Letters before aircraft code

General Discussion Pilot Talk
1

Hello,
a simple question, i can’t remember the meaning of the letters before the aircraft code on the vatsim-radar map.
example:
H/B763/L > what does the H stand for?
J/A388/L > what does the J stand for?

thanks

2

That’s the wake turbulence category: Wake turbulence category - Wikipedia

H - Heavy
J - Super Heavy

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3

thank you, i’d completely forgotten. so what does the L after mean? H/B763/L

4

Ok, now it’s getting a bit complicated.

It seems that the VATSIM Radar is still showing the aircraft type and associated pre- und suffixes in the old FAA format - which is not valid any longer in VATSIM - our flightplans have to be filed in ICAO format.

In the FAA format, the wake turbulence category is a prefix, in your example “H” stands for “Heavy”, because a Boeing 767-300 falls into the category “heavy”.

The suffix, the letter after the aircraft type code, in your example “L”, describes the equipment. In the FAA world the letter “L” stands for “RVSM capable + GNSS capable + Transponder with Mode C”. You can see these definitions in this FAA PDF document, page 77.

In an ICAO ATC flightplan the correct aircraft type format is for example A20N/M: A320Neo with wake turbulence category Medium.

You can check ICAO equipment codes here: Equipment codes - Wikipedia
They have to be filled into separate boxes.

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5

thanks, now I understand everything

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6

Thanks for being there Andreas @810809

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