When are Approach plates flown in real life - or Vatsim

[CraigC 0]

Yes Martin, I think I was saying that indirectly, but that is certainly a valid point. I know that they are not going to repair the NDB at my local airport anymore because they have an ILS, and just approved two new GPS approaches which now gives us 3 of those and a total of 5 (including the NDB approach). I have heard many times that the cost of maintaining VORs and NDBs is quite expensive, and of course I think everyone has heard that they will all be phased out over time and we will completely rely on GPS navigation. GPS is the governments baby though, and if for whatever reason they ever decide to pull the plug on the GPS satellites, its gone.Your last statement about GPS approaches with vertical navigation is definitely true. The two new GPS approaches we have at IKV offer VNAV, but they only get you down 20 feet lower. The examiner I go to for my checkrides flies a Beechjet and has VNAV in that aircraft and says its a great thing to have, but right now you cant really use it anywhere. I look forward to all of the advantages GPS has to offer, but Im not really all for everyone filing GPS direct as I have seen mentioned in some articles. I would rather see prefered routes you must take, or just keep the victor airways in place even if we dont keep VORs around.Craig

[Guest]

>RIGHT! -- I think I might have some misunderstandings as to >just what say an approach or tower ATC position actually >does . >>So - I have obtained IFR clearance before departing and am >approaching Hicksville . If it was untowered , I would >announce my intentions and fly the published (say VOR >approach) -- if it was towered , what would the tower >controller do/say after I contacted them ? >>Flying the aircraft in the Fsim is the easy part -- trying >to get some understanding of just what happens in real life >is, I find, the hard part!! :) >>Thanks >>Barry BarryIn this case you had contact with ATC on departure and would have followed a flight plan, which you filed before departing and had been approved. If "Hicksville" has a tower, after the previous ATC handed you over to the tower, you would change to the TWR frequency make contact (where you are, callsign, etc) and follow their instructions to land. The trick is to get as much information on your "Hicksville" as possible so you are familiar with instructions that the TWR will give you. Simply put,Approach will handle aircraft for a much greater distance & altitude than Tower. If you were in contact with Approach they would hand you to the Tower after they (approach) vectored you in to close proximity to the field. It works in reverse when you depart. If you are flying in Australia you should get a copy of the ERSA (Enroute Supplement) which will give much information about places like your "Hicksville" & others.

[Guest skylanepilot]

RIGHT! -- I think I might have some misunderstandings as to just what say an approach or tower ATC position actually does.The tower is responsible for the airspace immediately surrounding the airport. This is usually about 5 miles and up to 2500' AGL. Their main responsibilitiy is the sequencing of airplanes on takeoff and landing. Approach and departure controllers are the next guys in line to handle your airplane. Not all airports have approach and departure services. Often it is a larger airport in the area that has responsibility for approach services to the surrounding airports.Finally there's the center - or enroute - controllers. These guys also provide approach services for more remote locations where a dedicated approach control isn't warranted.On a typical flight the tower clears you for takeoff. When you fly into the soup (or about 1000' AGL on a clear day) you'll get handed off to departure control. Departure will get you out of the terminal area - usually about 30-40 miles from a large airport - and then hand you off to center. Reverse the process on the way in.Approach control will sequence you toward your destination and eventually clear you to execute an approach. When you're established outside the final approach fix, you'll be handed off to the tower where you'll get clearance to land. Once you're safely on the ground, the tower will cancel your flight plan. Because the tower is there to insure you don't tangle with another plane, approach can clear the next guy for the approach while you're still on your way in (as long as proper separation is maintained).If you're conducting an approach to a non-towered airport, approach will ensure there's no other IFR aircraft in that airspace and then clear you for the approach. When you're outside the final approach fix, he'll tell you to switch to the local traffic frequency and tell you to report on the ground or report cancelling IFR. Until you either report on the ground, or cancel or report flying the missed approach that airspace is all yours ... no one else is allowed in or out.Normally if you break out at 700' or better and can see the airport and are reasonably sure you can land without getting back into the soup, you call the controller and cancel ... now it's up to you to avoid hitting something. If you break out at 200' on the ILS, you had better worry about landing the plane and call the controller once you're clear of the runway!!Hope this helps :-)

[Guest]

>In spite of the >fact you could see everyone else, ATC couldn't let us >maintain our own separation because we would then be VFR. They should have been able to give everybody a visual approach. "Follow the Cessna XXX" etc. It's still an IFR procedure.Mike