Pilot Briefing Document Cross The Pond 2013 Heathrow Airport EGLL/LHR VATSIM-UK and the Heathrow Regional Training Scheme look forward to welcoming you into Heathrow! We ll have all our controllers briefed and ready to ensure you have a speedy, relaxed and enjoyable departure out of the world's third busiest airport.
A I R P O R T I N F O R M A T I O N Frequencies EGLL_N_APP Heathrow Director 119.725 EGLL_F_APP Heathrow Director 120.400 EGLL_S_APP Heathrow Director 134.975 EGLL_S_TWR Heathrow Tower 118.500 EGLL_N_TWR Heathrow Tower 118.700 EGLL_1_GND Heathrow Ground 121.900 EGLL_2_GND Heathrow Ground 121.700 EGLL_3_GND Heathrow Ground 121.850 EGLL_DEL Heathrow Delivery 121.975 EGLL_ATIS Heathrow Information 128.075 Charts All charts for London Heathrow EGLL can be found here. Scenery UK2000 Xtreme and UK2000 free version. UK2000 Payware and Freeware Scenery can both be found here.
D E P A R T U R E S T E P B Y S T E P Startup Pilots should connect to the network 20-30 minutes prior to their take-off-time (TOT), and place their aircraft at a gate. This will allow sufficient time to taxi from the parking position to the departure runway. Before requesting clearance, please ensure you listen to EGLL_ATIS, to obtain the current information. Cloud height in an ATIS or METAR is stated in feet AGL and visibility is reported in kilometers. Altimeter is given as QNH in hectopascals. Contact Delivery (EGLL_DEL) to request clearance no less than 20 minutes prior to your TOT. Clearance When requesting ATC clearance, your request should contain your call sign and your destination. It also should contain a confirmation that the current ATIS Information is on board, your aircraft type, stand number and the latest QNH. The DEL controller will give you your departure SID, and squawk. In the case where Heathrow is departing aircraft in an easterly configuration (runway 09R), aircraft filing via CPT (Compton) may be cleared via a non-standard departure. An example of this clearance is below; however your actual clearance will be issued by the controller: BAW155, cleared to Miami via Compton then flight plan route. After departure runway 09R, climb straight ahead to London (LON) 2DME, then turn right heading 220 degrees, climb to altitude 6000ft It is beneficial to controllers that you be expecting this clearance instead of a CPT SID if the ATIS indicates departure from 09R. The LON VOR/DME can be accessed on 133.6. Pushback and Startup When ready, request pushback and startup from the delivery controller. Never push back without clearance, as others are taxiing around you! You will be handed to the GND controller for the approval of your push. After your push and start is complete, contact the controller again for taxi. Taxi You will be given a taxi instruction consisting of the following: - Taxi routing - Named Holding point e.g. PLUTO, LOMAN etc. Please find sufficient Heathrow charts (link at the top of this document) in order to be able to follow the instructions correctly. If you want to shorten taxi time, you can always request an intersection departure on this frequency.
Takeoff On approaching the named holding point, you will be handed off to the Tower (TWR) controller. If you're asked to monitor the frequency, then tune to it, but DO NOT transmit; the controller will make first contact with you. The tower controller will further clear you to line up and takeoff. When issued with a takeoff clearance, we assume you are ready for departure therefore we expect you to begin your takeoff immediately. If you can't, then please advise the controller before you enter the runway. Remain on the Tower frequency until further advised. Departure and Climb After departure you will usually be handed off to an area controller ("London Control") or in some cases Heathrow Director. After the handoff, pilots should report: call sign, SID designator, passing altitude, initial altitude. All SID departures should stop climb when they reach 6000ft unless cleared to climb higher. The transition altitude is 6000ft ASL, therefore when passing 6000ft, ensure that you change your altimeter to standard pressure (1013 hpa). Please also remember that a speed restriction for the SIDs out of Heathrow is IAS 250kt while below FL100, unless otherwise instructed. It is common within the London FIR to receive vectoring off your route (including vectoring off a SID). As the London airspace will be busy due to the number of aircraft present, pilots should be ready to accept vectoring from an early stage of flight in order to allow the controllers to more efficiently route departures. Pilots should remain on a heading issued until told they may "resume own navigation direct..." which allows them to resume their route after going direct to the waypoint specified. Additionally when handed from one frequency to another whilst flying a heading, pilots should remember to report that heading to the next controller. Example Transmission Sequence from Start until Tower The following shows an example of transmission sequence for BAW155, departing Heathrow for Cairo. Tower is in Red, pilot is in Blue and remarks are in Green. --- After checking the ATIS, the pilot tunes the DEL frequency and starts transmitting --- Pilot: Delivery, Good Morning, BAW155, stand 534, 747-400, information Alpha, QNH 1009, requesting clearance to Miami DEL: BAW155, Good Morning, you are cleared to Boston, Compton 3 Foxtrot departure, Squawk 0302. Pilot: Cleared to Cairo, Compton 3 Foxtrot departure, Squawk 0302, BAW155 DEL: BAW155, your read back is correct, report ready --- When ready for pushback --- Pilot: Delivery, BAW155, ready for push and start on stand 534 GND: BAW155, hold position, contact Ground 121.7 Pilot: Hold position, ground 121.7, BAW155, bye
--- Contacts Ground Controller--- Pilot: Ground, Hello, BAW155, fully ready, stand 534 GND: BAW155, push and start approved, face north Pilot: Push and start approved, face north BAW155 --- After push, ready for taxi --- Pilot: Ground, BAW155, Ready for taxi GND: BAW155, taxi via A, hold PLUTO Pilot: Taxi via A, hold PLUTO, BAW155 --- After taxi, ready for departure --- GND: BAW155, monitor Tower 118.5 Pilot: Monitor Tower on 118.5, BAW155 bye --- Tunes to frequency and WAITS for controller to make first contact --- TWR: BAW155, taxi and hold A3 Pilot: Taxi and Hold A3, BAW155 --- Pilots performs takeoff and reports airborne, Tower hands him off to the Radar Controller --- Pilot: "London Control, BAW155, Compton 3 Foxtrot departure, passing 2,500ft, climbing to altitude 6,000ft" CTR: BAW155, London Control. Squawk ident, climb now flight level 90 Pilot: "Squawk Ident, climb now flight level 90, BAW155" On behalf of VATSIM-UK and the Heathrow Regional Training Scheme we wish you a pleasant flight