Use of 123.45 MHz by General Aviation Pilots

No, its not OK to use 123.45 MHz for General Aviation radio communications. This frequency is dedicated to Aeronautical Flight Testing andits use is officially “coordinated” by AFTRCC for specific companies orindividuals exclusively for this purpose. 

Commonly referred to as“fingers,” 123.45 MHz used to be allocated for general aviation plane-to-plane communications, but in 2008 the FAA officially re-allocated this frequency. (See 6050.32B)

Note that pilots can still use 123.45 outside of the US National Air Space(footnote 1), but the only frequency allocated specifically for informally chatting between fixed wing airplanes in the US is 122.75 (see 47 CFR 87.187(j)).

Please help us spread the word by sharing this information with your fellow pilots so you don’t inadvertently find yourself interfering with flight test communications. 

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 (1) International Allocation (ICAO Annex 10, Volume V, Section4.1.3.2.1)