Enjoy your turkey!
Till next time...
DM
November 26, 2008
Gobble Gobble
For those of you, like me, working in the high-speed aluminum tubing industry, lets be thankful that we are able to serve the flying public when they need us the most. For those of you getting the weekend off....
Enjoy your turkey!
Till next time...
DM
Enjoy your turkey!
Till next time...
DM
November 16, 2008
Change is Coming!!!!
This upcoming week is chock full of exciting changes to the NAS. Novemeber 20th is the date most charts and procedures get updated, and there are some impressive new charts out there fresh off the presses.
There are THREE new runways opening at major airports around the country. Seattle's third parallel (16R/34L) is still too close to the other two to allow dual instrument approaches, and I'm not sure how it will affect visual approaches and departure flows. Washington/Dulles' fourth runway (1L/19R) will enable triple approaches to the north or south, and should reduce the miles-in-trail spacing we give to New York Center, if not eliminate it. Lastly and not leastly, Chicago Ohare opens their 7th runway (9L/27R). They can now land three side by side to the east or west. Due to their new airspace reconfiguration associated with the extra runway, they are decommissioning their brand new SAYRS arrival procedure and implementing the even newer PAITN arrival. All the aircraft that depart Boston Center to Chicago will be assigned this new procedure. As far as I am concerned, only the name of arrival has changed. Chicago is in the midst of a massive, well-publicized, extreme airport makeover. It'll be exciting to see what new projects are next on their list.
Not all the news is runway related, however. Area A and B, here in Boston Center, have been preparing for the biggest military airspace change in decades. The Adirondack Airspace Complex has been in the works for a while, but only recently revealed to the public. As controllers, we have had the new airspace map on display in the area for the last month and a half, and two weeks ago we all attended an hour long briefing about what each airspace block would be used for and how to clear military aircraft into them. I have been doing my best to memorize the new names, altitude limits, and combinations of each that the military will use for each training mission. Until they start using it, though, its hard to grasp how it will impact the operation. One apparent snafu is that half of this new airspace complex is on the Montreal Sectional chart, which won't be updated with the new airspace until early next year sometime. The New York Sectional will be updated the on the 20th, so pilots planning their VFR flight through the area will put the two charts together and see different, and out of date, military airspace as they cross the line onto the Montreal chart. The FAA claims that they are sending out notices to pilots about this, and hopefully all affected pilots will receive and understand said notices. Even though this is all new, we're still expected to make it all work without error or incident.
Until next time.... Stay away from upstate NY!
DM
There are THREE new runways opening at major airports around the country. Seattle's third parallel (16R/34L) is still too close to the other two to allow dual instrument approaches, and I'm not sure how it will affect visual approaches and departure flows. Washington/Dulles' fourth runway (1L/19R) will enable triple approaches to the north or south, and should reduce the miles-in-trail spacing we give to New York Center, if not eliminate it. Lastly and not leastly, Chicago Ohare opens their 7th runway (9L/27R). They can now land three side by side to the east or west. Due to their new airspace reconfiguration associated with the extra runway, they are decommissioning their brand new SAYRS arrival procedure and implementing the even newer PAITN arrival. All the aircraft that depart Boston Center to Chicago will be assigned this new procedure. As far as I am concerned, only the name of arrival has changed. Chicago is in the midst of a massive, well-publicized, extreme airport makeover. It'll be exciting to see what new projects are next on their list.
Not all the news is runway related, however. Area A and B, here in Boston Center, have been preparing for the biggest military airspace change in decades. The Adirondack Airspace Complex has been in the works for a while, but only recently revealed to the public. As controllers, we have had the new airspace map on display in the area for the last month and a half, and two weeks ago we all attended an hour long briefing about what each airspace block would be used for and how to clear military aircraft into them. I have been doing my best to memorize the new names, altitude limits, and combinations of each that the military will use for each training mission. Until they start using it, though, its hard to grasp how it will impact the operation. One apparent snafu is that half of this new airspace complex is on the Montreal Sectional chart, which won't be updated with the new airspace until early next year sometime. The New York Sectional will be updated the on the 20th, so pilots planning their VFR flight through the area will put the two charts together and see different, and out of date, military airspace as they cross the line onto the Montreal chart. The FAA claims that they are sending out notices to pilots about this, and hopefully all affected pilots will receive and understand said notices. Even though this is all new, we're still expected to make it all work without error or incident.
Until next time.... Stay away from upstate NY!
DM
November 7, 2008
Fam-in' on Flightsim
For better or for worse, I'm an information whore. I'm religiously curious. One of the many joys in life is the realization that I will never run out of things to know or learn. As I learn about the air traffic control system, I never seem satisfied with the Boston Center Area A specific perspective.
I have about 80 hours flying C172s and PA28s. I flew most of that time either out of Centennial, CO (APA) or Grand Forks, ND (GFK). Obviously, being an air traffic controller and being a pilot are two different trades that are interwoven within themselves. We get memos from management telling us not to give unrealistic crossing restrictions to aircraft, and then rely on the restriction being met to maintain separation. Well, if staring at a screen with yellow data blocks floating around is all I have to base my judgment on, I'm not going to be very successful at adhering to the memo, or ensuring separation.
As a center controller, I don't work many Skyhawks and Warriors, and rarely do I work them IFR. My previous real world flying experience isn't doing me much good. I had some roommates in college who were studying for various pilot ratings, and I have picked up a good portion of my IFR flight operations knowledge from helping them study for tests. Over the years, I've also had a few opportunities to fly fancy flight simulators at big airline flight training facilities. These exciting moments were few and far between. Not willing to settle for the basic skills and knowledge required to be a half-decent controller, where on earth can I find some additional tidbits to quench my need to know? The FAA no longer encourages familiarization trips to other facilities or flying in the cockpit of airliners. The latter has been shut down after 9/11. We rarely give tours at the Center, although they will be approved if you know who to ask (and you're a pilot...).
I've been playing flightsim since my dad got our first computer in the last 1980's. Flightsim 3 I believe it was. I learned using the keypad to control the plane on the black and orange screen, and boy was I hooked. Granted, at the time, I could have sworn I wanted to be an airline pilot when I grew up. As flightsim matured, so did my aviation knowledge base. In the past few years, I've invested in a few add-on aircraft for FS2004. These aircraft have extremely realistic system's modeled, including autopilots and flight management computers. I enjoy flying around the VIRTUAL earth like I'm a full fledged captain of an airline, just like I dreamed of doing when I was 9 years old playing FS3. My endless need for information has helped me procure help in flying these fake planes in a very realistic manner. This has led to a pleasant side effect...
I have gained experience in regards to the operational characteristics and procedures of the aircraft that I work everyday. I've learned different aspects of airline operations from different sources at different airlines, but together, I can piece together a pretty good picture of what's going on on the flightdeck as planes scream through my sector. Just as a controller can be much busier than might be obvious from the transmissions on the frequency, the same goes for pilots. As a result, I tend to be less impatient with pilots, although perhaps more concerned at certain times. I realize that some things I say may be confusing, or overwhelming, or could be misconstrued.
For example, "Cross one zero miles south of Delancey at FL190". "Roger, cross ten on this side at FL190" "Negative, its ten on the other side at FL190". "Roger center, thanks, we can make that one." Understanding how the pilots are entering the restriction into their computers help me clarify the clearance next time. They enter the fix (DNY) followed by either a -10 or +10 to tell the computer to create a new location along their flight path 10 miles from DNY and then FL190 is entered into the vertical profile to tell the plane when and how quickly to descend to meet that restriction. So next time "Cross one zero miles south, that's ten on the other side of DNY at FL190" "Roger, ten south at 190". They can read it back correctly AND enter it into their computer correctly. Now they won't hurt themselves.
I also understand how autopilots are used in climb and descent modes. Aircraft climb at a set thrust setting, and the pitch attitude and rate of climb is dependent on maintaining a predetermined speed. Increasing speed requires the nose to be lowered thus decreasing climb rate. In descent, aircraft tend to descend either in vertical speed mode at 1000 feet per minute, or in a reverse climb mode. They set a speed, set thrust to idle and maintain the speed with pitch. Asking a plane to slow down in this configuration would require flatting out the descent so the speed can bleed off, or use of spoilers, or both. Neither are very effective in short time. I do my best to assign the slowest required speed prior to issuing descents and restrictions. If I have more spacing than I thought, I can always assign a faster speed, which may result in a higher rate of descent (not a bad thing when descending quickly to make a restriction anyway).
When flying on flightsim, among many other details, I also pay attention to the correlation between indicated airspeed and Mach number at different cruise altitudes. That's something I can't do in a Skyhawk!
Till next time....
DM <-- The nerd :)
I have about 80 hours flying C172s and PA28s. I flew most of that time either out of Centennial, CO (APA) or Grand Forks, ND (GFK). Obviously, being an air traffic controller and being a pilot are two different trades that are interwoven within themselves. We get memos from management telling us not to give unrealistic crossing restrictions to aircraft, and then rely on the restriction being met to maintain separation. Well, if staring at a screen with yellow data blocks floating around is all I have to base my judgment on, I'm not going to be very successful at adhering to the memo, or ensuring separation.
As a center controller, I don't work many Skyhawks and Warriors, and rarely do I work them IFR. My previous real world flying experience isn't doing me much good. I had some roommates in college who were studying for various pilot ratings, and I have picked up a good portion of my IFR flight operations knowledge from helping them study for tests. Over the years, I've also had a few opportunities to fly fancy flight simulators at big airline flight training facilities. These exciting moments were few and far between. Not willing to settle for the basic skills and knowledge required to be a half-decent controller, where on earth can I find some additional tidbits to quench my need to know? The FAA no longer encourages familiarization trips to other facilities or flying in the cockpit of airliners. The latter has been shut down after 9/11. We rarely give tours at the Center, although they will be approved if you know who to ask (and you're a pilot...).
I've been playing flightsim since my dad got our first computer in the last 1980's. Flightsim 3 I believe it was. I learned using the keypad to control the plane on the black and orange screen, and boy was I hooked. Granted, at the time, I could have sworn I wanted to be an airline pilot when I grew up. As flightsim matured, so did my aviation knowledge base. In the past few years, I've invested in a few add-on aircraft for FS2004. These aircraft have extremely realistic system's modeled, including autopilots and flight management computers. I enjoy flying around the VIRTUAL earth like I'm a full fledged captain of an airline, just like I dreamed of doing when I was 9 years old playing FS3. My endless need for information has helped me procure help in flying these fake planes in a very realistic manner. This has led to a pleasant side effect...
I have gained experience in regards to the operational characteristics and procedures of the aircraft that I work everyday. I've learned different aspects of airline operations from different sources at different airlines, but together, I can piece together a pretty good picture of what's going on on the flightdeck as planes scream through my sector. Just as a controller can be much busier than might be obvious from the transmissions on the frequency, the same goes for pilots. As a result, I tend to be less impatient with pilots, although perhaps more concerned at certain times. I realize that some things I say may be confusing, or overwhelming, or could be misconstrued.
For example, "Cross one zero miles south of Delancey at FL190". "Roger, cross ten on this side at FL190" "Negative, its ten on the other side at FL190". "Roger center, thanks, we can make that one." Understanding how the pilots are entering the restriction into their computers help me clarify the clearance next time. They enter the fix (DNY) followed by either a -10 or +10 to tell the computer to create a new location along their flight path 10 miles from DNY and then FL190 is entered into the vertical profile to tell the plane when and how quickly to descend to meet that restriction. So next time "Cross one zero miles south, that's ten on the other side of DNY at FL190" "Roger, ten south at 190". They can read it back correctly AND enter it into their computer correctly. Now they won't hurt themselves.
I also understand how autopilots are used in climb and descent modes. Aircraft climb at a set thrust setting, and the pitch attitude and rate of climb is dependent on maintaining a predetermined speed. Increasing speed requires the nose to be lowered thus decreasing climb rate. In descent, aircraft tend to descend either in vertical speed mode at 1000 feet per minute, or in a reverse climb mode. They set a speed, set thrust to idle and maintain the speed with pitch. Asking a plane to slow down in this configuration would require flatting out the descent so the speed can bleed off, or use of spoilers, or both. Neither are very effective in short time. I do my best to assign the slowest required speed prior to issuing descents and restrictions. If I have more spacing than I thought, I can always assign a faster speed, which may result in a higher rate of descent (not a bad thing when descending quickly to make a restriction anyway).
When flying on flightsim, among many other details, I also pay attention to the correlation between indicated airspeed and Mach number at different cruise altitudes. That's something I can't do in a Skyhawk!
Till next time....
DM <-- The nerd :)
October 26, 2008
Buckle up!
Now that summer has come and gone, the traffic has slacked a little, and the lack of thunderstorms makes everyone's life easier. Its amazing what we can do as air traffic controllers when we can use our entire sector, we can count on aircraft hardly straying from thier route of flight, and storms aren't randomly shutting down high-demand airports. It's fun running planes close together, knowing its smooth and clear out there.
Just when we're all settled in and comfy with our fall traffic flows, the wind picks up, the big cold fronts roll in, and once again, we're reminded just how crummy the weather can be, even if it doesn't involve convection. I think bad ride days take more of a phyical and mental toll on me more than tons of planes deviating around weather. It feels that way, at least, now that we've been thunderstorm free for a month or so.
It all started last Sunday morning. Normally Sunday mornings are slow as slow can be. A few VFR's here and there, a few departures early in the morning, and then we just take breaks until about 11am when the traffic picks up a little and the international arrivals come in through Albany sector. Even so, its still not weekday traffic by any means. I've even gotten through it without a D-side once or twice.
The winds over upstate NY and northern VT and NH were lightly blowing out of the north. This light breeze then got caught up in a blast of air flowing northeastbound over CT, RI, and out over the Gulf of Maine. This air speeding up and making a hard left turn at Harford meant only one thing...Severe turbulence. The worst of it was between FL230-270, with slightly less horrible Moderate turbulence above. Planes will fly through almost anything, but not severe turbulence. Severe turbulence hurts things: planes and people. So, pilots avoid it like the plague. Many of the departures from Boston and around New England that normally climb through that area above Albany sector declined any higher altitudes until they where really, really, really certain they'd stay out of the bumps.
So, there I was sitting at Albany sector, taking handoffs on the line of Newark arrivals, a Stewart lander, two Albany departures, two Manchester arrivals, a Bradley prop arrival, a Teterboro arrival, two Providence arrivals and an MD80 going BOS-Dallas at FL200. In trail of the Dallas jet was a Toronto arrival also at FL200. The Manchester and Providence arrivals are fine, they just descend to FL190 and are handed off to the BOSOX sector in Area C. They do interrupt a few times, asking about that severe stuff over CT they're heading towards. "You should be below it," I offer, and they seem relieved by my answer.
Getting the Stewart arrival below the Teteboro arrival who goes below all the Newark arrivals so I can get the Albany departures above them all is the normal task of this sector anyways. Its those two pesky overflights at FL200, cutting right through every one trying to go from FL240 to 12000, 14000, and 16000 respectively, that is forcing me to issue twice as many clerances as normal. The Albany departures get stopped at FL190 below the overflights until I can vector them out from under. Each arrival gets FL210 initially and I go over the top. Just then a Bradely jet arrival approaches from the west, descending out of FL260 to FL180 but aimed right at my two Albany arrivals climbing. I start the BDL prop arrival down to 13000 right away, and give him a little shortcut to go behind the two overflights. I ask my D-side to call Delancey, who is giving me the Bradely jet, and stop that plane at FL230. I put the two departures on a southwest heading and climb them to FL220. A second Bradley jet flashes to me next, and my D-side and I opt to go UNDER the departures with that one. I turn the Stewart arrival on the parallel heading between the Albany departures and the Newark/Teteboro flow. I get a quick two seconds between listening for a clearance readback and my next transmission to bask in the beauty of 4 parallel streams of descending and climbing traffic heading southwestbound.
As the arrivals clear the aforementioned overflights, I push them down under the second Bradley. One of the Newarks is still high, so I turn him south a little to give the Newark a few more miles to descend. My second Albany departure is climbing slow and might not clear either the Bradley or the Newark, so I turn him eastbound to give him a few more miles to clear, and then a LaGuardia arrival comes in from above. I have to get the LGA arrival "swapped out" below the second departure who is going to JFK. My D-side calls the high sector and gets control for me to turn the LGA arrival eastbound. That ALB-JFK flight is above his traffic now, turning south, and then I push the LGA down over the first BDL who is now descending out of FL230 for FL180. I managed through, and curse the bad rides in the high sectors.
Since then, the rides have just been bumpy. Nothing severe since, but its just been miserable flying. Today's dayshift saw lots of heavy precipitation, spurring icing conditions and very choppy rides. A few aricraft deviated around some of the heaviest rain, but it was all very random. I kept planes as far apart as I could, to allow them to slow down, speed up, descend at thier leisure, and devate around cells that looked unpleasant. There was no way out of it, and smooth rides where hard to come by. Even if the traffic is relatively slow, as a controller I am constantly asking planes how thier rides are, relaying previous reports, and making suggestions based on my overal feel for how things are developing. The pilots just can't get enough pilot reports and they always want to look for the greener grass at some other altitude. And God help you if you get ONE good altitude that is smooth. Every single airplane in your sector will want it. But they can't have it. Not if you want everyone to live.
Off to work the midnight shift....
DM
Just when we're all settled in and comfy with our fall traffic flows, the wind picks up, the big cold fronts roll in, and once again, we're reminded just how crummy the weather can be, even if it doesn't involve convection. I think bad ride days take more of a phyical and mental toll on me more than tons of planes deviating around weather. It feels that way, at least, now that we've been thunderstorm free for a month or so.
It all started last Sunday morning. Normally Sunday mornings are slow as slow can be. A few VFR's here and there, a few departures early in the morning, and then we just take breaks until about 11am when the traffic picks up a little and the international arrivals come in through Albany sector. Even so, its still not weekday traffic by any means. I've even gotten through it without a D-side once or twice.
The winds over upstate NY and northern VT and NH were lightly blowing out of the north. This light breeze then got caught up in a blast of air flowing northeastbound over CT, RI, and out over the Gulf of Maine. This air speeding up and making a hard left turn at Harford meant only one thing...Severe turbulence. The worst of it was between FL230-270, with slightly less horrible Moderate turbulence above. Planes will fly through almost anything, but not severe turbulence. Severe turbulence hurts things: planes and people. So, pilots avoid it like the plague. Many of the departures from Boston and around New England that normally climb through that area above Albany sector declined any higher altitudes until they where really, really, really certain they'd stay out of the bumps.
So, there I was sitting at Albany sector, taking handoffs on the line of Newark arrivals, a Stewart lander, two Albany departures, two Manchester arrivals, a Bradley prop arrival, a Teterboro arrival, two Providence arrivals and an MD80 going BOS-Dallas at FL200. In trail of the Dallas jet was a Toronto arrival also at FL200. The Manchester and Providence arrivals are fine, they just descend to FL190 and are handed off to the BOSOX sector in Area C. They do interrupt a few times, asking about that severe stuff over CT they're heading towards. "You should be below it," I offer, and they seem relieved by my answer.
Getting the Stewart arrival below the Teteboro arrival who goes below all the Newark arrivals so I can get the Albany departures above them all is the normal task of this sector anyways. Its those two pesky overflights at FL200, cutting right through every one trying to go from FL240 to 12000, 14000, and 16000 respectively, that is forcing me to issue twice as many clerances as normal. The Albany departures get stopped at FL190 below the overflights until I can vector them out from under. Each arrival gets FL210 initially and I go over the top. Just then a Bradely jet arrival approaches from the west, descending out of FL260 to FL180 but aimed right at my two Albany arrivals climbing. I start the BDL prop arrival down to 13000 right away, and give him a little shortcut to go behind the two overflights. I ask my D-side to call Delancey, who is giving me the Bradely jet, and stop that plane at FL230. I put the two departures on a southwest heading and climb them to FL220. A second Bradley jet flashes to me next, and my D-side and I opt to go UNDER the departures with that one. I turn the Stewart arrival on the parallel heading between the Albany departures and the Newark/Teteboro flow. I get a quick two seconds between listening for a clearance readback and my next transmission to bask in the beauty of 4 parallel streams of descending and climbing traffic heading southwestbound.
As the arrivals clear the aforementioned overflights, I push them down under the second Bradley. One of the Newarks is still high, so I turn him south a little to give the Newark a few more miles to descend. My second Albany departure is climbing slow and might not clear either the Bradley or the Newark, so I turn him eastbound to give him a few more miles to clear, and then a LaGuardia arrival comes in from above. I have to get the LGA arrival "swapped out" below the second departure who is going to JFK. My D-side calls the high sector and gets control for me to turn the LGA arrival eastbound. That ALB-JFK flight is above his traffic now, turning south, and then I push the LGA down over the first BDL who is now descending out of FL230 for FL180. I managed through, and curse the bad rides in the high sectors.
Since then, the rides have just been bumpy. Nothing severe since, but its just been miserable flying. Today's dayshift saw lots of heavy precipitation, spurring icing conditions and very choppy rides. A few aricraft deviated around some of the heaviest rain, but it was all very random. I kept planes as far apart as I could, to allow them to slow down, speed up, descend at thier leisure, and devate around cells that looked unpleasant. There was no way out of it, and smooth rides where hard to come by. Even if the traffic is relatively slow, as a controller I am constantly asking planes how thier rides are, relaying previous reports, and making suggestions based on my overal feel for how things are developing. The pilots just can't get enough pilot reports and they always want to look for the greener grass at some other altitude. And God help you if you get ONE good altitude that is smooth. Every single airplane in your sector will want it. But they can't have it. Not if you want everyone to live.
Off to work the midnight shift....
DM
October 18, 2008
ABRV8 this!
I've been writing on this blog for almost two years now, and I'm just now starting to pinpoint my audience. I appreciate all of you for reading, commenting and emailing me your thoughts and experiences. While I do my best to project the mental image of the traffic I deal with everyday, perhaps I need to backup a little and cover the basics of my area of specialty for those of you not intimately familiar with the map I had to draw back in Radar school. While my first instinct was to simply put up the map of the airspace, that definitely won't give everyone out there instant situational awareness. But have a look.
For those NOT in the aviation industry, and even for those who are, it is stunning how many abbreviations we use on a daily basis.
The normal world uses 2 character abbreviations for airlines. UA - United. B6 - jetBlue. AA - American. Not us. Each airline is designated a THREE letter identification which is associated with a radio callsign. The associated regional carriers that fly the smaller jets and turboprops are actually separate airlines and are referred to as such, and I'll include those lower in the list. Keep in mind, every time a controller see the three letters on the left, they immediately think of the radio callsign on the right in quotes. The actual airline names in the middle are of no consequence.
AAL American "American"
UAL United "United"
AWE Former America West, now merged with UsAirways "Cactus" (Long story)
JBU jetBlue "Jetblue"
NWA Northwest "Northwest"
COA Continental "Continental"
DAL Delta "Delta"
SWA Southwest "Southwest"
TRS Air Tran "Citrus"
BAW British Airways "Speedbird"
DLH Lufthansa "Lufthansa"
FDX Fedex "Fedex"
ACA Air Canada "Air Canada"
EGF American Eagle "Eagle flight"
CHQ Chautauqua "Chautauqua"
LOF Trans States "Waterski"
RPA Republic "Brickyard"
FLG Pinnacle "Flagship"
TCF Shuttle America "Mercury"
COM Comair "Comair"
GJS Gojet "Lindberg"
AWI Air Wisconsin "Air Wisconsin"
JZA Air Canada Jazz "Jazz"
BTA ExpressJet "Jetlink"
FRL Freedom "Freedom air"
ASH Mesa "Air Shuttle"
WJA West Jet "Westjet"
EJA Netjets "Execjet"
OPT Flight Options "Options"
This is a very impartial list, but gives you the sense of all the different airlines we deal with.
There are 30 sectors in Boston Center, and each area of specialty owns 6 sectors each. These sectors are labeled using a number and a name. Some of the names are then abbreviated based on the location identifier the sector is named for. I work the following sectors:
Sector 08 - Watertown (ART)
Sector 09 - Utica (UCA)
Sector 10 - Rockdale (RKA)
Sector 22 - Albany (ALB)
Sector 23 - Hancock (HNK)
Sector 24 - Delancey (DNY)
We always use the sector number when flashing a hand off to that sector, and refer to either number or name when talking to other controllers. I tend to use the name of the sector in this blog for easier reference.
And then there are all the location identifiers. In almost all cases, we have three letter abbreviations for VORs and four letter codes for the actual airports. Five letter codes are used for computer based fixes and intersections (the intersection of two radials off two VORs), but I won't list them here since there are thousands, and they aren't really abbreviations anyways, although they can be very creative.
Lists of abbreviations are scattered all over the place. Every FAA document lists the abbreviations as the first chapter so we have a reference. Heck, there is an entire tome of contractions right here. Then, for all the fixes, try Airnav.
The following are highly used VORs that I use often in this blog and are prominent in my area:
YOW - Ottawa, Ontario
YUL - Montreal, Quebec
ART - Watertown, NY
MSS - Massena, NY
SLK - Saranac Lake, NY
GFL - Glens Falls, NY
ALB - Albany, NY
CTR - Chester, MA
BDL - Bradley/Windsor Locks, CT
CAM - Cambridge, NY
UCA - Utica, NY
SYR - Syracuse, NY
BUF - Buffalo, NY
ROC - Rochester, NY
ITH - Ithica, NY
GGT - Georgetown, NY
RKA - Rockdale, NY
HNK - Hancock, NY (yes, these are all real places!)
DNY - Delancey, NY
LHY - Lake Henry, PA
LVZ - Wilkes Barre, PA
CFB - Binghampton, NY
PSB - Phillipsburg, PA
PWL - Pawling, NY
IGN - Kingston, NY
GDM - Gardner, MA
EEN - Keene, NH
BOS - Boston, MA
ENE - Kennebunk, ME
Then, there are the airports. Airports have a four letter identification in most cases. All the main airports start with a K in the US, and C in Canada. Very small airports sometimes have numbers in them as well, which I find hard to remember. Often times, the airport identifier is the same three letters as the nearby VOR identifier plus the K or C. Keep in mind, it works the other way as well. In the following list, the VOR is often just the last three letters of the airport code.
I'll start with the airports that my area provides approach control services to:
KOGS - Ogdensburg, NY
KMSS - Massena, NY
KMAL - Malone, NY
KPTD - Potsdam, NY
KOIC - Norwich, NY
N66 - Oneonta, NY
N23 - Sidney, NY
Then there are the local regional airports:
KBTV - Burlington, VT
KMHT - Manchester, NH
KPVD - Providence, RI
KPWM - Portland, ME
KBED - Bedford, MA (busy GA airport)
KBGM - Binghampton, NY
KRME - Griffis/Rome, NY (GSS Approach is the reference on the map)
KBGR - Bangor, ME
KOXC - Waterbury, CT
KBDR - Bridgeport, CT
KSWF - Stewart, NY
KAVP - Wilkes Barre, NY
And the following are the major airports in the eastern half of the US:
KBOS - Boston, MA
KLGA - LaGuardia, Queens, NY
KJFK - Kennedy, Queens, NY
KEWR - Newark, NJ
KPHL - Philadelphia, PA
KIAD - Dulles, VA (Washington, DC)
KDCA - Reagan/National, Washington, DC
KBWI - Baltimore Washington, Baltimore, MD
KORD - Chicago Ohare, IL
KMDW - Chicago Midway, IL
KCLE - Cleveland, OH
KDTW - Detroit, MI
KCVG - Cincinnati, OH
KPIT - Pittsburgh, PA
KATL - Atlanta, GA
KCLT - Charlotte, NC
I wouldn't want to leave out the Canadians, eh?
CYYZ - Toronto
CYOW - Ottawa
CYUL - Montreal
CYQB - Quebec
CYQA - Muskoka
CYHM - Hamilton
CYHZ - Halifax
Of course, this is not a complete list by any means. However, I will feel obligated to use these above listed fixes in future posts without explanation! I may also continually update this list as I see fit.
In addition, if you see a "FLxxx" that stands for Flight Level. Basically, just add two zeros on the end and there you have your altitude. FL300 is 30000 feet. FL190 is 19000 feet. This is only FL180 and above, as the actual use of Flight Level refers to the fact that regardless of atmospheric conditions, all aircraft set their altimeters to a standard setting of 29.92 millibars above 18000 feet.
Thanks for putting up with a simple reference post, but there is more air traffic on the way.
Until next time...
DM
For those NOT in the aviation industry, and even for those who are, it is stunning how many abbreviations we use on a daily basis.
The normal world uses 2 character abbreviations for airlines. UA - United. B6 - jetBlue. AA - American. Not us. Each airline is designated a THREE letter identification which is associated with a radio callsign. The associated regional carriers that fly the smaller jets and turboprops are actually separate airlines and are referred to as such, and I'll include those lower in the list. Keep in mind, every time a controller see the three letters on the left, they immediately think of the radio callsign on the right in quotes. The actual airline names in the middle are of no consequence.
AAL American "American"
UAL United "United"
AWE Former America West, now merged with UsAirways "Cactus" (Long story)
JBU jetBlue "Jetblue"
NWA Northwest "Northwest"
COA Continental "Continental"
DAL Delta "Delta"
SWA Southwest "Southwest"
TRS Air Tran "Citrus"
BAW British Airways "Speedbird"
DLH Lufthansa "Lufthansa"
FDX Fedex "Fedex"
ACA Air Canada "Air Canada"
EGF American Eagle "Eagle flight"
CHQ Chautauqua "Chautauqua"
LOF Trans States "Waterski"
RPA Republic "Brickyard"
FLG Pinnacle "Flagship"
TCF Shuttle America "Mercury"
COM Comair "Comair"
GJS Gojet "Lindberg"
AWI Air Wisconsin "Air Wisconsin"
JZA Air Canada Jazz "Jazz"
BTA ExpressJet "Jetlink"
FRL Freedom "Freedom air"
ASH Mesa "Air Shuttle"
WJA West Jet "Westjet"
EJA Netjets "Execjet"
OPT Flight Options "Options"
This is a very impartial list, but gives you the sense of all the different airlines we deal with.
There are 30 sectors in Boston Center, and each area of specialty owns 6 sectors each. These sectors are labeled using a number and a name. Some of the names are then abbreviated based on the location identifier the sector is named for. I work the following sectors:
Sector 08 - Watertown (ART)
Sector 09 - Utica (UCA)
Sector 10 - Rockdale (RKA)
Sector 22 - Albany (ALB)
Sector 23 - Hancock (HNK)
Sector 24 - Delancey (DNY)
We always use the sector number when flashing a hand off to that sector, and refer to either number or name when talking to other controllers. I tend to use the name of the sector in this blog for easier reference.
And then there are all the location identifiers. In almost all cases, we have three letter abbreviations for VORs and four letter codes for the actual airports. Five letter codes are used for computer based fixes and intersections (the intersection of two radials off two VORs), but I won't list them here since there are thousands, and they aren't really abbreviations anyways, although they can be very creative.
Lists of abbreviations are scattered all over the place. Every FAA document lists the abbreviations as the first chapter so we have a reference. Heck, there is an entire tome of contractions right here. Then, for all the fixes, try Airnav.
The following are highly used VORs that I use often in this blog and are prominent in my area:
YOW - Ottawa, Ontario
YUL - Montreal, Quebec
ART - Watertown, NY
MSS - Massena, NY
SLK - Saranac Lake, NY
GFL - Glens Falls, NY
ALB - Albany, NY
CTR - Chester, MA
BDL - Bradley/Windsor Locks, CT
CAM - Cambridge, NY
UCA - Utica, NY
SYR - Syracuse, NY
BUF - Buffalo, NY
ROC - Rochester, NY
ITH - Ithica, NY
GGT - Georgetown, NY
RKA - Rockdale, NY
HNK - Hancock, NY (yes, these are all real places!)
DNY - Delancey, NY
LHY - Lake Henry, PA
LVZ - Wilkes Barre, PA
CFB - Binghampton, NY
PSB - Phillipsburg, PA
PWL - Pawling, NY
IGN - Kingston, NY
GDM - Gardner, MA
EEN - Keene, NH
BOS - Boston, MA
ENE - Kennebunk, ME
Then, there are the airports. Airports have a four letter identification in most cases. All the main airports start with a K in the US, and C in Canada. Very small airports sometimes have numbers in them as well, which I find hard to remember. Often times, the airport identifier is the same three letters as the nearby VOR identifier plus the K or C. Keep in mind, it works the other way as well. In the following list, the VOR is often just the last three letters of the airport code.
I'll start with the airports that my area provides approach control services to:
KOGS - Ogdensburg, NY
KMSS - Massena, NY
KMAL - Malone, NY
KPTD - Potsdam, NY
KOIC - Norwich, NY
N66 - Oneonta, NY
N23 - Sidney, NY
Then there are the local regional airports:
KBTV - Burlington, VT
KMHT - Manchester, NH
KPVD - Providence, RI
KPWM - Portland, ME
KBED - Bedford, MA (busy GA airport)
KBGM - Binghampton, NY
KRME - Griffis/Rome, NY (GSS Approach is the reference on the map)
KBGR - Bangor, ME
KOXC - Waterbury, CT
KBDR - Bridgeport, CT
KSWF - Stewart, NY
KAVP - Wilkes Barre, NY
And the following are the major airports in the eastern half of the US:
KBOS - Boston, MA
KLGA - LaGuardia, Queens, NY
KJFK - Kennedy, Queens, NY
KEWR - Newark, NJ
KPHL - Philadelphia, PA
KIAD - Dulles, VA (Washington, DC)
KDCA - Reagan/National, Washington, DC
KBWI - Baltimore Washington, Baltimore, MD
KORD - Chicago Ohare, IL
KMDW - Chicago Midway, IL
KCLE - Cleveland, OH
KDTW - Detroit, MI
KCVG - Cincinnati, OH
KPIT - Pittsburgh, PA
KATL - Atlanta, GA
KCLT - Charlotte, NC
I wouldn't want to leave out the Canadians, eh?
CYYZ - Toronto
CYOW - Ottawa
CYUL - Montreal
CYQB - Quebec
CYQA - Muskoka
CYHM - Hamilton
CYHZ - Halifax
Of course, this is not a complete list by any means. However, I will feel obligated to use these above listed fixes in future posts without explanation! I may also continually update this list as I see fit.
In addition, if you see a "FLxxx" that stands for Flight Level. Basically, just add two zeros on the end and there you have your altitude. FL300 is 30000 feet. FL190 is 19000 feet. This is only FL180 and above, as the actual use of Flight Level refers to the fact that regardless of atmospheric conditions, all aircraft set their altimeters to a standard setting of 29.92 millibars above 18000 feet.
Thanks for putting up with a simple reference post, but there is more air traffic on the way.
Until next time...
DM
October 4, 2008
The Numbers Lie!
Yesterday was busy. When I first arrived to work at 2pm, I was able to chill out at Albany D-side for a few minutes. Then, we "went to one" at Albany and I was told to open up Watertown sector. Watertown is normally combined at the Utica sector, especially this time of year, since most of the airplanes that traverse Watertown also get Utica invovled as well. Thus, it's usually easier to just keep them combined and work all the airplanes together. Allow me to explain:
Watertown owns more airspace than Utica...alot more. They are adjacent to 3 different centers in two countries, and it overlies 3 approach controls. The Watertown sector used to only be one sector, before Utica was invented. Utica now only owns the high altitudes along J547, which is a major westbound airway. Watertown doesn't work as much traffic, quantity-wise, as Utica, but Watertown's airspace is much higher maintainance. Most of the planes in Utica sector are in level flight, crusing along in the same direction, rarely in conflict. There is, however, in-trail spacing to midwest airports that must be accomplished, although the vectors for spacing required often occur near or inside of Watertown's airspace, defeating the purpose of opening up Watertown. Watertown works a lot of slow prop planes and descending jets flying in all directions, military jets, arrivals and departures from small airports in upstate NY, and they coordinate with Montreal and Toronto Centres - See MEOWWW.
Since Utica is relatively new to the world, we're still in the process of working out all the "kinks". Upon conception, or shortly after, the Utica sector owned FL280 and above, as does its bordering friend, Rockdale sector. This made it relatively easy to visualize the airspace in our heads. Cleveland Center has thier sectors split at FL330 and above to the west of us, and the other Boston Center area to our east is split at FL240 and above. While this seems confusing, it makes sense as aircraft tend to descend into the airports on the coast to the east.
A year or two ago, however, management found a computer program that would take a busy period at Watertown/Utica and replay it, moving the airspace borders and altitude splits around, trying to find a happy medium where, when split up, Watertown would work the same QUANTITY of airplanes as Utica. They finally settled on Utica owning FL310 and above. While they were busy trying thier best to keep everyone "productive" (on position working lots of airplanes), they didn't realize that 15 airplanes in Watertown is lot harder to work than having 15 airplanes in Utica. Oh, and the best part is, the only way to actually even out the traffic flow would be to restrict all aircraft landing in Cleveland to FL300 or below, "forcing" them into Watertown sector. Utica would not have to worry about Cleveland spacing. Watertown now has to worry about Cleveland spacing, approaches, and coordination, and a much higher complexity of traffic overall. This is thier plan, and they're sticking to it, regardless of other factors that come up on a day to day basis. Traffic from the past, run through a simulator, is now running our traffic of the future, with no real time re-evaluation.
So, yesterday, Watertown is combined with Utica, and they are BUSY. The supervisors gather and discuss, deciding to split off Watertown. And so, there I sit, at our most fabulous, newly designed Watertown sector. There is Cleveland spacing, of course, and I get to work them all, forced to cruise at FL300, the top altitude in that part of my sector (the southern half which is below Utica). The northern part of the sector is still surface to FL600. Appraently, the reason the sector was going to be busier than normal is becuase all of the overseas arrivals to PHL and IAD are approaching from the north. They are all flying southbound over SYR. The Cleveland arrivals(and a bunch of other traffic) are flying westbound over SYR at the same time. PHL arrivals are coming down out of Canada at FL380 and FL400, along side (or sometimes under and over) IAD traffic. PHL arrivals need to enter the Delancy sector FL260 and below (at SYR, basically), and the IAD traffic has to enter Rockdale or Delancy at FL300 or below (again, at SYR). So, I'm getting busy, with traffic that I have to descend to FL300, crossing with traffic that should be higher, but is restricted to FL300 to "even out" my workload. This issue is brought up to the folks in charge, but to no avail.
Here comes an IAD lander, crossing with an CLE arrival stopped at FL280, below an ORD lander at FL300, since he can't go higher than the ORD in this configuration, as per management restriction. The CLE arrival wants FL300, but can't have it yet. The IAD and ORD planes are tied at SYR, and while I'm debating a solution, a Korean jet bound for Korea comes in from the south, also at FL300. I am taking a PHL jet down below them all to FL260, as I need to anyways, so he's not a factor.
I call Utica, who owns above me, to point out the ORD lander climbing to FL320. "Climbing to FL320 approved, radar contact". He'll work the ORD guy once I'm clear of traffic. I'll still have the Korean and the IAD lander to deal with in a minute. "Lindburg 5336 climb and maintain FL320, crossing traffic". "Unable, too heavy today". WHAT! Its VERY rare for a jet flying under 2000 miles to be capped so low due to any reason. Plan B time.
The CLE is just gonna have to stay at FL280 for a while. I take the PHL guy down to FL240, and then push the IAD lander down below everyone to FL260. The ORD guy then gets FL290, which is not normal for westbound flight, and let the Korean Air run at FL300. Cleveland Center has opposite direct BTV traffic at FL290, so I turn the CLE guy left to get him away from the ORD lander, and then take the ORD flight down to FL280. My D-side takes a few more handoffs and its round two of pushing these overseas jets down below my westbound regional jet traffic. All the while, Utica is just working some airplanes westbound without any fuss.
Every one of these descending IAD and PHL arrivals have to be pointed out to Utica since they don't get below FL300 in time to miss Utica airspace which extends about 20 miles north of SYR. So, Utica has to watch all my airplanes anyways. This situation is much more complex, and often confusing (since we're not used to working this airspace all the time), and we all can't help but agree that we're better off when the two sectors are combined in most cases. The chances of mistakes goes way up with the split sectors.
It would just be nice if we could be flexable enough as a team so that we don't go out of our way to put flows of aircraft in the same place at the same time when its unnecessary. Just becuase the traffic numbers were even from a Tuesday last year, doesn't mean we're all putting in the same effort today or tomorrow, or that its safer this way.
DM
Watertown owns more airspace than Utica...alot more. They are adjacent to 3 different centers in two countries, and it overlies 3 approach controls. The Watertown sector used to only be one sector, before Utica was invented. Utica now only owns the high altitudes along J547, which is a major westbound airway. Watertown doesn't work as much traffic, quantity-wise, as Utica, but Watertown's airspace is much higher maintainance. Most of the planes in Utica sector are in level flight, crusing along in the same direction, rarely in conflict. There is, however, in-trail spacing to midwest airports that must be accomplished, although the vectors for spacing required often occur near or inside of Watertown's airspace, defeating the purpose of opening up Watertown. Watertown works a lot of slow prop planes and descending jets flying in all directions, military jets, arrivals and departures from small airports in upstate NY, and they coordinate with Montreal and Toronto Centres - See MEOWWW.
Since Utica is relatively new to the world, we're still in the process of working out all the "kinks". Upon conception, or shortly after, the Utica sector owned FL280 and above, as does its bordering friend, Rockdale sector. This made it relatively easy to visualize the airspace in our heads. Cleveland Center has thier sectors split at FL330 and above to the west of us, and the other Boston Center area to our east is split at FL240 and above. While this seems confusing, it makes sense as aircraft tend to descend into the airports on the coast to the east.
A year or two ago, however, management found a computer program that would take a busy period at Watertown/Utica and replay it, moving the airspace borders and altitude splits around, trying to find a happy medium where, when split up, Watertown would work the same QUANTITY of airplanes as Utica. They finally settled on Utica owning FL310 and above. While they were busy trying thier best to keep everyone "productive" (on position working lots of airplanes), they didn't realize that 15 airplanes in Watertown is lot harder to work than having 15 airplanes in Utica. Oh, and the best part is, the only way to actually even out the traffic flow would be to restrict all aircraft landing in Cleveland to FL300 or below, "forcing" them into Watertown sector. Utica would not have to worry about Cleveland spacing. Watertown now has to worry about Cleveland spacing, approaches, and coordination, and a much higher complexity of traffic overall. This is thier plan, and they're sticking to it, regardless of other factors that come up on a day to day basis. Traffic from the past, run through a simulator, is now running our traffic of the future, with no real time re-evaluation.
So, yesterday, Watertown is combined with Utica, and they are BUSY. The supervisors gather and discuss, deciding to split off Watertown. And so, there I sit, at our most fabulous, newly designed Watertown sector. There is Cleveland spacing, of course, and I get to work them all, forced to cruise at FL300, the top altitude in that part of my sector (the southern half which is below Utica). The northern part of the sector is still surface to FL600. Appraently, the reason the sector was going to be busier than normal is becuase all of the overseas arrivals to PHL and IAD are approaching from the north. They are all flying southbound over SYR. The Cleveland arrivals(and a bunch of other traffic) are flying westbound over SYR at the same time. PHL arrivals are coming down out of Canada at FL380 and FL400, along side (or sometimes under and over) IAD traffic. PHL arrivals need to enter the Delancy sector FL260 and below (at SYR, basically), and the IAD traffic has to enter Rockdale or Delancy at FL300 or below (again, at SYR). So, I'm getting busy, with traffic that I have to descend to FL300, crossing with traffic that should be higher, but is restricted to FL300 to "even out" my workload. This issue is brought up to the folks in charge, but to no avail.
Here comes an IAD lander, crossing with an CLE arrival stopped at FL280, below an ORD lander at FL300, since he can't go higher than the ORD in this configuration, as per management restriction. The CLE arrival wants FL300, but can't have it yet. The IAD and ORD planes are tied at SYR, and while I'm debating a solution, a Korean jet bound for Korea comes in from the south, also at FL300. I am taking a PHL jet down below them all to FL260, as I need to anyways, so he's not a factor.
I call Utica, who owns above me, to point out the ORD lander climbing to FL320. "Climbing to FL320 approved, radar contact". He'll work the ORD guy once I'm clear of traffic. I'll still have the Korean and the IAD lander to deal with in a minute. "Lindburg 5336 climb and maintain FL320, crossing traffic". "Unable, too heavy today". WHAT! Its VERY rare for a jet flying under 2000 miles to be capped so low due to any reason. Plan B time.
The CLE is just gonna have to stay at FL280 for a while. I take the PHL guy down to FL240, and then push the IAD lander down below everyone to FL260. The ORD guy then gets FL290, which is not normal for westbound flight, and let the Korean Air run at FL300. Cleveland Center has opposite direct BTV traffic at FL290, so I turn the CLE guy left to get him away from the ORD lander, and then take the ORD flight down to FL280. My D-side takes a few more handoffs and its round two of pushing these overseas jets down below my westbound regional jet traffic. All the while, Utica is just working some airplanes westbound without any fuss.
Every one of these descending IAD and PHL arrivals have to be pointed out to Utica since they don't get below FL300 in time to miss Utica airspace which extends about 20 miles north of SYR. So, Utica has to watch all my airplanes anyways. This situation is much more complex, and often confusing (since we're not used to working this airspace all the time), and we all can't help but agree that we're better off when the two sectors are combined in most cases. The chances of mistakes goes way up with the split sectors.
It would just be nice if we could be flexable enough as a team so that we don't go out of our way to put flows of aircraft in the same place at the same time when its unnecessary. Just becuase the traffic numbers were even from a Tuesday last year, doesn't mean we're all putting in the same effort today or tomorrow, or that its safer this way.
DM
October 1, 2008
Installment Number 2
Sam took these great shots en-route from Dallas to Minneapolis while deviating over Kansas last Tuesday. Thanks buddy!
Until next time....
DM
Until next time....
DM
September 19, 2008
Overtaking me
Ok, back to reality. It was busy yesterday, and there was a lot of in-trail spacing going on. I had a few instances that are my least favorite in terms of decision making...The back plane is going WAY faster than the front plane, but they're definitely not tied either. Do I let the back plane run fast and overtake the slower plane, or should I just slow the back one and keep it second? Sometimes its really obvious. These two times were not:
1 - Scandinavian heavy jet approaching HNK from the north. A Porter Dash 8 prop (and yet we have to space it with jets because they are capable of 250 knots)incoming from the west, both landing Newark. There is 20 miles in trail. The heavy jet from the north is going over the ground 150 knots faster than the Dash 8, but the Dash 8 is 4 miles ahead. I make my decision and stick to it. I tell the A330 from overseas to keep it going 310 knots of faster, and slow the Dash 8 to slowest practical (220 knots). I turn the Dash 8 left to follow the A330, but the wind is at the Dash 8's tail more now. I have an Albany lander in there that I get below both Newarks, and then a White Plains (HPN) comes screaming in from the high sector. I step the HPN down as the A330 is descending, but I'm not getting the spacing I was hoping for, as the A330 is loosing tailwind now that he's pushed down below the HPN. The next sector approved a shortcut for the A330, but that new heading gets in the way of the HPN. So we finally settle on a new shortcut, and the planes diverge a little more.
I have a little conversation with myself about whether or not those overtakes really are worth the effort. An hour later....back at DNY sector:
2 - This one involved TWO Dash 8s and an E170 jet. It starts off obvious. The first Dash 8 is about 6 miles in front of the E170, flying 120 knots slower. I'm going to gain 2 miles a minute, and I need to make up at least 11 miles to finish the overtake. I have more than 5.5 minutes to the end of my sector, so its settled then. I assign the Dash 8 slowest practical again and get a few more knots difference working for me. Then NY center flashes me another Dash 8, 5 miles in front of the first one, at 17000. Well well well. So I get control to turn both Dash 8s and I go to a 050 heading. The E170 is really making up ground now. So I turn the two Dash 8s back to HNK on course. Then I realize I STILL have 20 miles in trail to Newark. Crap. So I turn the two Dash 8s back to 050 headings. "I need a few more miles". Like 15 more on the first one, and 30 more on the back one. I couldn't turn that second one back due south like I wanted to because I had to push a TEB jet down to 15000 below the EWR arrivals. It didn't feel very pretty, but it ended up OK.
Today, I'm just gonna slow the back guy and vector to keep my spacing, I think. I was 0-2 for overtakes yesterday. I don't like those odds.
DM
1 - Scandinavian heavy jet approaching HNK from the north. A Porter Dash 8 prop (and yet we have to space it with jets because they are capable of 250 knots)incoming from the west, both landing Newark. There is 20 miles in trail. The heavy jet from the north is going over the ground 150 knots faster than the Dash 8, but the Dash 8 is 4 miles ahead. I make my decision and stick to it. I tell the A330 from overseas to keep it going 310 knots of faster, and slow the Dash 8 to slowest practical (220 knots). I turn the Dash 8 left to follow the A330, but the wind is at the Dash 8's tail more now. I have an Albany lander in there that I get below both Newarks, and then a White Plains (HPN) comes screaming in from the high sector. I step the HPN down as the A330 is descending, but I'm not getting the spacing I was hoping for, as the A330 is loosing tailwind now that he's pushed down below the HPN. The next sector approved a shortcut for the A330, but that new heading gets in the way of the HPN. So we finally settle on a new shortcut, and the planes diverge a little more.
I have a little conversation with myself about whether or not those overtakes really are worth the effort. An hour later....back at DNY sector:
2 - This one involved TWO Dash 8s and an E170 jet. It starts off obvious. The first Dash 8 is about 6 miles in front of the E170, flying 120 knots slower. I'm going to gain 2 miles a minute, and I need to make up at least 11 miles to finish the overtake. I have more than 5.5 minutes to the end of my sector, so its settled then. I assign the Dash 8 slowest practical again and get a few more knots difference working for me. Then NY center flashes me another Dash 8, 5 miles in front of the first one, at 17000. Well well well. So I get control to turn both Dash 8s and I go to a 050 heading. The E170 is really making up ground now. So I turn the two Dash 8s back to HNK on course. Then I realize I STILL have 20 miles in trail to Newark. Crap. So I turn the two Dash 8s back to 050 headings. "I need a few more miles". Like 15 more on the first one, and 30 more on the back one. I couldn't turn that second one back due south like I wanted to because I had to push a TEB jet down to 15000 below the EWR arrivals. It didn't feel very pretty, but it ended up OK.
Today, I'm just gonna slow the back guy and vector to keep my spacing, I think. I was 0-2 for overtakes yesterday. I don't like those odds.
DM
September 14, 2008
Priorities
Summer traffic has gone from an unruly rolling boil down to a pleasant simmer. The union office is getting a new carpet. What do these two things have in common?
I have had some extra time to read what the FAA has to say on the intranet, especially last night on the midnight shift. As an American citizen and taxpayer, as well as a controller, I feel obligated to step in and add my two cents. This, and perhaps the next post or two, will be off track compared to the normal theme of this blog. Brace for impact.
A lot has been made of NextGen lately, mostly at the FAA's making. Other blogs and news sources have spent much more time and effort in cataloging the FAA's open ended plan to spend all of our money bringing the National Airspace System into the 21st century.
I've never been one to quote other sites and then run wild into the night pointing out inaccuracies. I almost took a few quotes off the FAA website, grabbed a bottle of water, and started running, but I changed my mind. I don't know where to start my marathon of wrath.
Wait! Lets just do this one:
"The next president needs to make the NextGen initiative a national priority, and ensure that it is given the resources, management attention, and sense of urgency that it warrants"
-- Chairman House Committee on Science and Technology, Rep. Bart Gordon (D-Tenn)
This was part of his closing statement after being given, what I consider, a few good one liners containing inaccurate, misleading, or irrelevant information regarding NextGen and the state of the NAS.
The article can be found here. Hopefully that works and you can access the employees page.
There were no specifics mentioned in the FAA article with this quote. All other quotes where as vague as the one printed above. And yet, as I look around the FAA website, and peruse other recent articles about the future benefits of NextGen, I see nothing but increasing efficiency, reducing emissions and fuel burn, and saving flying time for airliners. It sounds good in the context of today's green tinted social fabric, and to many airlines who can't buy a clue about how to make money, but none of this is going anywhere that will improve the NAS as a whole. I have seen NOTHING in regards to increasing SAFETY or CAPACITY. Maybe I'm missing something. Maybe all the important subjects are being worked on so feverishly, no one has time to talk about them.
Maybe the next administration will have different priorities than what the current NextGen has to offer in the news column.
DM
I have had some extra time to read what the FAA has to say on the intranet, especially last night on the midnight shift. As an American citizen and taxpayer, as well as a controller, I feel obligated to step in and add my two cents. This, and perhaps the next post or two, will be off track compared to the normal theme of this blog. Brace for impact.
A lot has been made of NextGen lately, mostly at the FAA's making. Other blogs and news sources have spent much more time and effort in cataloging the FAA's open ended plan to spend all of our money bringing the National Airspace System into the 21st century.
I've never been one to quote other sites and then run wild into the night pointing out inaccuracies. I almost took a few quotes off the FAA website, grabbed a bottle of water, and started running, but I changed my mind. I don't know where to start my marathon of wrath.
Wait! Lets just do this one:
"The next president needs to make the NextGen initiative a national priority, and ensure that it is given the resources, management attention, and sense of urgency that it warrants"
-- Chairman House Committee on Science and Technology, Rep. Bart Gordon (D-Tenn)
This was part of his closing statement after being given, what I consider, a few good one liners containing inaccurate, misleading, or irrelevant information regarding NextGen and the state of the NAS.
The article can be found here. Hopefully that works and you can access the employees page.
There were no specifics mentioned in the FAA article with this quote. All other quotes where as vague as the one printed above. And yet, as I look around the FAA website, and peruse other recent articles about the future benefits of NextGen, I see nothing but increasing efficiency, reducing emissions and fuel burn, and saving flying time for airliners. It sounds good in the context of today's green tinted social fabric, and to many airlines who can't buy a clue about how to make money, but none of this is going anywhere that will improve the NAS as a whole. I have seen NOTHING in regards to increasing SAFETY or CAPACITY. Maybe I'm missing something. Maybe all the important subjects are being worked on so feverishly, no one has time to talk about them.
Maybe the next administration will have different priorities than what the current NextGen has to offer in the news column.
DM
September 10, 2008
Lenticulars
A few Novembers ago, Sam took these on his descent into Calgary, Alberta. "It was surprisingly smooth", he recalls. He has since moved on, from Dash 8s to E-jets.
September 5, 2008
Summer Finale
The weather has settled down out here in New England, though we're getting lined up for a left-over tropical storm or two. The end of August definitely left its mark upon our little air traffic world here at Boston Center. I'll fondly reminisce about it in the near future, I think. No one died, and we'll leave it at that. If I wanted to count the number of times I turned to my D-side with a frantic look on my face and said "Holy crap, that was close", I'd need another hand full of fingers.
Leaving the insanity behind for a week was tough to do........... I guess.
My buddy Erik flew into Logan on a Thursday night (ok, it was actually Friday Morning at 1am), so I swapped my shift to work until midnight. We left the next day for a 9 hour drive to Maryland. It was the weekend before labor day, the weather was perfect, and the entire world was driving west on the Mass Pike. We covered 7 new states that Erik had never been to on that one day alone, since we "deviated" around traffic on the NJ Turnpike and went through Allentown, PA. Saturday was action packed. We drove around DC for a few hours, ending up at Gravelly Point and watched planes fly the River Visual into National.
We skipped out of DC in time to catch the Yankees beating the Orioles at Camden Yards that evening.
The next day was spent touring Philly around lunchtime. We played some ball with my Cousin Dave, and then we all watched a great game as the Phillies beat the Dodgers in walk off style in the 11th inning.
It was late when we finally got out and drove up to Queens, NY. Yet, we had no trouble waking up for our tour of LGA tower the next morning. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.
Oh, and after that we saw two great baseball games at Shea and Yankee Stadiums...
More Air Traffic next time perhaps!
DM
Leaving the insanity behind for a week was tough to do........... I guess.
My buddy Erik flew into Logan on a Thursday night (ok, it was actually Friday Morning at 1am), so I swapped my shift to work until midnight. We left the next day for a 9 hour drive to Maryland. It was the weekend before labor day, the weather was perfect, and the entire world was driving west on the Mass Pike. We covered 7 new states that Erik had never been to on that one day alone, since we "deviated" around traffic on the NJ Turnpike and went through Allentown, PA. Saturday was action packed. We drove around DC for a few hours, ending up at Gravelly Point and watched planes fly the River Visual into National.
We skipped out of DC in time to catch the Yankees beating the Orioles at Camden Yards that evening.
The next day was spent touring Philly around lunchtime. We played some ball with my Cousin Dave, and then we all watched a great game as the Phillies beat the Dodgers in walk off style in the 11th inning.
It was late when we finally got out and drove up to Queens, NY. Yet, we had no trouble waking up for our tour of LGA tower the next morning. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.
Oh, and after that we saw two great baseball games at Shea and Yankee Stadiums...
More Air Traffic next time perhaps!
DM
August 17, 2008
Interlude
My sources indicate there are some more eye popping weather pics on the horizon. Until then, here are a few shots I took en-route to Denver last month. No weather per se, just a little experimenting with exposure times over Chicago.
August 10, 2008
Meooowwwwww
Saturdays are supposed to be slow. Especially after 8am. There is little weather over NY today, so all is well, although a spinning low approaches from the west.
After the morning push of New England departures bound for the Midwest subsides, a second wave heads for the west coast. These aircraft are filed over Lake Ontario into Canada to miss the low pressure aforementioned. A mental red light comes on when Toronto Centre doesn't have any of these flight plans in their computer. A quick mention to the supervisors sets off more red lights, and CAATS (Canadian Automated Air Traffic System, or close to that) is deemed busted.
While CAATS calls itself automated, it still is not completely linked to our computers here in the US. We still have to call the receiving sector for every hand off in a manner similar to an old-school manual hand off:
ZBW "Valley, Watertown, on the 75 line, hand off"
YUL "Valley"
ZBW "Hand off two zero miles east of Watertown, Air Canada 966 Flight Level 280, your control for lower"
YUL "Air Canada 966 radar contact, check my control"
"DM"
For the ATC folk out there, you'll notice there was no beacon code or other information passed that would normally be apart of a true manual hand off. Items like route, type aircraft, beacon code, and equipment on board is automatically passed to Canada through CAATS.
Before CAATS, flight plans were passed to their computers, but only initially. Any further amendments that were made to the flight were coordinated 15 minutes in advance by the D-side controller on the dial phone line (we actually dial a number and it rang in their heads annoyingly). The 75 line mentioned above is used for hand offs, and we simply key up and "shout" to them in their overhead speakers to ask them to pick up the line. They answer with their sector name (Valley Sector). Flight plans sent to us were handled in a similar way. Departures off Ottawa would have to be manually departed by the controller with a Departure Message. Incoming flights from Toronto and the Montreal High sector would be activated with an message to the computer to activate the flight over a certain point at a certain time. Either way, the flight plan would be in the pending departures list.
With this particular CAATS failure, incoming flights where either automatically acquiring (as if CAATS was working as designed), pending departure like the old system, or, all too often, there simply was no flight plan anywhere to be found. I found myself sitting at Watertown D-side, and I would have to write down the flight plan as read to me on the data line from one of the Canadian sectors, and then type it into the computer myself, so the the rest of the US would know who this plane was.
This, of course, is VERY time consuming, especially compared to what we have become accustomed to regarding workload. To add to the fun, all the overseas IAD and ATL traffic was routed over ART..SYR..PSB due to the winds aloft (I'd be the first US sector to work them all). Most of them were not in the computer at all. In addition, we get a lot of arrivals from Toronto Centre around this time period (again, we're the first US sector to work them). So the phone started ringing off the hook. I pick up the first call:
YYZ "Do you have any info on Cathay 830?"
ZBW "uh.....negative..go ahead..."
YYZ "Cathay 830 is a heavy Boeing 772 slant Quebec, off Hong Kong for Kennedy at FL370, estimating TULEG at 2126, then direct Kingston, Kingston 8 arrival....code is...1432"
ZBW "Roger I got it thanks" (after writing furiously on a blank strip)
Then its time to enter it, as a phone line from Montreal Centre starts ringing. They'll have to wait a minute:
FP CPA830 H/B772/Q 1432 450 TULEG E2126 370 VHHH..TULEG..IGN.IGN8.KJFK ENTER
Now to pick up the next call. Two inbound IAD arrivals from Aylmer sector in Montreal, which goes similar to the last call. Only this time, the routes are a tad longer, and I ask them to issue the appropriate arrival route into IAD. ZNY just won't take PSB direct.
FP UAL930 H/B763/Q 3534 450 YOW E2133 400 EDDM..YOW..ART..SYR.J59.PSB.PSB2.KIAD ENTER
Then repeat for company traffic in trail.
Call Valley sector with two arrival estimates to Montreal. Call Toronto for a hand off on a previously passed flight plan. Make a point out to Delancy. Valley calls back with a departure off Ottawa.
DM 493 ENTER (Departure Message, Computer ID number, Enter)
Two more flights from Toronto that I copy down, I give two to them, plus another one of them is in the computer already. Valley calls to hand off that departure I departed before. I start typing in the two flight plans from Toronto, and the phone rings from Montreal with three more. I call out for an A-side (flight data assistant). I think everyone thinks I'm joking. Am I!? Meanwhile, as I type the flight plans I just got into the machine, I'm getting heckled for not picking up the next phone call, bearing 2 more inbounds. Good news is on the line when I'm finally done typing:
ZBW "Watertown, thanks for waiting"
YYZ "Any joy on a COA88"
I check and find it! Its waiting to be activated! Whoo hoo.
So I get the estimate and activate that flight.
YYZ "How about China Eastern 981?"
ZBW "DOH!, I got nothing"
And back to the frantic writing and entering flight plans yet again, for another hour of hell...
DM
After the morning push of New England departures bound for the Midwest subsides, a second wave heads for the west coast. These aircraft are filed over Lake Ontario into Canada to miss the low pressure aforementioned. A mental red light comes on when Toronto Centre doesn't have any of these flight plans in their computer. A quick mention to the supervisors sets off more red lights, and CAATS (Canadian Automated Air Traffic System, or close to that) is deemed busted.
While CAATS calls itself automated, it still is not completely linked to our computers here in the US. We still have to call the receiving sector for every hand off in a manner similar to an old-school manual hand off:
ZBW "Valley, Watertown, on the 75 line, hand off"
YUL "Valley"
ZBW "Hand off two zero miles east of Watertown, Air Canada 966 Flight Level 280, your control for lower"
YUL "Air Canada 966 radar contact, check my control"
"DM"
For the ATC folk out there, you'll notice there was no beacon code or other information passed that would normally be apart of a true manual hand off. Items like route, type aircraft, beacon code, and equipment on board is automatically passed to Canada through CAATS.
Before CAATS, flight plans were passed to their computers, but only initially. Any further amendments that were made to the flight were coordinated 15 minutes in advance by the D-side controller on the dial phone line (we actually dial a number and it rang in their heads annoyingly). The 75 line mentioned above is used for hand offs, and we simply key up and "shout" to them in their overhead speakers to ask them to pick up the line. They answer with their sector name (Valley Sector). Flight plans sent to us were handled in a similar way. Departures off Ottawa would have to be manually departed by the controller with a Departure Message. Incoming flights from Toronto and the Montreal High sector would be activated with an message to the computer to activate the flight over a certain point at a certain time. Either way, the flight plan would be in the pending departures list.
With this particular CAATS failure, incoming flights where either automatically acquiring (as if CAATS was working as designed), pending departure like the old system, or, all too often, there simply was no flight plan anywhere to be found. I found myself sitting at Watertown D-side, and I would have to write down the flight plan as read to me on the data line from one of the Canadian sectors, and then type it into the computer myself, so the the rest of the US would know who this plane was.
This, of course, is VERY time consuming, especially compared to what we have become accustomed to regarding workload. To add to the fun, all the overseas IAD and ATL traffic was routed over ART..SYR..PSB due to the winds aloft (I'd be the first US sector to work them all). Most of them were not in the computer at all. In addition, we get a lot of arrivals from Toronto Centre around this time period (again, we're the first US sector to work them). So the phone started ringing off the hook. I pick up the first call:
YYZ "Do you have any info on Cathay 830?"
ZBW "uh.....negative..go ahead..."
YYZ "Cathay 830 is a heavy Boeing 772 slant Quebec, off Hong Kong for Kennedy at FL370, estimating TULEG at 2126, then direct Kingston, Kingston 8 arrival....code is...1432"
ZBW "Roger I got it thanks" (after writing furiously on a blank strip)
Then its time to enter it, as a phone line from Montreal Centre starts ringing. They'll have to wait a minute:
FP CPA830 H/B772/Q 1432 450 TULEG E2126 370 VHHH..TULEG..IGN.IGN8.KJFK ENTER
Now to pick up the next call. Two inbound IAD arrivals from Aylmer sector in Montreal, which goes similar to the last call. Only this time, the routes are a tad longer, and I ask them to issue the appropriate arrival route into IAD. ZNY just won't take PSB direct.
FP UAL930 H/B763/Q 3534 450 YOW E2133 400 EDDM..YOW..ART..SYR.J59.PSB.PSB2.KIAD ENTER
Then repeat for company traffic in trail.
Call Valley sector with two arrival estimates to Montreal. Call Toronto for a hand off on a previously passed flight plan. Make a point out to Delancy. Valley calls back with a departure off Ottawa.
DM 493 ENTER (Departure Message, Computer ID number, Enter)
Two more flights from Toronto that I copy down, I give two to them, plus another one of them is in the computer already. Valley calls to hand off that departure I departed before. I start typing in the two flight plans from Toronto, and the phone rings from Montreal with three more. I call out for an A-side (flight data assistant). I think everyone thinks I'm joking. Am I!? Meanwhile, as I type the flight plans I just got into the machine, I'm getting heckled for not picking up the next phone call, bearing 2 more inbounds. Good news is on the line when I'm finally done typing:
ZBW "Watertown, thanks for waiting"
YYZ "Any joy on a COA88"
I check and find it! Its waiting to be activated! Whoo hoo.
So I get the estimate and activate that flight.
YYZ "How about China Eastern 981?"
ZBW "DOH!, I got nothing"
And back to the frantic writing and entering flight plans yet again, for another hour of hell...
DM
August 9, 2008
My head hurts.
Ok, Ok. Its summer, we get it. Between moving into a new place north of Manchester, to working 6 days a week, I haven't had much time to spare to update the blog here.
Its been a rough couple of weeks. The weather has gone from anything between solid lines of tornados to huge areas of dreary embedded thunderstorms. I can't remember the last time it didn't rain around here. The toll collected from the controllers around the center has been steep. We've had 12 operational errors in the last 14 days, with 9 days in a row at one point. Somehow, my area has escaped without one during this time. We've had a few close calls though, and with hardly a day off to recover, its a struggle to keep the focus level high.
Its been so busy I can't pick out one good session to write about.
Instead, in the theme of this headache of a post, I'll explain some of the things that cause such mental turmoil.
Last week ended with a few long lines of weather that didn't have any breaks to speak of. So, with no way to get from one side of the squall line to the other, airplanes just wait on the ground for the storms to pass their destination. This is fine, until the storm passes around 10pm, and everything is done with their shift. Some people have to stay late on OT, and help the midnight shifters work all the traffic that we didn't work during the daytime. The supervisors go home, Traffic Management goes home, and here come all the planes. Fantastic.
The squall line situation is better than what we had this week. With a squall line, everything is cut and dry. Either planes are going through on certain routes or they're not. They don't depart unless they're on a route that is going to keep them away from the line of storms. The main variable is the actual location of the line, and when it passes though the NY Metro area. Those two factors decide how crazy it will get late at night.
Lately, we've had widespread overcast IFR conditions with embedded thunderstorms. Small individual storms are dotted all over the landscape at random intervals. The kicker is, pilots can't see them visually and they don't always get a good look on the radar, due to the low visibility and rain. There is no sure shot way to get out of the center and on course. The best anyone can do is just try to space departures out enough so we can let planes deviate as best they can around the cells. Delays were routinely up around 3, 4, even 5 hours long to get out of New England airports, from what I understand. Meanwhile, the scope is filled with our crummy Nexrad display and data blocks flying all over the place, looking for holes. As planes slowly climbed though layers, they would see a new buildup and ask for a deviation. Then they'd go around that cell and see the one behind it and want to turn the other way. On and on for each plane for hours on end. We normally use 2 frequencies for Watertown/Utica, but we asked the sector around us to only use Watertown's frequency, so planes wouldn't talk on two transmitters at the same time. This made it a LITTLE better.
Its hard to convey the type of brain cramping you get when you're working 25 airplanes, and they're all deviating in different directions (although they're all trying to go west in general). There is no pattern. That's why summer traffic sucks. I'll leave it at that.
DM
Its been a rough couple of weeks. The weather has gone from anything between solid lines of tornados to huge areas of dreary embedded thunderstorms. I can't remember the last time it didn't rain around here. The toll collected from the controllers around the center has been steep. We've had 12 operational errors in the last 14 days, with 9 days in a row at one point. Somehow, my area has escaped without one during this time. We've had a few close calls though, and with hardly a day off to recover, its a struggle to keep the focus level high.
Its been so busy I can't pick out one good session to write about.
Instead, in the theme of this headache of a post, I'll explain some of the things that cause such mental turmoil.
Last week ended with a few long lines of weather that didn't have any breaks to speak of. So, with no way to get from one side of the squall line to the other, airplanes just wait on the ground for the storms to pass their destination. This is fine, until the storm passes around 10pm, and everything is done with their shift. Some people have to stay late on OT, and help the midnight shifters work all the traffic that we didn't work during the daytime. The supervisors go home, Traffic Management goes home, and here come all the planes. Fantastic.
The squall line situation is better than what we had this week. With a squall line, everything is cut and dry. Either planes are going through on certain routes or they're not. They don't depart unless they're on a route that is going to keep them away from the line of storms. The main variable is the actual location of the line, and when it passes though the NY Metro area. Those two factors decide how crazy it will get late at night.
Lately, we've had widespread overcast IFR conditions with embedded thunderstorms. Small individual storms are dotted all over the landscape at random intervals. The kicker is, pilots can't see them visually and they don't always get a good look on the radar, due to the low visibility and rain. There is no sure shot way to get out of the center and on course. The best anyone can do is just try to space departures out enough so we can let planes deviate as best they can around the cells. Delays were routinely up around 3, 4, even 5 hours long to get out of New England airports, from what I understand. Meanwhile, the scope is filled with our crummy Nexrad display and data blocks flying all over the place, looking for holes. As planes slowly climbed though layers, they would see a new buildup and ask for a deviation. Then they'd go around that cell and see the one behind it and want to turn the other way. On and on for each plane for hours on end. We normally use 2 frequencies for Watertown/Utica, but we asked the sector around us to only use Watertown's frequency, so planes wouldn't talk on two transmitters at the same time. This made it a LITTLE better.
Its hard to convey the type of brain cramping you get when you're working 25 airplanes, and they're all deviating in different directions (although they're all trying to go west in general). There is no pattern. That's why summer traffic sucks. I'll leave it at that.
DM
July 27, 2008
Just getting warmed up.
Life can sure be as unpredictable as the weather.
I had a last minute trip to Denver last week. It was mostly unplanned, but went well. There were two of us flying out there, and only myself on the return red-eye back to Boston, to the betterment of all involved. I'll let you figure that one out.
The week since has been quite the learning experience. I'd like to say its been typical summer weather, except for the "worst night ever" part. Wednesday and Thursday night were long and hard with lots of weather and holding. Aircraft remained ground stopped till TMU went home around 11:30 on both nights. I stayed till 2am the first night, watching BDL and EWR arrivals spin around in circles, in bumpy IMC, I might add. I was just glad I was getting paid overtime to sit at Albany sector, instead in one of those planes. A few of them eventually got in, but most of them ran low on fuel and diverted.
At one point, we were holding 7 HPNs over ART since the stack at RKA was full of them already. JFK's didn't fare much better, and EWR was still holding when I left. For the first time this year, the line of storms hardly had any holes, and with the storms sitting right on top of the NY Metro, airports were down for the count most of the night. My buddy Sam had a 5pm flight out of JFK, and when he called me on my last break around 11pm, he was still on the plane, on the ground at JFK. I guess the left seat on that 8pm flight out of MSP had to find another captain.
Thursday went a little better, since the storms moved off the coast of Maine a little after dinner. I was able to escape without overtime the rest of the week, which was good, since I've been under the weather since I've been back from my trip. By Friday, I was scraping by without my A-game.
I'll be busy the next week or two moving across town, but I try to find a few minutes to keep ya'll updated.
DM
I had a last minute trip to Denver last week. It was mostly unplanned, but went well. There were two of us flying out there, and only myself on the return red-eye back to Boston, to the betterment of all involved. I'll let you figure that one out.
The week since has been quite the learning experience. I'd like to say its been typical summer weather, except for the "worst night ever" part. Wednesday and Thursday night were long and hard with lots of weather and holding. Aircraft remained ground stopped till TMU went home around 11:30 on both nights. I stayed till 2am the first night, watching BDL and EWR arrivals spin around in circles, in bumpy IMC, I might add. I was just glad I was getting paid overtime to sit at Albany sector, instead in one of those planes. A few of them eventually got in, but most of them ran low on fuel and diverted.
At one point, we were holding 7 HPNs over ART since the stack at RKA was full of them already. JFK's didn't fare much better, and EWR was still holding when I left. For the first time this year, the line of storms hardly had any holes, and with the storms sitting right on top of the NY Metro, airports were down for the count most of the night. My buddy Sam had a 5pm flight out of JFK, and when he called me on my last break around 11pm, he was still on the plane, on the ground at JFK. I guess the left seat on that 8pm flight out of MSP had to find another captain.
Thursday went a little better, since the storms moved off the coast of Maine a little after dinner. I was able to escape without overtime the rest of the week, which was good, since I've been under the weather since I've been back from my trip. By Friday, I was scraping by without my A-game.
I'll be busy the next week or two moving across town, but I try to find a few minutes to keep ya'll updated.
DM
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