AIRMANSHIP. Click on ‘F5’ to start. AIRMANSHIP. Chapter 1 Air Traffic Control. Contents List. Click on a chapter. Chapter 2 Rules of the Air. exit. AIRMANSHIP. Chapter 1
AIRMANSHIP. Click on ‘F5’ to start. AIRMANSHIP. Chapter 1 Air Traffic Control. Contents List. Click on a chapter. Chapter 2 Rules of the Air. exit. AIRMANSHIP. Chapter 1 Air Traffic Control. Return to contents list. exit. Air Traffic Control.
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Chapter 1 Air Traffic Control.
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Chapter 2 Rules of the Air.
Air Traffic Control.
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The Air Traffic Control Tower houses the people who monitor aircraft on the ground and in the air in the vicinity of the airfield.
The Airfield Controller controls the movement of both vehicles and aircraft in the airfield’s ground manoeuvring area and aircraft in the circuit.
He (or she) works in a glass walled room at the top of the control tower.
Aircraft outside the circuit, but within the airfield’s area of responsibility are handled by the Approach Controller.
They work from radar screens and control aircraft departing and arriving, and those on instrument appoaches.
Other controllers responsible for the safety of aircraft flying between airfields are located at Air Traffic Control Centres (ATCC’s) or Air Traffic Control Radar Units (ATCRU’s).
Neither ATCC’s or ATCRU’s are necessarily located on airfields.
Busy training airfields often have a Runway Controller near the touchdown point. He will check that landing gear is down and look for fluid leaks on departing aircraft.
The runway controller works from a red and white chequered caravan similar to the one in the picture.
Good communication between airfield control towers, ATCC’s and ATCRU’s are vital.
All are liked by telephone landlines known as the Defence Fixed Telecommunication System (DFTS).
Helicopter landing areas are identified with a large letter ‘H’.
Stationary hazards on airfields are marked with a yellow three-sided solid mounted on a pole with a round base.
At airfields where taxiing on the grass is permitted, bad ground is identified by one of three methods:
A white canvas marker with a red band.
A yellow and black striped solid.
Yellow flags on light stakes.
RADAR, which stands for RAdio Detection And Ranging, is a system of locating aircraft by transmitting a pulse of electromagnetic energy and picking up the small ‘echo’ reflected back from the aircraft.
DRDF stands for ‘Digital Resolution Direction Finding’. As a radio transmission is received from an aircraft the direction from which the signal is received is displayed on a cathode ray tube. This is passed to the pilot as a course to steer for the airfield.
ILS stands for Instrument Landing System. Fixed transmitters on the airfield send out signals which define a ‘pathway’ for the aircraft to follow.
The ILS signals enable the pilot to fly down the beam until touchdown without assistance from the controller.
Precision Approach Radar (PAR) gives the approach controller a radar picture of the aircraft on final approach. From this information he gives instructions to the pilot to fly the correct glideslope and runway centre line until touchdown.
For obvious reasons this procedure is called a Ground Controlled Approach (GCA).
Large airfields have ‘zones’ where air traffic is strictly controlled. These air traffic control zones are linked by aerial pathways called ‘airways’.
Airways are between 10 and 20 nautical miles wide.
The centre of the airways are marked by navigational beacons so that aircraft can route along them accurately.
The requirements for using an airway are:
1. The pilot must have a valid instrument rating.
2. The aircraft is fitted with appropriate radio and navigational equipment.
3. The flight is made in accordance with the rules.
Radio contact with the appropriate Air Traffic Control Centre (ATCC) must be made before joining or crossing an airway.
If the base of an airway is above ground level it is permissible to fly underneath it.
Alternatively, a pilot may fly through under radar control from the appropriate ATC Radar Unit (ATCRU).
Rules of the Air.
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There are four main types of aircraft:
Powered Conventional Aircraft.
Balloons cannot be steered.
They cannot be manoeuvred to avoid a collision.
Allother types of aircraft must give way to them.
Gliders are fairly maneuverable but:
their airspeed is low and they do not have engines.
Gliders have the right of way over powered aircraft and airships.
Airships are slow but maneuverable.
They have the benefit of engines to help them climb.
Airships must give way to both gliders and balloons.
Conventional powered aircraft are by far the most maneuverable.
They must give way to balloons, gliders and airs