I have just started hour building on some relatively old aircraft. Thought about getting a handheld VHF transceiver just in case of any emergencies (loss of radio). I will do some flying in Poland as well, and as far as I can tell, a handheld radio can be useful to get clearances without draining the aircraft batteries.
I’ve looked online, but didn’t find any useful information pertaining to the ownership of such devices by pilots in Germany.
Goes anyone have any good resources for such rules?
Hello Monx,
what do you mean by “German rules”? As far as aviation is concerned, the rules have been standardized to a good extent by EASA.
If you are talking about general laws on the use of radio frequencies, you should know that you need a radio operator’s license to legally use any form of aircraft radio, regardless whether it is handheld or installed in the plane. Germany does not include this license in the Pilot License, you get it after a separate exam. This only applies to people whose license is issued in Germany, other countries do things differently. Please check how your state of license issue handles this.
Please also note that aeronautical frequencies are not considered public, despite the fact that there is no technical barrier preventing anyone from listening in. So you are legally not allowed to share information you heard there if it didn’t only concern you and you alone. Sharing comms e.g. on liveATC is illegal under German law, because it violates the Telecommunications Privacy Act.
I hope my answer includes something you were looking for!
CharlieRomeo wrote:
I hope my answer includes something you were looking for!
Thank you clarifying some things. I do have my BZF E.
What I meant by “German rules” is basically local laws outside of aviation. Am I going to get in trouble if there’s an antenna sticking out of my flight bag while on my way to the airport? Do I need to have a permit/paperwork to buy the radio and carry it around?
In this case the BZF E is all the paperwork you need.
Apart from making sure the radio conforms to the European standards for electronics, but any radio you buy through an aviation or radio store should.
In addition to what CR wrote there are also the general requirements on operation of radio transmitters in Germany. So basically the handheld you use needs to be certified under German regulation.
(explicitly not commenting on the questions what happens if you have an uncertified handheld that you use only in emergencies…)
