--- title: "NCO.IDE.A.120 Operations under VFR – flight and navigational instruments and associated equipment — Part-NCO · Avioverse" description: "Aeroplanes operated under VFR by day shall be equipped with a means of measuring and displaying the following:" url: "https://avioverse.aero/regulations/easa/air-ops/part-nco/subpart-d/nco-ide-a-120" --- # NCO.IDE.A.120 Operations under VFR – flight and navigational instruments and associated equipment ANNEX VII (Part-NCO) · Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 · EAR revision 27 Mar 2026 IR Implementing rule ## NCO.IDE.A.120 Operations under VFR – flight and navigational instruments and associated equipment (a) Aeroplanes operated under VFR by day shall be equipped with a means of measuring and displaying the following: (1) magnetic heading; (2) time, in hours, minutes and seconds; (3) barometric altitude; (4) indicated airspeed; and (5) Mach number, whenever speed limitations are expressed in terms of Mach number. (b) Aeroplanes operated under visual meteorological conditions (VMC) at [night](https://avioverse.aero/glossary/easa/night), or in conditions where the [aeroplane](https://avioverse.aero/glossary/easa/aeroplane) cannot be maintained in a desired flight path without reference to one or more additional instruments, shall be, in addition to (a), equipped with: (1) a means of measuring and displaying the following: (i) turn and slip; (ii) attitude; (iii) vertical speed; and (iv) stabilised heading; and (2) a means of indicating when the supply of power to the gyroscopic instruments is not adequate. (c) Aeroplanes operated in conditions where they cannot be maintained in a desired flight path without reference to one or more additional instruments, shall be, in addition to (a) and (b), equipped with a means of preventing malfunction of the airspeed indicating system required in (a)(4) due to condensation or icing. IR · NCO.IDE.A.120 — Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 · Regulation (EU) 2019/1384 · Air OPS Easy Access Rules · EAR revision 27 Mar 2026 AMC Acceptable means of compliance ## AMC1 NCO.IDE.A.120\&NCO.IDE.A.125 Operations under VFR & operations under IFR – flight and navigational instruments and associated equipment INTEGRATED INSTRUMENTS (a) Individual equipment requirements may be met by combinations of instruments, by integrated flight systems or by a combination of parameters on electronic displays. The information so available to each required pilot should not be less than that required in the applicable operational requirements, and the equivalent safety of the installation should be approved during type certification of the [aeroplane](https://avioverse.aero/glossary/easa/aeroplane) for the intended type of operation. (b) The means of measuring and indicating turn and slip, aeroplane attitude and stabilised aeroplane heading may be met by combinations of instruments or by integrated flight director systems, provided that the safeguards against total failure, inherent in the three separate instruments, are retained. AMC · AMC1 NCO.IDE.A.120 — Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 · ED Decision 2014/016/R · Air OPS Easy Access Rules · EAR revision 27 Mar 2026 AMC Acceptable means of compliance ## AMC2 NCO.IDE.A.120 Operations under VFR – flight and navigational instruments and associated equipment LOCAL FLIGHTS For flights that do not exceed 60 minutes duration, that take off and land at the same aerodrome, and that remain within 50 NM of that aerodrome, an equivalent means of complying with NCO.IDE.A.120(b)(1)(i), (b)(1)(ii) may be: (a) a turn and slip indicator; (b) a turn co-ordinator; or (c) both an attitude indicator and a slip indicator. AMC · AMC2 NCO.IDE.A.120 — Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 · ED Decision 2014/016/R · Air OPS Easy Access Rules · EAR revision 27 Mar 2026 GM Guidance material ## GM1 NCO.IDE.A.120 Operations under VFR – flight and navigational instruments and associated equipment SLIP INDICATION Aeroplanes should be equipped with a means of measuring and displaying slip. GM · GM1 NCO.IDE.A.120 — Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 · ED Decision 2014/016/R · Air OPS Easy Access Rules · EAR revision 27 Mar 2026 AMC Acceptable means of compliance ## AMC1 NCO.IDE.A.120(a)(1)\&NCO.IDE.A.125(a)(1) Operations under VFR & operations under IFR – flight and navigational instruments and associated equipment MEANS OF MEASURING AND DISPLAYING MAGNETIC HEADING The means of measuring and displaying magnetic direction should be a magnetic compass or equivalent. AMC · AMC1 NCO.IDE.A.120(a)(1) — Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 · ED Decision 2014/016/R · Air OPS Easy Access Rules · EAR revision 27 Mar 2026 AMC Acceptable means of compliance ## AMC1 NCO.IDE.A.120(a)(2)\&NCO.IDE.A.125(a)(2) Operations under VFR & operations under IFR – flight and navigational instruments and associated equipment MEANS OF MEASURING AND DISPLAYING THE TIME A means of measuring and displaying the time in hours, minutes and seconds may be a wrist watch capable of the same functions. AMC · AMC1 NCO.IDE.A.120(a)(2) — Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 · ED Decision 2014/016/R · Air OPS Easy Access Rules · EAR revision 27 Mar 2026 AMC Acceptable means of compliance ## AMC1 NCO.IDE.A.120(a)(3)\&NCO.IDE.A.125(a)(3) Operations under VFR operations & operations under IFR – flight and navigational instruments and associated equipment CALIBRATION OF THE MEANS OF MEASURING AND DISPLAYING PRESSURE ALTITUDE The instrument measuring and displaying barometric altitude should be of a sensitive type calibrated in feet (ft), with a sub-scale setting, calibrated in hectopascals/millibars, adjustable for any barometric pressure likely to be set during flight. AMC · AMC1 NCO.IDE.A.120(a)(3) — Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 · ED Decision 2019/019/R · Air OPS Easy Access Rules · EAR revision 27 Mar 2026 AMC Acceptable means of compliance ## AMC1 NCO.IDE.A.120(a)(4)\&NCO.IDE.A.125(a)(4) Operations under VFR & operations under IFR – flight and navigational instruments and associated equipment CALIBRATION OF THE INSTRUMENT INDICATING AIRSPEED (a) The instrument indicating airspeed should be calibrated in knots (kt). (b) In the case of aeroplanes with a maximum certified [take-off mass](https://avioverse.aero/glossary/easa/take-off-mass) (MCTOM) below 2 000 kg, calibration in kilometres per hour (kph) or in miles per hour (mph) is acceptable when such units are used in the AFM. AMC · AMC1 NCO.IDE.A.120(a)(4) — Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 · ED Decision 2015/004/R · Air OPS Easy Access Rules · EAR revision 27 Mar 2026 AMC Acceptable means of compliance ## AMC1 NCO.IDE.A.120(c)\&NCO.IDE.A.125(c) Operations under IFR — flight and navigational instruments and associated equipment MEANS OF PREVENTING MALFUNCTION DUE TO CONDENSATION OR ICING The means of preventing malfunction due to either condensation or icing of the airspeed indicating system should be a heated pitot tube or equivalent. AMC · AMC1 NCO.IDE.A.120(c) — Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 · ED Decision 2014/016/R · Air OPS Easy Access Rules · EAR revision 27 Mar 2026 [All rules in SUBPART D: INSTRUMENTS, DATA AND EQUIPMENT](https://avioverse.aero/regulations/easa/air-ops/part-nco/subpart-d) Consolidated from the EASA Easy Access Rules (revision 27 Mar 2026, extracted 13 Oct 2026) for convenience. Not the official publication — verify against the Official Journal of the European Union and the EASA publications before operational use.