Pilots, air traffic controllers shifting to text messaging

And if you can't or don't type well in a pitching bucking cockpit?
 
Wonder what they do about lag time. I know that sometimes I'll send my wife a text and she never answers. Then like an hour later when we are together the text comes in. Not all the time but it does happen. Hopefully this system is much different.
 
MAKG1 said:
What's new? Hasn't CPDLC been around for 15 years or more?
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Yes it has. Works good in oceanic airspace with not a whole lot of communications traffic. CPDLC will work well in the enroute structure but not in the terminal areas where more mediate communication is necessary.

A form of CPDLC is used in Europe but voice communications are a required back-up.
 
mulligan said:
Wonder what they do about lag time. I know that sometimes I'll send my wife a text and she never answers. Then like an hour later when we are together the text comes in. Not all the time but it does happen. Hopefully this system is much different.
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Or so she says. I pull the same one.
 
Cool makes sense for a lot of functions I'd adapt pretty easy I wonder if it will trickle down from the big iron to little GA aircraft.
 
Europe and Canada are using it for frequency changes.
 
" . . . with each word laboriously spelled out in the radio alphabet."

Wow. That sounds terrible. I'm glad I'm not a pilot. Wait....
 
They talk of using voice only, for more urgent messages like traffic.
Only problem I can see with that is, if the radio is silent for lengthy times, will everyone be 'tuned in' when it comes to be needed?
Right now, everyone knows the frequency is working by the constant chatter. Take that away and we will be forced to assume atc is in communication with each a/c but they may not be if someone put in the wrong frequency, or hits the flipflop, or forgets to turn the volume up etc.
 
I've heard that CPDLC is now required in the North Atlantic. I'm still not equipped with it for the Eastern Pacific. We still have SELCAL and HF, so you'll still hear guys trying to give position reports on the air to air ******** freq in the middle of the night.
 
mulligan said:
... I know that sometimes I'll send my wife a text and she never answers. Then like an hour later when we are together the text comes in. Not all the time but it does happen. .
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That's good to hear.
I thought I was the one having problems and was about to trash my phone because of it
 
Bobcat1 said:
I've heard that CPDLC is now required in the North Atlantic. I'm still not equipped with it for the Eastern Pacific. We still have SELCAL and HF, so you'll still hear guys trying to give position reports on the air to air ******** freq in the middle of the night.
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It's just required in parts of the NAT. I think just FL350-390 in the Organized Track System (NAT Tracks).

The article also mentions that the first test was in Memphis and Newark. We were heavily involved in that test and it was just for Digital Clearances (DCL). There were no taxi clearances, etc. given by datalink. Just pre-departure clearances. I don't know what they're doing in DCA now.
 
Canada and Europe (not all of Europe) do a 50/50 mix. They text the freq over then you have to find it, hit Accept tune the freq then check in on voice. Kinda of a pain. May cut down on chatter but seems longer of a process to me.
I do like PDC Departure clearances and CPDLC over the Atlantic. Still use HF and Selcal when coasting out and 30west.
 
Quick question, but I think this may be related to this thread. When I work in airport ops at PHL International Airport, in its ATIS it says "CPDLCL service available". What does "CPDLCL" stand for and what does this service do?
 
SkyDog58 said:
CPDLC = Controller–pilot data link communications.

Not sure about CPDLCL.
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Oh ok, thanks for the info. I could have sworn I heard "CPDLCL" instead of "CPDLC" in the ATIS. I was wondering what does the extra "L" stand for?
 
Sluggo63 said:
It's just required in parts of the NAT. I think just FL350-390 in the Organized Track System (NAT Tracks).
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There's a website with all the North Atlantic rules but I don't have the link handy. Pretty sure as recently as a couple of years ago when I was reading it while bored, it wasn't required, per se, but your life was a little easier with it. Without it, it was HF and SELCAL for mandatory position reports if on a track. Below the tracks, it was "relay through whoever is nice enough to relay for you down there on VHF", if I recall correctly.
 
I listened to the PHL ATIS last night and it says "CPDLCDCL service available" not "CPDLCL". I think in the previous post here in this thread "DCL" stand for digital clearances. Does that mean they text message the clearance to pilots on the clearance delivery frequency?
 
CPDLCDCL?? For crying out loud - did they hire the guy that came up with PCMCIA to come up with that?
 
N918KT said:
I listened to the PHL ATIS last night and it says "CPDLCDCL service available" not "CPDLCL". I think in the previous post here in this thread "DCL" stand for digital clearances. Does that mean they text message the clearance to pilots on the clearance delivery frequency?
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CPDLC DCL is a digital clearance that comes to the aircraft digitally (duh). It is similar to the older Pre Departure Clearance (PDC), but it is interactive like other CPDLC uplinks. If you receive a route change through CPDLC, it can be uploaded to the FMS thus reducing the possibility of a route entry error.
 
N918KT said:
I listened to the PHL ATIS last night and it says "CPDLCDCL service available" not "CPDLCL". I think in the previous post here in this thread "DCL" stand for digital clearances. Does that mean they text message the clearance to pilots on the clearance delivery frequency?
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You have been able to get a PDC clearance for a long time. That is they send a text version of exactly what gets read to those without PDC. In the past pilots could not send messages back to controllers the same way. Now we use CPDLC for sending text messages back and forth.


Edit:.^ beat me to it
 
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