airtraffic

Author Topic: New here, have some questions.  (Read 3121 times)

Offline JNanu

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New here, have some questions.
« on: August 12, 2009, 02:11:39 AM »
Hey everyone. Can I first just say that discovering this website was like a kid discovering ice cream. It has slowly ruined my sleeping pattern, keeping me up late at night listening to... well I'm not actually sure what, which is why I'm posting here.

A tad about myself... I've always loved airplanes, airports, flying. When I was young I wanted to be an Air Traffic Controller on the aircraft carrier. Then I got a bit older and realized that Canada's "Navy" doesn't have any of those, but flying has always been something that I really enjoyed, even if rarely. I actually booked a familiarization flight at my local airport just north of Toronto next Monday. I'm really excited. Check out the airport, learn the basics of the airplane. I have one year of school left to become an elementary school teacher and then I hope to pursue a PPL while I work. But enough about me.

My one main question about this website is what exactly am I listening to? The main feeds that I listen to are CYYZ (Pearson airport in Toronto), LROP #2 (Bucuresti, Romania), LRBC (Bacau, Romania), and LRCL (Cluj, Romania). When I go to the list of feeds I see a few different frequencies there (tower, ground etc.). Which one of those frequencies do I listen to? It's weird because at times it seems like the same voice is both giving landing clearance and giving taxi instructions. Wouldn't that be different controllers? It also seems like the same voice speaks to aircrafts that are on approach and that have just departed. Again, wouldn't that be different controllers? It's probably that I just don't understand half (and that's being generous) of what they're saying that makes me place the airplane somewhere else than it actually is. So where would you recommend that I go to learn to understand what is being said when I'm listening to these feeds? I'm so intrigued by them now and I barely understand what they're saying. I can imagine the long days without sleep once I do understand what I'm listening to.

Thanks everyone!
Justin

PS. I was listening to one of those interesting recordings from an Air Canada plane with stuck flaps that needed to dump fuel in Lake Ontario and return back to Pearson. There was one part of the conversation that I'd hope someone could explain to me: "The Toronto Fuel Dump Area is between 20 and 50 DME on the Toronto 090 Radio." A fuel dump area is pretty straight forward, I guess, but what is DME, what is a radio, and what is meant by intercepting a radio?
« Last Edit: August 12, 2009, 02:15:57 AM by JNanu »



Offline sykocus

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Re: New here, have some questions.
« Reply #1 on: August 12, 2009, 06:46:37 AM »
Positions on ATC facilities are often combined when traffic permits. So often it is the same controller working local and ground.

What you heard for the fuel dumping area was "radial" not radio. You can look up VOR and TACAN for more info. The pilot tunes into the VOR and is able to select one of 360 radials which correspond to the degrees on a compass. He can the fly toward or away from the VOR on that radial.  The DME is signal which some VORs and all TACANs have which gives the pilot their slant range from the site of the navaid. So the 090 radial between 20 and 50 dme is due east between 20 and 50 miles.   
« Last Edit: August 12, 2009, 11:23:52 AM by sykocus »