Filling in the FPL (Main fields)

This section covers the fields that normally always appear in a consistent FPL.

Convention: whenever a field is “unknown” to the ICAO standard (no designator), it is customary to use ZZZZ and detail it in ITEM 18 with the appropriate indicator (e.g. DEP/, DEST/, ALTN/, TYP/).

ITEM 7 — Aircraft identification

Golden rule: up to 7 characters, alphanumeric, no hyphens/symbols.

Important exception: if the radiotelephony callsign exceeds 7 characters, fill in ITEM 7 with the registration and use RMK/ in ITEM 18 to report the full callsign.

ITEM 8 — Flight rules and type of flight

Flight rules (1 letter)

Type of flight (1 letter)

The type of flight depends on the context (e.g. general aviation, commercial, military). In simulation, it is common to see:

Operational tip: on VATSIM, G (general aviation) and S (airlines) cover most cases.

ITEM 9 — Number, type of aircraft and wake turbulence category

ITEM 10 — Equipment and capabilities

This field is divided into two blocks:

1) COM/NAV/APP (left side) 2) Surveillance / Transponder (right side)

Safe shortcut (for simulation)

• If your aircraft has the “standard package” of radios/navigation for the route: use S
• If you want to explicitly indicate GNSS/RNAV for IFR: include G

In real-world operations, ITEM 10 can get long. In simulation, what matters is consistency: the declared equipment must reflect what you intend to use.

ITEM 13 — Departure aerodrome and time

ITEM 15 — Speed, level and route

Speed (up to 5)

Level

Route

• Use ATS routes (airways) when applicable.
• Use DCT for direct segments.
• If you use Y or Z (IFR/VFR change), the route must indicate the change point(s).

ITEM 16 — Destination, total EET and alternates