Clubs and owners have spent serious money installing 8.33 radios and ground stations are gradually changing over. Often the new frequency is very close to the old one, but not always! This could create confusion as I discovered on a recent flight, when I failed to raise Oxford on any of the frequencies printed by Skydemon. A quick call to London Information put me right. I later realized that Skydemon had published the 8.33 frequencies 4 days early. To my shame, there was a NOTAM stating that up until the changeover date, one should use a (totally) different frequency. But in my defence, the NOTAM wording was a bit unclear.
So what tips can I offer to avoid the confusion?
- Look at AIP supplement 014/2018, which lists aerodromes that have converted and those which will convert in the next 30 days. The CAA will issue updates with new Supplement numbers, which can be found in the Index.
- Read the frequencies which Skydemon prints, but then….
- Read the NOTAMS carefully
- Read CAP1606. Gliding and micro-light frequencies will remain on 25 kHz spacing until Dec 2018 (after which they will change). The international D&D frequency 121.5 will be unchanged.
Happy flying!