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Archive for the ‘Airspace’ Category

As reported in this morning’s AvFlash news, the FAA is soon going to implement a change from “Position and Hold” to “Line Up and Wait” in order to conform with international phraseology standards.  This change is expected to occur in mid-year 2010.  In fact, if you fly in and out of Canadian airspace you know that this particular phraseology has already been in use for sometime (since about March of 2008).

For those who are new to this phrase, here is a basic primer on this new phraseology:

Current Phraseology:

“Taxi into Position” or “Taxi to Position and Wait”

New Phraseology:

“Line Up” or “Line Up and Wait”

Definition: Used by ATC to inform a pilot to taxi onto the departure runway in takeoff position and wait (hold). It is not authorization for takeoff. It is used when takeoff clearance cannot immediately be issued because of traffic or other reasons.

I think short term this might be a change some may grumble about I think overall this is a good change.  I believe that standards only work when applied universally across the board.  The more exceptions that are made to a standard the better chance you have at injecting confusion and error into the system.   This not only helps U.S. pilots flying internationally but also helps reduce confusion from foreign pilots who are flying domestically within the U.S.

What are your thoughts about line up and wait?

I received a question last night from Ed and this is what he wrote:

While performing a practice BFR for reinstatement, the P.P. said that current sectional charts are no longer a required item!?  Can not find any reference to this on web or AIM.

This is one of those questions I was SURE I knew the answer to as soon as I read it.  I mean I was positive about my response.  Of course current aeronautical charts are required to be on board, right? Well….

Read the rest of this entry »

This is great follow-up question to a previous post, “Can you use a q-route below FL180?”. The question came to me after posting a link to that post on my Twitter profile.

So what the heck is a Q-route?

Well.  There are primarily three types of airways:

1) VOR Federal airways – This is the airway system that most pilots are most familar with.  This includes your typical low alitudes “V” airways and the high-altitude “J” routes.

2)  Colored Federal Airways – There are still 49 of these airways still in existence.  LF and MF and they can be found mostly in Alaska.  They are designated by their color names Amber, Blue, Green or Red and then either a one or two digit number, i.e. “A 7″

3) RNAV airways – This is the latest and greatest route system found in our nation’s airspace.  The foundation of the RNAV route system started in 2000 with industry operators requesting the FAA to increase the use of RNAV to help navigate the nation’s airspace.  The advantages of the RNAV system?  Reduced mileage, reduction of conflicts between routes, and additional routes within the same airspace.

There are two types of RNAV routes:

1) Q-routes (high) are available for use by RNAV equipped aircraft between 18,000 feet MSL and FL 450 inclusive. Q-routes are depicted on Enroute High Altitude Charts.

A typical Q-route

1) T-routes (low) are available for use by RNAV equipped aircraft from 1,200 feet above the surface (or in some instances higher) up to but not including 18,000 feet MSL. T-routes are depicted on Enroute Low Altitude Charts.

A typical t-route

So now a good follow-up question would be, “Can you file and use a Q-route below FL180?”  and you see, we the staff at askacfi.com have thought ahead and already answered that one for you and you can read the answer to that question here.

Have you ever wondered what is meant by the term “Five by Five?”  You’ll hear this sometimes as a response when an aircraft or tower is asking for a radio check:

“Citation XYY, how do you hear this transmitter?”

“5 by 5″

Well, I’ve heard this term used countless times and it was a recent transmission that finally motivated me to do some research.  I wanted to find out exactly what is meant by that term “5 by 5″ when I heard an aircraft respond to a radio check by saying:

“I hear you 3 by 5.”

Ok, so what transmission quality is represented by the “3″ and what is represented by the “5″.

Well, thanks to my local tower controllers, I learned that the first number is for signal strength and the second number is for readability. Signal strength and readability are measured on a five point scale with 5 being the highest value possible and 1 being the lowest.  So when you say to the controller (or pilot) “5 by 5″, it is literally another way of saying that the transmitter you hear is “loud and clear.”  If you say “3 by 5″ it’s like saying, “Your coming in kind of weak, but I can still make out what your saying”

So now you too know the meaning of the term “Five by Five”.

I love the question I got recently from Rob who asks:

Paul, What is the origin of the instrument airway routing system and how are the alpha-numerical descriptions based for them?

I liked this question becuase I knew immeadiately after reading it that I didn’t have a clue what the answer was going to be (which isn’t that rare) and that finding the answer was going to be fun, I was right.

I have a couple of email addresses at the FAA that I like to use for questions just like this one and I was AMAZED at how fast the FAA responded with a very complete answer for Rob’s question.  I was thinking about editing their email but I’ll just leave it  as is in it’s entirety:

The origin of airways can be traced back to the Air Commerce Act of 1926. Airways evolved over the years as new NAVAID technology and instrument flying procedures were developed (For more info, see http://www.faa.gov/about/history/chronolog_history/).

Here’s where we are today:

All airways are established through rulemaking procedures under Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 71. Rulemaking action to establish or modify routes is the responsibility of the Airspace & Rules Group at FAA HQ. Route numbers are also assigned by the Airspace & Rules Group.

Part 71 was modified in 2003 to adopt the ICAO term “Air Traffic Service (ATS) Routes” as an overall term to identify the U.S. domestic route structure. Specifically, in Part 71, the term “ATS Route” means: Jet routes, RNAV routes, VOR Federal airways, and colored Federal airways (i.e., LF/MF routes).

General information about establishing routes is contained in FAA Order 7400.2, “Procedures for Handling Airspace Matters.” The descriptions of all U.S. domestic ATS routes are published in FAA Order 7400.9, “Airspace Designations and Reporting Points.” These publications can be viewed on the internet at:

http://www.faa.gov/airports_airtraffic/air_traffic/publications/

The numbering system used varies depending on the type of route.

• For VOR Federal airways (V) and Jet Routes (J), a one to three digit number from 1 – 999, is assigned (V-3, J-591, etc). Even numbers are assigned for routes that extend generally east-west and odd numbers for routes that extend generally north-south. For a new route, the number selection is somewhat random — although we check the National Airspace System Database to make sure the number is not already in use.
• For colored Federal airways (LF/MF), the color names “Amber, Blue, Green and Red” are used followed by a one or two digit number (A-2, G-18,etc). The color indicates the route alignment. Routes that extend generally east-west are designated as Green or Red. Routes the extend generally north-south are designated as Amber or Blue. Note: There are still about 49 colored Federal airways in the system (primarily in Alaska).
• For RNAV routes, the U.S. uses designators (T and Q) and number sets that were assigned for our use by ICAO. The FAA decided to use the T designator for low altitude RNAV routes and the Q designator for high altitude RNAV routes.
• Low altitude RNAV routes (below 18,000′ MSL): “T” plus a number from 200 – 500. – - High altitude RNAV routes (at & above 18,000; MSL): “Q” plus a number from 1 – 499. Note: The same “even number for E-W” / “odd number for N-S,” as is used for V & J routes above, also applies to RNAV routes.

Note: Offshore Oceanic ATS routes are outside U.S. domestic airspace and are not covered under Part 71and are not processed by the Airspace & Rules Group.

Kevin writes:

I’m flying out of Inyokern airport (IYK).  It’s just west of the China Lake Naval Air Station and north of Edwards AFB.  IYK is within the Isabella MOA if I’m reading my LA sectional correctly. Thanks!

Kevin, I’m not quite sure what you’re asking, but Inyokern lies under, but not within the MOA. The MOA normally starts at 200 feet AGL and extends to FL180. However, over IYK, the MOA begins at 3,956 MSL; this is 1,501 feet above the field elevation of 2,455 feet.

Now, this isn’t exactly a problem, as VFR operations with an MOA simply require that you maintain your own separation from military aircraft. A bigger concern is the Restricted area next door!  I would caution you, though, as military aircraft can sometimes get pretty frisky with GA aircraft in a MOA (see the youtube clip of the F-16 intercepting two general aviation aircraft).

The best advice I can offer is for you to check with your instructor and FBO that you will be operating out of to get a thorough briefing of the specific restrictions of your local airspace. You can also check with Flight Service or the controlling ARTCC agency for detailed information on airspace status.

Thanks again for the questions, and always…

Fly safe!

AOPA recently released a video that contains the audio and video showing the radar on March 21 when on March 21, 2008 a F16 pilot apparently tried to successfully scare the absolute living daylights out of two general aviation pilots flying a Pilatus PC-12 and a Beechcraft Premier. Both aircraft were equipped with a TCAS II system which alerts the pilots and if necessary, provides the pilots with TAs (Traffic Advisories) and if necessary, RAs, or Resolution Advisories. If you have never had the privilege of hearing these sounds, I have provided a sample of what a TA and RA sounds like:

Traffic Advisory

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Resolution Advisory

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

So the question is, which one takes precedence? A Resolution advisory or an ATC clearance?

According to FAR 91.123:

When an ATC clearance has been obtained, no pilot in command may deviate from that clearance unless an amended clearance is obtained, an emergency exists, or the deviation is in response to a traffic alert and collision avoidance system resolution advisory.

Another question? Is it ok to fly through a MOA? Let’s take a look at our AIM 3-4-5. It says:

Pilots operating under VFR should exercise extreme caution while flying within a MOA when military activity is being conducted.

Another interesting point about this chapter in the AIM concerning MOAs. Did you know that the military aircraft operating in a MOA can be exempt from at least two rules 1) Aerobatic Flight and 2) Speed *they can operate above 250 knots below 10,000 feet* So, although it might be LEGAL to operate in a MOA, doesn’t sound like a real bright idea.

I uploaded the video to my youtube channel (http://www.youtube.com/askacfi) but you can’t watch it here too. (thanks to AOPA for the video)

Fly Safe (especially in a MOA)