GAUW - Green Aviation University of Waterloo: what is a plane’s name?

Your name identifies you as a person and is registered at birth. Each plane also has a unique ‘name’, or set of letters, that is registered on the national register.

So, what should we name the first certified electric plane to come to Canada? Suggestions were offered, but we also had to follow the rules and see what is possible.

The University of Waterloo (UW) is working with our flight partner Waterloo Wellington Flight Centre (WWFC) to register Canada’s first Pipistrel Velis Electro, the world’s first type certified electric plane (first certified by EASA in 2020).

The first step in the naming process is to check what names are available. In Canada, the Civil Aircraft Register is maintained by Transport Canada and accessed online. The name, or combination of letters, are officially called Marks so that the plane is easily identified by large letters placed on its side. For planes registered in Canada, the first letter is C. Then a combination of four letters typically starting with F or G.

Since the plane is owned by the University of Waterloo we thought that UW should be the last two letters. A search of the Registry for ‘available marks’ found eight sets of four letters that had UW at the end. This simplified the selection greatly. Of the eight options, GAUW seemed the best as we could translate it unofficially as ‘Green Aviation University of Waterloo.'

Of course, Aviation students will read it using the ICAO Phonetic Alphabet, formally the International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet created by the International Civil Aviation Organization. This alphabet uses a special word for each letter so that is phonetically unique. This avoids the problem of letters sounding too similar, like B and D or M and N, when pronounced on less than perfect radios. The standard ICAO phonetics for GAUW are Golf Alpha Uniform Whiskey.

Our new Pipistrel Velis Electro has a name reserved for its official registration: GAUW. It may look like Golf Alpha Uniform Whiskey to some, but to others it represents the start of Green Aviation at the University of Waterloo.