Landing at an unoccupied ATC airport

[Jack Jeffers 1371614]

What is the procedure when on an IFR and the airport your destination is at, the ATC go offline or none are there,

I have only been on VATSIM for a few days so I haven't encountered every problem under the sun!

Cheers...

[Mehdi Naguib]

Hi - you may just declare your intentions on UNICOM 122.80 and keep monitoring traffic around you (if any), and keep performing your flight normally.

[Mike Sweeney]

VATSIM's Pilot Resource Center provides helpful guidance for those procedures here:

https://www.vatsim.net/pilot-resource-centre

 

For example, this includes 'self-announcing' intentions on Unicom:

Non-Controlled Airport Procedures

[Trent Hopkinson]

Here's the funky thing.

 

Not every airport in the real world is controlled 24 hours a day either!

 

At some airports, the control tower shuts down at night for a few hours. And at some airports, there is no control tower at all!

 

Some of these airports receive commercial jet aircraft flying IFR flights into them also.

 

IFR clearance on the ground with CTR, and they give a valid time, after which the IFR clearance becomes invalid. This is usually enough time to get airborne with time to spare.

 

CTAF (Unicom for Vatsim) broadcasts to tell other pilots (who might be VFR etc) you are moving (taxi) or entering a runway (to cross or takeoff) and then back to CTR once airborne and away from the circuit area.

 

 

For the purpose of Vatsim, I'd stick to telling pilots you are going to move somewhere. ie:

 

"Traffic middleofnowhere Airport, [your aircraft type] taxis to runway [number] via taxiway [letters]"

"Traffic middleofnowhere Airport [your aircraft type] crossing [runway number] on taxiway [letter]"

"Traffic middleofnowhere Airport [your aircraft type] enters runway [runway number] departure [direction you will travel when on course AFTER your initial turn]"

(A cardinal direction like "North" or "West" ... or a descriptiion of a circuit leg such as "Downwind" or "Left crosswind" etc may work here too)

 

Vatpac once made this docomeent:

http://www.fliegermail.de/daten/CTAF.pdf

[Nick Warren]

To tag on to Trent's post, this can also be emulated on arrivals as well, even when an overlaying controller is on and the airport is a real world uncontrolled field. In this case you will be vectored accordingly, cleared for the approach, and told to change to advisory frequency (the CTAF for the field, however UNICOM 122.80 in VATSIMland). You will also be advised to cancel IFR on the ground via some means, typically via the overlaying controllers frequency.

 

This is just to tag on to Trent's example and it is actually rather rare on VATSIM, although I get a few here and there when I am controlling. The answer to the heart of your question is to follow Mehdi's example and again reference the PRC for proper usage of UNICOM/CTAF.

 

Have fun, and welcome!

[Lindsey Wiebe 1101951]

Tag along train...

 

In real world for an uncontrolled airport there can only be ONE aircraft on the IFR approach at a time. So if there is already a plane making a full procedure approach you should hold at the IAF or published hold point until that aircraft announces down and clear. However, there aren't a lot of diehards like myself that do full procedure approaches when at uncontrolled airports! They are a lot of work (but rewarding). Generally people self vector onto the ILS so if people are using the Unicom and announcing position you can mentally visualize the airspace and make appropriate spacing yourself.

[Trent Hopkinson]

Tag along train...

 

In real world for an uncontrolled airport there can only be ONE aircraft on the IFR approach at a time. So if there is already a plane making a full procedure approach you should hold at the IAF or published hold point until that aircraft announces down and clear. However, there aren't a lot of diehards like myself that do full procedure approaches when at uncontrolled airports! They are a lot of work (but rewarding). Generally people self vector onto the ILS so if people are using the Unicom and announcing position you can mentally visualize the airspace and make appropriate spacing yourself.

 

 

Or fly a Visual approach (not the same thing as cancelling IFR, and is actually an IFR procedure too).

 

There are airports without ILS approaches, runways without ILS facilities... and in Australia, some of those runways are at the main international airport for the capital city of the state in question... such as YMML Melbourne's runway 34.

 

 

[Nicholas Cavacini]

Trent, at least in the US, only 1 IFR aircraft can go in or out at a time regardless of the type of approach. Like you said, a visual approach is not the same as canceling IFR. However, if there is no overlying ATC, there really isn't anyone to cancel with.

[Trent Hopkinson]

Trent, at least in the US, only 1 IFR aircraft can go in or out at a time regardless of the type of approach. Like you said, a visual approach is not the same as canceling IFR. However, if there is no overlying ATC, there really isn't anyone to cancel with.

 

Which is why I didn't disagree, or even address, how many IFR aircraft can go in or out at a time.

 

The Visual approach can cut off time (minutes) for the approach. of course that requires the weather to be above minimums.

 

And I was mostly talking about a non-controlled airport with an overlying ATC, where the airport is either not manned H24 (real world) or is a CTAF (real world) in cl[Mod - Happy Thoughts] G.

 

On my local region forum we have been talking about an uncontrolled airport that is inside cl[Mod - Happy Thoughts] C!

 

Excerpt from page 45 of https://www.casa.gov.au/sites/g/files/net351/f/_[Mod - Happy Thoughts]ets/main/pilots/download/melbourne.pdf

[Scott DeWoody]

It appears that the thread has gotten a little off track. Back to the OP..... the first response from MEHDI NAGUIB is what you should do. Where it is not required to announce your intentions on unicomm, it is a wise thing to do. Check the wind, and try to pick a runway accordingly, keeping in mind, not everyone has the same weather generator, so if there are other aircraft in the area, listen to unicomm and try to do what others are doing, if they are broadcasting their intentions instead of just picking any runway and landing.

[Trent Hopkinson]

It appears that the thread has gotten a little off track. Back to the OP..... the first response from MEHDI NAGUIB is what you should do. Where it is not required to announce your intentions on unicomm, it is a wise thing to do. Check the wind, and try to pick a runway accordingly, keeping in mind, not everyone has the same weather generator, so if there are other aircraft in the area, listen to unicomm and try to do what others are doing, if they are broadcasting their intentions instead of just picking any runway and landing.

 

On the runway pick, a runway 18 with wind reporting 180/10 is a 10 knot headwind when sitting on rwy 18.

 

For some reason, some people think 180/10 means heading 360 is a headwind... which it doesn't.

Edited October 20, 2016 at 05:54 AM by Guest

[Ernesto Alvarez 818262]

that happens even with real world students. just a learning process. most just seem to think the wind is being reported as "To" (->->->->->->), not "from" (<-<-<-<-<-<-)

 

 

seems to be the same case online when i often question why someone chose to use a certain runway, i try and show them the correct way by linking them to tutorials. seems to be more acceptably taken rather then trying to explain it directly