Fltplan.com charters?

[RyanB]

Out at my local municipal airport this evening and a king air 90 flew in, (beautiful aircraft BTW) anyway, it flew in as a Fltplan.com flight "dotcom" being their callsign. It landed, dropped off about 6 girls and took off again under its own N-number. Are these charter flights under the "dotcom" callsign?

 

[Let'sgoflying!]

It's their paid-for disguised N-number

 

[ahkahn]

From what I've read it is a method to keep N-numbers discrete from flight tracking... so the example would be if you didn't want your competitor to find out where you've been flying.

 

[RyanB]

Thats interesting, I never knew this. I typed their N number into flightaware and it says "not available for tracking", but I could track their "dotcom" inbound. How does one go about doing this? Wonder why they would fly in under dotcom but flew out just under their tail number and not able to be tracked.

 

[mkosmo]

Because their competitors may have ASDI, and getting it filtered before going out ASDI is nearly impossible. Getting it added to the list that ASDI subscribers have to honor is easy, though, but they'd still get it. Filing under a DCM hides the tail number entirely.

 

[Z06_Mir]

Imo, the dotcom call sign is the easy way to "block" a tail but not the best. It seems like most people are dumb enough (and I see this a lot) to use a dotcom number that go with their tail... Dcm545 for 545jf... And doing it on a regular basis.

Companies pay big, big bucks to make their aircraft untraceable. At work we use a program that although can't unblock tails it will show type and where they're coming from.. If you're expecting then you can put 2 and 2 together. But somehow a few airplanes are blocked even further than a super blocked tail... Like Walmart. They do a lot to make sure they're not going to be found.

 

[Jim_R]

Wonder why they would fly in under dotcom but flew out just under their tail number and not able to be tracked.

If they were flying VFR outbound and didn't file a plan, then they wouldn't be traceable. Even if they got FF tracking is hit-and-miss.

 

[RyanB]

If they were flying VFR outbound and didn't file a plan, then they wouldn't be traceable. Even if they got FF tracking is hit-and-miss.

Pretty sure I remember him opening his IFR with departure. His regular N number was untraceable and he wasn't using a dotcom, interesting thing for sure, thanks!

 

[mkosmo]

Imo, the dotcom call sign is the easy way to "block" a tail but not the best. It seems like most people are dumb enough (and I see this a lot) to use a dotcom number that go with their tail... Dcm545 for 545jf... And doing it on a regular basis.

Companies pay big, big bucks to make their aircraft untraceable. At work we use a program that although can't unblock tails it will show type and where they're coming from.. If you're expecting then you can put 2 and 2 together. But somehow a few airplanes are blocked even further than a super blocked tail... Like Walmart. They do a lot to make sure they're not going to be found.

That's all based on ASDI. Companies can't spend big bucks to get it blocked at the data... the BARR program doesn't exist. "Industry" level blocks are nearly impossible unless you can show some kind of security concern, so the only real option is now "subscriber" blocks meaning the folks that provide you that data have the tail numbers and all relevant data... they just can't give it to YOU.

 

[JimNtexas]

Need to Fly in Privacy? Use a DCM Call Sign or Block your Tail Number
In the not-so-distant past it was possible to fly your aircraft in relative privacy. Flight tracking vendors didn't release information to the general public. Now your flight information and history are easily available from any computer, tablet, or smartphone. If you feel your flight schedule and history should remain private, you might want to either block your tail number or use one of FltPlan’s DCM (Dot Com) call signs. The features included with each program are listed below:

DCM CALL SIGNS • Available to FltPlan Filers Only
DCM call signs take effect immediately.
You can block/unblock your aircraft at will.
Once assigned a call sign, you are known as DOT COM.
There are two levels assigned, FAA blocked and trackable.
If trackable, you will be known / seen as FltPlan on public flight tracking websites.
If you are a Premium Tracker, you can have a third Call Sign blocked at the FAA Vendor level.

FAA VENDOR BLOCKING
Only the FAA can block your N Number.
In order to block your aircraft, you must send an email to the FAA.
Blocking takes effect the first Thursday of every month.
There are two levels of blocking, FAA level and ASDI Vendor level.
If you are blocked at the ASDI Vendor level, you can only track with our Premium Flight Tracking service.
To enroll, please call our Premium Services office at 731-855-8000 between 9am and 5pm Eastern Time.

Fltplan.com Newsletter

I'm pretty sure you either get a new Dotcom flight number every time, or get one assigned to your airplane.

 

[James331]

That's all based on ASDI. Companies can't spend big bucks to get it blocked at the data... the BARR program doesn't exist. "Industry" level blocks are nearly impossible unless you can show some kind of security concern, so the only real option is now "subscriber" blocks meaning the folks that provide you that data have the tail numbers and all relevant data... they just can't give it to YOU.

Funny, both the planes I've owned ware blocked at the FAA level, first plane I used a break in that happened to justify it.

My current plane, I just sent a simple two sentence request email and it's blocked at the FAA level.

Two levels of blocking are available:

ASDI Vendor Level • Block at this level if you need to track your aircraft.

The FAA coordinates with all ASDI vendors to have your aircraft registration number blocked from their respective programs. Blocking the aircraft registration at the ASDI Vendor Level removes the aircraft registration from the aircraft flight data.

FAA Level • Block at this level if you do not need to track your aircraft.

For a higher level of security, operators may choose to block their aircraft flight data at the FAA Level which will remove all aircraft flight data before it is transmitted to the ASDI vendors. This means the information never reaches any ASDI vendor and is not incorporated into their system. Blocking at this level will prevent you from tracking your blocked tail number.

Submit the required information to FAA by email to: ASDIBlock@faa.gov

or send by regular mail to:

FAA ASDI Blocking Request
ATO System Operations Services
AJR-0
Wilbur Wright Building, Room 3E1500
600 Independence Avenue SW
Washington, DC 20597

I like my aircraft blocked, because really it's really no ones business where I'm going