International Site Code or HISC

ICAO style codes for private sites

Helipaddy gives all private off-airfield landing sites an 8-digit ICAO-style code.  This will help operators, software developers, emergency services and regulatory bodies.  Every recognised private landing site in the world (where there is owner engagement) is given a designated unique HISC in the following format:

RCNNNNnn

For example:

• EGVALEFM is Vale Farm in the ICAO region E (Northern Europe) and ICAO country G (Britain)
• KCVALEFM is Vale Farm in the state of Michigan, USA.  
• KCVALE01 is Vale Hotel, also in the USA

The nn is an optional number to cater for duplicates in the same location.

How HISC’s are allocated

The process of designation is semi-automatic.  Our system invites landing site owners to choose their own last 6 letters if they have not been already taken.  Helicopter landing site owners who would like to reserve their personal site code should use the HISC request button in their dashboard. In the meantime, Helipaddy will assign practical codes based on the landing site name where possible.

Using the HISC makes landings unambiguous for Operators and other users regardless of where they are in the world.  Establishments with multiple landing options (e.g. Cavens House) have two HISC’s.  The code is as good as a LatLong but we opted for an ICAO styling over Lat/Long, W3W, postcodes or Plus Codes.  Here is a comparison for Cavens:

• LatLong: 54.910562,-3.597062
• HISC: EGCAVENS
• Plus code: 9C6RWC63+65
• W3W: positives.flukes.mental

The code is designed with 6 letters for the site name part which makes it compatible with Garmin avionics.  It will be displayed in the Helipaddy App for pilots and in the Helipaddy Owner Dashboard for site owners.  Helipaddy still support postcodes in the App using various worldwide formats, however the HISC has greater precision and an avionics-friendly format.

Why HISC matters

ICAO-like unique code

All airfields have an ICAO code which makes it easy for members of the avionics industry to identify them. Until now, such an identifier has not existed for private landing sites. Because Helipaddy has an unambiguous definition of landing sites, it makes it possible to generate unique site indentifiers.

For example, “The Red Lion” landing site exists in multiple locations. However, the identifier EGREDLNH specifically refers to the Red Lion in Hornchurch. REDLNH is easy to remember and store, and is unique in the EG region.

Avoids Lat/Long

Lat/long has a fundamental problem in that it is not unique. Clicking on a single helipad could yield dozens of slightly different lat/long pairs. To compound the matter, Lat/Long exists in 3 different formats and none of them are standard (d, d.ms, d.m.s).

What3words is no better with a single helipad or landing area yielding multiple results.

Ensures privacy for owners

Some owners would like to keep their landing location out of the pubic eye for obvious reasons. Landing site details are only available to registered app users (mainly pilots and operators) and not spread on the internet. That goes for the HISC code, too. However, the HISC code doesn’t have a public look up, only an API for landing site data providers eg border agencies, flight plans, flight log books etc.