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Table of Contents
This document should explain the fields as listed on the VATSIM Flight Plan form using guidance located in the FAA AIM,FAA AIP,FAA FPL Quick Reference Guide, and |FAA ERAM FPL Interface Guide. The information derived has been significantly reduced for the purposes of the VA and therefore cannot be reliably used for real world use or flight planning.
Callsign
No more than 7 characters, including the ICAO designator for the aircraft operating agency (GGA/AWI), which is followed by the flight identification. (GGA436 or AWI411A).
Flight Rules
I for IFR. 1)
Type of Flight (8b)
Not Applicable for the network (G for GA, S for Scheduled Air Service, N for Charter, X for other)
Aircraft Type
ICAO Aircraft Type
Wake Category
Wake Turbulence Category
Equipment
Hartlantair typically files using the ICAO format. ERAM will automatically select an FAA equipment suffix depending on the equipment codes filed. The equipment that the Hartlantair system will file for, by default, is: SDE3FGHIRWY
The codes stand for:
| A | GBAS Landing System |
| B | LPV (APV w/ SBAS |
| C | LORAN C |
| D | DME |
| E1 | FMC WPR ACARS |
| E2 | D-FIS ACARS |
| E3 | PDC ACARS |
| F | ADF |
| G | GNSS 2) |
| H | HF RTF |
| I | Inertial Navigation |
| J1 | CPDLC ATN VDL Mode 2 3) |
| J2 | CPDLC FANS 1/A HFDL |
| J3 | CPDLC FANS 1/A VDL Mode A |
| J4 | CPDLC FANS 1/A Mode 2 |
| J5 | CPDLC FANS 1/A SATCOM (INMARSAT) |
| J6 | Reserved |
| J7 | CPDLC FANS 1/A SATCOM (Iridium) |
| K | MLS |
| L | ILS |
| M1 | ATC SATVOICE (INMARSAT) |
| M2 | Reserved |
| M3 | ATC RTF (Iridium) |
| O | VOR |
| P1 | CPDLC RCP 400 4) |
| P2 | CPDLC RCP 240 5) |
| P3 | SATVOICE RCP 400 6) |
| P4-9 | Reserved for RCP |
| R | PBN Approved 7)) |
| T | TACAN |
| U | UHF RTF |
| V | VHF RTF |
| W | RVSM Approved |
| X | MNPS Approved /North Atlantic (NAT) High Level Airspace (HLA) approved |
| Y | VHF with 8.33 kHz Spacing |
| Z | Other equipment carried/other capabilities 8) |
The letter S may be used in lieu of VHF RTF, VOR, AND ILS (putting S is the same as putting “LOV”).
Transponder (ICAO 10b)
LB1. Do not file anything here if you utilized the FAA Equipment in the field prior (/L,/W,/G,/A)
ENTER “N” if no surveillance equipment for the route to be flown is carried, or the equipment is unserviceable,
or
ENTER One or more of the following descriptors, to a maximum of 20 characters, to describe the serviceable surveillance equipment and/or capabilities on board.
Enter no more than ONE of the following:
| SSR Modes A & C (NO MODE S) | |
|---|---|
| A | Mode A (4 digits / 4096 codes) |
| C | Mode A (4 digits / 4096 codes) AND Mode C |
| SSR Mode S Transponders WITH: | |
| E | aircraft identification, pressure-altitude, and extended squitter (ADS-B) capability |
| H | aircraft identification, pressure-altitude, and enhanced surveillance capability |
| I | aircraft identification, but no pressure-altitude capability |
| L | aircraft identification, pressure-altitude, extended squitter (ADS-B), and enhanced surveillance capability |
| P | pressure-altitude, but no aircraft identification capability |
| S | both pressure-altitude and aircraft identification capability |
| X | neither aircraft identification nor pressure-altitude |
WITH, BUT NOT MORE THAN ONE OF THE FOLLOWING:
| ADS-B | |
|---|---|
| B1 | ADS-B with dedicated 1090 MHz ADS-B “out” capability |
| B2 | ADS-B with dedicated 1090 MHz ADS-B “out” and “in” capability |
| U1 | ADS-B with “out” capability using UAT |
| U2 | ADS-B with “out” and “in” capability using UAT |
| V1 | ADS-B with “out” capability using VDL Mode 4 |
| V2 | ADS-B with “out” and “in” capability using VDL Mode 4 |
| ADS-C | |
|---|---|
| D1 | ADS-C with FANS 1/A capabilities |
| G1 | ADS-C with ATN capabilities |
List additional surveillance equipment or capabilities in Item 18 following the indicator SUR/.
Departure
Enter the FOUR letter location identifier. The system should allow up to 11 characters, to allow for entry of fixes, intersection, fix/radial/distance, and lat/lon. If the system rejects the filing due to system limitations, enter ZZZZ and identify the departure airport in Item 18 (remarks) DEP/. A text description is permissible following DEP/.
Departure Time
Indicate the expected dep. time using 4 digits in UTC/Zulu (HHMM).
Altitude
Enter the initial requested cruise altitude, noting correct altitude for direction of flight rules.
Airspeed
Enter the requested cruising TAS.
Arrival
Enter the FOUR letter location identifier. See the notes under the “Departure” section; except the Item 18 field would be “DEST/” in lieu of “DEP/”.
Alternate
Enter the FOUR letter location identifier. If the airport does not have a 4 letter identifier, enter “ZZZZ” and note the airfield in Item 18 “ALTN/”. Alternate airports are not reported to ATC; this is an OPTIONAL part of the flight plan. While filing is not required, rules for establishing alternate airports must be adhered to.
Enroute Time
Enter the total estimated elapsed time from departure to destination in HHMM format. This should not be BLOCK time; this should be AIR time. .
Fuel Endurance
Enter the fuel endurance time in hours and minutes. This information is not transmitted to Air Traffic Control and is for SAR purposes.
Route
File the route. Include SIDs and STARs. Hartlantair does not typically operate on “through” clearances, but… when filing a “through” clearance, indicate the delay after the location with an “oblique stroke” (/), followed by the letter D, the hour (HH), a plus symbol, and the minutes (MM) : /HH+MM
Example: EMI/D01+40 MAPEL V143 DELRO
Item 18 / "Other" fields
PBN
NAV
DAT
SUR
DOF
FAA ATC systems will not accept flight plans more than 23 hours prior to their proposed departure time. FAA Flight Service and commercial flight planning services generally accept flight plans earlier and forward to ATC at an appropriate time, typically 2 to 4 hours before the flight. DOF is expressed in 6 digits: YYMMDD. DOF/171130
REG
The aircraft registration must be provided here if different from the Item 7 entry. The registration mark must not include any spaces or hyphens. Additionally, the actual aircraft registration must also be included if Item 7 would have contained a leading numeric and was modified to be prefixed with the appropriate alphabetic character for U.S. ATC acceptance.
SEL
Flights with HF radio and Selective Calling capability should include their 4-letter SELCAL code.
Shall is mandatory, Should is not.
CODE
There is no U.S. requirement to file the aircraft Mode S address (in hex, e.g. A519D9) in Item 18.
RVR
RVR contains a 3-digit Runway Visual Range, expressed in meters. This is only included on the VATSIM page because of Eurocontrol shit - if you couldn't tell by the whole “meters” thing. Not forwarded to ATC.
OPR
FAA has no requirements for inclusion of OPR/ in the flight plan. You are welcome to file OPR/HARTLANTAIR, though. Usually only required if not identifiable from the Aircraft ID.
PER
Single Letter Aircraft Approach Category9) (Performance Category).
| Category | Approach Speed in knots |
| A | Less than 91 |
| B | 91 to 120 |
| C | 121 to 140 |
| D | 141 to 165 |
| E | 166 or greater |
RALT
Enroute Alternate(s) - NOT REQUIRED for domestic US flights
TALT
Take-off Alternate - NOT REQUIRED for domestic US flights
ORGN
Flight Plan Origin - NOT REQUIRED for domestic US flights
COM
Other communication capability
EET
Estimated Elapsed Times in HHMM
RMK
Enter that information that is pertinant to the flight… examples include: NO SID NO STAR NO SID/STAR DVRSN CDR CAPABLE
The inclusion of DVRSN indicates that the flight is requesting priority since it previously diverted.
Additionally, according to the feds… Enter only those remarks pertinent to ATC or to the clarification of other flight plan information. Items of a personal nature are not accepted. Do not assume that remarks will be automatically transmitted to every controller. Specific ATC or en route requests should be made directly to the appropriate controller.
Luckily, the AIM is not regulatory in nature :)