or the FAA 6110.65 - the Air Traffic Control operations manual) to promote clear understanding and maximize utility of radio frequencies. Other contractions include "Wilco" for Will Comply, "Over," meaning "my transmission is ended, and I expect a reply," and "Out," which means "my transmission is completed, and I do not expect a reply." Also, every transmission, whether by a pilot or controller should, technically, be ended with either Over or Out.

Answer 4

I think Roger was the first pilot with a radio. His brother Pete tried to track attention by calling his name. All the other aviators were thinking that this was necessary to operate a radio. This is only and true story.

Answer 5

Roger means Affirmative (Yes). Aviation radio talk seems to shy away from 1 syllable words. My guess is this is because it is sometimes hard to hear communications across the radio due to background noise etc. You may recall in old movies the phrase Roger Wilco. Wilco stands for Will Comply.

Answer 6

not intended to insult you or anything, but i have seen this question numerous times on Yahoo Answers, the answer is that "Roger" is a term used by pilots to acknowledge that they have recieved the last instruction given to them.

Answer 7

It's phonetic for R meaning received - the history is interesting and this link gives an earlier phonetic alphabet and also explains Wilcox too! Good question, I had forgotten that phonetic alphabet - but roger and out is still in use today - weird.

Answer 8

I never have and i think this question has been asked about 20 times in the last week :)

Answer 9

cus they are bored to find another word

Answer 10

We don't