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I am trying to understand more of the gestures fighter jet pilot use. I have seen this gesture many times:

Fighter pilot making a hand gesture

Does anyone know what this gesture mean? Are there any good resources about the gestures used by fighter jets? I can't find information about this.

Chris
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Quinten
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  • It is interesting that we have a tag for "radio-communications", but not one for other forms of communications. – chicks Jun 22 '23 at 20:36

1 Answers1

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It is the signal to perform a fuel check. (Actually: "How much fuel have you?")

The hand mimics drinking from a bottle, and when given by a formation flight lead it is intended to prompt the wingman to respond with a number of fingers to indicate fuel remaining in hundreds of pounds.

There are several pages of inter-flight signals in table form found in the NAVAIR 00-80T-113, "AIRCRAFT SIGNALS NATOPS MANUAL". (For US Navy, the USAF likely has a similar document...) A copy can be found here: SIGNALS NATOPS

This particular signal is found on page 1-8 and is reproduced below. (Note - the pinky seen in the photo isn't specified, but is generally used to ensure that the signal isn't confused with a closed fist) enter image description here

Michael Hall
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    Very interesting! Thank you for your clear answer! – Quinten Jun 20 '23 at 17:33
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    I see that the NATOPS literally writes it that way, but how is "How much fuel have you?" not incorrect grammar? Is that some phraseology quirk I'm unaware of? – MrArsGravis Jun 21 '23 at 10:26
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    @MrArsGravis it's not incorrect but sort of old fashioned. see also https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/101667/use-of-have-in-questions-do-you-have-or-have-you – Ivo Jun 21 '23 at 13:34
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    I'd looked it up in a the Oxford Reference Grammar in the meantime and it also concurred that it is still a somewhat accepted form in BrE. If this Ngram is to be believed, it actually seems to have been the dominant form, at least in written English, up to the mid-20th century (I was expecting it to have died out a century earlier): https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=Have+you+a%2CDo+you+have+a&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=en-2012&smoothing=3 – MrArsGravis Jun 21 '23 at 15:59
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    It sounds better if you ask in a Yoda voice... – Michael Hall Jun 21 '23 at 16:03
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    With the pinkie out, it means "Is it time for tea?" Used by British armed forces. – Wayne Conrad Jun 21 '23 at 23:27
  • @WayneConrad Are they required to signal back "yes"? – Azor Ahai -him- Jun 22 '23 at 19:21