Pilot Hopeful
Well-Known Member
What is the origin of squawking 1200 when flying VFR? Is the number 1200 significant, or is it an arbitrary selection?
While I think it is totally cool that you know it and shared that information with us....how do you know?It comes from early fighter planes with Transponders with IFF (Identify Friend of Foe) capabilities.
They would use the 1200 code during mock combat engagements when they would be engaging visually without information from ground-based radar stations.
The 1200 code was chosen as a reference to "high noon", as in two gunfighters facing off, with only eyesight and reflexes determining the better of the two.
This practice later fell into disuse when civilian transponders became commonplace.
Radio calls taunting USAF jets with phrases such as "you turds wanna play cowboys 'n Indians??" caused the early USAF to switch to a different encoding system. The 1200 code was then kept by early regulatory agencies as it was widely known and used as a placeholder if a specific squawk code had not been issued.
While I think it is totally cool that you know it and shared that information with us....how do you know?
I don't.
I just figured it sounded good, so I'd see how long I'd leave it out there before somebody yelled, "BS!"
:laff:
[face plant] dang I am gullible sometimes.I don't.
I just figured it sounded good, so I'd see how long I'd leave it out there before somebody yelled, "BS!"
:laff:
[face plant] dang I am gullible sometimes.
Nice one.
I would guess "1200" dates back to the days of Mode 1 IFF transponders, which transmitted only a 5-bit identifier (octal "00" to "37").
Rather than each aircraft having a unique identifier, aircraft transmitted a mission code (no idea what the convention was, but "12" was probably the military equivalent to VFR).
Mode 2 and Mode 3 can accommodate four octal digits ("0000" to "7777"). Some of the mission codes probably hung around and the convention of "1200" was born.
It comes from early fighter planes with Transponders with IFF (Identify Friend of Foe) capabilities.
They would use the 1200 code during mock combat engagements when they would be engaging visually without information from ground-based radar stations.
The 1200 code was chosen as a reference to "high noon", as in two gunfighters facing off, with only eyesight and reflexes determining the better of the two.
This practice later fell into disuse when civilian transponders became commonplace.
Radio calls taunting USAF jets with phrases such as "you turds wanna play cowboys 'n Indians??" caused the early USAF to switch to a different encoding system. The 1200 code was then kept by early regulatory agencies as it was widely known and used as a placeholder if a specific squawk code had not been issued.
Shame on you
I believed it lol