The FAA changed aircraft identifiers in December of 1998.
The Aircraft Type is 2 to 4 characters followed by a slant (/) and a single letter indicating the special equipment code. Optionally, it may be preceded by "H/" to indicate "Heavy" aircraft, "T/" to indicate TCAS equipped, or "B/" for both Heavy and TCAS.
Examples: J2/X PA24/B H/B744/R B/C133/C
X - No transponder
T - Transponder with no altitude encoding capability
U - ransponder with altitude encoding capability
D - DME, no transponder
B - DME, transponder with no altitude encoding capability
A - DME, transponder with altitude encoding capability
M - TACAN-only, no transponder
N - TACAN-only, transponder with no altitude encoding capability
P - TACAN-only, transponder with altitude encoding capability
C - RNAV, transponder with no altitude encoding capability
R - Required Navigational Performance. (Denotes capability to operate in RNP
designated airspace and routes.)
I - LORAN, VOR/DME, or INS, Transponder with Mode C
W - Reduced Vertical Separation Minima (RVSM)
G - GPS/GNSS equipped aircraft with en route, terminal, and GPS approach capable
Y - LORAN, VOR/DME, or INS with No Transponder
--> ADVANCED RNAV With Transponder and Mode C <--
E - FMS, with en route, terminal, and approach capability. Equipment
requirements are:
a) Dual FMS which meets the specifications of AC25-15, approval of Flight Management Systems in Transport Category Airplanes, AC20-129, Airworthiness Approval of Vertical Navigation (VNAV) Systems for use in the National Airspace Systems (NAS) and Alaska; AC20-130, Airworthiness Approval of Multi-Sensor Navigation Systems for use in National Airspace System (NAS) and Alaska; or Equivalent criteria as approved by Flight Standards.
b) A flight director and autopilot control system capable of following the lateral and vertical FMS flight path.
c) At least dual inertial reference units (IRU's).
d) A database containing the waypoints and speed/altitude constraints for the route and/or procedure to be flown that is automatically loaded into the FMS flight plan.
e) An electronic map.
F - A single FMS with en route, terminal, and approach capability that meets the equipment requirements of E, a through d above.