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m (Added handoff phraseology) |
(Departure clearance) |
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Line 25: | Line 25: | ||
| xxxx_GN | | xxxx_GN | ||
| Ground | | Ground | ||
| Controls the movement of aircraft on the ground at an airport (stands, apron, taxiways). Issues taxi clearances, assisting pilots if needed. | | Controls the movement of aircraft on the ground at an airport (stands, apron, taxiways). Issues taxi clearances, assisting pilots if needed. Controls the ''inactive'' runways, but does not control the ''active'' ones; thus, a pilot generally needs to contact Tower to enter or cross them (at some fields, Ground coordinates with Tower and is able to issue runway crossing clearances). | ||
|- | |- | ||
| xxxx_TW | | xxxx_TW | ||
Line 45: | Line 45: | ||
The "xxxx" in the table replace a code used to identify the area that controller is using; these are known as ''ICAO codes'' and can be found on the [http://www.airport-technology.com/icao-codes/ Airport Codes list]. For example, London Gatwick is "EGKK" so a Gatwick Tower Controller would log-in as ''EGKK_TW''. | The "xxxx" in the table replace a code used to identify the area that controller is using; these are known as ''ICAO codes'' and can be found on the [http://www.airport-technology.com/icao-codes/ Airport Codes list]. For example, London Gatwick is "EGKK" so a Gatwick Tower Controller would log-in as ''EGKK_TW''. | ||
At large airports, multiple controllers may man the same positions. | |||
Center controllers also have ICAO identifiers, but they are not for one airport, but for a larger area. For example, ''LFFF_CT'' is France Center, and ''LFFF_FS'' is the France Flight Service Station. | Center controllers also have ICAO identifiers, but they are not for one airport, but for a larger area. For example, ''LFFF_CT'' is France Center, and ''LFFF_FS'' is the France Flight Service Station. | ||
Line 68: | Line 70: | ||
! scope="col"| Chart type | ! scope="col"| Chart type | ||
! scope="col"| Description | ! scope="col"| Description | ||
|- | |||
| Airport information | |||
| Describes the characteristics of the airport and provides a list of radio frequencies. | |||
|- | |- | ||
| Ground (aerodrome chart/airport diagram) | | Ground (aerodrome chart/airport diagram) | ||
Line 81: | Line 86: | ||
== Phraseology == | == Phraseology == | ||
=== A sample IFR flight === | === A sample IFR flight === | ||
We will teach the phraseology through an IFR sample flight from LEBL (Barcelona) to EDDF (Frankfurt am Main). For simplicity, we assume that all controller positions (delivery, ground, tower, approach/departure and center) are manned. | We will teach the phraseology through an IFR sample flight from LEBL (Barcelona) to EDDF (Frankfurt am Main). For simplicity, we assume that all controller positions (delivery, ground, tower, approach/departure and center) are manned; also, we assume our callsign is ''BAW1542'' (to be read as ''Speedbird 1542''). | ||
==== Planning the flight ==== | ==== Planning the flight ==== | ||
{{Main article|Flight planning}} | {{Main article|Flight planning}} | ||
It's a good practice to file a flight plan on [http://flightgear-atc.alwaysdata.net/ Lenny's website] so that the controllers will be able to know your departure/destination airports, cruising altitude and route without asking you about that every time. | It's a good practice to file a flight plan on [http://flightgear-atc.alwaysdata.net/ Lenny's website] so that the controllers will be able to know your departure/destination airports, cruising altitude and route without asking you about that every time. | ||
Follow the instructions | Follow the instructions on the [[Flight planning]] article to file a flightplan from LEBL to EDDF with a cruising altitude of FL250. | ||
==== Getting the departure clearance ==== | ==== Getting the departure clearance ==== | ||
We start on the airport apron at terminal T1. | We start on the airport apron at terminal T1, stand 246. | ||
The first thing we need to do is to check the current air pressure and which runway is being used; as a general rule, planes should be heading into the wind for takeoff and landing. To accomplish this, we need to listen to the ''ATIS'' (Automatic Terminal Information Service), a prerecorded message describing weather information, the runways in use and other important information for pilots and transmitted continuously on a dedicated radio channel. The frequency to use is written in the Airport information chart and can also be found by clicking on ''AI -> ATC Services in Range -> LEBL'': in our case, it's 121.970 MHz. | |||
We open the Radio panel, set the COM1 frequency to 121.97 and listen to the ATIS message: | |||
* '''LEBL ATIS:''' ''This is El Prat information Alpha. Landing runway 25R. Departure runway 25L. Transition level 50. Wind 200 degrees, 10 knots. Visibility 10 km or more, few 2500 feet. Temperature 22, dewpoint 10. QNH 1018. No significant change. On initial contact advise controller you have information Alpha.'' | |||
This tells us that: | |||
# We're going to depart from runway 25L. | |||
# We need to set the altimeter to 1018 hPa<ref>European airports generally use hPa (hectopascals) for the QNH while American ones use inHg (inches of mercury). Some airplanes allow you to enter QNH values using both units; if that is not the case, you will need to use a converter.</ref> and set it back to standard pressure (STD) at the transition level (FL050, or 5000 feet). | |||
# Every ATIS broadcast is identified by a progressive letter of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO_phonetic_alphabet NATO phonetic alphabet]; we'll need to tell the delivery controller that we have information "Alpha" so that (s)he can checkwhether we have the latest information or not. | |||
We now get the clearance (authorization to fly to a destination airport) from the delivery controller. The process is as follows. | |||
# We get the Delivery frequency from the Airport information chart or the ATC Services in Range window (in this case, the frequency is 121.800 MHz) and tune COM1 to it (or connect on Mumble and joining the delivery channel). | |||
# We contact the controller and ask for the clearance. (It is the pilot who needs to initiate contact with ATC, not the opposite). ''Tip: note down the clearance on a piece of paper as it's difficult (and risky) to memorize it.'' | |||
# The Delivery controller gives us the clearance including: | |||
#* our callsign; | |||
#* whether we've got the latest ("current") ATIS information or not; | |||
#* our destination airport; | |||
#* the departure SID/waypoints; | |||
#* the route we'll need to follow (if it is not mentioned, we'll follow the route we wrote in our flight plan); | |||
#* the initial and cruising altitude; | |||
#* the squawk ([[transponder]]) code we'll need to set. | |||
# We read back (repeat) the clearance to confirm we understood it correctly. | |||
# The controller corrects any mistakes we've made and then hands us off to the Ground controller. | |||
* '''BAW1542:''' El Prat Delivery, this is Speedbird one five four two at stand two four six, requesting delivery to Frankfurt, flight level two five zero, we have information Alpha. | |||
* '''El Prat Delivery:''' Speedbird one five four two, Alpha is current, cleared to Frankfurt via OKABI3W, initial altitude five hundred feet, squawk four zero zero zero. | |||
* '''BAW1542:''' Cleared to Frankfurt via OKABI3W, initial altitude five hundred feet, expect flight level 250 after ten minutes, squawk four zero zero zero, Speedbird one five four two. | |||
* '''El Prat Delivery:''' Speedbird one five four two, readback correct, contact El Prat Ground Center on one two one decimal six five zero. | |||
* '''BAW1542:''' Contact El Prat Ground Center on one two one decimal six five zero, Speedbird one five four two. | |||
The controller asked us to follow the OKABI3W SID after departure - get the SID charts, find it and look at the chart or read the text route descriptions. In this case, the SID prescribes pilots to climb to 500 ft, turn left to intercept radial 199 PRA and be at least at 2500 ft at 8 NM from PRA; intercept radial 287 VNV and pass VNV at 5000 ft; turn right to KARDO, pass KARDO at FL120 and proceed direct OKABI. If you've got the Level-D files from [http://www.navigraph.com/ Navigraph], select the SID in the [[Route Manager]] dialog for the route to be automatically entered; otherwise, use the Route Manager to input the VORs and waypoints manually. | |||
We also set the transponder code and switch the transponder to Ground mode (if the aircraft we're using supports this functionality). | |||
==== Starting up and pushing back ==== | ==== Starting up and pushing back ==== | ||
==== Taxiing to the runway ==== | ==== Taxiing to the runway ==== | ||
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== Lesson 3 == | == Lesson 3 == | ||
'''B-ELIO: B-ELIO requests start-up and push-back.''' | '''B-ELIO: B-ELIO requests start-up and push-back.''' | ||
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