US/EU bizjet callsigns

[WX Man]

Why is it that in the US, callsigns for bizjets and other charter a/c are abbreviated to 'Challenger 14M' or 'Gulfstream 28N', whereas in the EU, they are simply referred to as 'N14M'; 'N28N'?

Much more logical to call an a/c 'Challenger', 'Gulfstream', 'Kingair' etc etc... followed by the reg.

[Bright-Ling]

Why is it more logical?

On the radar screen I see the callsign. On the strip in front of me it tells me the aircraft type, which is important for wake vortex.

The aircraft look identical on the radar and regardless of type I am supposed to keep them apart!!

I am sure Scott can give a sensible answer!:)

[5milesbaby]

Think of the amounts of this traffic flying in the States. Then think of the callsign confusion issues if all using abbreviated November***. By using the a/c type rather than the initial November it can aid some confusion issues.

I think thats it basically, but Scott et al will give you more..................

[WX Man]

Aaaahh, that, of course, explains it.

I do have the a/c info in front of me, it's just that 'Citation 24A' slips off the tongue rather better than 'November 24A'. However I seem to remember that there was some clause in the UK AIP that specifically precluded that a/c use their type in their callsigns.

[5milesbaby]

WXMan, and finally the UK AIP wakes upto some sensibility and has permitted the use of these abreviations, and also for Brit reg's ie G-AB can now be Falcon-AB after initial contact has been made. Again this is to give a slight alternative should callsign similarity issues occur :ok:

[LearjetGA]

If you ever fly in the US, how many times will you hear aircraft tailnumbers from other countries (except c-xxxx and xa-xxx) ?
So there is no point in calling out the N, right ?

From what a controller told me, it helps alot in highly congested areas where you have low and high performance airplanes, like FTW (Schools and Corporate, TEB, EWR, PDK, MIA, ...)

[SASless]

Oh dear me ! There the Yanks go again....using commonsense and logic......whatever happened to the AIP.....however will we get along like that? Now let's see....page 9 of the Low Flying Reg, paragraph 73, line 212, third word.......ah, yes....I see what he meant now! But wait, does not page 7, paragraph 19, line 4......

[rick1128]

Unfortunately it is a bad habit on our part to use the aircraft type instead of "N" on our r/t calls overseas. Here in the states ATC prefers that we use aircraft type. I was told by a controller that almost all of the foreign traffic they deal with have letters rather than numbers and that the type reminds them of the type aircraft they are dealing with so that they can properly regulate the flow of traffic. Like not putting a Learjet behind a Cessna 150.

[Will Rogers]

On or off this subject...

Does anyone know who to contact in order to get a company callsign arranged for a private operator. I talked to my local CAA (not where the aircraft in question are registered) but they said that as a private operator you can not get a company callsign!?

I have later found at least two examples of private companies operating with callsigns!!! :confused: Guess the CAA was wrong (imagine that :cool: ).

I know that ICAO in Canada is the "agency" that deals with this but who there do I contact??? What is the procedure???

Anyone with experience of this???

Any help appreciated! :)

Will

[flyingfemme]

Your local aviation authority should have a liason person who deals with ICAO for issuance of callsigns. Due to the large number of companies who want them and the shortage of unique callsigns/identifiers (only 17,500 variations of three letters) these are getting more difficult to obtain.
Unless you have a very good reason for wanting one, you may simply be refused.