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Click here to view Definitions of Aircraft Options

T
TA - Traffic advisory (TCAS)
TBO - Time between overhaul
TCAS - Traffic Collison Avoidance System. TCAS-I provides warnings (TAs) of other nearby aircraft; TCAS II provides warnings and resolutions advisories (RAs), and coordinates RAs with other TCAS II equipped aircraft via Mode S transponder.
TKE - Track error.
T/Rs - Thrust Reversers
Trend Monitoring - Continuous computerized observation of turbine engine performance. Used to detect early sings of wear.
TSC - Total Time Since CORE
TSN - Time Since New (also TTSN)
TSO - Technical standard order. A performance specification and production compliance criteria applied to avionics and defined by FARs and the RTCA.
TT - Total Time Airframe
TTG, TTS or TTW - Time to go, time to station, time to waypoint.
Turbo prop - Is said of an airplane powered by a type of jet engine, the turbo prop, equipped with a turbine-driven propeller.
Turbulence mode - Flight control system mode in which a "softer" response to gust upsets is programmed.
TX - Transponder

U
Undercarriage strut - A part of an airplane's structure, designed to resist distortion, which supports the landing gear.
Usable Fuel (lbs) = Usable fuel (gallons) x 6.7 lbs/gallon
Useful Load = Maximum Ramp Weight - (minus) Basic Operating Weight
UTC - Universal Coordinated Time.

V
VAC - Volts alternating current.
VDC - Volts direct current.
VFR - Visual Flight Rules. Private Pilots start as VFR certified. This means that, in most cases,they must have about 3 miles of visibility, be 500 feet below clouds, 1000 feet above clouds, and/or 2000 feet next to clouds at a bare minimum. Unless they have an Instrument Rating (and all the associated control along with that...see IFR), they are required to avoid all clouds and weather.
VHF - Very High Frequency radio equipment.
VLF - Very Low Frequency
VNAV - Vertical navigation, or the capability to compute pitch-axis maneuvers and altitude-related points in space.
VOR - VHF Omnidirectional Receiver. One of the more common navigational aids that the FAA has dropped all over the country (and sometimes the world). A VOR sends out a radio signal that is slightly different in each direction (the difference is phase, if you want to get technical). So, an airplane's VOR tool listens to the VOR, and by measuring the difference in the radio, it can tell which direction it is from the VOR. Since your chart will show where the VOR is, and you now know where you are in relation to the VOR, it has helped you figure out where in the local area you might happen to be.

W
WAAS - GNSS wide-area augmentation system.
wet wings - Method for containing fuel in wings without using rubber fuel cells.
wing fence - Term preferred by Airbus and McDonnell-Douglas aircraft manufacturers for the vertical structures at the outside ends of the wings of some of their jets. More at winglet.
winglet - Term preferred by Boeing for the vertical structures at the ends of the wings on their 747-400. Airbus and McDonnell-Douglas aircraft manufacturers use the term ``wing fence.'' The 747-400 winglets only rise from the end of the wing. MD-11 and Airbus wing fences extend both above and below the wing.
WPT - Waypoint.

X
xpond - Transponder
X-band - Frequency range in which most general aviation weather radars operate.
XTK - Cross track; cross track error.

Y

Z

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