Dutch and mode S

[Squeegee Longtail]

Ok, I am sure I should know, but I am confused. Is Mode S absolutely mandatory for all VFR in the Netherlands? I am sure I read recently that VFR aircraft have been told to turn off the S.
Going to NL soon and only have C aboard. Don't want to buy an S set if I don't need to.

[BackPacker]

You read it here on PPRuNe. But you somehow forgot to search for it. It should not be more than two pages back.

[Squeegee Longtail]

...are you refering to the thread about Mode S requirements in France/Germany/Belgium a couple of pages back? If so, Netherlands wasn't covered in that. If not, I'm buggered if I can see it.

[Fitter2]

Mode S is required in most of the Netherlands, except that in the area of Schipol, to avoid confusing ATC, you are required to switch it off.

You couldn't make it up.

[BackPacker]

...are you refering to the thread about Mode S requirements in France/Germany/Belgium a couple of pages back? If so, Netherlands wasn't covered in that. If not, I'm buggered if I can see it.

True, that one did not cover the Netherlands, but it referred to the other thread and also provided a really neat link to a Eurocontrol site which summarizes the mode-S situation for the whole of Europe.

The Netherlands was covered in a thread which started about two days earlier. This one, actually:

http://www.pprune.org/private-flying/375383-flying-germany-s.html

We really should make the whole Mode-S and ELT issue on mainland Europe a sticky.

[Mike Cross]

Of course you could just look it up in the Dutch AIC's (http://www.ais-netherlands.nl/aim/080522-080703/eAIP/html/eAIC/EH-eAIC-08-07-A-en-GB.html) but that would be too easy. Much better to rely on gossip.

You need to look at this one (http://www.ais-netherlands.nl/aim/090521-090702/eAIP/html/eAIC/EH-eAIC-09-01-A-en-GB.html) too.

[renrut]

This is the applicable bit.
A friend has just returned from a trip accross Belgium, Netherland and Germany with S type

2 — USE OF SSR MODE S TRANSPONDER FOR MOTORISED VFR FLIGHTS
WITHIN THE AMSTERDAM FIR
The use of a SSR mode S transponder is mandatory within the Amsterdam FIR for VFR flights with motorised aircraft (including microlight aeroplanes (MLA), touring motorgliders (TMG), and helicopters) in the complete FIR, excluding airspace class G below 1200 ft AMSL, where it is not within the North Sea Area Amsterdam (NSAA).

Aircraft with an operational SSR mode S transponder have to activate the transponder at all altitudes in all types of airspace, even when it is not mandatory to use a transponder in that area.

Motorised aircraft that are not equipped with a SSR mode S transponder have only access to airspace with class G below 1200 ft AMSL.

[hammerman]

IAOPA Europe (http://www.iaopa.eu/contentServlet/news_jun09.htm)


Quote
Mode-S: must have, but switched off
Pilots should be aware that despite the recent order to turn off Mode-S transponders in the Amsterdam area, it remains illegal to fly in Dutch airspace above 1200 feet and in TMZs without a Mode-S transponder, and if you don't tick the correct box on your flight plan, it will not be accepted.

Ary Stigter of AOPA-Netherlands has been heavily involved in moves to try to alleviate problems caused by Holland's demand that all aircraft should install and use Mode-S transponders. Holland has run well ahead of the rest of Europe in mandating Mode-S despite the many concerns raised by IAOPA, including the fact that GA Mode-S returns would blank out commercial aircraft returns in heavily-trafficked areas. The original demand was that all aircraft in Europe should be Mode-S equipped by 2007, but the lack of a low-power lightweight transponder made this impossible. The Dutch CAA, however, mandated that all new aircraft be equipped with Mode-S from 2007, including even non-powered aircraft. The fact that Mode-S transponders for these aircraft did not exist led Holland to adopt a gradual introduction scheme for gliders ending in 2010.

For years, transponders of any type have had to be switched off below the Schiphol TMA because they triggered TCAS alerts on approaching CAT aircraft at 2000 feet. A minimum vertical separation of 800 feet is needed to avoid false alerts, so when Mode-S was made mandatory, GA aircraft were ordered to fly below 1200 feet. The Mode-S requirement came into force on March 12, 2009 without a safety assessment and in the face of doubts expressed by ATC, who had proposed that software be incorporated to filter out 7000 returns below 1500 feet. The Dutch CAA refused to allow this.

On the first day of clear VMC after March 12, Schiphol radar screens were cluttered by Mode-S returns to the point where CAT could not be seen, despite tags being reduced to the smallest print size. It was decided to close the VFR area below the SPL TMA except for some state and commercial operations. AOPA-Netherlands proposed a reversion to the previous system of switching off transponders, which has proved safe over the past 20 years. Initially the Dutch CAA opposed this, but on April 10th it agreed to reopen the airspace to VFR traffic with transponders switched off.

Ary Stigter says: "We expect a large number of protests addressed to the Minister of Transport from pilots who are affected by lack of harmonisation in EASA airspace. Lack of harmonisation will increase infringements. Safety was never not the issue for Mode-S transponders - easier identification of infringers was the driver for the Dutch CAA to force the introduction."

ELTs: don’t need, must have
IAOPA is trying to find a way around a new anomaly which means that neither British nor Dutch GA aircraft need to carry fixed ELTs, except when flying into Dutch airspace. Both countries have granted exemptions from an ICAO recommendation that all aircraft carry ELTs, so pilots don’t have to have them installed for flights at home, but the Dutch CAA says an aircraft crossing an FIR boundary from the UK into Holland is an international flight subject to ICAO rules, which require a fixed ELT. The situation came to light when a group of UK AOPA members asked IAOPA to clarify the situation because they intended to transit through Holland. The Dutch said they would make an exception for the group, but that no future concessions would be made. This could be nothing more than another laughable piece of legalistic nonsense but for the fact that in some circumstances, it might affect insurance claims. IAOPA says PLBs are far more effective and useful than ELTs, and that every pilot should have the best PLB he or she can afford.
Unquote

"The Mode-S requirement came into force on March 12, 2009 without a safety assessment " :ugh: :ugh:

[Jhieminga]

The basic rule that you need a Mode-S transponder and need to have it turned on has been explained above. The latest on the Schiphol TMA issue is AIP SUP 05/09 (http://www.ais-netherlands.nl/aim/090521-090702/eAIP/html/eSUP/EH-eSUP-09-05-en-GB.html) which describes the area and altitudes where you need to switch it off again.

[Squeegee Longtail]

Ok, thanks. The regs are there to read, but what people are actually doing was more what I was trying to gauge. If you have to have it, but have it switched off, I makes me hesitate to spend the 3K just to make the one trip to Holland this year.

Yellow jackets, PLBs/ELTs, Mode S....what next? crash helmets, TCAS?

[hammerman]

errrm, is this a write-only-forum? switch off only applies to amsterdam area....

"it remains illegal to fly in Dutch airspace above 1200 feet and in TMZs without a Mode-S transponder"

[borderraider]

I'm planning a ferry flight to Denmark in an R44 so will have to fly via Germany and or Holland. Does anyone have an update on the mode S and ELT situation and any advice on routing, stopover poiints etc.

[BackPacker]

What's the typical range and cruise altitude of an R44? Are you comfortable flying over large bodies of water, or do you want/need to hug the shore. And I assume it burns 100LL, right?

[AdamFrisch]

"You couldn't make it up."

Fitter2 - haha, that made my day completely.