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� What is ATC?
air-traffic control
� Definitions (noun)
� an organization that facilitates the safe and orderly movement of aircraft within and between airports.
What is an ATC service?
� An ATC service is provided according to the particular circumstances and class of airspace, for the purpose of:
� preventing collisions between aircraft in the air;
� assisting in preventing collisions between aircraft moving on the apron and the manoeuvring area;
� assisting in preventing collisions between aircraft and obstructions on the manoeuvring area;
� expediting and maintaining an orderly flow of air traffic.
Mats part 1
How do we do it?
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V 10
London & Scottish FIRs:
1m km2 – 11% of Europe’s
airspace and 25% of
traffic
Shanwick
2.2m km2 – 80% of North
Atlantic traffic
Our airspace…Flight Information Regions
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NATS Private V 10
Prestwick CentreHandles on average 2,700 flights/day
Swanwick CentreHandles on average 6,000 flights/day
– Scottish Oceanic Control Centre– Scottish Area Control Centre
– London Area Control Centre– London Terminal Control Centre
– London Military Air Traffic Control
1.1m movements FY 15/16
1.8m movements FY 15/16
Our Centres
1650 controllers
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SEPARATION
WHAT DO WE DO WHEN WE HAVE
MORE THAN ONE PLANE IN THE AIR?
(THIS IS OFTEN THE CASE)
� We need methods to keep
them apart.
� Do not fear… these have
been developed and are
used to great effect
everyday!
� What are the two ways we
make them miss?
1. Vertically
2. Horizontally
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Separations
Vertical Separation:
1000ft
Horizontal separation:
5nm for upper airspace
3nm for lower airspace
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LATERAL SEPARATION
Longitudinal Separation
FL350
300kts-FL350
300kts
10 miles
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Areas of responsibility
To control airspace from
Lands End to John O’Groats
and from 0ft to 66 000ft
would be very difficult.
• Swanwick alone can work thousands of flights per
hour. Would one person
have the time to speak to
that many planes?
• So what do we do?
• We split the airspace up into smaller chunks called sectors
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RADAR
Radio Direction And Range
PrimarySecondary Surveillance RADAR Co-Located SSR and Primary
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How to tell them all apart
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Primary Only Primary and
Secondary
with Mode C
Primary and
Secondary
with Code
Call Sign
Conversion
and Mode S
Primary and
Secondary
RADAR returns
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Aircraft Use;
On departure they fly on a SID (Standard Instrument Departure) to
defined waypoint or NAVaid or an RNAV SID
En-route use Navigation aids to fly airways or RNAV routes
On arrival they use a STAR (Standard Terminal Arrival Route)
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NDB
NON – Directional Beacon
NDB is a ground-based, low
frequency radio transmitter
• Using an automatic direction finder (ADF),
a standard instrument
on board an aircraft a
pilot can tune into a
Non directional
beacon. When tuned
in we have a direction
to the beacon relative
to the aircraft (provides
bearing information
only).
Bearing 340 degrees
NAVaids
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VOR
VHF OMNI DIRECTIONAL RADIO
RANGE
(VOR) IS A SHORT-RANGE RADIO
NAVIGATION SYSTEM FOR AIRCRAFT.
� Like an NDB, the navigation
signal allows the airborne
receiving equipment to
determine a bearing from
the station to the aircraft
but also informs the pilot
which radial the aircraft is
sitting on.
250 degree radial
Bearing 070 degrees
VOR
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DME
DISTANCE MEASURING
EQUIPMENT
AIRCRAFT USE DME TO
DETERMINE THEIR DISTANCE
FROM A LAND-BASED
TRANSPONDER BY SENDING
AND RECEIVING PULSE PAIRS
� The ground stations are
typically co-located with
VORs
250 degree radial
Bearing 070 degrees
Range 25nm (Slant)
VOR
