01OCT21 | FIFO Friday - Top End

Name: 01OCT21 | FIFO Friday - Top End
Start: 2021-10-01T07:00:00+0000
End: 2021-10-01T10:00:00+0000
Location: VATSIM Australia Pacific - VATPAC

01 October 2021, 07:00 AM 10:00 AM

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Event created by Paris I - 1352160

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Welcome to the stunning Northern Territory! Watch the endless seas of red surround you as you cruise above some of Australia's most sacred lands; or explore the tropical coast and find yourself amongst the palm trees. Either way, the NT has many FIFO routes for you to explore. Here FIFO flights help to not only to carry miners into the rich interior of the territory, but also to provide essential services to the indigenous communities throughout it.

Join us on October 1st as we bring these FIFO routes into the world of flight sim and attempt to staff up the Top End. We aim to have full coverage of Darwin, as well as enroute services covering the entire region between 0700z-1000z (5pm-8pm AEST : 3pm-6pm AWST). So watch out for crocs and get ready for this month's edition of FIFO Friday!

Routes:

The below map highlights some of the routes available in the region:

With ATC aiming to cover the entire region, pilots are free to fly in whichever direction and between whichever airports they choose. For the more popular airport pairs, we recommend the following routings:

YPDN - YPTN:
DN J251 TN

YPDN - YGTE:
DN W473 GTE

YPDN - YMGD:
DN W364 MGD

YPDN - YMGB:
DN W364 YMGB

YPDN - YELD:
DN W364 YELD

YPDN - YPGV:
DN J151 GV

YPTN - YTNK:
TN J30 TNK

Remember that routes not listed here can be found using the VATPAC ATC Assist tool.

Special Procedures:

The Top End is home to a whole array of magnificent regional airfields for you to explore. Being too small for full control services, OCTA services will be provided by enroute controllers to assist you. Below is a guide to help you with these services:

Departure:

Taxi Call:
The taxi call informs ATC of your intentions and that you are taxiing at your respective airfield. In response, centre will provide you with a traffic statement and a squawk code.
Example:
SKP71: "Brisbane Centre, IFR Dash 8, SKYTRANS 71 taxies runway 14 at Pormpuraaw for Cairns"
BN-ARA_CTR: "SKYTRANS78, no reported IFR traffic, squawk 4782"
SKP71: "Squawk 4782, SKYTRANS 71"

Departure Call:
Once you have departed, the departure call allows ATC to identify you and to provide you with your airways clearance to your destination.
Example:
SKP71: "Centre, SKYTRANS 71 departure"
BN-ARA_CTR: "SKYTRANS 71, centre"
SKP71: "SKYTRANS 71 departed Pormpuraaw at time 49, tracking direct MASHA, passing 4500 for FL190, estimating MASHA at time :02"
BN-ARA_CTR: "SKYTRANS 71, cleared to Cairns via MASHA flight planned route, climb FL190"
SKP71: "Cleared to Cairns via MASHA flight planned route, climbing to FL190, SKYTRANS 71"

Arrival:

Descent:
As you approach your destination, the centre controller will advise you that you are cleared to leave controlled airspace on your descent. They will provide you with a clearance, traffic statement, and the local QNH.
Example:
BN-ARA_CTR: SKYRANS 53, leave control area descending, no reported IFR traffic, area QNH 1015"

Termination of SARWATCH:
Once you have arrived at your destination, inform centre that you have landed and expect them to respond with a termination of your SARWATCH.
Example:
SKP53: "Centre, SKYTRANS 53 landed Aurukun, time 38; cancel SARWATCH"
BN-ARA_CTR: "SKYTRANS 53, Aurukun SARWATCH terminated, time 38"

Communication with Other Aircraft:
When you are not in communication with the overlying enroute controller, you must announce you intentions on the published CTAF frequency, as well as monitoring UNICOM on 122.800.
For more information, see here:
https://vatpac.org/help/tutorials/ctaf-unicom-and-vhf2-monitoring/

ATC:

During FIFO Friday, ATC positions are rostered. The below list indicates the positions which will be available for booking during this event:

Identifier	Radio Callsign	Frequency
DN_GND	Darwin Ground	121.800
DN_TWR	Darwin Tower	133.100
DN_APP	Darwin Approach	134.100

BN-TRT_CTR	Brisbane Centre	133.200