Air Traffic Control (ATC)
What is a S.T.A.R.?
STAR stands for Standard Terminal Arrival Route and it is a published arrival procedure.
What does T.R.A.C.O.N. stand for and what is its function?
TRACON stands for Terminal Radar Approach Control facility. The Nation's busiest airports (Chicago O'Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth) have TRACONs (sometimes called radar rooms), which are staffed by air traffic controllers. The controllers use A.S.R. (Airport Surveillance Radar) to track departing and arriving aircraft. They use the radar to identify the aircraft, then to sequence and separate them from other aircraft in the terminal area.
What government agency is responsible for the United States Air Traffic Control System?
The F.A.A. (Federal Aviation Administration)
What is Class G airspace?
Uncontrolled airspace.
What does the VFR means?
VFR stands for Visual Flight Rules. It means that the Pilots are solely responsible for maintaining their own traffic separation from other aircraft. The ATC controllers are not held responsible, as they control IFR flights. In order to takeoff or land at an airport under VFR, the ceiling must be not less than 1000 feet with visibility not less than 3 statute miles. If the actual weather conditions are less than this, the field is considered to be under IFR conditions, and the pilot must be instrument rated in order to takeoff or land, or to request a special VFR clearance
Where are Victor Airways found?
Victor airways are low altitude IFR routes and they are found from 12000 feets AGL up to 17,999 feet.
What are the four main transponder codes?
7700 - Emergency 7500 - Hijack 7600 - Radio failure 1200 - VFR flight
Define and give an example of a Prohibited Area.
A Prohibited area is airspace in which flight is absolutely forbidden. It is possible to sometimes fly over it. Examples would be the White House, the Pentagon, and the U.S. Capitol building.
What is a Restricted Area?
A Restricted area is airspace where the United States military performs war games, dog fight training, etc. Sometimes it is possible to get permission from the controlling agency for that area to plan a flight through. It depends on whether the area is active or not. Specific information on a Restricted area can be found on the side-panel of the High Altitude IFR En-route charts.
What are a TFR?
A TFR (Temporary Flight Restrictions) is an Area of special security interest. A "Superbowl" will usually create a TFR. Washington DC and Camp David a regular TFR's, and are noted as such on VFR charts. You would check NOTAM's for any TFR.
What is a Warning Area?
A Warning area is found off shore in international waters. It is similar to a Restricted area because occasionally the United States military performs training in these areas. The F.A.A. has no control of these areas since they are in international waters. If a Warning area is NOTAM'D "hot" or "active", do not plan a flight through it. If you do, ATC will automatically re-route the flight around it.
What is a Transponder with Mode C?
A transponder is a "black box" found in the cockpit of an aircraft which helps to identify the aircraft to air traffic controllers. If an aircraft is equipped with a transponder, the flight will appear on the air traffic controller's radar screen as an alpha-numeric data block. This block contains specific information about a flight, such as the aircraft's flight number, route of flight, Altitude, and ground speed. It helps to positively identify the aircraft. Mode C (and mode S) is the altitude reporting capability of the transponder, and some older transponder (Mode A) did not have altitude reporting capability.
What is an A.D.I.Z.?
A.D.I.Z. stands for Air Defense Identification Zone and it is located around the border of the United States. The United States military positively identifies all aircraft crossing the border. All aircraft that penetrate the A.D.I.Z. must be on I.F.R. or D.V.F.R. flight plan, and cross within 5 minutes of the original flight plan E.T.A., and within 10 miles of their flight plan estimate over land and 20 miles over water.
What does A.R.T.C.C. stand for and what is its function?
A.R.T.C.C. stands for Air Route Traffic Control Center. There are 20 domestic centres in the United States. A.R.T.C.C.s use A.R.S.R. (Air Route Surveillance Radar) to track en-route aircraft. A.R.S.R. is a long range radar, capable of picking up aircraft out to 150-200 miles from the radar site. (There are 24 controlled by the US, 20 contiguous plus Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico, and Guam)
What does A.T.I.S. stand for and what is its function?
A.T.I.S. stands for Automated Terminal Information Service. Most A.T.C. towers have A.T.I.S. available to pilots. A.T.I.S. is a looped tape recording which contains information about the airport, such as the actual hourly weather sequence, active runways, active instrument approaches in use, and any other important information about the airport. Pilots tune in the A.T.I.S. frequency to obtain the latest information.
What is primary and secondary radar?
ATC controllers use both primary and secondary radar to identify aircraft. The primary radar paints an aircraft as a blip on the controller's radar scope. The secondary radar actually interrogates an aircraft's transponder, and shows the aircraft as an alpha-numeric data block on the controller's radar screen.
What is ATCSCC?
Air Traffic Control Systems Command Center located in Herndon, VA is the primary coordination point for all traffic issues.
What is an IFR clearance?
An IFR clearance is specific instructions from ATC as to the exact route of flight that is to be flown, the altitude, transponder code, and departure instructions for a flight. The clearance is read to the flight crew and verified prior to departure. Once the pilots accept the IFR clearance, they are expected to adhere to it, with absolutely no deviation during the flight, unless the clearance is amended by an ATC controller. Before departing on an IFR flight, the pilot or flight dispatcher must file an IFR flight plan with ARTCC at least 30 minutes prior to departure.
What is class A airspace and where is it located?
Class A airspace is found from FL180 - FL600. In order to fly in Class A airspace, a flight must be on an IFR flight plan.
What is class B airspace and what are the requirements to fly there?
Class B airspace is located around the nation's busiest airport (Chicago O'Hare, Dallas/ Fort Worth) which have Terminal Radar Approah Control facilities (TRACONs) and generally goes from the surface to 10,000 feet. In order to fly in Class B airspace, you must have two-way radio communications, a transponder with Mode C (or S), A.T.C. clearance and a private pilot license.
What is class C airspace and what are the requirements to fly there?
Class C airspace is found around medium busy airports in the United States (Albuquerque, New Orleans, Portland OR) that have Terminal Radar Approach Control facilities (TRACONs) and goes from the surface to 4000 feet. The requirements to fly in Class C airspace are two-way radio communications, and a transponder with Mode C.
What is class D airspace and what are the requirements to fly there?
Class D airspace is found around smaller American airports which have an operating air traffic Control tower. It goes from surface to 2500 feet above the airport. The only requirement to fly in Class D airspace is two-way radio communications.
What is Class E airspace?
Class E airspace is another controlled airspace, which is not otherwise, classified as Class A, B, C, or D airspace.
What is clearance delivery?
Clearance delivery is the position in the ATC control tower which reads the IFR clearances to the pilots when requested to do so.
What are the two types of NOTAMs?
D-Distant: items relating to safety, closed runways, ILS out of service, VOR out of service, etc. FDC- Flight data center, changes to publications, approach plates, charts, etc
What is a DP?
DP stands for Departure Procedure
What is the function of ground control?
Ground control is a position in the ATC tower which controls and separates all aircraft which are taxiing around an airport.
Ground stop
Issued by ATC.
Where is Jet Routes and Q Routes found?
Jet routes are high altitude IFR routes and they are located at FL180-FL450
If DFW airport would temporary close down several runways, what type of NOTAM would be issued?
NOTAM D