VATSIM JORDAN vacc QUICK REFERENCE HANDBOOK QUICK REFERENCE - STANDARD FORMATS FOR COMMUNICATION

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1 VATSIM JORDAN vacc QUICK REFERENCE HANDBOOK QUICK REFERENCE - STANDARD FORMATS FOR COMMUNICATION Clearance Delivery [CALLSIGN], YOU ARE CLEARED TO [DESTINATION] VIA [INSTRUCTION-1], THEN [ANOTHER INSTRUCTION IF NEEDED], THEN FLIGHT PLAN ROUTE - CLIMB AND MAINTAIN INITIAL ALTITUDE [ALTITUDE], DEPARTURE FREQUENCY [FREQUENCY], SQUAWK [CODE]. Unable To Determine Who Is Calling Station calling, please say callsign. Unable To Determine Location of Aircraft / Station Calling [CALLSIGN], please state your location. Pushback and Startup Clearance [CALLSIGN], push-back and start-up approved - push back, face [DIRECTION - North, South, East, West]. Call me for taxi. QNH [XXXX]. Taxi Instruction to Runway [CALLSIGN], taxi to and hold short of Runway [RUNWAY] via taxiway(s) [TAXIWAYS], QNH [XXXX]. Taxi Instruction to Other Location Apart From A Runway (I.e. Hotel Apron to Gate) [CALLSIGN], taxi to [LOCATION] via [TAXIWAYS]. Handoff from Ground to Tower [CALLSIGN], contact tower on [FREQUENCY] - have a nice flight, maʼsalamah. Handoff from Ground to UNICOM if No Tower [CALLSIGN], tower is offline, proceed at your own discretion, switch to advisory frequency on , ma salamah. Page 1 of 15

2 Handoff to UNICOM from Tower, Approach, Center [CALLSIGN], you are leaving my airspace, not further ATC available, switch to advisory is approved. Have a nice flight, ma salamah. Line up and wait [CALLSIGN], line-up and wait, Runway [RUNWAY]. Standard Takeoff Clearance [CALLSIGN], Runway [RUNWAY], you are cleared for take off. Surface winds [XXX/XX]. EXPEDITED (Take-off QUICKLY) Takeoff Clearance [CALLSIGN], Runway [RUNWAY], you are cleared for immediate take off. Surface winds [XXX/XX]. No delay. Take Off Clearance With Wake Turbulence Advisory [CALLSIGN], Caution wake turbulence, [HEAVY ONLY IF HEAVY PRECEEDING DO YOU SAY HEAVY ] [AIRCRAFT TYPE] departing ahead of you, Runway [RUNWAY], cleared for take off. Surface Winds [XXX/XX]. ABORT Takeoff [CALLSIGN], ABORT takeoff, repeat, ABORT take off, [REASON - i.e. Traffic on the runway!]. Handoff to Departure/Approach AFTER TAKE OFF [CALLSIGN], Contact [ATC POSITION NAME] on [FREQUENCY], maʼsalamah. Climb Clearance/Instruction [CALLSIGN], climb and maintain [ALTITUDE/FLIGHT LEVEL]. Heading Clearance/Instruction [CALLSIGN], turn [LEFT/RIGHT] heading [XXX]. Page 2 of 15

3 Heading & Altitude Instruction (Combined) [CALLSIGN], turn [LEFT/RIGHT] heading [XXX], climb and maintain [ALTITUDE/FLIGHT LEVEL]. Landing Instruction [CALLSIGN], runway [RUNWAY], you are cleared to land, surface winds [XXX/XX]. Landing Instruction if there are multiple airplanes on approach [CALLSIGN], Runway [RUNWAY], you are cleared to land, number [X], surface winds [XXX/XX]. Landing Instruction IF WAKE TURBULENCE Danger Exists [CALLSIGN], Caution wake turbulence, Runway [RUNWAY], you are cleared to land, surface winds [XXX/XX]. Go Around Instruction [CALLSIGN], Go Around, repeat, Go Around. Go Around with Heading and Altitude Instruction [CALLSIGN], Go around, repeat, Go Around; fly heading (or Runway Heading) [HEADING], climb and maintain [ALTITUDE]. Please remember that this information is not meant to replace the VATJO Controller Handbook - it is only a supplement that you should use to help you remember what you learn. Page 3 of 15

4 The Traffic Pattern BASICS OF AVIATION Apart from weather, one of the fundamental aspects of aviation is the traffic pattern. The custom in aviation allows pilots to have a set procedure that governs not only where they are in relation to the runway, but how they make their approaches. Knowing what the departure, crosswind, downwind, base and final legs are of the traffic pattern at any facility is vital for safe operations. They can be left hand traffic patterns or right hand traffic patterns. Most patterns are left hand patterns. For Queen Alia Airport, it is slightly different. For runway 26L, the patterns are left hand patterns, meaning the pilot turns left to stay in the pattern. For runway 26R, the patterns are right hand patterns, meaning the pilot turns right to stay in the pattern. For runway 08R, the patterns are right hand patterns, meaning the pilot turns right to stay in the pattern. For runway 08L, the patterns are left hand patterns, meaning the pilot turns left to stay in Page 4 of 15

5 the pattern. Note that for almost all major airports, the traffic pattern leads away from the terminals so that aircraft do not fly over them. Airspace Classifications Page 5 of 15

6 A. Notes for GND Position (Clearance Delivery & Taxi Instructions) 1. How to give a clearance delivery. Remember CRAFT - Clearance Route Altitude Flight Level Transponder. If an aircraft calls for an IFR clearance to its destination, you respond with the following: [CALLSIGN], clearance is on request, stand by. You are number [X] for clearance. What this means is that you are asking the aircraft to stand by while you get the clearance. Make sure to read the VATJO ATC Instruction Manual located at to be familiar with your airport. Each airport has its own SID (Standard Instrument Departure) procedures and so it is best to know them and know them well. You will need them when giving a clearance delivery. Let us use the following example: Flight RJA400 from OJAI - OJAQ. The flight has the following listed as its flight plan: QTR R652 QATIM AQB FL250 T/B734/F Since he is at OJAI, you know that the first thing he will have to do is a departure procedure. Thus, you can assign him a SID or you can have him hold runway heading after departure and then have him vectored by the next ATC position to QTR. As GROUND, you know that the maximum ATC Altitude for TOWER is 5,000 feet. You also know that TOWER cannot give vectors (unless it is an emergency and you MUST give a vector to avoid a collision). Thus you can either, as stated above, have him hold runway heading or go on a SID. Let us say you want him to hold Runway Heading after Departure. What would the clearance look like? Let us look back to CRAFT. Clearance Where is this flight going to? Route What does he do the moment after take off? And what then? Altitude What is the initial, or first, altitude that the flight will climb up to? Flight Level What is this aircrafts cruising altitude? Transponder What code will this aircraft squawk? Taking all of this into account, let us put together the Clearance for RJA400. It will be: RJA400 - CLRD OJAQ VIA - RWY HDG AFTR DEP, R/V QTR, THEN A/F, C/M 6,000, DEP FRQ , SQWK Jordanian 400, you are cleared to Aqaba International Airport VIA Runway Heading After Departure, Radar Vectors QTR VOR, then As Filed - Climb and Maintain initial altitude 5,000 feet, departure frequency , and Squawk The pilot now knows that after take off, he will have to hold the runway heading. That means if he departs from Queen Alia International Airport on Runway 26L, he will have Page 6 of 15

7 to hold Heading 257 after take off until the Air Traffic Controller tells him otherwise. The pilot also knows that after take off, he will climb on the runway heading to 6,000 feet and await radar vectors to the QTR VOR from the next air traffic control position. This gives him the ability to set his autopilot and navigation radios to comply with this instruction. The pilot also knows that after QTR VOR, he can continue his flight as it is filed - that means after QTR, he can continue on the R652 airway to the QATIM intersection. He also knows that he can expect to be cleared up to FL250 by the next controller. The pilot now also knows that the next air traffic position after departure will be on the frequency (please check SOPs to make sure this is correct). Lastly, he knows what his squawk code is and will put it into the transponder. So now that you have the clearance, how do you say it to the pilot? Here is how: You first let the aircraft know its clearance is ready. You do this by saying: [CALLSIGN], clearance is available, advise when ready to copy. It would sound like this: Jordanian 4-0-0, your clearance is available, advise when ready to copy. The pilot will then respond to either let you know he is ready to copy the clearance or that he needs a few more moments. Once the pilot replies and says he is ready, you read back the clearance like so: Jordanian 400, you are cleared to Aqaba International Airport VIA Runway Heading After Departure, Radar Vectors QTR VOR, then As Filed - Climb and Maintain initial altitude 6,000 feet, and Squawk The pilot will then read back the clearance delivery word for word. The pilot must do so correctly - if they do not, you must correct them. This is very important for flight safety - the pilot must know exactly what is going on. If they do not get it, fix it! Once they read back, you simply say: [CALLSIGN], read-back is correct. Call for Push and Start. 2. How to give a pushback & startup instruction. At this point, the pilot calls you and says that they are ready for pushback and startup. How would you give the instruction? First, you have to know where they are. Are they at the North Apron or South Apron (if OJAI)? If it is Aqaba, are they on the civil or cargo aprons? If it is Marka, are they are the cargo apron, the military apron, the helicopter apron, or the civil apron? Knowing their Page 7 of 15

8 location is important! Second, once you figure out their location, double check to make sure what runway is in use. Is it 26L or 26R? 24? 01? Knowing which runway is important, and you will know why soon! Third. Let us say we are at OJAI, and we know that the aircraft is on the North Apron and the runway in use is 26L. As you can see above, we have to visualize where they will be taxing before they actually leave the apron. Thus we know that they will have to use Taxiways N - G - A to get to the holding point of 26L. Thus, their push back and start up instruction will sound like this: Jordanian 400, push-back and start-up approved - push back and face to the east. Call for taxi. What this means is that after push back, the nose of the aircraft will be facing east towards taxiway N. Do you see why we had to figure out the information before hand? It makes life easy! So, let s review. The format for giving a push back and start up instruction is: [CALLSIGN], push-back and start-up approved - push back and face to the [DIRECTION]. Call for taxi. Page 8 of 15

9 3. How to give a Taxi Instruction Let us refer to this again. We know that he must taxi via N - G - A to the holding point of Runway 26L. Thus, when the pilot calls and says Jordanian 400, ready for taxi, you should be ready to give him his taxi clearance right away! You will say: Jordanian 400, taxi to and hold short of runway 26 Left via taxiways November, Golf and Alpha. QNH As you can see, the format is: [CALLSIGN], taxi to and hold short of Runway [RUNWAY] via taxiway(s) [TAXIWAYS], QNH [XXXX]. You give them the QNH so that they will be ready for their departure - while it is also in the ATIS, it is good to confirm it for them when giving them their taxi instructions! The pilot will then read back his taxi instructions and be on his way. Note: As ground control does not have any authority over the runways, the moment the aircraft passes TAXIWAY B towards the holding point for 26L, the ground controller should pass the aircraft onto the Tower Position. If there is no tower, then onto UNICOM. Page 9 of 15

10 When handing-off to tower, you should use the following format: [CALLSIGN], contact tower on [FREQUENCY] - have a nice flight, maʼsalamah. GROUND CANNOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES GIVE TAKE OFF OR LANDING CLEARANCES. Ground also CANNOT CLEAR AIRCRAFT TO CROSS RUNWAYS UNLESS TOWER GIVES THEM THE GO AHEAD. This is important because ground only handles, you guessed it, the ground! B. Notes for TWR Position (Take off and Landing Clearances) 1. How to clear an aircraft for take off. There are three categorizations for aircraft: Light, Medium, and Heavy. Please make sure that you know what aircraft category the aircraft is in so that you know how to separate them from aircraft taking off before it. See the chart below: Preceding Aircraft Following Aircraft Minimum Separation Heavy Heavy 4.0NM Heavy Medium 5.0NM Heavy Light 6.0NM Medium Light 5.0NM As you see from the table above, these are MINIMUM separations. Wake turbulence is a very dangerous hazard for aircraft and can bring an airplane down if it is not managed correctly. Thus you as a tower controller giving take off clearances must be very aware of the types of aircraft you are handling. Let us say that a Boeing 747 and a Boeing 757 are taking off, with the 747 taking off first. You know that the 747 is a Heavy Wake Category aircraft and the Boeing 757 is a Medium Wake Category aircraft. Without reading ahead, can you tell what the separation minimum is between a Heavy and a Medium aircraft is? You can use the chart! If you said 5.0NM, then you are correct. What this means is that from the moment that the 747 rotates its nose, you count at least five nautical miles before giving the 757 any take off clearance. But letʼs look at how to give a take off clearance, first. In a take off clearance, you must use the following format: [CALLSIGN], Runway [Runway], cleared for take off surface winds [XXX/XX]. Thus if RJA400 calls for take off, you can say: Jordanian 400, Runway 2-6-Left, cleared for take off - winds two-six-zero at one-five. All Jordanian 400 needs to do is read back the clearance. What if there is another airplane, a 747, in front of him? What do I do? In this situation, you categorize the 737 a light/medium aircraft, and opt for a 6NM Page 10 of 15

11 separation. This would be the safest route to take. Thus, let us say that the 747 had already taken off and the 737 is still holding short of 26L. If there is no landing traffic, you can have RJA400 line up and wait 26L. To do this, you say: [CALLSIGN], line up and wait, Runway [RUNWAY]. Thus it would sound like: Jordanian 400, line up and wait runway two-six-left. Once the aircraft is lined up and ready to go, make sure there is at least 6.0NM separation between the 747 and RJA400. Also, RJA400 needs to know that there is a possibility of wake turbulence as a result of the departing 747. Thus what you say is: Jordanian 400, caution wake turbulence, departing heavy ahead of you, runway 2-6-Left, you are cleared for take off. Winds at 1-6. The format would be: [CALLSIGN], caution wake turbulence, departing [AIRCRAFT TYPE] ahead of you, Runway [DESIGNATOR], you are cleared for take off. Winds [XXX/XX]. This lets the pilot know that he may have a few bumps on take off, but nothing too serious. If the separation between them is maintained, there should not be a problem at all! Also note that if you are using VRC, you have a timer in the top left hand of the scope. It goes by two or 3 minutes. Thus you can give yourself two minutes from the moment you clear one aircraft for take off and the moment you clear the next. That is also a good way to ensure safe separation between them. Theoretically, you can have one departure and one landing every 1.5 minutes! But weʼll get into that in a moment. ALSO NOTE that immediately after departure, you should hand off the aircraft to the next ATC position - if there is none, then to UNICOM. As tower, YOU CANNOT give radar vectors. 2. How to clear an aircraft for landing. Remember that in the previous section we talked about separation minimums. These minimums apply to arriving traffic as well, but the separation is taken care of (for the most part) by the previous air traffic control position. Keep in mind that as a tower controller, you control the runways at the airport and up to 5,000 feet above sea level (in most airports) - thus, while you cannot give heading vectors of any kind, you should still make sure that the separation minimums are followed. The approach is key. Sometimes you may have more than one aircraft coming in on the approach. If that is the case, you can clear one to land, and then tell the other to continue the approach. For example, if Aircraft A is in front of Aircraft B on the approach to 26L, and no other aircraft is departing, you can clear aircraft A to land, and tell aircraft B to continue the approach. Page 11 of 15

12 If there are two aircraft on the approach, you have both aircraft continue the approach with each one knowing which number in the sequence they are. So if Aircraft A is cleared to land, and Aircraft B and C are on the approach, B is number two, and C is number three - their clearances would be Aircraft B, number two, continue on the approach for Runway 26L, and aircraft Cʼs clearance would be Aircraft C, number three, continue on the approach for Runway 26L. But how do you give the actual landing clearance? Itʼs easy! Hereʼs the format: [CALLSIGN], [RUNWAY] you are cleared to land - winds [XXX/XX]. So if the winds are 260/10, the clearance for runway 26L would sound like: Jordanian 400, Runway 26-Left, youʼre cleared to land - winds at 1-0. But what if there is a heavy aircraft landing in front of that flight? What do I do? First, donʼt panic! Remember the separation instructions we learned for take off? They apply to landing as well! If RJA400 is landing behind a 747, you will say: Jordanian 400, caution wake turbulence - heavy landing in front of you, Runway 2-6-Left, youʼre cleared to land - winds at 1-0. The pilot will acknowledge the clearance and continue with the landing. Review The proper format for a landing clearance is: [CALLSIGN], [RUNWAY] you are cleared to land surface winds [XXX/XX]. And keep an eye for separation minimums! REMEMBER - IF YOU ARE A TOWER CONTROLLER, AND YOU ARE THE ONLY POSITION ONLINE FOR THAT AIRPORT, YOU CAN ALSO DO GROUND OPERATIONS. This means that you can operate, while on this position, any position lower than you from the same facility. So if you are OJAI_TWR, you can also do things that OJAI_GND can do. C. Notes for APP Position (General Notes - applicable to CTR as well) 1. Things you should know, generally When vectoring an aircraft for an ILS, make sure that their intercept heading is no more than 30 degrees off. For example, RWY26L at OJAI has a heading of 257 degrees. If you wanted to vector an aircraft to intercept the ILS from THE SOUTH, you would want them to hit the localizer between 285 and 290 degrees on the heading. From THE NORTH, this would be heading 220 to 225 degrees on the heading. You also want them to be roughly 8-12 miles out to give the pilot room to intercept the localizer. Page 12 of 15

13 The typical altitudes for intercepting the localizer is 5,000 feet above ground level (roughly feet for OJAI). Sometimes it is lower depending on traffic. Always when an aircraft is given a descent instruction to an altitude BELOW FL150, give the QNH to the aircraft s destination airport. Thus if the aircraft is being told to descend from FL150 to 9,000, and its destination OJAI has a QNH of 1016, the instruction would be: [CALLSIGN], descend 9 ER thousand feet, Queen Alia QNH 1016 Wait until the aircraft enters the correct code in its transponder before establishing radar contact - while VRC always has radar contact with traffic, in real life you would not be able to see the aircraft on the radar until they have the right code in their transponder. ALWAYS make sure the pilot, when contacting you INITIALLY, reports what altitude they are leaving. Make sure this altitude MATCHES THE ALTITUDE YOU HAVE ON RADAR. CONFIRM THIS BEFORE ANYTHING. If the altitudes do NOT match, please make sure the pilot has the right altimeter setting. Make sure you check to see what the aircraftʼs destination is before giving vectors - it might be best to get a separate sheet of paper and write it down so that you donʼt forget if there is a lot of traffic. Create a traffic scan - make a mental note of the aircraft in your airspace and then watch them in order to make sure youʼre not ignoring them. Use the Flightstrip Bay in VRC or Euroscope to help. That way you never leave an aircraft hanging. An aircraft should not be turning, climbing, or descending while it is in your controlled airspace unless you tell it to - make sure that you have control over aircraft at all times. If the pilot does not have charts, vector! It is the best thing to do. Not all pilots come ready with charts it is always best to accommodate. Be polite always. Remember how it was when you first started out a little kindness goes a very, very long way on VATSIM. YOU CAN tell an aircraft to hold a certain speed speed control can be vital in high traffic situations. Remember the format for instructions when you want to give both heading and altitude: TURN [LEFT/RIGHT] HEADING [XXX], DESCEND AND MAINTAIN [ALTITUDE/FLIGHT LEVEL], [QNH ONLY IF BELOW FL100]. On an initial vector for landing, tell the aircraft what runway to expect and what kind of approach - is it Visual Approach 26L? ILS Approach? Page 13 of 15

14 NDB approach? Let the pilot know! Study the sectional charts and know the minimum vectoring altitudes for your airspace. This is a top safety priority. YOU ARE IN CONTROL! 2. Vectoring and ILS Approaches ILS approaches are common. All pilots should at the very least know how to use them. Queen Alia Airport is a very unique facility in the sense that all flights arriving from QTR will have to make a very, very tight turn in order to intercept the ILS for runways 26L/R. Thus, as an approach controller, you have to be very sensitive about the performance capabilities of the aircraft. To help, you can conduct speed control and have the aircraft slow down to knots just before making the turn from QAA to intercept the localizer. Another solution is to vector the aircraft on a short downwind leg to give the pilot room to intercept. Either approach is up to you. A great resource for vectoring can be found on the VATSIM USA training website here: Check it out! VFR 1- What is VFR? Visual flight rules (VFR) are a set of regulations under which a pilot operates an aircraft in weather conditions generally clear enough to allow the pilot to see where the aircraft is going. Specifically, the weather must be better than basic VFR weather minima, (VMC), The pilot must be able to operate the aircraft with visual reference to the ground, and by visually avoiding obstructions and other aircraft. Visual Meteorological Conditions (VMC) is an aviation flight category in which visual flight rules (VFR) flight is permitted that is, conditions in which pilots have sufficient visibility to fly the aircraft maintaining visual separation from terrain and other aircraft. They are the opposite of Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC). The boundary criteria between IMC and VMC are known as the VMC minima and are defined by: 1- visibility, 2- cloud ceilings (for takeoffs and landings), and 3- cloud clearances. Page 14 of 15

15 Military, VIP & Helicopter procedures 1- How do I deal with a Military Operation inside my airspace? In Jordan, Military Operations are only permitted in Amman Marka Airport (OJAM). You are only expected to have a Helicopter and Cargo Military Airplanes there. Page 15 of 15