Getting there

GETTING THERE (A BASICPRIMER ON FLYING AN AIRPLANE FROM "A" TO "B")

Hal Stoen
©2001

first release: 2 December, 2001

minor revisions: 28 June 2002, 13 March 2003

PURPOSE OF THIS TUTORIAL

The intent of this tutorial is to bring together the variouselements that comprise an airliner's flight from "point A"to "point B". We'll start with Dispatch, then proceedto the aircraft pre-flight, Clearance Delivery, taxi out, departure,enroute and finally our destination. Along the way we'll haveto make a diversion for some enroute thundrstorms.

EQUIPMENT

Our aircraft will be a generic, twin-engine turbine airliner.

THE TRIP

We will be departing from Oxford, International Airport asFleet Air Flight 752, and landing at Sheba, International Airport-some 780 miles up the road.

WEATHER & DISPATCH

As a pilot you live and breath weather. Other than the fitnessof you and your aircraft, nothing else in aviation can have agreater effect on the safety of your flight than the incrediblycomplex bag that Mother Nature has at Her hand. After readingthe newspaper's headline, your next selection is usually the weatherpage. The night before your scheduled flight you find yourselfwatching The Weather Channel instead of HBO. Such is a pilot'simmersion in trying to get as much knowledge on this vitally importantaspect of flying airplanes.

Arriving at the airport, you and your First Officer receiveyour briefing from the Company Dispatcher, going to real-timeweather radar if convective activity will have a bearing on yourroute. NOTAM's (NOtices To AirMen) are gone over to see if anyapply to today's flight. Airport status, departure and arrivalare gone over. Next comes your expected passenger count, baggage,freight and fuel loads.

AN ASIDE

I'm not an airline pilot, never was. I did fly for a "thirdlevel commuter" airline, however I think that would be alittle deceptive to the reader to say that made me an "airlinepilot". What I write here that involves airline proceduresis drawn from that experience. Most of my life was spent flyingcorporate airplanes. I'm putting this in an "airliner perspective"because most sim. pilots prefer to use the airline scenario. However,we all fly by the same set of rules, using the same navigationaldevices, and in the same airspace.

PRE-FLIGHT

The airline Maintenance Department has signed your aircraftoff as airworthy, but it's an old (and required) habit- you doa walk-around inspection. It's not like you can pull the dipsticksand check fluid levels, it's more of a comfort thing.

THE OFFICE AND FLIGHT ROUTING

Settled in, you and the First Officer go over the aircraftdiscrepancies list, noting the maintenance actions and sign-offs.You start setting up the radios for the trip to Sheba, International.

Here is our route:

Like all of the other airlines, your company uses "canned"flight plans. Fleet Air Flight 752 operates seven days a week,and uses routing and altitudes that are coordinated with Air TrafficControl to fit in with the grand scheme of things at that particulartime of the day. Convective activity (thunderstorms) or unusualtraffic loads may cause some routing changes, but usually- dayin, and day out- it remains the same.

Our route will be direct from the Oxford Airport to the DollyVORTAC (Very high frequency Omni Range, with TACAN- DME, for allintents and purposes), then join J-115. "J" routes areJet routes, used for flight above Flight Level 180- 18,000 feet.Below FL180 the "Victor" routes are used. (The chartabove is just a sample that I drew up, and does not show the airwayradials and other information that is displayed on an actual chart.)

We will track J-115 from the Dolly VORTAC to the Cloud VORTAC,intercept the Localizer for the Sheba International ILS, Runway9, and shoot the approach to Sheba. The canned flight plan listsa cruise altitude of FL370. Your prepared form from company Dispatchshows a heading of 355 degrees to Dolly @ 90 miles. J-115 usesthe 020 degree radial out of Dolly, and the 202 degree radialinbound to the Cloud VORTAC. Then it's the 010 outbound from Clouduntil Localizer interception. Total distance is 782 nautical miles.Block to block time is scheduled to be 1 hour and 57 minutes.

SETTING UP THE RADIOS

Our aircraft has three communications radios, two navigationreceivers, GPS, radar altimeter, dual transponders, and otherstandard equipment appropriate for the category.

This routing uses the established airways, so GPS will actonly as an orientation back-up. You pull out the chart for ShebaInternational, and dial in the appropriate settings in the GPSunit. In a few seconds it shows that Sheba is 016 degrees and764 miles from where you are parked on the ramp. The FAA has beenworking on "Open Skies" for a long time now, and perhapssomeday it will come to pass, but for now the established airwaysare the norm.

You tune in the Oxford ATIS (Automatic Terminal InformationService). "This is Oxford International information Charley.At twelve ten Zulu, Oxford is eight thousand scattered, visibilitygreater than one five miles. Temperature is two three, dew pointone five. Winds are calm, altimeter three zero one two. Landingand departing runway two two. Advise on initial contact that youhave information charley."

A NOTE ON ATIS BROADCASTS

ATIS is for both arriving and departing aircraft. Normallythe information changes with each hourly weather observation.When a new observation is issued, the "alphabet designator"ratchets down the alphabet one letter- in other words, if information"Tango" was the previous observation, the next one willbe information "Uniform". The "information name""Charley", "Delta" etc. proceeds in sequencethrough the "phonetic alphabet" until it reaches "Zulu".Then it starts with "Alpha" for another trip. If theweather is changing significantly, a new weather observation andtherefore a new "alphabet name" will be issued at anytime it's necessary. If conditions are changing rapidly, you willoften hear "...current weather will be issued by your finalcontroller..." If a facility is not open all night, theywill pick up the alphabet in the morning where it left off thenight before- that's why you may hear "Information Yankee"at 7:00 in the morning.

Frequency-wise, ATIS broadcasts usually have their own VHFfrequency. Sometimes, at the busier fields, there will be twoATIS frequencies, one for arrivals, and one for departures. Thiscan be broken down even farther into "approach segments"if necessary. Sometimes ATIS information is broadcast in the LF(Low Frequency) range, usually from the NDB (Non-Directional Beacon)at the Outer Marker.

BACK TO SETTING UP THE RADIOS

You dial Comm. #1 to Clearance Delivery, 126.45. "Goodmorning Clearance, Fleet Air seven fifty two, charley, instrumentsSheba." "Fleet Air seven fifty two is cleared as filed,maintain one zero thousand, expect higher one zero minutes afterdeparture. After departure, turn right heading three five zero.Proceed direct Dolly when able. Departure on frequency one twentyeight point niner five, squawk four seven five five." Youdo the read-back. "As filed, one zero thousand, expect higherin ten, right turn to three five zero after departure, directDolly when able, on course, one twenty eight point niner five,four seven five five on the squawk, Fleet seven fifty two.""Read-back correct Fleet seven fifty two, contact Groundon push-back." "Roger, seven fifty two."

Nav. #1 is set to 117.3, and the HSI is set to 355 degrees.Nav. #2 is set to the ILS frequency for your departure airport,Oxford. This is done as standard procedure should an emergencyoccur and you have to make an immediate return to your departureairport. Nav. #2 will be set to 114.4, Cloud VORTAC after youare enroute. The radar altimeter is set to ILS minimums for Oxford-200 feet. Transponders one and two are both set to 4755 and verifiedthat they are in the "standby mode". (Dual transpondersare wired so that both cannot be on at the same time.) The altimetersare set to 30.12.

Comm. #1 is set to Oxford Ground, 121.9, Comm. #2 to OxfordTower, 118.5, and Comm. #3 to Departure, 128.95.

You and your First Officer go through, and complete the pre-enginestart checklist.

THE OXFORD AIRPORT / TAXI OUT

Here is the airport diagram for the Oxford International Airport:

PUSH-BACK AND TAXI OUT

You and your First Officer complete the engine start checklist.A look out the side window to your left shows that a ground manis standing by. He verifies through his microphone/headset thatis hooked up to your aircraft with an umbilical cord, that thearea is clear for engine start. Number one start, pressures andtemperatures coming up, number two start, pressures and temperaturescoming up. You call for the APU cable to be unplugged from theexterior of the aircraft, and the plane comes alive on ship'spower after a momentary "blurp". "Good morningOxford, Fleet seven fifty two is ready for push-back, gate thirtyfive." "Fleet seven fifty two, Oxford Ground. You'reclear for push-back gate thirty five, advise ready to taxi.""Seven fifty two." After your authorization, a groundservice tech. starts his tug and begins pushing the aircraft awayfrom the gate. At the end of the push-back, and after the tugis disconnected, you call Oxford Ground. "Good morning Ground,Fleet seven fifty two ready for taxi, Gate 35."

"Good morning Fleet seven fifty two, taxi to runway twotwo via taxiways 'C', 'D', and 'B'. Taxiway 'B' is closed betweenthe terminal ramp and taxiway 'D' for repairs. Contact the Towerwhen ready." "Roger, Fleet seven fifty two." Theground tech. squats down and gives a visual check under the aircraft,then notifies you on the headset that all is normal. You thankhim, and he unplugs his headset from the aircraft, closing thesmall access door. Trading salutes with him, you start bringingup break-away power. While taxing out to the active, you and yourFirst Officer start going through the departure check list. Afteryears of practice, you find that you can "pop your ears"without thinking about it as the cabin pressurization starts climbing.Ground steering is being done by the small tiller on your left,an art form in itself.

TAKING THE ACTIVE RUNWAY

By the time you approach the departure end of runway 22, thechecklist is complete, and you switch to Comm. #2, the OxfordTower. "Good morning Oxford, Fleet seven fifty two approachingthe runway, we're ready to go." "Roger Fleet seven fiftytwo, hold short for landing aircraft." "Seven fiftytwo." "Cessna one five five seven golf, you're clearedto land runway two two." "Cleared to land two two, fiveseven golf." Stopping at a right angle to the runway, youlook out to your left and see an aircraft on short final. It passesin front of you, a beautiful corporate Cessna 421, glisteningin the morning sun. "Cessna five seven golf, turn right ontaxiway G, contact Ground point nine when clear." "Roger,five seven golf."

For a brief moment, you envy the corporate driver in the 421.His is an ever changing world of destinations, and one with singularresponsibility. You've been on this route for six months now,and the seniority list looks like you will be there for anothersix more. The lot of being an airborne bus driver. Oxford Towerbrings you back to the present. "Fleet seven fifty two taxiinto position and hold." "Position and hold, seven fiftytwo."

DEPARTURE

Break-away power is brought up, and you position your aircraftat the end of the runway, nose pointing down the 12,000 feet ofasphalt. "Fleet seven fifty two, cleared for takeoff runwaytwo two, after departure turn right heading three five zero.""Three five zero on the heading, and we're cleared to go,Fleet seven fifty two." Completion of the departure checklistis verified, transponder one is turned from "standby"to "on", and power is brought up on the turbines. Thisis your leg, you'll do the flying to the Sheba airport, afterwhich your First Officer will take the next leg. He brings thepower up to the appropriate settings. You rapidly transition fromtiller steering to the pedals as the rudder comes alive. The FirstOfficer calls out that the temps. and fuel flows look good.

"V1!" This is it. Fish or cut bait. Based on temperature,barometric setting, weight, wind and elevation, this is go orno-go speed. At this time you can chop the throttles, engage thereversers and spoilers, and initiate full braking, stopping youraircraft before it leaves the runway. The time between V1 andVr (rotate speed) is short. "Vr!" You pull back on thewheel, raising the nose to a pre-established angle. Shortly themains follow and the aircraft is back in its design element.

CLIMB

Touch the brakes to stop the rotating main gear tires so thatthey don't conflict with the wheel well area when they retract."Gear!" The First Officer raises the gear. Fortunately,Oxford is surrounded by industry and farm land. You don't haveto endure the dreaded power reduction for noise abatement here.

After departure, pilots like to put air between them and theground as rapidly as possible.

"Flaps!" The First Officer retracts the flaps fromtheir takeoff setting. You turn to a heading of three five zeroas you pass through 3,000 feet. "Fleet seven fifty two contactDeparture. Good day!". "Have a good one, seven fiftytwo."

"Good morning Departure, Fleet seven fifty two with youout of three for ten, three five zero assigned." "Fleetseven fifty two, good morning. Proceed direct Dolly, on course.Maintain one zero thousand." "Dolly, on course. Onezero thousand, seven fifty two." "And seven fifty two,contact Center on frequency one thirty two seventy five. Goodmorning." "Center on one thirty two seventy five. Goodmorning to you Sir." Climb power and deck angle are adjustedso that you don't bust the 250 knot speed limit below 10,000.

Dolly VORTAC is already loaded into Nav. #1. You press the"Auto." button and the course selector slews aroundto center on course. The autopilot is engaged: Nav. and Airspeedhold modes activated. "Good morning Bickford Center, Fleetseven fifty two with you, out of eight for ten." "Fleetseven fifty two, Bickford. Climb to and maintain flight levelthree five zero." "On up to three five zero, seven fiftytwo." The autopilot altitude preselect is set to 35,000 ft.,and power settings trimmed up. Reaching Dolly the HSI course selectoris set for the J-115 outbound radial from Dolly, 020 degrees.Nav. #2 is tuned to the Cloud VORTAC, 114.4. The Nav. #2 displayhead is set to 022 degrees, J-115's inbound course.

You and your First Officer go through, and complete the climbcheck list.

LEVEL-OFF AND CRUISE

Reaching Flight Level 350, the autopilot does its thing, maintainingyour assigned altitude. Power is adjusted for cruise flight. Allsystems look good.

The "hours and hours of boredom, punctuated with momentsof shear terror" mode is engaged.

SID DEPARTURE

Let's say that Oxford International has a SID (Standard InstrumentDeparture) that applies to your routing. When you contact ClearanceDelivery for your clearance, you will hear this: "Fleet Airseven fifty two is cleared as filed, via the Oxford One Departure.Departure on frequency one twenty eight point niner five, squawkfour seven five five."

SIDs were originally designed for the non-radar environment,along with their kissing cousins STARs (Standard Terminal ArrivalRoute). They make excellent back-ups in case of communicationsfailure, although this is a rare event with modern equipment.For more information on SIDs and STARS see the tutorial on themhere.

The SID will show departure routes, altitudes and airspeedrestrictions. Nine hundred and ninty nine times out of a thousand,Departure will issue a new heading or a clearance to proceed oncourse. Remember that once any part of a SID or STAR ismodified that the procedure is cancelled.

ENROUTE

The enroute phase is the quietest part of the operation. Frequencychanges with Center are about the extent of the enroute workload.Given that, let's throw in some convective activity to liven thingsup a bit.

THUNDERSTORMS

"Attention all aircraft this frequency, convective SIGMETfour alpha one has been issued. This SIGMET covers....."This alert has been issued by Center on the active frequency thatyou are currently on. A peek at the radar shows why. A large blobof green, with yellow and the dreaded red cluster is 200 milesin front of you, right on your course line.

pause: AIRBORNE WEATHER RADAR

If you are not familiar with airborne weather radar, how it'sused, and its limitations, you may want to pause at this timeand read the tutorial Airborneweather radar, and then return after you're done.

continue: THUNDERSTORMS

This is what you see when you peer at the radar screen:

In all fairness, you, as an experienced pilot, would not havelet this situation develop this rapidly and this close to youraircraft- you would have been "running" your radar backand forth in range and seen this situation much earlier. In anyevent, there it is- right off of the nose, and right on your courseline. This is a mean looking group. The "hook" on thered portion is indicative of tornado activity, and almost forcertain the yellow area is actually level three activity thatis being attenuated by the moisture in front of it.

Time to do something.

You reach over and press the "hold" button on thedisplay. After 30 seconds you press "hold" again togo back to the real time display. The cluster moves directly downthe scope, with a small drift to the left. Time to make a diversion."Center, Fleet seven fifty two, requesting a right turn ofthirty degrees to go around this stuff up ahead". "Ah,Fleet seven fifty two, thirty degree right turn is approved, statewhat your new heading will be." "New heading will bezero five five degrees, seven fifty two." "Roger sevenfifty two, right turn is approved, advise when you will be ableto proceed on course," "Seven fifty two".

You turn right thirty degrees to a new heading of zero fivefive degrees, switching the autopilot from the "Nav."mode to the "Heading" mode, and use the heading bugon the HSI for steering. A look at the screen shows that the Southeastedge of the activity will still conflict with your new course."Center, seven fifty two, we're going to need another 10degrees right out here to clear that stuff." "Rogerseven fifty two, that's approved." The new heading will keepyou clear of the storms. After thirty minutes you pass to theSouthast of the activity and advise Center. "Center, Fleetseven fifty two is clear of the activity and can proceed backon course now." "Roger seven fifty two, proceed directCloud on course." "Direct Cloud, on course, seven fiftytwo."

Cloud VORTAC, 114.4 , is dialed into Nav. #1, hit the "autohead" function, and the course indicator slews to 345 degrees.The autopilot is switched out of the "Hdg." mode intothe "Nav." mode. Reaching Cloud, you turn right to navigateoutbound on J-115.

DESCENT

Center calls. "Fleet seven fifty two descend to and maintaintwo zero zero." "We're out of three seven oh for twozero zero, seven fifty two." Passing through flight level230 Center calls. "Seven fifty two, continue your descenton down to one seven thousand, Sheba International altimeter istwenty nine nine five." On down to one seven thousand, twentynine nine five, Fleet seven fifty two." As you pass throughFlight Level 180 the altimeters are set from 29.92 to the settingat Sheba, 29.95.

Time to tune in the ATIS for Sheba International Airport, 133.55,"This is Sheba International, information Delta. Sheba weatheris indefinate two hundred overcast, visibility one quarter, variableto one half mile, fog, drizzle. Runway Visual Range for runwaynine is two thousand five hundred feet. Wind calm, temperaturetwo six, dew point two six, wind calm, altimeter two niner ninerfive. Landing and departing runway nine. Adivise on initial contactthat you have information Delta."

ER, "RUNWAY VISUAL RANGE"...WHAT'SWITH THAT?

"Runway Visual Range", RVR, is an instrumentallyderived value that is taken in the touchdown area of therunway. It is based on sighting either high intensity runway lights,or a contrasting visual target, whichever yields the higher value.

So?

This becomes important when an approach will be down to thenubs, as it will be in our present approach into Sheba International.Normal ILS minimums are with a reported visibility of 1/2 mile.This visibility is taken by personnel in the tower, viewing objectsthat are at a known distance from the tower cab. Or, more likely,it is derived from an instrument that is usually located mid-fieldso that it is representative for the entire airport. RVR, on theother hand, is specific to the landing runway, and even more specific,to the touchdown area of that runway.

More importantly, RVR takes precedence over the "reportedvisibility". So, "reported visibility" (the toweror the mid-field reading) could be less than 1/2 mile- rulingyou out from shooting the approach. But RVR could be 2,400 feetwhich is the FAA equivilent of 1/2 mile. Now a nautical mile is6,076 feet, and one half of that is 3,038 feet- so how can 2,400feet be the "equivilent" of a half mile? Because theFAA says it is. So there.

Keep in mind that when you reach ILS minimums, usually 200feet above the ground, you must see "something associatedwith the runway" in order to continue on for a landing. TheFAA explicitly defines those "somethings" as:

- The approach lights

- The runway threshold

- The threshold lights

- The runway end identifier lights

- The VASI system

- The runway lights

So, if you reach minimums and cannot see the runway, but cansee the strobe lights flashing at the end of the runway (the runwayend identifier lights), can you continue the approach? Sure youcan. But, the FAA has a caveat in there that states you cannotdescend below the DH (Decision Height) without landing in thetouchdown zone, and without doing any "wild" maneuvers.

APPROACH

Here is the approach plate for Sheba International Airport.

(Although not shown on this plate, the minimus for this aproachare 200 and 1/2- 200 feet above the ground, and 1/2 mile visibility),OR an RVR value of 2,400 feet.)

"Fleet seven fifty two, continue on down to one zero thousand,contact Sheba Approach on frequency one two four point seven.""We're out of seventeen point five for one sero thousand,Approach on one two four point seven. Good morning!" "Goodday gentlemen."

At this point, you and your First Officer will have completedyour descent check list.

"Good morning Approach, Fleet seven fifty two is withyou, descending on down to one zero thousand, Delta." "Goodmorning seven fifty two, continue on down to five thousand, turnright heading zero three zero, vectors for the ILS runway nineapproach." "Right to zero three zero, on down to fivethousand, Fleet seven fifty two."

"Fleet seven fifty two roger, and the RVR for runway ninehas just gone down to one thousand two hundred feet. State yourintentions."

Well, here's a fine mess. Now the airport has gone below minimums,and in accordance with the FAR's (Federal Aviation Regulations),you are not permitted to even shoot the approach to "takea look". (As an aside, part 91 operators, General Aviation,are permitted to shoot the approach and "take a peek".)Well, let's see here. You have a gold-plated alternate- that'srequired by the regulations, and you have been checking on itwhile enroute, so you know that it is still good. But, you don'twant your passengers to be dumped at another airport, and youdo have some "linger fuel"- 40 minutes worth beforeyou will have to strike out to the alternate.

"Approach, seven fifty two, we'ed like to try holdingfor awhile, see if the RVR picks up." Roger Fleet, it hasbeen up and down all morning. Proceed direct to the Ralph VORand hold East as published at five thousand." "DirectRalph, hold East as published, five thousand, Fleet seven fiftytwo." "Roger seven fifty two, and you can expect furtherclearance at two three after the hour, time now is five to thehour." "Understand expect further clearance at two three,thank you."

"EXPECT FURTHER CLEARANCE"?WHAT'S UP WITH THAT?

Air Traffic Control cannot give you a clearance without a limitand a time. When you left Oxford you were cleared to the ShebaAirport- that was your clearance limit. What about the time? Thatwas the time that you filed in your IFR flight plan. If you lostyour communications radios, Center expects you to fly by yourlast clearance, and to depart the Final Approach Fix (in thiscase the Outer Marker for runway 9) at your departure time plusyour filed enroute time. In this case, Approach has cleared youto a new destination- the holding pattern at Ralph. They alsomust give give you an "expect further clearance"time.

What would happen if you lost your radios while holding atRalph? You would adjust your holding pattern such that you wouldarrive over Ralph at 23 minutes after the hour- your EFC time.Then you would proceed direct to the LOM (Locator, Outer Marker)for the ILS 9 approach, descend on the approach as shown on thechart, make a procedure turn, and shoot the approach. If you missthe approach, ATC expects you to fly the missed approach procedureand then fly to your alternate airport. This can really get muckywith a lot of "what ifs", and is good fodder for pilotdiscussions and drinks in a nice warm saloon.

BACK TO THE APPROACH

Crossing Ralph, and just getting ready to enter the holdingpattern, Approach calls. "Seven fifty two, the RVR just wentup to two thousand five hundred feet. Would you like to try theapproach?" "That's affirmative, seven fifty two.""Roger seven fifty two, turn right heading two eight zero,vectors for the approach, descend to and maintain three thousand.""Right to two eight zero, and we're out of five for three,seven fifty two." "Roger seven fifty two, and I'm goingto make this a rather tight turn-in if that's OK with you. Maybewe can get you in before the RVR bobs back down again." "Noproblem, we appreciate that, seven fifty two." (Nice guy,that fellow working Approach.)

At this point, while being vectored for the approach, you wouldcomplete your pre-landing check list. With gear down and approachflaps set, your target is Vref. Vref is 1.3 times the stall speedof your aircraft when in the landing configuration. In our situationwe'll call it 130 knots. Nav, radio's are set as follows:

- Nav #1 to 108.5 the localizer frequency for the ILS 9 approach

- Nav #2 to 116.3, the frequency for Ralph VOR ,which is whereyou will go in the event of a missed approach

- ADF to 346 KH, the frequency for the Locator, Outer Marker

- Radar altimeter to 200 feet, the ILS minimums for the approach

The autopilot will be in the heading mode, with the headingbug moved with each new heading issued by Approach. The CDI (CourseDeviation Indicator) on the HSI will be set to 090 degrees, thecourse for the ILS runway nine approach. The nav. is "armed"so that as you intercept the localize the autopilot will kickout of the heading mode into the navigation mode automatically.By the same token, the altitude hold function is engaged on theautopilot. It will automatically disengage and track the glideslope downward upon intercept.

"Fleet seven fifty two, turn right heading three six zero.""Right to three six zero, seven fifty two." "Rogerseven fifty two, and descend to two thousand three hundred feet.""Right to three six zero, out of three for two point three,seven fifty two". "Roger seven fifty two, and continueyour right turn to zero seven zero. Intercept to localizer onthis heading, you're cleared the approach runway nine, maintainat or above two thousand three hundred until established on theapproach." "On around to zero seven zero, cleared theapproach, at or above two thousand three hundred until established,seven fifty two."

The localizer needle comes off of the left side of the instrument,and starts moving towards the center of the HSI. The glide slopeindicator starts to twitch. The autopilot kicks out of the holdmode into the navigation mode, and starts to track the localizer."Fleet seven fifty two, I show you intercepting the localizerat this time Sir, four miles outside of Penny, you are clearedthe approach, contact Sheba Tower at the marker. The RVR is holdingat two thousand for hundred feet." "Tower at the marker,and thank you for the quick turn-in, we appreciate it." "Nota problem Sir, good day!" "Good day to you Sir."

Now the ADF needle is pointing straight ahead, right at 090degrees. The localizer is centered, and the glide slope bars arecoming down. As they center, the autopilot kicks out of altitudehold into the "GS" mode and tracks the glide slope downward.You adjust power as necessary to maintain Vref. The ADF startsgetting nervous, you hear a rapidly increasing "dah, dah,dah.....". The ADF needle swings abruptly around 180 degrees,pointing at the receding locator beacon.

You have crossed over Penny, the outer marker.

"Good morning Tower, Fleet seven fifty two is with you,marker inbound." "Good morning seven fifty two, notin sight, you're cleared to land, RVR is holding steady at twothousand four hundred." "Cleared to land, seven fiftytwo." The radar altimeter indicates 900 feet above the ground.You're following the gauges, your First Officer is cross checkinghis instruments with yours, and looking out the windshield.

Things happen fast now.

The radar altimeter sings out it's alert- you're 200 feet abovethe ground. You halt your descent. Softly you start to hear the"dit dah, dit dah, ...." of the Middle Marker. You reachup and flip the switch from "High sens." to "Lowsens." The sound disappears, only to come right back again.

You are over the Middle Marker.

LANDING

"Rabbit!" Calls out the First Officer.

"Approach lights!"

You transistion from heads down to look out the windshieldand see the runway end identifier lights. A flip of a switch onthe wheel disengages the autopilot.

"I have visual!"

"I have the runway!" Calls out the First Officer.

"Visual on the runway!"

The aircraft is pitched up for landing. Touchdown! Nose down,power back, spoilers up, reverse thrust, deceleration. You areon the ground, safe and sound, rolling out.

ON THE GROUND, TAXI IN

"Fleet seven fifty two is on the runway." "Fleetseven fifty two, Sheba Tower. Not in sight. Taxi along with caution.Advise when clear of the runway." "Roger, seven fiftytwo."

Out of the murk appears a sign: "I".

"Sheba Tower, seven fifty two is clear of the runway ontaxiway I." "Thank you seven fifty two, still not insight, hold in your present position, contact Ground, point eight.""Seven fifty two." "Good morning Ground, sevenfifty two is clear of the runway on 'I', holding short of 'F'.""Thank you seven fifty two, Sheba Ground, I can see you now.Proceed with caution to the ramp, via taxiways 'F', 'E', and 'B'to the terminal ramp and the gate." "Understand, sevenfifty two." "And seven fifty two, how were you're conditionson the approach Sir." "We picked up the runway environmentright at the Middle Marker, I'd say that the RVR is pretty accurate.""Thank you seven fifty two, proceed to the terminal rampas cleared." "Seven fifty two."

AFTERMATH

It is, of course, impossible to present all of the possiblescenarios for a flight such as this without boring the readerout of his skull. I hope that what you have read proves of valueto you in understanding just how a flight can, in this case anyway,get from "A" to "B".

If you have any comments, corrections, of suggestions on thistutorial, please email me.

This tutorial is available on aCD

This tutorial, along with additional content, is availableon a CD. Click here formore information.

This tutorial based on a suggestion by Terry Tollin. ThanksTerry.

6/28/02: The note on ATIS broadcasts, and a change from theduplication of the designator "Dolly" was made afterreceiving input from Purushottam Sane.

3/13/03: Clearance readback "Direct Ralph (vs. Penny)corrected. Thanks to Kimera Koff.

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