| Acronym |
Definition |
| SAR |
search-and-rescue. |
| Sarsat |
SAR satellite. |
| SAS |
Stability Augmentation System. |
| Satcoms |
Satellite Communications. |
| SB |
Service Bulletin. Advisory notices issued by aircraft, engine and equipment manufacturers alerting owners and engineers to faults or problems requiring preventitive or remedial maintenance or modification. |
| SBAC |
Society of British Aerospace Companies. The UK aerospace manufacturers's trade association. |
| SDAU |
Safety Data Analysis Unit of the CAA. |
| Sectional |
(U.S.) VFR navigation chart, equivalent to our 1:500,000 or `half-million'. |
| Semi-circular |
System of cruising altitudes. |
| SELCAL |
Selective Calling. A high-frequency system enabling air traffic control to alert a particular aircraft, by means of flashing light or aural signal in the cockpit, for receipt of a message without the crew having to maintain a listening watch. Used on long-haul over-ocean airline. |
| SFC |
Specific Fuel Consumption of an engine. |
| SID |
Standard Instrument Departure. |
| SIGMET |
Warning of severe weather conditions (active thunderstorms, hail, severe turbulence, icing etc.) issued my Met offices. |
| SL |
Sea level. |
| SMOH |
Since Major Overhaul. Term used in aircraft for sale advertisements where engine hours are quoted. |
| SMR |
Surface Movement Radar. |
| SOB |
Souls On Board, the number of persons on board an aircraft. |
| Socked-In |
A colloquialism referring to an airport closed to air traffic by bad weather, similarly clamped. |
| SOP |
Standard Operating Procedure. |
| SPECI |
Special Civil Aviation Weather Report |
| Specific Range |
measure of an aircraft's fuel efficiency, expressed as nautical miles flown per pound of fuel burned (nm/lb) |
| SPL |
Student Pilot's Licence. No longer issued in the UK. |
| Squawk |
To transmit an assigned code via a transponder. |
| SR |
SUnrise. |
| SRZ |
Special Rules Zone. |
| SRA |
Special Rules Area. |
| SRA |
Surveillance Radar Approach. |
| SRE |
Surveillance Radar Element of a GCA. |
| SS |
Sunset. |
| SSB |
Single Sideband. |
| SSR |
Secondary Surveillance Radar. |
| STAR |
Standard Terminal Arrival Route, for inbound IFR traffic. |
| STC |
Supplemental Type Certificate. U.S. system for post-type certification approval of aircraft modifications. |
| STOL |
Short Take-Off and Landing. |
| STOVL |
Short Take-Off Vertical Landing. |
| STOH |
Since Top Overhaul. |
