Yesterday we just ran more scenarios both on the north and south sides. We did have one scenario that was just north for both of us (separately) that was just arrivals into Academy. Almost all of the arrivals were coming from the northwest, and then you'd get three or four arrivals coming directly from the east that you had to work into the sequence. Speed control was the key here, and you had to be careful not to run your downwind out too far (which if you didn't use speed control correctly, it was pretty easy to get a long downwind).
Today the scenarios definitely got a little busier. I've found that the north scenarios seem to be a little bit more hectic compared to south. This morning I think I was just out of it so I had one really bad run where things were just all over the place on north. After lunch I got a handle on things though. We had one scenario with an emergency (which we haven't worked any emergencies before), and we just had to vector him straight to Academy and land him as soon as possible. My partner and I also ran the arrivals scenario again (the one where we were both north separately) and I did much better with my speed control today and working those east arrivals into my sequence.
I met my facility manager from Denver today, and I was surprised to see him behind my partner and I during our second to last scenario of the day when we were finishing up. Turns out he had been watching it the entire time. As far as I can remember, I did pretty well, so hopefully he wasn't like, "Whoa, we don't want her working triple simultaneous approaches into Denver and level 11 traffic..."
Tomorrow is our 40% skill check which we take right after lunch. Supposedly the traffic will be less than what we've been dealing with on some of our busier scenarios. The skill check evaluations will be sent to our individual facilities. Our facilities also get the results of our 70% skill check, our RTF PV that we have on the last day of class, our radar qualification exam, our two RTF block test exams, and our ITR exams.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Monday, February 25, 2008
Day 11 of RTF
Today the scenarios picked up speed a little bit, but things still weren't too difficult. There's not much to say about the scenarios in general because I can't describe them in full detail, so I'll go over a few things that you'll find in the scenarios we run.
As a north controller you're likely to see:
As a north controller you're likely to see:
- Arrivals into Academy - You'll have to scan south's airspace too to plan a sequence that works for both your Academy arrivals and their arrivals. You call up south and say something like, "South, North, sequence." They come back, "South." You'll say, "One slot behind Delta 58, M.N." And then they'll give their initials. Try to stay ahead of the game and give them slots so that they don't have to call you up asking for them.
- Arrivals into Bartles - These will come from the northeast (in which case you drop them to 3000 before they hit the Bartles shelf and vector them across the top of your scope to land at Bartles), or they come from the northwest (which they're given to you at 4000 here and are already on a runway heading so you can pretty much just clear them for the approach once they get closer to the airport). There will also be one or two Bartles arrivals in each scenario which come up from the south (the south controller will vector them around the outer 15 mile ring and then hand them off to you). You'll just vector these north and then towards the airport. You might also get a VFR pop-up going to Bartles by way of James.
- Arrivals into James - These will also come from either the northeast or northwest. You can vector them straight in for the full approach or you can give them vectors.
- Point outs to South - You may get an aircraft going out the Noble gate or Shawn gate that is climbing to 12,000, so it's easier to hand them off to Center. Since they'll be clipping South's airspace you have to do a point out on each one.
- Hand offs to South - If an aircraft is going out the Noble gate at 8,000 or something other than the high altitude (12,000), then you can just hand them off to South and transfer their communications.
- APREQs - You may get some Jeske arrivals coming down from the northwest at 10,000. They're on a heading direct to Jeske Tacan originally. By SOPs, you're supposed to drop them to 6,000 and keep them in the outer 15 mile ring. However, it may be easier to just keep them at 10,000 and keep them direct Jeske Tacan. This requires an APREQ.
- Overflights - There will be a few overflights going to OKC or MKC, etc. who you'll just let fly through your airspace. When they get towards the limits of your airspace you'll just hand them off.
- Departures off of Bartles - Airplanes will call up requesting release. Make sure you don't release them if you've got a plane that will be landing soon at Bartles.
- Departures off of James - Same thing, except McAlester FSS will be the one requesting the release.
- Departures off of Academy - Most of your departures will be going out of the Colin gate or the Mayes gate. You'll just climb them to their requested altitude and turn them towards that direction. Some airplanes you have to wait to turn until they're out of 3,000 though (for noise abatement), and you may also need to scan the area to make sure you won't have a conflict from climbing them into someone else.
- Arrivals into Academy - You'll have to either be given slots from the north controller or you'll have to request them. Be prepared to change up whatever sequence you may have had in mind if North doesn't want you to have that slot you thought you'd get. Speed control is your friend.
- Arrivals into Jeske - These will be coming up from the southwest of will be given to you by the North controller from the northwest. Drop them to about 6,000, once they're within 15 miles of Jeske call them inbound, drop them to 3,000 once they get closer, and then vector them and clear them to land.
- Arrivals into Bartles - You'll usually get one that comes up from the southeast wanting to go to Bartles. Keep him in the outer 15 mile ring and keep him at 6,000 and then hand him off to North once he gets farther north.
- Point outs to North - You may get some departures off of Jeske that are going out the Colin gate at 12,000, so you'll want to hand these off to Center and just point them out to North. There may also be some departures wanting to go out the Mayes gate, so they'd be a point out too.
- Hand offs to North - Typical hand offs that you may have to do.
- Overflights - There will be a few overflights who you'll just let fly through your airspace. You'll just hand them off once they get towards the limits of your airspace.
- Departures off of Jeske - These will be going out any of the four departure gates. Not too difficult. You may have to throw in a point out or hand off with one of the planes if they're headed out the Colin or Mayes gate.
- Departures off of Academy - Most of your departures will be going out of the Shawn or Noble gate. You'll just climb them to their requested altitude and turn them towards that direction. Some airplanes you have to wait to turn until they're out of 3,000 though (for noise abatement), and you may also need to scan the area to make sure you won't have a conflict from climbing them into someone else. One thing to look out for is the planes going out the Shawn gate. You'll get something like a Skyhawk coming off going out the Shawn gate at 8,000. Your first thought is to climb him up and turn him left to get out the gate. But if you do that then you're screwed when a jet comes off requesting the Shawn gate too, and now you've just turned the Skyhawk into his flight path. Operational error, anyone? Solution is to wait to turn the Skyhawk until he gets about 6 miles further south. That way you'll still have separation when the jet comes off.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Day 10 of RTF (first day of labs!)
On Friday we moved into our new classroom so that the new RTF class that was starting could take over our old one. We'll be in the ACD labs full time now. We skipped over lab orientation since we already knew how to set up the scopes and everything and at 0730 we moved right into the pre-test. It was pretty simple and nothing to worry about. Each person was watched by one instructor each and the instructor marked points off for each mistake you made. However, your name doesn't go on the evaluation sheet. This same scenario is given as a post-test at the end of RTF and it's just used as a tool to see how the instructors do to improve the students' skills.
Oh, and we are the most totally awesome class ever by the way. Supposedly we were the first class ever to not have anyone at all vector the overflight. About halfway through the problem comes this aircraft going to OKC, and there's usually at least one person who sends them to Academy and clears them to land there only to issue the approach clearance and get the response, "Uh, we didn't request a landing at Academy..." The other RTF class who parallels ours had a few people who did it, but ours did not. We thought that Dave (our instructor from ITR) was going to follow through on the bet he made with us, but apparently he chickened out. Supposedly he makes the same bet with every RTF class he has: if no one vectors the overflight then he'll shave his head. However, he pulled some B.S. that the bet included all 24 RTF students who ran the problem that morning (our class and the other parallel class), even though he never said that as part of the bet to begin with. Oh well. Points still to all of us. :)
We ran three different scenarios after the pre-test. Each scenario lasts about 40 minutes and then we get about a 15 minute break in between each one. We're paired up in twos, and one person works the south sector and one works the north sector. They typically try to pair up each group by skill level. Each person also has one instructor who constantly watches over your scenarios. You'll get to work with two instructors total, because for your pair you'll have one instructor to watch over the north sector and one to watch over the south sector. After one run on each scenario, you swap with your partner to get a chance to run the opposite sector.
We ran one scenario that was just arrivals, one that was just departures, and one that was both arrivals and departures. All in all it wasn't very difficult. They keep the traffic count low to start you off so that you can get the hang of things. The only thing that took a little getting used to was the sequencing on final into Academy. The north controller has control of all sequencing, so as a south controller you have to wait until you are given a slot, or you have to request one if they don't call you up in time. You often have to re-sequence things, because you may not always get the slot you were expecting.
Oh, and we are the most totally awesome class ever by the way. Supposedly we were the first class ever to not have anyone at all vector the overflight. About halfway through the problem comes this aircraft going to OKC, and there's usually at least one person who sends them to Academy and clears them to land there only to issue the approach clearance and get the response, "Uh, we didn't request a landing at Academy..." The other RTF class who parallels ours had a few people who did it, but ours did not. We thought that Dave (our instructor from ITR) was going to follow through on the bet he made with us, but apparently he chickened out. Supposedly he makes the same bet with every RTF class he has: if no one vectors the overflight then he'll shave his head. However, he pulled some B.S. that the bet included all 24 RTF students who ran the problem that morning (our class and the other parallel class), even though he never said that as part of the bet to begin with. Oh well. Points still to all of us. :)
We ran three different scenarios after the pre-test. Each scenario lasts about 40 minutes and then we get about a 15 minute break in between each one. We're paired up in twos, and one person works the south sector and one works the north sector. They typically try to pair up each group by skill level. Each person also has one instructor who constantly watches over your scenarios. You'll get to work with two instructors total, because for your pair you'll have one instructor to watch over the north sector and one to watch over the south sector. After one run on each scenario, you swap with your partner to get a chance to run the opposite sector.
We ran one scenario that was just arrivals, one that was just departures, and one that was both arrivals and departures. All in all it wasn't very difficult. They keep the traffic count low to start you off so that you can get the hang of things. The only thing that took a little getting used to was the sequencing on final into Academy. The north controller has control of all sequencing, so as a south controller you have to wait until you are given a slot, or you have to request one if they don't call you up in time. You often have to re-sequence things, because you may not always get the slot you were expecting.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Day 9 of RTF (last day of classroom work!)
Today we spent the entire day running part-task scenarios. It really made the day pass quickly and it was a lot of fun. We ran seven different scenarios lasting about 40 minutes each. There were ghost pilots for all of us this time, so we all worked as controllers the entire day. We had use of the ACD lab after lunch time, so we alternated out half in the lab and half in the classroom so that we could use that.
The scenarios alternated between working as north or south controller and they were all pretty similar. Working the north scenarios there were arrivals and departures into and off of Academy, Bartles, and James, along with some overflights and VFR pop-ups thrown in. The south scenarios were similar with some overflights, and had arrivals and departures into and off of Academy and Jeske. I think all of us did pretty well and by the end of the day we had the procedures and phraseology down for the most part.
Tomorrow we start in the ACD labs full time. Only 9 days left of class!
The scenarios alternated between working as north or south controller and they were all pretty similar. Working the north scenarios there were arrivals and departures into and off of Academy, Bartles, and James, along with some overflights and VFR pop-ups thrown in. The south scenarios were similar with some overflights, and had arrivals and departures into and off of Academy and Jeske. I think all of us did pretty well and by the end of the day we had the procedures and phraseology down for the most part.
Tomorrow we start in the ACD labs full time. Only 9 days left of class!
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Day 7 and 8 of RTF
On Monday we covered additional services, radar services to VFR aircraft, and visual approaches. The section on additional services covered the duty priorities of controllers, traffic advisories, the traffic alert and collision avoidance system, weather and chaff information, and bird activity. Radar services to VFR aircraft covered the approach sequence, control transfer, termination of service, terminal radar service areas, and class B and C service. The section on visual approaches covered vectors for a visual approach, clearance for a visual approach, visual approaches to multiple runways, and contact approaches.
Today we started our last lecture section: emergencies and unusual situations. This covered emergency situations (distress and urgency situations), controller responsibilities, ELT signal assistance, emergency beacon codes, radar assistance techniques, aircraft bomb threats, no radio procedures, primary and secondary radar failure, and fuel dumping. After we were done with this section we had a review for our second block test, in the style of "Who Wants to Be a Controller?" We got through the review and the test pretty quickly and then we had a similar review for our radar qualification exam. This one was a 50 question test and it was still pretty easy, and we took it just before lunch. We were originally supposed to take it tomorrow, but Elizabeth let us get it out of the way so that from tomorrow on out all we have are scenarios to run.
After lunch we ran scenarios through the end of the day. There was one that had arrivals to James and Bartles, and we had to get used to the phraseology for each type of arrival. We also had to remember the whole, "Report cancellation of IFR this frequency in the air or with McAlester radio on the ground. Change to advisory frequency approved." (That part was for arrivals into James.) Then we ran a scenario that added Academy arrivals along with the James and Bartles arrivals. That one was definitely a lot busier. There was also a scenario that was just Academy arrivals, but there were a ton of them. Speed adjustments were needed to work everyone in and you had to work them from both the north and the south side.
Tomorrow we run part-task scenarios all day but this time we get ghost pilots for the day so that all of us can be controllers at once. We may be able to use one of the labs tomorrow, but we don't know for sure yet. On Friday we officially start in the ACD labs, and we'll also have our pre-test. This is basically a scenario we run that we know nothing about and supposedly it's pretty busy. We're expected to do poorly on it, because we also run the same scenario on the very last day of class and it's supposed to show how well everyone has improved.
Today we started our last lecture section: emergencies and unusual situations. This covered emergency situations (distress and urgency situations), controller responsibilities, ELT signal assistance, emergency beacon codes, radar assistance techniques, aircraft bomb threats, no radio procedures, primary and secondary radar failure, and fuel dumping. After we were done with this section we had a review for our second block test, in the style of "Who Wants to Be a Controller?" We got through the review and the test pretty quickly and then we had a similar review for our radar qualification exam. This one was a 50 question test and it was still pretty easy, and we took it just before lunch. We were originally supposed to take it tomorrow, but Elizabeth let us get it out of the way so that from tomorrow on out all we have are scenarios to run.
After lunch we ran scenarios through the end of the day. There was one that had arrivals to James and Bartles, and we had to get used to the phraseology for each type of arrival. We also had to remember the whole, "Report cancellation of IFR this frequency in the air or with McAlester radio on the ground. Change to advisory frequency approved." (That part was for arrivals into James.) Then we ran a scenario that added Academy arrivals along with the James and Bartles arrivals. That one was definitely a lot busier. There was also a scenario that was just Academy arrivals, but there were a ton of them. Speed adjustments were needed to work everyone in and you had to work them from both the north and the south side.
Tomorrow we run part-task scenarios all day but this time we get ghost pilots for the day so that all of us can be controllers at once. We may be able to use one of the labs tomorrow, but we don't know for sure yet. On Friday we officially start in the ACD labs, and we'll also have our pre-test. This is basically a scenario we run that we know nothing about and supposedly it's pretty busy. We're expected to do poorly on it, because we also run the same scenario on the very last day of class and it's supposed to show how well everyone has improved.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Days 4-6 of RTF
On Wednesday of last week we covered vectoring and speed control. The vectoring section covered the proper phraseology to use to issue an aircraft a particular heading, to initiate a vector, and to resume particular procedures. We covered the traffic pattern headings for the airports in Academy airspace, and they'll be helpful to know for when we run approach scenarios. We ran a part-task scenario after this section, which was the vector maze I talked about in an earlier post.
The speed adjustment section covered phraseology for increasing and reducing speed, crossing restrictions with speed involved, and speed requirements for arrivals and departures in Academy airspace. The part-task scenario for this section had a bunch of arrivals coming into AAC, and we had to adjust their speeds to keep minimum separation on downwind and while landing.
On Thursday we covered the last section in our first RTF manual: altitude. This section covered MEAs, MOCAs, MVAs, the NEODD SWEVEN rule, and phraseology for assigning a particular altitude. We also reviewed altitude procedures for arrivals and departures in Academy airspace. The part-task scenario just involved changing altitudes on arrivals into Academy so that airplanes were properly separated.
After we finished the altitude lecture and part-task scenario we had our review for our first block test. We played "Who Wants to Be a Controller?" which was modeled off of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" (complete with the sound effects). It was a fun way to review and it covered everything we needed to know for the test.
After lunch we moved onto our second RTF manual. The first section covered departure procedures like SIDs, releases of IFR and VFR departures, and separation on departure and over obstructions. We ran two scenarios a few times to get the hang of departures. One was working as the north controller, and another was working as the south controller. We got the hang of having departures off of all four airports, and got to practice our phraseology for each situation.
On Friday we moved onto arrival and approach procedures. This covered approach clearances, vectors to final approach courses, GPS arrivals, practice instrument approaches, missed approaches, and VFR to IFR. This one was a pretty long section. The part-task scenario we ran covered approaches into all four airports, but we mostly had to be concerned with the headings from downwind to base to final, and we didn't give full clearances.
I headed out to Denver for the weekend since we had Monday off for President's Day. It was nice to get out of OKC and I managed to find a place to live for when I'm done with the Academy. I also discovered that working for the FAA has its advantages. The security lines at DEN on Monday afternoon were 30-45 minutes long and I started to wait in one when I heard one of the TSA people calling all military, clear card holders, first class passengers, etc., over to an expedited line. I asked her if I could get in that line instead if I was an FAA employee. She just had to take a look at my MMAC badge and I saved myself about half an hour of waiting. :) I'm sure this doesn't work every time, but it sure helped on that day.
The speed adjustment section covered phraseology for increasing and reducing speed, crossing restrictions with speed involved, and speed requirements for arrivals and departures in Academy airspace. The part-task scenario for this section had a bunch of arrivals coming into AAC, and we had to adjust their speeds to keep minimum separation on downwind and while landing.
On Thursday we covered the last section in our first RTF manual: altitude. This section covered MEAs, MOCAs, MVAs, the NEODD SWEVEN rule, and phraseology for assigning a particular altitude. We also reviewed altitude procedures for arrivals and departures in Academy airspace. The part-task scenario just involved changing altitudes on arrivals into Academy so that airplanes were properly separated.
After we finished the altitude lecture and part-task scenario we had our review for our first block test. We played "Who Wants to Be a Controller?" which was modeled off of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" (complete with the sound effects). It was a fun way to review and it covered everything we needed to know for the test.
After lunch we moved onto our second RTF manual. The first section covered departure procedures like SIDs, releases of IFR and VFR departures, and separation on departure and over obstructions. We ran two scenarios a few times to get the hang of departures. One was working as the north controller, and another was working as the south controller. We got the hang of having departures off of all four airports, and got to practice our phraseology for each situation.
On Friday we moved onto arrival and approach procedures. This covered approach clearances, vectors to final approach courses, GPS arrivals, practice instrument approaches, missed approaches, and VFR to IFR. This one was a pretty long section. The part-task scenario we ran covered approaches into all four airports, but we mostly had to be concerned with the headings from downwind to base to final, and we didn't give full clearances.
I headed out to Denver for the weekend since we had Monday off for President's Day. It was nice to get out of OKC and I managed to find a place to live for when I'm done with the Academy. I also discovered that working for the FAA has its advantages. The security lines at DEN on Monday afternoon were 30-45 minutes long and I started to wait in one when I heard one of the TSA people calling all military, clear card holders, first class passengers, etc., over to an expedited line. I asked her if I could get in that line instead if I was an FAA employee. She just had to take a look at my MMAC badge and I saved myself about half an hour of waiting. :) I'm sure this doesn't work every time, but it sure helped on that day.
Friday, February 15, 2008
Random note...
Hi everyone, just a quick random note... Sorry I haven't been as quick to update this blog as I have been previously. I was actually surprised that I was keeping up with it on a daily basis up until this point. Anyway, I've been a little sick the past few days and just wasn't in the mood to post, but I have been keeping notes and remembering what we've been doing in class. I'm flying out to Denver right after class tomorrow, so I'll be updating my blog on Monday night or Tuesday night when I get back. Wish me luck on finding a place to live in Denver! Plus, I get to go skiing this weekend, and getting out of OKC is always an added bonus. :)
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