Stay Tuned…

Like it or not, 2017 is going to be the year of making the transition to 8.33kHz radios.

- Philip Whiteman

By 1 January 2018 all aircraft are going to have to be fitted with ‘8.33’ (8.33kHz channel spacing) radios. This should come as no surprise, as Jon Roper of leading UK manufacturer Trig points out; “Commercial aircraft have been operating across Europe with 8.33 for over twenty years, so the roll out to GA was perhaps inevitable. Limited channel capacity and lack of VHF bandwidth are genuine issues in many parts of Europe and 8.33 spacing is the way Euro control and EASA are fixing these problems. This transition has been coming for some time−for example it has been illegal to sell non 8.33 equipment for two years.”

The trouble is that, as with so many other things in GA, “there is far too much rumour going around”−an observation from Mike Pettican of LX Avionics, who goes on to say; “It seems that many simply believe that there will be a last minute change in the rules. The issue here is that this is EU law, not national regulation and it cannot be changed by EASA member states. There is a huge void in communications between the authorities and aircraft owners and operators.”

Light Aircraft Association CEO Steve Slater has been involved in discussions with the CAA and is well placed to give chapter and verse on the situation: “The fact is that all radios used in aircraft from 1 January 2018 must be 8.33kHz and the only exemptions will be seven or so frequencies, such as 121.5, safety, gliding and balloon frequencies, which will be available for a further transition period. No other 720/760 channel 25kHz radio use after that time is legal.”