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Greg B - 903254

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Posts posted by Greg B - 903254

    Flying regional IFR with CTR coverage

    in Pilot Training

    Posted

    Hi All,

    There is hope that we will one day use voice CTAF as a matter of course but for now VATSIM have decreed that 122.8 is the frequency you are required to monitor.  VATPAC has discussed bringing back local policies for the use of Voice CTAF but at this stage is not officially pursuing it.

    This is exactly the sort of thing that you could ask about at the upcoming town hall meeting.

    • Thanks 1

    Procedural Airport Practice

    in Pilot Training

    Posted

    On 5/1/2020 at 4:12 PM, Mark Osborne said:

    Thanks Greg,

    In the case of Sunshine Coast the routing is Bickl and then SU.  For the initial contact, can I say direct bickel instead of a radial?

    Thanks

    Mark

    It's just telling the guy where you are really, if he needs you to be more specific he'll ask.  But tracking an airway, course or radial is more descriptive than just "direct BICKL", "inbound to BICKL" because it also tells the controller which way you are going.  Direct to BICKL or inbound to BICKL from where?  You could be inbound to BICKL from LAVEG.  As Bill said though, generally the controller will figure it out if you just tell him where you are.

    a8dc46f4d4.png 

     

    Even with the airway and BICKL you can easily see what radial you are on, in this case the 100 radial.  Calling up to say you are at BICKL tells the controller where you are now, but the inbound track/radial is important for the controller to know where you are going to be next.  In most cases he'll assume you are inbound to the field but you know what happens when we assume.

    • Like 1

    Procedural Airport Practice

    in Pilot Training

    Posted

    Hi Mark,

    As you say, not sure how much is out there apart from the VATPAC tutorials on the site.  A number of video tutorials have been discussed in the past but the technical aspects, together with the lack of usage you mention have always been difficult.

    Phraseology:
    The phraseology isn't as important and knowing what information you need to pass.  Remember that the TWR controller owns much more airspace and connot use radar(or ADS-B) to provide spearation from other traffic.  They must use other techniques based on where you tell them you are.  When handed off from a CTR controller the following generally applies:

    • Who are you,
    • Where are you,
    • What altitude are you at,
    • What are you intending to do.

    So something like "Albury Tower, ABC, Inbound the 230 Albury radial, 30DME, descending 9000, received Alpha." Note you can use GPS distance if you don't have DME, this is phrased 30 miles GPS.

    If you don't know what radial you are on you can use your course (usually the reciprocal of the radial), so for the above it would be "Alburty Tower, ABC, IFR Dash8 inbound course 050, 30DME descend 9000, received Alpha."

    Why this information?  The controller needs to use your inbound course/radial and your DME (distance) to use tricky maths to keep you apart from other traffic.  At the end of the day, if you miss something the controller needs, he'll ask for it.

    Programming the FMC:

    Well depends on the FMC but generallyyou want to set the initial approach fix to a "hard alt".  When you first load the approach, the IAF might have 180/3000A as the assigned speed/altitude.  If you don't have any other restrictions all this is telling your aircraft is to be ABOVE 3000 at this point.  It doesn't care if this means it'll cross the fix at 9000ft.  By setting it to 180/3000 (no A), it tells to FMC you want to be AT 3000ft at that fix.

    How important is "track miles":

    Only really important for your descent planning.  Generally you want to descend at about 10,000ft per 30nm.  So if you are 30,000ft above the airport, you want to start your descent with at least 90 track miles to go.  Most people will add 10nm to this for comfort.

     

    • Like 3

    Airspace Splits for Oceanic Sectors/Events

    in General Staff Forum

    Posted

    Hi All,

    Firstly congratulations to all involved in what was an amazing ANZAC event.

    One thing I noticed is that when we hold an event such as this, the poor oceanic controller spends so much time receiving positions reports, they have no time to actualy analyse their content and provide separation.

    I think it would be a good idea in future to split the controlling duties by airway, thus cutting the workload in half.  The sector splits in the Tasman would not have helped yesterday based on geography but it wouldn't hurt to use two subsectors and move the boundary to between say the N774 and L521 airways.

    Just food for thought.  

    • Thanks 2

    Aircraft Equipment Codes - What to file

    in Pilot Training

    Posted

    Hi Quigs,

    In a real life ICAO flight plan of course you list whatever codes indicate the equipment on board.

    VATSIM clients are currently setup to only accept one character and are based on the FAA codes that Callum posted above.  Occasionally I see a hotshot pilot filing all those Field 10a codes in their VATSIM flightplan and it just breaks the system. Generally you can find the FAA code based on the best capability of the aircraft.  The example above would definitely be a /L but of course as @Brett Cummings says, that doesn't show up as RVSM.

    It's actually a little bit laughable that this fairly simple change has never been implemented.

    Automated Sector File Updates

    in Controller Clients

    Posted

    Hi Peter,

    Sorry I typed this out yesterday but it didn't post.  Also sorry if it's explained somewhere.

    - Where does it install?
    - How do I remove it should I wish to?
    - If it's not constantly running a background process or service, what changes does it make to my computer to set up this automated process?
    - If I can remember to update my sector files just fine on my own, what process does VATPAC recommend using to perform this update myself?

    Aircraft Equipment Codes - What to file

    in Pilot Training

    Posted

    Quote

    I've seen others use a work-around of setting the aircraft code to 'Q' (which is an old RNP w/ RVSM code I think). Is this something that is allowed as a standard practice?

    Hi Brett,

    You can but some pilots get touchy about having their flight plan altered in this way.  I just assume everyone is RVSM these days.

    Aircraft Equipment Codes - What to file

    in Pilot Training

    Posted

    Hi Russel,

    I don't know what @Callum Strawbridge was trying to achieve when he posted the above since there is no information given in that table that explains what equipment code to use to ensure the controller can see you in an ADS-B environment.

    The problem with the FAA codes is that they also pre-date ADS-B!  They've been sort of hacked to give us the result we want.

    At the end of the day there are also some settings within Euroscope that can be configured to detect ADS-B.  In general, if you pick /G, or /L you are safe... although some controllers may have other codes configured as ADS-B as well.

     

    Reporting Vacated Runway question

    in Pilot Training

    Posted

    Correct.

    If TWR and GND is online:

    - Domestic:  Switch to ground and request taxi.
    - International:  Tower will generally give an instruction to contact GND but they won't care if you've already switched and are clearly vacated.

    If only TWR or APP:
    - Report clear on whatever frequency is providing the top-down coverage.

    Online it can be a little more difficult to see that an aircraft has vacated.  We often don't have a 360deg view out the window, so a courtesy call is often given, especially when you're reporting to APP or CTR (as they will have their view significantly zoomed out).

    A final note.  Vacated means you are off the runway have are past the hold short line or runway gables.  Not... we are turning towards the taxiway now.

    • Thanks 1

    "Report your estimate for...."

    in Pilot Training

    Posted

    Hello fellow simmers!

    A common thing I hear online is when a controller asks for an estimate for a waypoint, or destination, a pilot responds with confusion or just the incorrect information.

    What is the controller asking for?
    The controller wants to know the estimated time you expect to be at the place they nominate.  This is most commonly a waypoint along your route, or your destination.

    Why is the controller asking for this information?
    There are a couple of reasons or scenarios where the controller needs this information.
    1. They may wish to establish a time-based separation standard from another aircraft.
    2. They may need to pass traffic information to you or another aircraft that includes a time estimate. 
    The need for this is often based on how much time elapses between two aircraft arriving or passing over at the same place.

    How do I respond?
    The controller wants to know a zulu time, not a distance or time to run.  You estimate needs to be accurate to within +/-2min but remember it's an estimate, don't get stressed out by calculating it exactly.  To respond to this request you may need more information from your equipment or time to calculate your answer.  If so, don't be afraid to say "stand by" while you work it out.

    There are a couple of ways to work this out depending on your equipment:
    - GA aircraft with no GPS:  This is the simplest form of estimate and a couple of things are on your side.  The distance to the requested waypoint is likely to be short, and your airspeed is likely to be slow.  A typical GA aircraft cruises at less than 120kts groundspeed but 120 can be used as a nice guide to work out that you are travelling at 2nm per minute (120kts/60min=2).  If you estimate that you are 10nm from the requested point, you are 5 minutes out (10nm/2nm per minute).  Add 5min to the current zulu time and you have your estimate.
    - Default Aircraft with Default GPS:  The default GPS in most sims is fairly simplistic and won't give you estimated times of arrival at fixes along your route.  It will however give you enroute time to your current waypoint.  Often this will be the one the controller wants so you can just add that time to the current zulu time and you have your answer.  If not, you can at the very least use the same process as above even for a fast jet.  If you are travelling at 420kts GS, you are travelling at 7nm/min.  So divide the distance to run to the waypoint by 7 and you have how many minutes it will take.  Add this to the current zulu time and report your estimate.
    - Payware aircraft with FMS or payware GPS:  These usually have your entire flightplan listed in the computer.  It's just a matter of finding the information (either in the FMS or sometimes there's a button to display this info on the navigation display) and pass it on to the controller.

    One IMPORTANT point!  Make sure you know the current Zulu/UTC time or at least set your sim time to the same "minutes" as current UTC time.  If you use Windows, you can set an additional clock in the Taskbar for UTC, just hover over the clock and a popup will tell you the current times for all the clocks you have set.  This ensures part of the information is available as all times.

    Summary:
    - It's an estimated time of arrival, not a distance or a time to run.
    - It's estimated, don't worry about being exact.  Within a couple of minutes is fine.
    - Make sure you fly real time or at least are aware of what the real zulu time is.
    - If you need time to work it out, ask the controller to stand by.

    • Like 10

    Beginner Simmer - have a few questions

    in General

    Posted

    Hi Harry,

    I'd go for the logetech (old saitek) ones but I'm biased as that's what I have.  Two reasons, as you say the config and setup will be easier with one brand and the other reason is they are set further apart which I think gives a more realistic feel.

     

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