Frank Whiteley wrote:
On Apr 2, 11:42*am, Fred wrote:
SoaringNV is sponsoring a Minden Wave Camp this week. *As part of our
camp we have invited the tower controllers from Reno TRACON to talk to
us about communication with them, something we do for every camp. *We
learned, quite inadvertantly, that a nationwide transponder squawk
code has been assigned to gliders: 1201.

SO, from now on your transponder should be set to squawk 1201 anywhere
in the US (including the Reno airspace, where we have used a different
squawk code by agreement between PASCO and the controllers.)

Please use 1201 squawk code in your glider transponder.

Fred LaSor
SoaringNV
775 790-4314
Minden, NV

Referenced here

http://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/m...110.66D%20.pdf

Wait-a-minute!

But isn't the quoted document an FAA internal order to its ATO service
units? The section labeled "Audience" no where indicates this is a
regulatory requirement to gliders having transponders. If there is a
regulatory document where this is made clear, that would be helpful and
more convincing.

In fact the following order, dated February 11, 2010, doesn't list 1201 or
any special treatment of gliders with transponders:

http://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/publi...C/atc0502.html

While gliders with transponders in the Reno Nevada area may now be required
to use 1201, I can find no official publication by the FAA to support the
assertion that VFR glider pilots in the rest of the nation are now required
(or even allowed or advised) to use 1201 on an installed transponder.

In fact while searching I found that 1201 was recently used as one of the
beacon codes in the TFR of the 2010 Winter Olympics.

(Unless the FAA is now relying on Web viral postings and blogs as its new
means of publishing regulations? Very hip of them!)