User:Ac001/Airport Tutorial

Flight College
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Work in progress

Airport Tutorial

• The map below shows the two parallel runways 09L/27R and 09R/27L at EGLL London Heathrow, a busy international airport. EGLL is the ICAO code for the airport.
  • The runways are not actually parallel, but are aligned 89.67/269.67 and 89.89/269.69, a 0.02 degree difference.
  • The north runway is 3,901m (12,799ft) long and the southern runway is 3,660m (12,008ft) in length.
  • The yellow squares are the location of the DME transmitters, around halfway down the runway and used for ILS landings from both ends.
• The LON VOR/DME transmitter is located around 1km north of the airport, in a field and well away from interference by high rise buildings, large metal objects, large glass panels and "radio reflective" objects.
• The orange denotes the "noise abatement" area that are to be avoided.
• The wind is blowing from the SW (blue arrows).
• There would be three ATC controllers for arrival, departure and ground control, coordinating the event sequence and utilising both runways often to max capacity.
• The current configuration is:
  • 27R preferred for landing - the northern runway with white arrival path lines
  • 27L preferred for takeoff - the southern runway with green departure path lines

Departures

• 27L is the designated and preferred runway for take off (green trails) and SIDs
• 27R is avoided as Cranford is a small village and an unwritten rule (Cranford Agreement). (However, on 15 January 2009, the Government announced that it was ending the Cranford Agreement as part of the controversial expansion of London Heathrow Airport.)
• 27L is preference for heavy aircraft, lighter aircraft would take off earlier on 27R and climb higher over Cranford and less noise.
• The purple line is a position roughly 1-2nm from LON VOR. An aircraft is expected climb straight and above 500ft before commencing a turn at this point.
• A red H denotes taxi/runway holding points, waiting to position on 27L ready for take-off.
• A purple H denotes taxi/runway holding points, waiting to position on 27R ready for take-off and are further away from the runway so as not to interfere with the ILS signal for landing aircraft.

Arrivals

• 27R is designated and preferred runway for landing and STARS
• There is a noise abatement area to the north (orange) and a public picnic park.
• The yellow circles at left end of runways represent the ILS transmitters at the end of the runway
• The yellow lines extending to the right of the runways are the approx extend of ILS "beam".
• The red T is the runway threshold and the aircraft needs to touch down at or after this point.
• Aircraft waiting to take-off on 27R need to hold hold further away (purple H) so as not to interfere the ILS beam.
• The purple lines show the "missed approach" point, around 2nm from the runway threshold.
  • The trail in red shows an aircraft that has executed a missed approach to 27R. It reached decision point and executed a Go Around by flying down the runway center line (to the left slightly) climbing to 3000ft and turning right around 1 LON dme.