Flight Training - November/December 2021 - 51

base flight plan as well. So why doesn't
the FAA provide better guidance? The
Aeronautical Information Manual has
extensive information on the historical
FAA flight plan form, including the full
list of 18 equipment suffix codes broken
down in table 5-1-3, information on how
to fill out each box, and more. Yet, at this
point, the agency says only the military is
allowed to use it.
That leaves the rest of us with
having to tackle the ICAO flight plan.
You might as well tear out the domestic
flight plan pages from your AIM, and
ignore the section that says you can file
the FAA form if you stay entirely within
domestic airspace. It's all ICAO now,
and unfortunately, the manual's guidance
on this international flight plan
form is sparse at best.
GPS is a legal DME replacement. If your
GPS is WAAS certified with LPV capability,
you could add /B to that list as well.
One of the great things about equipment
suffix codes is that they're an
offering of your capabilities, meaning
the airplane's and yours as the pilot.
Don't feel like doing DME arcs, LPV
approaches, or an ILS? You can always
downgrade the airplane's equipment list
and file what you're comfortable with.
Finally, unlike the domestic form,
where the transponder was included in
the suffix code, the ICAO form has a separate
entry for surveillance equipment.
There are 18 different choices, including
no transponder, transponder with Mode
C, and various ADS-B options. As most
aircraft have equipped with ADS-B,
you'll likely be looking at one of these
ONE OF THE GREAT THINGS ABOUT EQUIPMENT SUFFIX
CODES IS THAT THEY'RE AN OFFERING OF YOUR
CAPABILITIES, MEANING THE AIRPLANE'S AND YOURS
AS THE PILOT.
AIM section 5-1-9 goes into basic
detail about the ICAO flight plan and
includes a table of the equipment suffix
codes. Many have changed from the FAA's
previous codes. For example, /U indicates
UHF radio equipment on board, which
we're guessing you don't have. Now the
historical radio and VOR navigation is /S,
for standard. With GPS you'll be /G, or is
it /B if you have LPV capability? There's
also /O for VOR, so what if you have one
of those and a GPS? As you can see, things
get quickly confusing.
In one respect, the fields are easier
than the FAA's domestic options. There,
you generally selected the highest level
of the airplane's capability. Filing /G for
GPS also assumed VOR, for example.
With the ICAO flight plan you file each
piece of equipment individually. An airplane
with a VOR, ILS, and GPS would
be /S, G, for example, where /S includes
the radio and navigation and /G the GPS.
You could also file /D for DME because
options. You'll need to know whether the
airplane has a UAT or 1090 transmitter,
and if you can receive traffic and weather
via ADS-B In.
Because getting the equipment codes
right can take a bit of trial and error,
it's always a good idea to spend time
long before you're ready to plan a flight
just going through and saving the codes
to your iPad app or the flight service
website. Most apps have programmed
in alerts to help ensure you can't file
incorrectly. If you rent airplanes, work
with the school or club to get the list of
codes for each airplane you fly, and if
you're installing new equipment in your
airplane, talk to the avionics shop or the
manufacturer.
Doing this well in advance of any
scheduled flight will usually negate the
urge to scream obscenities and throw
your iPad. FT
ian.twombly@aopa.org
FLIGHT TRAINING NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021
51
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