International flights and Mode S

[Richard Mole]

John,

I installed mode C getting my Inspector to sign off the installation. On th last radio licence renewal I declared that I now had installed tx with C but when the Aircraft Radio Licence came back it only stated that I had a radio installed and there was nothing mentioned about a tx.

Please could you tell me the name and address of who to write to before the Marcg deadline?

I would like to write enclosing a xerox of the worksheet.
Many thanks

[Rod1]

This is interesting;

Schedule 5 Scale E2 – Mode S Secondary Surveillance Radar Equipment
1) The Civil Aviation Authority in exercise of its powers under Article 153 of the Air
Navigation Order 2005 ("the Order") hereby exempts any aircraft together with the
operator and commander thereof from the requirement at Article 20(2) and Schedule 5
to the Order to carry the Mode S Elementary Secondary Surveillance Radar equipment
specified at Scale E2 of Schedule 5.
2) This exemption shall only apply if:
a) the aircraft is equipped with Secondary Surveillance Radar equipment, installed on
or before 31 March 2008, which includes pressure altitude reporting capable of
operating in Mode A and Mode C and capable of being operated in accordance
with such instructions as may be given to the aircraft by the air traffic control unit;
b) the aircraft is not flying under Instrument Flight Rules within airspace notified for
the purposes of Sub-paragraphs 4(a) and 4(b) of Schedule 5; and
c) written notice of the aircraft registration and aircraft serial number has been given
to the CAA.
3) This exemption shall come into force on 31 March 2008 and, unless previously revoked,
remain in force until 31 March 2012 both dates inclusive.

Rod1

[Rod1]

“but this just adds to confusion”

It is from the CAA, what did you expect, a certificate from the plane English society for clarity!

I think all it tells us that we did not already know, is that if we have an aircraft with a transponder then we have to register to get the exemption. It may also tell us that mode A will be banned (another good reason to bolt on an encoder ASAP). We know that the CAA are exempting non transponder aircraft, so I assume this will be handled separately.

All the above is a layman’s guess, so anybody with a degree in CAA ease is welcome to heeeeelp.

Rod1

[steveneale]

Phase II proposals are now on the CAA site:

http://www.caa.co.uk/default.aspx?catid ... ageid=9307

[edited to remove waffle after clarification by Mach2 below]

[John Brady]

I have been working with the CAA on exemptions for the last few weeks. The Mode S consultation has just been issued and I will draft an article for the Mag plus stuff for the website.

Turning to the previous posts, I think you will find that the schedule relating to transponders applies to the London TMA above FL100 only.

There is a clear exemption to allow anyone to keep using Mode A/C anywhere up to 31 March 2012, and after that anywhere outside "Transponder Mandatory Airspace". There is also a paragraph to permit operators to fit Mode S, Mode A/C or nothing at all provided they only fly in the airspace appropriate to their equipment. It is this last paragraph that is the nub of the consultation and I shall be looking to members to comment to the CAA.

Meanwhile the dog need walking

[Roger Partington]

Sorry for being a bit thick but if I wanted to fit an approved transponder to my plane (Filsner) would I need to apply for a mod from the LAA (or can it just be signed off by my inspector) and once fitted, could I choose not to turn on the mode S part and just run it as mode a/c until such time as mode S becomes compulsary?

[Rod1]

According to my info it is a mod, and yes you do not have to switch it on at all, but I would consider that to be a bad idea.

Rod1

[Roger Partington]

Thanks Rod,

I like the idea of mode C - it makes sense and is useful, so I intend to fit one as I have the panel space and power in the Menestrel (unlike the Motor Tutor I have a share in).

Obviously it also makes sense to buy a unit which is capable of mode S in the future but as I can't see any gain in safety from it and even the air traffic controllers that I have spoken to don't like it, I would rather not give the beaurocrats the satisfaction of using mode s unless I have to.

Roger

[John Bowes]

Well I will be forced to fit a mode S transponder, and have to jump thro' all those hoops to get permission to fit it - plus of course the cost.

What if I make my installation "plug and play" and sit the 0.9Kg box on the parcel shelf. Does that make it portable

[John Brady]

John, perhaps I missed something here but there are no hoops to jump through to fit a transponder in a LAA permit aeroplane.

Having found your inspector, you get on and do the work and complete form LAA/MOD 7, which is a pretty simple business compared to the those from the Ministry of Forms, and took me about 5 minutes. No permission is needed from anyone else. Inspector signs for your elegant installation and you then have to do an airtest (unless it is a new build aeroplane) using CAA Airworthiness Test Schedule 2. Easy to do - you just fly around and get ATC to check it works - but the CAA have now removed the Schedule from their website and I hope Engineering will sort that next week so we can access a copy.

You then send the form and test report to the LAA encosing a fee of £zero and they will send all the bumph off to the CAA completely invisible to your good self who can now go off and slip the surly bonds (but with your txpdr turned off until you get your licence back).

Sound pretty hoopless to me.

[Roger Partington]

Reading TL 3.03 and the LAA/MOD 7 forms, it seems to me that the installation can be signed off by an inspector and the form sent in to state that it has been done to a satifactory standard etc. This seems on the surface to be a lot more simple than I first feared. I am also assuming that transponders are covered by these forms as they are mentioned in passing. Hopefully I'm not missing something....?

[Roger Partington]

Mach2 - thanks for that - it looks like we must have posted at the same time !

[John Bowes]

Thanks you guys, always good to receive news like that.

I have to admit that I had not checked TL 3.03, I had made the fatal mistake of assuming