I recently had the opportunity to fly a PAR approach to Büchel Airbase in Germany. It was a ton of fun and I'll definitely try it again when I get the chance. However, as we were getting set up for the approach I received the following call
"<callsign> request heading"
It caught me off guard, and it took a while but I eventually interpreted it as "say heading" and gave him my current heading. He didn't complain, but I'm still not sure if that's what he wanted.
A bit later I got a similar call
"<callsign> request QNE"
However, I was unfamiliar with that Q-code (as a private pilot in europe you pretty much need to know QNH, QFE, QDM and QTE) and only later found out it means "pressure altitude". Q-codes suck. Anyway I said "Say again" and he came back and asked how many were on board (which I incorrectly assumed at that point was what QNE meant).
Anyway, I've never heard a controller say "request" before, is it just army version of "say"? The guy had an obvious german accent, so it might be a german military thing, or a NATO thing, or just a simple mistake on his side. Anyone know?
Thanks!