I believe K designated Commercial TV/Radio Stations were west of the Mississippi and W designations were east.

But my memory could be wrong.

 

For some Air Force missions we flew to FAAA -- no, that's not an identifier, it's the airport's name (pronounced Fah-ah-ah). The identifier is NTAA (Tahiti).

 

Well this certainly has been interesting.
Way back when Cincinnati's Lunken (sunken lunken) was the major airport of the day, the city decided it was time to expand. But where ?
The dickered and hee hawed around and around for quite awhile.
Somebody across the river in Kenton county came up with the idea that they should build a major airport. One that could handle the newer larger brids.
Lunken, was much too small.
BTW, Lunken is where American Airlines was born.
Land was found in Boone county near Hebron.
Kenton County established the Kenton County Airport Board and they are the owners of the airport.
It just so happens, that Covingron, is the county seat of Kenton County.
So if airports are technically named for the nearest city, then why was it not nemed for Florence? Which is technically the largest nearest city.

As an aside thing, have you ever flown into CVG with a flight attendant who is from Cincinnati? And you hear her say:
"Welcome to the Hebron Kentucky, Boone county international airport....."
They just love doing that because it always turns a few heads.

 

It seems far more plausible the "CVG" came from "Covington", not "Cincinnati Vicinity Greater".

The airfield started as a military field during the war, and was converted to civilian and airline use post WW-II. I doubt the army air corps officer who picked the ID was thinking that far ahead. Or if there was already a Wx station there, it would have also not been named for a jet-age regional airport which did not yet exist.

 

Why do US airfields that have numbers in them not have the "K" published as the ICAO code? Looking at the AFD, only 3 digits are published. Also the gps nav databases(garmin, bendix/king, universal) dont require the K to be input. Does the K really matter when you are flying inside the lower 48?...........Just wondering

 

I don't know why they don't use the 'K'.
Sure would make it easier if they did; keep everything similar.
Does it really matter?
I guess it does in a manner that I use as an example earlier in the post.
If I'm filing and I use DIRECT ABQ, or DIRECT KABQ, those are certainly two different places.

 

When i want to go direct to SGF, I have to type in "KSGF", when i want to go direct 2H2, i have to type in "2H2".

Wondering why some airfields (those without numbers in ID) require the "K"?

 

I understand your question.
My 'Does it really matter' comment was in response to yours in your first response to mine when you said:
I understand what you mean when you say that you would type (assuming FMS here) KSGF to go direct to Springfield, MO airport. You would type (again in the FMS) SGF if you wanted to go direct to the SGF VORTAC correct. Conversely, you type 2H2 to go direct to the airport (which has numbers in the name) instead of using the 'K'; but there is no NAVAID with the same identifier (no NAVAID 2H2). Maybe that is why you differentiate between the two in the coding used by the avionics manufacturers.

Now if you really didn't understand my other response; I tried to use the KABQ airport as another example.
You need to use the 'K' to differentiate between the airfield (KABQ) and the VORTAC (ABQ).

I'm wondering too why it is the way it is....but again - I don't know the answer, only what is required. How about this identifier - K6TE6 (for the private 6666 ranch airport). Not even a 4 letter identifier.

 

Part of the answer to your question is going to be found in the particular requirements of your "box", and what is loaded in your database.

But you should understand that while there are some similarities between U.S. airports with IATA identifiers and their ICAO and FAA identifier cousins, they are not all created equal. All three coding systems have their own conventions and quirks.

To answer the first question, you need to know a little bit about the FAA identifiers, which are 3 or 4 digits, may be 1 letter and 2 numbers, or 1 number and 2 letters, or 2 letters and 2 numbers, or 3 letters.

1 letter and 2 numbers - public-use airports that don't meet the requirements for a 3-letter identifier -- letter can be 1st, 2nd, or 3rd digit

1 number and 2 letters - special-use locations and some public-use airports -- number is always 1st digit

2 numbers and 2 letters - private-use airports -- 2 letters are always adjacent (1st/2nd, 2nd/3rd, or 3rd/4th digits) and represent the state where the airport is located.

3 letters - have manned ATC facilities, receive scheduled airline service, or designated ports of entry -- IF the location also has an IATA code, the FAA code will usually be identical. It is also possible that the FAA 3-letter code is the same as the IATA code for an airport somewhere else.



All IATA codes are 3 letters, and there's a long list of guidelines for determining which airports get them, and what they are.


ICAO codes are 4 letters, where the first 2 letters represent the region and the country of the airport, with the exception of C (Canada) and K (USA) where the 2nd letter does NOT represent a region. For codes starting with K, the remaining 3 letters are the FAA code.


Granby, Colorado:

FAA Code: GNB
IATA Code: GBY
ICAO Code: KGNB


If your system requires the K, it is obviously looking for the ICAO identifier. If it also accepts 2H2, it uses FAA identifiers for those airports without ICAO identifiers.

More here: Airport Location Identifiers Deciphered







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The FAA 4-letter identifier indicates it is a private-use airport. The TE indicates it is located in Texas.

K6TE6 is NOT a valid ICAO identifier. I do not believe it is a valid identifier of any sort.





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