Yeah, but I wasn’t going to post that 
There have been numerous cases of Mode S units installed and the tail number not configured. One UK pilot even saw a duplicate of his, when looking at FR24 (he phoned the airport to see if his plane was stolen ).
I am sure that some people who know about this are already doing it.
what_next wrote:
If you enter your fake tail number in your flight plan as REG/N12345 not even ATC will notice…
They would in the US. Although one can enter a bogus call sign, if it does not match the ICAO ID which is a one to one relationship in the US to N number, they would get tagged as a mismatch. I have heard of pilots receiving a letter from their FSDO for this. One would also have to enter a bogus ICAO ID and if they did so, they could be subject to fraud charges.
In Europe, there is no evidence that ATC has any capability for tail number lookup from the 24-bit Mode S code. They appear to just use the tail number on the flight plan, and you call up for departure with that. So if there is no flight plan, it’s just taken from the radio call, plus a sharp eye in the tower might spot the tail number stuck on your plane is different.
Enroute IFR controllers do however see the tail number next to the blip. Like my FR24 comment below, I don’t know where this comes from. It may even be manually entered – because so many people have misconfigured transponders.
In the Eurocontrol system, the tail number is propagated through the system and all ATC can see it, even those without Mode S. So, at that point, it is probably just attached to the squawk.
I once did a 800nm flight across Europe with 114 instead of 113, due to a flight plan typo. I did wonder why ATC kept referring to 114 but they ignored my corrections… until I reached the UK and then London Control corrected it
I don’t think one could fly routinely with fake numbers because a lot of people in towers are hobby plane spotters. I had an instructor who made lots of fake claims about flying PC12s and TBMs for a living and he was quickly exposed by a local who knew every PC12 tail number
Whether FR24 etc gets the tail number from the 24-bit code, or from the tail number programmed in the TXP, I don’t know. It would be easy to test, with a flight on which the tail number is known to not be programmed.
I reckon that anybody who really knows how it works here isn’t going to be posting it
Peter wrote:
In Europe, there is no evidence that ATC has any capability for tail number lookup from the 24-bit Mode S code
We use mode-S to get the aircraft ID from your XPDR (not the 24 bit address!). Our flight plan processing system uses this information. Usually you receive a 1000 squawk. It happens from times to times.
The 24 bit adress is used by the radar itself and provides selective interrogation. All civil radars in France use mode S.
Here enroute and approach system works the same way.
There is nothing classified about this…
Guillaume wrote:
Usually you receive a 1000 squawk.
I think I can count the occasions where I have received a 1000 squawk on the fingers of one hand since this was introduced 2 or 3 years ago…
Peter wrote:
Each of us has an opinion on this, which is fine. Mine is that I get pi*ssed off when I fly with my £12,000 TCAS system and – below say 2000ft – more than half the planes which whizz by, sometimes very close and mostly not seen until very late, are not showing on it, or are showing Mode A only, yet they are totally obviously transponder-capable types and probably 90% have one fitted.
I get very pissed off when I drive my 90K£ car at 160MPH and I get slowed down by all of these muppets in Citroens and …. :-)
I am joking of course but you get my point, I don’t think any of this is about cost of 1 aircraft and it’s equipment versus another, traffic avoidance by any means should be a good thing for all of us so I like you see no reason to turn off the transponder. Ever…
what_next wrote:
I think I can count the occasions where I have received a 1000 squawk on the fingers of one hand since this was introduced 2 or 3 years ago…
I get the all the time here in France.
There are however times when I get a new squawk – from memory I usually get that from Brest approach. Don’t they have the ability to utilise Mode S?
Aviathor wrote:
Brest approach
Brest approach is provided by Landivisiau during it’s opening hours. It’s a military unit. They use different systems. It might explain why you get a new squawk but I’m not sure.
I get very pissed off when I drive my 90K£ car at 160MPH and I get slowed down by all of these muppets in Citroens and …. :-)
I am joking of course but you get my point, I don’t think any of this is about cost of 1 aircraft and it’s equipment versus another, traffic avoidance by any means should be a good thing for all of us so I like you see no reason to turn off the transponder. Ever…
I don’t think we disagree… the difference is that I took a step to make myself and the other plane’s contents a bit less likely to get killed, while these people are rendering that useless, in the name of some dubious motivation, or maybe just having had training with an FI who should not be flying. OTOH… the FI may be following the school’s policy!
Most new IFR tourers come with TCAS/TAS. I don’t think many people appreciate that. There is a lot of it around, below the bizjet level.
We use mode-S to get the aircraft ID from your XPDR (not the 24 bit address!)
Very interesting – many thanks!
LFHNflightstudent wrote:
… in Citroens …
Hey! I have driven a Citroen (CX) for 13 years, the best car I ever had. Still dream of it occasionally. More hydraulics than a Boeing 737. Much more comfortable ride than any business jet. About as may hours of maintenance per hour of flight/road as a Concorde. And the number plates were plainly visible to everybody, just as the mode S returns!
