This 'Aviation Abbreviation Definition' page is a side link from Irv Lee's aviation Frequently Asked Questions, Frequently Given Answers. It tries to get close to being a general 'readable' definition of terms used on some aviation sites, to help understanding of usage for newcomers into the world of aviation in the United Kingdom. (Let's be realistic - with the amount of abbreviations and the 'need' people feel for them, coupled with the insane complexity of the rules and laws governing flying, it doesn't stand a chance, but that's no real reason not to have a go!)

Most of these definitions would not be acceptable in a formal document, but make a stab at the spirit of the usage of the term rather than the letter of the law involved.

Last Updated Nov 25th, 2005.

This page is currently experimental and subject to frequent change, to try and decide the best order (eg: alphabetical, or grouped by topic, or etc, etc), and the depth of definition required.

"ANO" = The Air Navigation Order. This is the law, passed by Parliament, that defines Air Law and regulates it in the UK. In theory, this massive tome is understood by all pilots, but try and find a private pilot who remembers reading it at all..

"ATC" = Air Training Corps (good way for teenagers to get interested and learn about flying), or Air Traffic Control - the guys in the Tower or the Radar Room who talk to, sometimes direct, and give 'clearances' (permissions) to aircraft within Controlled Airspace (See CAS)

"ATPL" = Air Transport Pilots Licence. The highest flying licence possible, held by the Captains of the commercial aircraft flown for airlines. Far higher a qualification than you need for hobby flying. (See PPL).

"BCPL" = Basic Commercial Pilots Licence. This was a stage between a hobby licence (see PPL) and a Commercial (See CPL) - but nearer the CPL. It meant passing ground exams almost as difficult as a CPL, and the same flying test. It didn't allow much in the way of paid commercial flying -in theory you could ship cargo around, but I never met anyone who got a job with one.
The main point of it was to be able to charge money as an instructor. If you have an instructor rating, you can teach but you cannot charge money unless you have some sort of commercial licence - this is 'some sort of Commercial Licence'. Not issued anymore since the Europeans got a say, but still valid if you have one.
You could also get a BCPL by passing the full CPL exams and CPL test 'early' and whilst you waited to build up the hours to 700 to get a full CPL, you got a BCPL which you could swap later. Nowadays the 700 hour route has gone, and you can get a full CPL earlier.

"CAA" = Civil Aviation Authority. A body (a QANGO) set up in the UK in the 1970s to regulate and administer flying in this country. Licences were issued before then by the 'Board of Trade'.

"CAA-PPL" = A Private Pilot's Licence (see PPL) no longer issued to newly qualified pilots because the JAA-PPL has superceded it, but nevertheless is held by the vast majority of UK hobby pilots. This licence is still subject to the same new rules as the licences which are issued today (See JAA-PPL), but CAA-PPLs have no administative re-issue fee every 5 years.

"CAS" = Controlled Airspace. Protected areas of the country which require permission from Air Traffic Control to fly within - for example, around Luton, or Southampton, etc. Different levels of 'seriousness' are flagged by a letter from A to E - for example, Heathrow and commercial airways are Class A, Luton, etc are Class D. There are also Classes F and G, which used to be called the 'Open FIR' where pilots do not need formal permission to fly about. Unfortunately this is sometimes called 'uncontrolled' or 'non-controlled' airspace' leading public and journalists to imagine everyone is trying to commit suicide by flying around in it. All it means is that you do not need a formal 'clearance' (permission) to fly around in it.

"CofE" = A Certificate of Experience. A form inside the licence (see PPL) containing aircraft ratings, (see Ratings) which have to be signed by an authorised person every one or two years (depending on the aircraft flown). If a rating on a CofE is out of date, the aircraft covered by that CofE rating can no longer be flown with that licence. A pilot gains a new signature for a CofE rating by completing a certain amount of flying or test in the period the rating was valid, or needs to undergo another test in a relevant aircraft. The requirements to keep a CofE ratings current have changed darstically with the new European rules (see JAA and JAR). The old version of a CofE was a stamp in a pilot's log book, valid for 13 months, and needing 5 hours flying in that time to be renewed. The new way is that the CofE is in the licence as a separate tabular signature page, and 'ratings' on it are valid either 12 or 24 months, depending on the sort of aircraft flown. The revalidation requirement is no longer 5 hours either - it depends on the rating itself.

"CPL" = A Commercial Pilot's Licence. Funnily enough, you really need more than this to get a job as a "Commercial Pilot" in the sense the term is usually used. You might find the co-pilot or first officer has a CPL and Instrument Rating (I.R.). but they will already have passed the next level of examinations (ATPL) and be just waiting to clock up the required minimum hours to be actually issued with the higher licence. This is known as a 'frozen ATPL' - an ATPL in waiting.
Typically a CPL could be used by an air taxi pilot, but in practice he or she would need an instrument rating (I.R.) to cope with poor weather and also to fly distances in airways. Funnily enough again, if you have a CPL, you still couldn't just run an air-taxi - you have to do it on behalf of an organisation holding an AOC (Air Operator's Certificate) which costs a fortune and has many requirements on the holder. An instructor needs a CPL or a BCPL (or ATPL) to be able to charge (or be paid) as an instructor.

"EASA" = European Aviation Safety Agency. A body being set up by the European Union to take commercial licencing and rule making away from the JAA by 2006 (estimate). Euro politicians are worried that they didn't notice early enough that the JAA (with over 30 States, mostly non-EU) had control of commercial aviation regulation. To 'fix' this 'problem', the EU is setting up EASA to take commercial aviation back under EU political control. Being a political intention, there is no detail on how anything will work or by what date. There is no word of what will happen to private aviation - it is assumed that it will revert to National control, and this may develop the NPPL further.

"FAA" = Federal Aviation Authority. The American National Authority, their equivalent body to our CAA

"ETA" = Estimated Time of Arrival

"ETD" = Estimated Time of Departure

"FI" = Flight Instructor / Flying Instructor (new name / old name)

"GA" = General Aviation. Hobby Flying, non-commercial, non-miltary flying. (This can mean anything from little family pleasure trips at a weekend to some serious stuff in ex-military jets, but the main point is that no-one is hiring anything like an air-taxi, or taking a charter or scheduled commercial flight.)

"GPS" = Global Positioning System. A receiver (hand held or mounted in the cockpit) which determines position to an accuracy of a few metres nowadays. Can also have a built in map display to mark the position. Works fine until you really really need it. Signals transmitted from a string of satellites circling the earth are used to fix a position, and from that, distance to anywhere, course to anywhere, and over time, groundspeed and time to get there.

"ICAO" = International Civil Aviation Organisation (but pronouned as the letters 'I' 'K', 'O'). An international organisation which sets standards. For example, if a licence in one country is 'ICAO standard' then there will be some procedure in every other country for pilots holding that licence to fly there. So if you got a South African PPL, it is 'icao' standard, and the British CAA lets you fly in the UK using it with absolutely no retraining or conversion, providing you fly 'VFR' (eg: away from bad weather - see VFR below) and stick to daytime flying. Another example of an ICAO standard is the internationally recognised codes for airfields. If you were in France and said you came from 'Thruxton' airfield, they might ask where it was and how to spell it for their records. If you used the ICAO code allocated to Thruxton instead, 'E.G.H.O.', the EG would tell them it was in the UK, and they wouldn't care how to spell Thruxton and their offical records would be designed to accept ICAO codes in place of airfeld names.

"IFR" = Instrument Flight Rules. A much misundertood concept in the UK as it is used differently here to other parts of the world. If you fly obeying 'Instrument Flight Rules', you are guaranteeing to keep 1000 feet above any ground feature within 5 miles of your track except when taking off or landing, and when above 3000' above sea level, that you will conform to strict rules linking direction you are going with the level (simplistically, height) at which you fly. These rules are designed to keep aircraft going one way being separated almost automatically by 1000' from traffic coming the other way, if both are 'IFR'. See also VFR, the only other alternative, but the one most hobby pilots choose as they don't understand IFR!

"IMC" = Two possibilities:

• Instrument Meteorological Conditions. Simplistically, poor weather!

• A rating (officially called an IMC Rating) needing a minimum of 15 hours flying training and a ground exam which makes it legal for a normal UK pilot to legally fly when visibility is less than 3km (eg: in cloud) and/or out of sight of the surface (eg: above cloud). Only recognised and valid within UK Airspace.

"IR" = An Instrument Rating. After an intensive course on flying using instruments rather than 'looking out' and usually plenty of simulator time, you can get an IR or I/R. This is renewed every 12 months and basically allows you to fly in all sorts of horrible weather in aircraft capable of doing so, in all types of airspace (ie: even airways).

"JAA" = Joint Aviation Authorities. A body of National Aviation Authorities (eg: the CAA) from over 30 European Countries which has met since the early 1990s to try and introduce common standards and flying licence rules across Europe. See JAR, but for the future, see also EASA.

"JAA-PPL" = A Private Pilot's Licence issued under the rules and regulations introduced for European countries (see JAR). when student pilots qualify as pilots in the UK, a JAA-PPL is issued by the CAA.

"JAR" = Joint Aviation Regulations. A wide range of rules and regulations introduced in 1999 and 2000 to try to harmonise flying in nearly 30 European countries, and the cause of much anger and confusion in the UK which was a guinea-pig state for implementation.

"JAR-PPL" = See JAA-PPL

"MTOW" (Often called Max-Weight). Maximum Take Off Weight. Any aircraft has a maximum take off weight authorised. Some licences or ratings (eg: Microlight, NPPL) restrict the pilot to aircraft under a given 'MTOW'.

"NOTAM" = Notice to Airmen (And women). The formal notification to pilots of changes for a particular day, relating to all aspects, but often about some hazard. eg: large crane operating all day near approach to a particular airfield, or a Red Arrows Air Display taking place somewhere at a particular time. Pilots would be told about these 'by NOTAM' and would be expected to check 'NOTAM's before flying.

"NPPL" = A National Private Pilot's Licence available in the UK only from July 30th 2002 - not internationally recognised but good for the average hobby flier in the UK. It has 3 'ratings' within it - you can have a rating to fly Microlight Aircraft, a rating to fly motorised gliders, or a rating to fly 'normal' aircraft. With an NPPL with a 'normal' aircraft rating, you will be able to fly 'nornal' G.A. light aircraft with up to 4 people on board in reasonable weather during daytime.
NPPL 'normal' aircraft courses will allow fewer minimum training hours (but be wary that the UK weather can upset 'minimum hours' costings as long lay-offs mean skills need refreshing mid course). You will be able to apply for an NPPL if you have an exisiting JAA or CAA PPL through an admin procedure should you wish to switch. One reason you might is that the NPPL medical requirements are much simpler, easier and cheaper. You cannot use an NPPL medical with any other licence - you must actually have an NPPL issued to you to take advantage of a cheaper NPPL medical.
It is expected that the rules for training NPPL will initially be the same as for a JAA-PPL (eg: you must use a JAR instructor, you must use an approved airfield) but that once the NPPL exists, relaxations will be proposed and debated, and maybe adopted.
Many microlight pilots are using the 'upgrade' requirements to move up from a microlight rating to qualify for heavier and less restricted aircraft on an NPPL with a little extra training.
For more info, see the NPPL official web page, and my NPPL FAQ page.

"POB" (Pronounced as letters, P-O-B). Persons on Board. Some licences or ratings (eg: Microlight, NPPL) restrict the pilot to aircraft carrying a given maximum 'POB'.

"PPL" = Private Pilot's Licence. The initial licence for flying as a hobby pilot on your own or with friends after successfully completing a flying course, tests, and exams. In the UK, (United Kingdom), the licences are issued by the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority). You could have a PPL for flying balloons, helicopters, or aeroplanes. Aeroplanes split down into 'Fixed Wing' and 'Small Light Aircraft and Microlight Aircraft', mainly on the basis of weight. This site is written for pilots of 'Fixed Wing' aircraft in the UK, but many points apply to other categories.

"Rating" = Legal time-expiring sign-offs stored in the licence which define the sort of aircraft and the sort of conditions in which the pilot is allowed to fly. A fixed wing PPL contains 'ratings' which last a certain time (often one or two years). You normally start with a PPL containing a land based SEP ('Single Engine Piston - Land') rating as you will usually have learned on aircraft which are land based, have one engine, which is a piston/cylinder type rather than a jet. You could then later do a course to add in MEP (Multi Engine Piston - Land) or SEP-Sea (Similar to SEP-land, but with floats for landing on water). The licence is the 'overall' dccument, the rating is what sort of flying you can do at the moment. For example, many airline pilots will at one time have had a SEP-land rating, then gone on to a MEP-land rating, and now have a specific commercial type rating like a 737. It is very common that their 'SEP' ratings would have expired long ago, as they no longer use them. Many UK hobby pilots have only ever had an SEP rating, as that is all they fly, and tend to think of the rating they have and the licence they have as being one and the same thing, because their licences only contain one rating.
See also 'IMC', short of 'IMC Rating', which is a rating governing the sort of visibility conditions a pilot can legally fly in, whatever the type of aircraft.

"SEP" (Spoken as individual letters: S-E-P). Single Engine Piston. Actually means the standard sort of aircraft you find for training and rental - eg: Cessna 150, Piper PA28. The term applies to almost any fixed wing aircraft with one propellor driven by a piston engine which doesn't fall into the Microlight weight category and isn't primarily a glider. 'SEP' comes from the offical designation written on the Rating (see above) which allows these aircraft to be flown. Sometimes referred to as 'Group A' aircraft as this was the general term before JAR (see above) came in.

"SSE" (Spoken as individual letters: S-S-E). Simple Single Engine. An 'SEP' aircraft weighing up to but not over 2 metric tonnes (see above). The term is used within the regulations governing the privileges of an NPPL. (See above).

"VFR" Visual Flight Rules. Simplistically, flying but guaranteeing 'nothing to no-one' in terms of the height you are at being ruled by the direction you are going, or the actual vertical buffer you will have between you and nearby hills, towers etc. once you have obeyed the legal minimum clearance from them. Most UK hobby pilots would not know they could fly any other way. (The only other way is 'IFR' - see above.)

"VMC" Visual Meteorological Conditions. Simplistically, good weather!

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