Airport Operations
Objectives
To understand the required and recommended operations of operating near controlled and uncontrolled airports.
Motivations
It is important for a pilot to know and understand the standard procedures for operating in an airport environment, and how to mitigate the risks of operating in close proximity with other traffic.
Timings
- 30 minutes
Format
Elements
- Hazards operating near an airport
- Traffic congestion
- Climbing/descending aircraft
- Pilot preoccupation
- Runway numbers
- Aligned with magnetic north heading (Heading 140° M given runway 14)
- Shift slowly over time
- Parallel runways will be given L, R, or C designations
- What is a traffic pattern?
- Traffic pattern altitude
- Chart supplement
- Propeller-driven aircraft: 1000' above field elevation
- Large or turbine aircraft: 1500' above field elevation
- Helicopters: 500'
- Traffic pattern direction
- Shown in chart supplement, sectional ("RP 36"), and ForeFlight
- If not shown, left traffic is implied
- Traffic pattern legs
- Upwind leg
- Crosswind leg
- Downwind leg
- Base leg
- Final approach
- Departure
- Traffic pattern entry and exit
- Enter in level flight abeam the midpoint of the runway
- If remaining in the pattern, start crosswind leg within 300' of pattern altitude
- When departing the pattern, depart straight-out or 34° in the direction of the pattern
- When operating with parallel runways, don't overshoot the final turn
- Visual indicators
- Segmented circle/traffic pattern indicator: Shows traffic pattern direction
- Tetrahedron: Land in the direction that it's pointed
- Right-of-way 91.113
- When two airplanes are approaching to land, the lower one has right-of-way
- However, you cannot take advantage of this by cutting in front of another aircraft
- Airports with a ATCT
- Maintain contact with the control tower while you're in the airspace
- Some airports have a radar display, but not all
- Traffic advisories
- Recommended headings
- Runway distances
- TORA: Takeoff runway Available, usually the length of the runway
- TODA: Takeoff distance available, TODA plus any clearway or stopway beyond the end of the runway
- ASDA: Accelerate-Stop Distance Available: Distance available to accelerate and stop
- LDA: Landing distance available: Runway length, minus any displayed threshold
- These may be less than physical distances to account for runway safety area buffers
- Intersection takeoffs
- Controller will give you take off distance available from interesection
- Pilots need to accept or decline
- Wake turbulence holds
- ATC will hold light aircraft for 3 minutes if a large aircraft has just takeoff
- "Hold for wake turbulence"
- Pilots can request to waive this, "Request to waiver 3 minute interval"
- LAHSO: Land and hold short operations
- Land before an intersecting runway or taxiway
- PIC needs to accept or decline LASHO requests
- Land and hold short points are listed in the Chart Supplement, with the Available Landing Distance (ALD) for the runway
- Example:
N12382 cleared to land runway six right, hold short of taxiway bravo for crossing traffic B737. - Need basic VFR weather conditions
- Light gun signals
- Ground control frequencies ("GROUND POINT 7" means 121.7)
- "Cleared for the option", means cleared for one of:
- touch-and-go
- low approach
- missed approach
- stop-and-go
- full stop landing
- Aircraft lights
- Beacon/anti-collision lights on when aircraft is in motion
- Position/nav lights are required to be on sunset to sunrise
- Strobes should be used in flight (not when taxiing), unless reflecting in clouds is hazardous
- All lights should be used when crossing runways
- Operation Lights On
- Pilots are encouraged to use landing light, day or night, up to 10,000'
- ASOS/AWOS
- Should be available < 10,000 ft within 25nm
- "I have the one-minute weather for Salem"