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| How far from an Airport before contacting atc at that airport | |
Gary Cooper  5th May 2010 18:33:26 | Hi please can you tell me if there is a specific time or miles from an airport , before you contact atc at that airport, cheers! |
Christian Smith  5th May 2010 19:01:05 | Hello, in simple, No there is no specific time, it varies depending on the airport and its procedure. If a Control position is on (Like London control) then they'll tell you when to switch. If in doubt:
Contact a Radar position 30nm out Contact a Tower position once established on the glide (4 IFR), on long final (for VFR), or when entering the tower airpace and into the traffic pattern but only when below 2,000ft (that blue line around the airfield is the airspace) Contact ground once you clear the runway. |
| Christian Smith 5th May 2010 19:03:27 | *Visual approach is also long final :)
I'm sure some other views get chipped in but thats a good one to go by :P |
Richard Stuchfield  5th May 2010 19:46:06 | if you're IFR, I'd like a call before you get to 4nm on the glide slope - not much time to clear the runway if you have something on it. 10-12nm would be good. For VFR, you should call the Tower at least 5 mins before entering their airspace (5 mins is the minimum for any VFR traffic before they are looking for a control service). VFR traffic should be asking the Tower for 'joining instructions' which will be passed by the controller to allow for their traffic load at the time. Expect to hear something like:
"G-ABCD, join left hand downwind for unway 27. Not above 1500' QNH/QFE 1013. Report downwind" I'd agree with the 30nm out as a general point to contact Radar/Approach. |
Geoff Server  7th May 2010 00:10:44 | Going to be interesting when a pilot calls radar 30 miles out and he is still at 30,000ft
I tend to contact a radar controller at an airport around 60 miles and report position just in case the radar controller wants to route me to a beacon. As stated above if there is on route control then they will route you and advise you to contact the airport radar controller. When I am advised to contact unicon for on route comms I would normally also tune to the radar at the airport I am flying to to see how busy they are and also to find out local conditions runway in use etc..... |
| Pete Gardner 7th May 2010 00:17:35 | Was Thinking The Same Geoff,Well Said,From The Wealth Of Knowledge LOL |
| Christian Smith 7th May 2010 00:28:05 | I'd put him in a hold for 30mins for being a silly sausage and not descending already! :p |
James Monckton  7th May 2010 00:41:01 | Have to agree! |
| Richard Stuchfield 7th May 2010 11:55:27 | yeah - I bet they'd only do it once - unless they like to hear the phrase "descend in the hold".
If you're flying in UNICOM, then it is the pilots responsibility for routing and level profiles. You are only obliged to observe instructions when flying under ATC control. Don't expect ATC to fly your plane for you - take sensible measures to ensure you are in a position to accept 'normal' ATC instructions when you call them. |
| Christian Smith 11th Sep 2010 19:48:45 | INFO FOR PILOTS, THOUGHT ID DRAG THIS POST BACK FROM THE DEAD :) |
| Paul Humphries 13th Sep 2010 14:00:37 | This was something I wanted to know, but was too afraid to ask, j/k, and thanks for bringing it to the fore!! |
| Christian Smith 13th Sep 2010 14:49:37 | No problems, I think there was a few pilots who were a little unsure, but some are worried about asking the simple questions! :) Throughout the forum all kinds of things ATC related are covered its always the best place to start if you've got any other Q's :) |
| Christian Smith 13th Sep 2010 14:56:56 | *By the way, for tower only, the one you want is Richard's post :) |
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