ATC Flight Plan — Page 242, Lesson 248

I want to walk you through the instructions for completing a Repetitive Flight Plan, or RPL, listing form. This is a key administrative document in ATC flight planning, and it has very specific rules that you must follow precisely. First, let's talk about who files it. The form asks for the name of the unit, agency, or person filing the flight plan — that's what "Filed by" means. You insert that information at the top. Now, the general rules. You should only list flight plans that will operate in accordance with IFR — that's Instrument Flight Rules. In the FPL format, this is indicated by the flight rules letter "I". It is assumed that all aircraft are operating as scheduled flights, which is the type of flight "S" in FPL format. If that's not the case, you must notify in item Q, which is the Remarks section. Another assumption: all aircraft operating on RPLs are equipped with 4096-code transponders with modes A and C. Mode A gives the aircraft's identity code, and Mode C gives altitude. If your aircraft doesn't have that equipment, again, you notify in item Q. The listing must be in alphabetical order of the location indicator of the departure aerodrome. So if your departure airport is EGLL for London Heathrow, that comes before LFPG for Paris Charles de Gaulle. Then, for each departure aerodrome, you list the flight plans in chronological order of estimated off-block times — that's the time the aircraft expects to start moving from the parking stand. You must adhere closely to the data conventions as per the Flight Plan form — no shortcuts. All clock times must be inserted in 4 figures UTC. For example, 2:30 PM becomes 1430. All estimated elapsed times — how long a segment takes — must also be in 4 figures, meaning hours and minutes. So 2 hours and 15 minutes is 0215. You insert data on a separate line for each segment of operations with one or more stops. That means from any departure aerodrome to the next destination aerodrome, even if the call sign or flight number is the same for multiple segments. Each leg gets its own line. For additions and deletions, you must clearly identify them in accordance with Item H. Subsequent listings shall list the corrected and added data, and deleted flight plans shall be omitted. You also number pages by indicating the page number and the total number of pages in the submission — so "Page 1 of 5", for example. If the space provided for items O and Q on one line is not sufficient, you can use more than one line for that RPL. Now, let's look at how to cancel a flight. You indicate a minus sign in item H, followed by all other items of the cancelled flight. Then you insert a subsequent entry denoted by a plus sign in item H and the date of the last flight in item J, with all other items of the cancelled flight unchanged. So the minus sign removes it, and the plus sign with the last flight date confirms the cancellation. For modifications of the flight, you do two things. First, carry out the cancellation as detailed above. Second, insert a third entry giving the new flight plan(s) with the appropriate items modified as necessary, including the new validity dates in items I and J. So you cancel the old one, then add the new one with updated dates. These are the precise rules you need to follow when completing an RPL listing form. Every detail matters — the order, the time format, the equipment assumptions, and the cancellation and modification procedures.