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Flight plan equipment codes

Morning all

So, we have to make some changes to the equipment codes in our flight plans. I received this yesterday from RocketRoute, whom I use a lot and like by the way. It hasn't got me any closer to understanding what I need to enter.

http://www.rocketroute.com/blog/2012/08/2012-flight-plan-changes-equipment-codes/

Does anybody have any insight? I am happy to be a case study :) I have a GNS430W (apparently good for precision GPS approaches, on the one I have done anyway), VOR, ILS, DME, no ADF, Mode S, VHF.

There is a thread here on this.

It is worrying a lot of people but it should not affect you unless you are flying IFR in the Eurocontrol system and you need the full IR for that.

SDFGRY/S in box 10 and PBN/B2 in box 18 ought to cover most people with a GNS box which is 8.33 capable.

If you haven't got an ADF then you have a slight "grey area legality" issue anyway

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

I've been reading that document as well. My feelings are:

  • For VFR flying essentially nothing has changed.
  • For IFR flying with light aircraft, who do not have advanced datalink communications capabilities and such, the practical consequences are relatively minor.

Of course you can try to encode the equipment field properly, but I wonder if there is any practical consequence if you just put SG/S in the equipment field. Is there anything to gain from specifying more detail than that?

(Although without an ADF you might not be entitled to use S, but would have to specify each unit separately.)

I believe that ADF is no longer included in "Standard equipment".

For flying IFR in Europe, you do need to actually use the codes correctly. There is an increasing tendency to validate for Rnav capability. This means you need to include in your equipment.

  1. R - For RNAV capable
  2. G - For GNS as your method of achieving RNAV (unless you are using DME/DME or INS). Note - a KNS80 (DME/VOR) will not achieve BRNAV so is no good for ticking this box
  3. PBN/A1B2 - The A1 says basic rnav and as far as I can tell is not important. The B2 says you have BRNAV capability based on a GNS

You probably also should include F for ADF and D for DME. For anyone with approach approval you should include S1 in the PBN field. Finally, if you are LPV approved add B to the equipment.

CFMU does validate to ensure that the coding is internally consistent (i.e. if you say you are Rnav capable, the flightplan will be rejected without the PBN information.

As an example, my aircraft - Standard kit, ADF, 8.33, DME, GNS, LPV and normal approach approved and BRNAV is

BDFGSRY/S PBN/A1B2S1 NAV/GBAS (this final bit doesn't seem to be necessary today but is how you specify your GPS augmentation is space based i.e. EGNOS, rather than ground based)

EGTF

It's not hard to work out codes for box 10 and box 18 which Eurocontrol will accept, and you just use them for every flight plan from then on.

The real fun will start if Eurocontrol force P RNAV compliance and then start to check these codes against some database of what level PRNAV approval your aircraft actually has.

I believe this is technical possible.

I wrote to them asking them if they plan on doing that. My usually helpful contacts went very quiet, and I suspect the answer is No because there would be too many false positives, due to the large number of non-European aircraft flying into and around Europe.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

I'm finding some inconsistencies in some of the data. For example:

I have a GTX330ES transponder. According to the Jeppesen published ICAO 2012 Change Summary the code for my transponder is E describing it as Mode S with ID, pressure altitude and extended squitter ( ADS-B out) capability which is my understanding for the unit.

According to Rocketroute, E means Mode S, ID, pressure altitude plus ADS-B in and out on 1090 Hz.

Which is correct? I'm sticking with E until I find out otherwise.

Rocketroute also does not seem to let me tick DME with it ticking the V box as well, very odd? I'm not confident they have it right yet.

EGNS/Garey Airstrip, Isle of Man

Which is correct? I'm sticking with E until I find out otherwise.

The transponder and ADS codes are, to some extent, separate.

E means Mode S with extended squitter B1 means ADS-B out B2 means ADS-B in and out

So you have 'B1E'

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