DATALINK.

A CLEARANCE CAN BE DATALINKED UP TO THE ATCC INSTEAD OF VHF OR HF OR DISCREET FREQUENCY.

AM SUPPOSED TO KNOW HOW IT WORKS FROM SCHOOL. BUT HOW DO YOU DO IT?

IS IT THE SAME AS ACARS? IS THERE A SPECIFIC ACARS FREQ FOR YOUR CHOICE ATCC OF THE DAY (CLEARANCE)[color="#0000FF"][/color] I.E. SHANWICK..

UNDERSTAND DATALINK THROUGHOUT BULLIT O`ER POND, DUE NO RADAR AND LITTLE OR NO VHF, THEREBY ITS DATALINK OR HF.

SO DO YOU JUST TYPE IT ONTO YOUR MCDU OR OTHER FMS KEYBOARD AND ..SEND IT.
THEN WHEN LIGHTS LIGHT AND BELLS CHIME, THEY HAVE SENT YOU A RESPONSE - JUST LIKE ACARS?

IF SO, THEN ITS AN ACARS FREQ FOR COMPANY, ONE FOR ATCC, AND OTHER FREQS FOR OTHER AGENCIES LIKE..... ( I DUNNO, INTERNATIONAL AIRCRAFT TO SHORE RADIO TELEPHONE ACTIVATED BY ACARS USING -VOICE-?)

Here's my understanding of how it works here in the US.

Your dispatcher files your flight plan as he/she normally does. The flight plan is issued as a clearance and sent to the associated controlling facility for your departure airport. Some towers have a clearance delivery position, others issue clearances on ground control. About 30 minutes before your scheduled blockout time, that flight plan is sent, via ACARS, as a PDC, pre-departure clearance. The PDC has the clearance all spelled out for you.

If the PDC doesn't come across at the 30 minute mark, I send a very simple message, again via ACARS, to my dispatcher, that says "PDC". He/she will request that the PDC be sent by sending a message to the ATC facility involved.

In addition to the PDC´s as explained by Ranger another way to communicate through data link is CPDLC.
http://members.optusnet.com.au/~cjr/CPDLC.htm
CPDLC is a data link communication system allowing to send and receive clearances, request, position reports etc. from places where there is usually only HF communication. It´s a little bit like chatting with IM. In a not too distant future more and more CPDLC will be implemented at and around busy airports in order to combat frequency congestion.

And then there's AFIS (Automated Flight Information System). It's a service provided by AlliedSignal and works like ACARS and CPDLC and is used primarily by business aviation.

Wow, well, thank you guys. I`ve found the pretty buttons and lights and the CPDC pages, in case your interested, they uplink everything - including, cabin temp setting, packs position, EGTs, ff, you name it - if it ticks or blinks you send it, all on a page filling in boxes. spd, ht, time over EON over a wpt - - seems rather excessive - not only monitoring the flight but copying it ALL down and downlinking it. - its a loadda fun.

Then what does ARINC?

We had this before, check out some posts on a search, I think Arinc is a company which handles some or all of the datalinking processes notwithstanding inadvertant use of the English Language.