A bit confusing but no radio license required

From the FCC:

No Restricted Radiotelephone Operator Permit is required to operate VHF radio equipment on board an aircraft when that aircraft is flown domestically. You may obtain a Restricted Permit using FCC Form 605. No test is required to obtain this permit. The FCC will mail the permit to you and it will be valid for your lifetime. The fee for a Restricted Permit is in addition to any fee paid for an aircraft license.​

The restricted radio license is only required for international flights.
 
Yes, you need the radiotelephone license to operate internationally (at least in Canada from the US), but that is person-specific, not plane-specific. I think it is simply a "pay for the license" fee, no test etc. required (but it has been >30 years since I got mine...).

greg
 
Correct

No license is needed for flights within the USA. If you plan to fly out of country, you may need one, depending on where you're going.
 
Greg Arehart said:
Yes, you need the radiotelephone license to operate internationally (at least in Canada from the US), but that is person-specific, not plane-specific. I think it is simply a "pay for the license" fee, no test etc. required (but it has been >30 years since I got mine...).

greg
Click to expand...

NO -- a US Radio License is needed for your plane in Canada.

...but non-one checked at the border when I went...:)

http://www.fcc.gov/Forms/Form605/605c.pdf

http://www.fcc.gov/Forms/Form605/605.html
 
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Boy, I thought SOMEONE here was older than I am...;) There used to be TWO FCC licenses that pertained to airplanes - one for the operator, and one for the aircraft. The radiotelephone operator's license was in your wallet, and the Radio Station license was with the airplane's paperwork.

And neither of them are required for domestic operations today....

Paul
 
Aircraft = station

The "station license" has been superimposed on the aircraft registration so it is no longer required. The "operator license" has been superimposed on your airman certificate, but only for domestic service.

Then again, I have one of the old commercial operator radio licenses. Boy do I feel old!
 
Which is required international

I am a bit confused :confused:, I think the radio operators license is what is required for international and the station license attached to the airplane radios is not, no longer required for any type of flying. Do I have this correct?

I have the operators license as it is required for my airline job. I was not planning to apply for the station license.

Thanks
 
I thought Gil had it right. At least as recently as 2008, a radio station license for the airplane was required for international flight. Maybe it has changed since 2008? I got one for my airplane and no one has asked to see it in Canada or the Bahamas, but I believe it is still required. My FCC radiotelephone operators permit that was issued to me in 1967 :eek: is still in my wallet with my license and medical.:)
At any rate, they are both easy and inexpensive to get.
 
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OK, I was wrong on the station bit - sorry Mike. Here is fron the FCC:

You must obtain an FCC Aircraft Radio Station License if you make international flights or communicate with foreign stations.​

So, combining the two parts from the FCC, it appears you need to obtain both the operator permit and station license for international operations.

Again, sorry I mis-spoke. (I hate making such public blunders!)
 
Perhaps I'm wrong but ...

You should be able to Google search and get the detail FCC requirements. For your operations in the US, neither the operator's license nor the station license are required.

Where you go outside the US does determine whether a station license is required (legally) or not. This was covered in this forum earlier and it depends on whether you are crossing a certain zone boundary (it may be ADIZ?). This boundary does not exist between the US and Canada but it does exist between the US and Mexico. I used to fly to mexico fairly often and when the rules were changed to allow 3" registration markings and drop the requirement for the radio station license in the US (sometime after 1982) I still had to have 12" numbers and the radio station license to fly into Mexico. No one ever asked to see the radio station license even going back and forth to Mexico. In 2002 I flew in a race that crossed the Canadian border and landed at Thunder Bay. The race organizers required all entrants to get a FCC radio operators license but I do not believe that either the operator's license or the station license (airplane) is required for us to fly our RVs into Canada but you should check with the FCC to be sure if you plan to go there. At least, when we were planing to fly to the London, Ontario area for a race last year that is what my research revealed.

Bob Axsom
 
Bob Axsom said:
You should be able to Google search and get the detail FCC requirements. For your operations in the US, neither the operator's license nor the station license are required.

Where you go outside the US does determine whether a station license is required (legally) or not. This was covered in this forum earlier and it depends on whether you are crossing a certain zone boundary (it may be ADIZ?). This boundary does not exist between the US and Canada but it does exist between the US and Mexico. I used to fly to mexico fairly often and when the rules were changed to allow 3" registration markings and drop the requirement for the radio station license in the US (sometime after 1982) I still had to have 12" numbers and the radio station license to fly into Mexico. No one ever asked to see the radio station license even going back and forth to Mexico. In 2002 I flew in a race that crossed the Canadian border and landed at Thunder Bay. The race organizers required all entrants to get a FCC radio operators license but I do not believe that either the operator's license or the station license (airplane) is required for us to fly our RVs into Canada but you should check with the FCC to be sure if you plan to go there. At least, when we were planing to fly to the London, Ontario area for a race last year that is what my research revealed.

Bob Axsom
Click to expand...

I think the confusion is between what the FCC says and what the Canadians check.

Theoretically, if you just talk across the border you need the US FCC Plane license...:)

From the FCC application form

http://www.fcc.gov/Forms/Form605/605c.pdf

You must obtain an FCC Aircraft Radio Station License if you make international flights or communicate with foreign stations.

Who checks it and do the Canadians care might be the real question...:)

I guess the DHS folks could sort of "ramp check" your documents on your return to the US....:rolleyes:

They did check my pilots license and medical at Friday Harbor, WA.
 
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Mike I tend to agree with what you have stated.

I know that we have radio station licenses on our corporate aircraft as well as another license that list things like the sat com/iradium. These are valid for 10 years.

The operators license the restricted operators permit is only required out of the country. But hey it is free and you only have to get it once I got mine when I was 12 years old and my Dad had a boat with a radiotelephone ship to shore on it.

We have been checked for the radio station licenses on the aircraft in St. Kitts,/Aruba and in Nassau and at every airport in Mexico. Never have been check in Canada. go figure.
I guess it is how good you are greasing the palm of the agents.

Smilin' Jack
 
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