virtual sky - 2nd issue
DESCRIPTION
IVAO Virtual Sky magazine - 2nd issue - APR2008TRANSCRIPT
English
Issue: 02
APRIL 2008
MAGAZINE FOR THE ONLINE FLIGHT SIMULATION COMMUNITY
VIRTUAL SKY IS THE OFFICIAL
PUBLICATION OF IVAO
True Story of
IVAO Academy
All about TO/GA by Mike Ray
Ground School for
Pilots & ATC
on Germany and Brazil
Focus
12freeware
tips
Interview with Alain!DebrouwerThe President talksby Vybhava Srinivasan
In the flight simulation
community Alain Debrou-
wer, is one such person
who probably needs no in-
troduction. He is a well re-
spected personality in the
online flight simulation
community. Alain has been
with IVAO for about 8 years
and is also currently serving
as the President of IVAO. I
had an opportunity to inter-
view him and get to know
him better.
Alain! is married with Sofie,
he has two daughters, Tess
and Sarah. He and his
family live in Zonnebeke,
Belgium. Alain passed his
PPL at Cristal River, FL.
During this course, he also
received the high perform-
ance and complex rating
for a single engine
landplane.
Back in Belgium, Alain flew
at the EBKT regional airport
as a hobby pilot. Alain was
a FISO (flight information
service officer) at the EBKT
airport and also an airport
adjunct commander for the
same airport.
Due to an increase in ex
pense in real world flying,
last year Alain resigned
from these positions. He is
currently maintaining a low
profile.
Beside aviation, Alain is
also does photography and
is a member of IPSC club.
IVAO EXCLUSIVE
DIVISION FOCUS
and ATCs who use our network for
training purposes and also bring in the
professionalism in the network.
Today in our division we are seeing more
and more members that have trained
with us on the basics of aviation, have
discovered a renewed passion
in aviation, and are chasing
a dream to have a
succesful
career in
aviation in
real world.
Our staff
team have
undertaken
a lot of
projects to
improve our division, a few examples
a) "ATC Groups" by ATC Operations
Department, they have formed a group
of members that love to control. This
group has their own website and also
b) "Virtual Flying Club" by Flight
Operations Department, this group
organizes instructors to provide training
The brazilian pilots and
controllers are know to be
very friendly, and we have
great pleasure in inviting our
foreign pilots at our
airports! Today we are not
only a big division, but over
time have proved that we are a
great place to learn, share
knowledge and make new
friends, we take pride in
following the "Spirit of IVAO"
Come and fly in Brazil, and
have a great time!!!
For more information
http://br.ivao.aero
INSPIRE
STORY OF AN ATC
MIKE RAY
TO/GA
THE TAKE OFF PHASE
INSIGHT
IVAO ACADEMY
IVAO TRIBUNE
GRAN CANARIA FLY-IN
RFE ZURICH
VIDEO CONTEST WINNERS
FREEWARE ZONE12 FREEWARE
UNDER REVIEW
It is the start of the Mount Everest climbing season and at least 7 expeditions and tons
of equipment are waiting in the hangars of the Kathmandu airport but unfortu
nately Lukla airport has been closed for the last 21 solid days because of
clouds and high Winds . The Met office just announced that there could
be a 6 hour weather window and the small turbines are flying in from
all over the region to make best use of the available time. As the
small turbine transporters are flying into the area to make some
serious money (of course price per ton is now as high as the
mountains are), complex discussions are going on with the
two controllers at Lukla. There are only six stands on the
airport and as we all know getting to and from the airport
is a rather complex task. Although weather should be
clear there will still be strong winds to make it even
more complex."
For our first event, we have a challenging task for
you. Complete as many flights as possible between
Kathmandu (VNKT) to Lukla (VNLK). The more
flights you successfully complete, the better are your
chances to win the Aerosoft prize. All inbound flights
to Lukla and all completed outbound flights from
Lukla are counted. If you desire you could also fly
your helicopter from Lukla airport to Mt. Everest
Base Camp and back again.
Be aware: *not more than 6 aircraft* are allowed to
occupy a parking position at Lukla and *no one is allow-
ed* to have a longer block time than *15 minutes*.
Since Lukla has no IFR approach you have to fly VFR and
maneuver through high terrain and clouds showing up behind
the next peak.
It is strongly recommended to use Aerosofts Lukla
scenery!!!
Aerosoft offers a grand prize to all those who complete the most successful
number of flights, the prizes are as follows:
1st place: 10 Aerosoft products of your choice
2nd place: 9 Aerosoft products of your choice
3rd place: 8 Aerosoft products of your choice
10th place: 1 Aerosoft product of your choice.
Your best opportunity to prove yourself between the highest mountains on earth.
More information on this event visit http://www.ivao.aero/events
events of ivaorAeroSoft’s The Lukla Air Bridge Event
2007
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train
ing
SECTION
A DME ARC is an approach procedure which consists of performing an arc at a constant distance from a DME (Distance Measuring Equipment) facility until reaching the final approach course.
The local facilities may or may not provide final approach guidance. In the!example shown
on Fig.1 below, the VOR provides a final approach course.
DME ARCs are usually designed to be flown at a maximum indicated speed of 200 or 210
Knots. In order to help beginners, we have chosen to fly at a rather low speed (160 kts)
and a pretty fair distance from the DME facility (13 nm). Once the student pilot has
become familiar with the procedure, he will also learn to!fly at a higher speed or a shorter
distance
IAF = INITIAL APPROACH
FIX All ARCs will have an initial fix (Initial
Approach Fix = IAF) which will be about 2
nautical miles from the arc radius to help
initiate a turn onto the arc.
However, it is advisable to initiate a turn
with a standard rate bank angle (see next
paragraph) at a distance equal to Arc
Radius + 1% of Ground Speed."
FIG. 1 - DME ARC BASICSAn exercise for student pilots
Distance VORDME-IAF = Arc Radius + 1% of Ground Speed
- Example 1 (= our exercise for beginners, Fig. 1) : Arc Radius = 13 nm / Ground Speed = 160 Kts=> Distance from the VORDME to the IAF = 13 + 1.6 = 14.6 nm.
- Example 2 : Arc Radius = 11 / Speed = 230 Kts=> Distance from the VORDME to the IAF = 11 + 2.3 = 13.3.!
1
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CONTENTS
P04
Vybhava Srinivasan IVAO Public Relations Manager
Dear Friends, Thank you very much for downloading the second IVAO Virtual Sky Issue. A little bit of statistics, before we start o!. Our first issue had alittle over 25,000 downloads for which we owe our sincere thanks to all ouravid readers. We have received several e"mails and forum postscongratulating us on the outstanding issue. We are glad that you all likedit and found it informative. It is our constant endeavor to improve the contents of the magazine. Wehave now included an improved section on training and we hope you will allfind it useful. On a trial basis we will be launching of the second issue of this magazine in three more languages viz., French, German and Spanish. Our idea is to reach out to as many interested members of our flight simulation commu"nity, without language posing any barriers. Both bouquets and brickbats on this issue are equally welcome. We also look forward to articles that our readers would like to contribute to futureissues of this magazine. With this, let me sign o!. Sit back and enjoy your journey through theApril 2008 issue. Thank you all for the patient wait to savor this issue and see you allagain in July 2008.
Vybhava SrinivasanChief Editor
IVAO Virtual Sky April 2008
Editorial
Publisher: International Virtual Aviation Organisation
Chief Editor: Vybhava Srinivasan
Assistant Editor: Yigit Yildrim
Layout and Design: Yigit Yildrim
Website: www.ivao.aero/publrelat/
General Mail: [email protected]
Cover Screenshot: Nicholas Chung Wing Chong
Background Images: Vlad Gerasimov
www.vladstudio.com
French & Spanish Translation: Alexandre Balaguer
G e r m a n Tr a n s l a t i o n : Rober t Gottwald
Logo Design : Robert Gottwald
D i s c l a i m e r : Any in format ion , suggestions or illustrations published in this magazine are exclusively for use with computer flight simulation.
All views expressed in this magazine are the views of the respective authors. The publisher does not accept any responsibility for those views.
Copyright#
None of the informat ion in th is magazine may be reproduced in any form without prior permission from the publisher.
When I was young, a number of different
career opportunities excited me. I went through
a phase of wanting to be a racing car driver and
an astronaut! I started to have a keen interest in
aviation from about the age of 11 when my
Grandfather would tell me stories about his time
in the Royal Air Force as an aircraft engineer. At
the age of 12, I discovered Flight Simulator
2000 and used to sit for hours playing it on my
computer that only had an 8mb graphics card
inside! I thought 2 frames per second was quite
normal at the time! At this point, I decided that
I wanted to become a pilot.
In late 2004, a friend of mine told me about
a network where people fly online under air
traffic control called IVAO. It sounded really
exciting so I decided to join. I have never looked
back since. At first, I only flew. After several
months, the ATC side of IVAO started to
interest me so I decided to give it a go and really
enjoyed it! I still prefered the flying though.
By the age of 16, I started to look into how
I could become a pilot. I went along to a Royal
Air Force careers office but decided that military
flying wasn't something that I really wanted to
do. I looked at routes into commercial flying but
realised that the cost to fund yourself through
these programs was just too much. A little
disheartened, I realised that my dream of flying
was just about out of my reach. I continued to
fly online, but controlling started to take over my
life. It was like a drug - I had to keep doing it. I
would sit for hours reading ATC documents and
manuals trying to further my understanding
about ATC.
In Summer of 2005, the UK division staff
realised that I had a keen interest and very good
understanding in ATC and so was appointed as
the ATC Operations Coordinator of the
division, a role which I still hold today. From
that day on, I realised that ATC was a passion of
mine and something that I really wanted to do
for real.
I did some research about becoming an
ATCO in the UK, and during the summer of
2006 I sent off an application form to NATS -
The main Air Traffic Service Provider in the
UK. I didn't expect to get any response so was
very suprised when I was invited to the first
round of testing.
Choosing applicants to train as ATCO's is a
very rigorous process involving lots of tests and
interviews. Stage 1 of my application involved
lots of different tests such as maths and personal
development style tests. I passed stage 1 and was
invited to stage 2 which involved computer tests,
2 interviews and teamwork games. I came away
from that day thinking I had blown it. A few
days later I got a phone call saying that I was
successful and that as long as I passed a medical,
I would be training to become a real world Air
Traffic Controller! I couldn't believe it.
In late September 2006, I started my
training at the NATS College of Air Traffic
Control in Bournemouth, England. After a 3
month introductory course which I passed, I was
chosen out of 45 people to be one of the 5 who
would go on to train as an Approach controller,
the discipline that I had wanted. I was very
lucky. After another 3 months of hard work, I
graduated from the college with my Student Air
Traffic Control Licence. This licence allowed
me to train out in the real world under the
supervision of a qualified instructor.
It was amazing how much the knowledge
and experience I had gathered from IVAO had
helped me through this initial stage of training.
Lots of subjects that were taught to me I already
had basic knowledge in - I was just missing the
finer details. I am not saying that I learned
everything from IVAO, far from it, but certainly,
without IVAO, I don't think I would have
succeeded.
I am now currently training as an approach
controller for one of the busiest airports in the
world, London Heathrow. I talk to real pilots
flying real aircraft through the real skies - I still
have to pinch myself every morning when I
wake up! Hopefully, by the end of 2008, I will
be fully qualified and will be able to operate
without someone sitting next to me helping me
out.
I have almost reached my goal - You could
too. How many of you come home from work
everyday and say that you love your job and
wouldn't change it for the world? Not many I
imagine.
Gareth Richardson, a United Kingdom Air
Traffic Controller, started his simulation
career at the age of 12 with FS2000.
During late 2004, he joined IVAO and took
a keen interest in the controlling side of
the simulation.
At the age of 18, he successfully
graduated from the College of Air Traffic
Control in the UK and began to train as an
approach controller for London Heathrow
airport whilst continuing to fly and control
on IVAO.
INSPIRE
Story of an ATCby Gareth Richardson
Gareth Richardson
GB-DIR & IVAO-AOM
ANOTHER BORING LECTURE by Captain Mike Ray
T OGA
F R E Q U E NTLY A S K E D Q U E STIO NS ?????FAQ“How do I make it go?”
I ge t a ton of e-ma ils from frustra ted simmers, sitting a t the end of some runway with the ir engines running, C DU/FMC/MC DU a ll se t up and the a irplane ready to go fly ... but they don’t know how to make the a irplane “TAK E O F F”. The answer lies in a system re ferred to as “Take-O ff and Go Around” mode of the auto-throttles system. P ilots ca ll it TO G A .
The first airplane I flew with auto-throttles was the DC-10. The system was really wonderful and allowed two major advancements for the crews. First, it allowed for lower approach minimums, and secondly, it relieved the crews from making constant throttle adjustments during cruise. If you can imagine a 12 hour flight over water where you constantly were tweaking the throttles to maintain the Mach. B-O-R-I-N-G! So hidden and mysterious systems imbedded in the heart of the engine and controlling computers constantly monitor data and ensure that some heavy handed airline pilot won’t screw up and exceed a limit or damage an engine. On the Boeing airplanes, they call this computer the EEC (Electronic Engine Control) and on the Airbus it is the FADEC (Full Authority Digital Engine Control). For the sake of this rather simple discussion, we will assume that each of these computerized brains are the same. We will refer to this system in a simplified over-view way as the “auto-thrust”. The Auto-thrust has many modes of operation, and pilots “think” they are operating the engines when they move the thrust levers ... but in reality, it is the little hidden computers that make it all work. Oh sure, pilots can select modes of operation by
setting up the MCP and the CDU or MCDU with the result that the engines perform tasks that are desired ... such as TOGA; but they no longer move levers that pull cables attached to carburetors.
Right here is where it gets a little complicated for simmers, since both Boeing and Airbus engineers decided that they would develop some quite unique operating protocols for each of their systems. By that I mean the TOGA commands operate differently for each airplane type. And further, each of the simulation developers had to add to the complexity since they had no “real” thrust levers quadrants with all the buttons and levers available for the simmer to push and pull. These things had to be simulated using the QWERTY KEYBOARD.Even further confusing complexity is added to the equation by Boeing and Airbus ... because they both have different ideas about how the TOGA should work. So ... this article is here to help you kinda sort out all this stuff and (hopefully) make it all work for you. Lets try to make the simple ... well, complicated.
HISTO RY L E SS O N
A long time ago, “Thrust levers” were called “Throttles” and Pilots or Flight Engineers actually set the take-off power manually using their hands. They would consult thick books filled with charts and tables over-flowing with data. In those days, a TOGA would be something the ancient Greeks wore to a Fraternity party and the concept of “Auto-Throttles” mysteriously moving or setting the thrust on their own would belong in a science fiction “ghost” story. Today, however, the “Glass” cockpit environment includes features only dreamed of by old aviators like myself ... and the fabulous TO/GA is right there at the top of the list.
TO G A is about the A UTO-THR O TTL E S
exacerbated by the radically different approaches to similar operations between aircraft developers. It seems each major airliner designer had their own way of doing the same thing. In this article, we will focus our discussion only to the Boeing and Airbus systems and see if we can somehow get a handle on just how to get our marvelous new GLASS airliner simulation to “GO”.
Since it is a fact that Simmers are constantly discovering stuff that they don’t know and they are an extremely inquisitive bunch; they want to know everything they can about every detail of flying some of the world’s most complicated machinery. And I feel their frustrations. It is virtually impossible for a brand new flight sim enthusiast to excitedly tear open the colorfully decorated box containing the very latest sim program, install a modern airliner simulation with a glass cockpit onto their MSFX and try to make it work without some basic understanding of the concepts behind the systems. Simmers want to know things that take professional Airline Pilots years to understand and master ... and simmers want to know it all NOW!!! The Simmers problem is further
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TH E TA K E-O F F PH A S E
“H O W D O W E A RM TH E TO G A O N TH E AIR B US?”
“H O W D O W E A RM TH E TO G A O N TH E B O EIN G s?”
“WH AT IS TO /G A ?”
Generally speaking, once we have completed the MCDU (Airbus) setup steps, we will have armed the TOGA system for operation. Specifically, for example, in the Airbus set-up, when we select a V2 value on the PERF-TAKEOFF page of the MCDU one of the things that is competed is the ARMING OF TOGA. At least one flight director must be on and one thrust lever be placed in the TO/GA detent to select the Airbus TO/GA mode.
TO/GA stands for “Take-Off and Go-Around. So, during a typical flight we can say that there are possibly two times that we will use the TOGA feature:
1. Take-off, and if required2. Go -Around.
For today’s discussion we are going to talk ONLY about the take-off mode.
TA K E-O F F MO D EYou may not know this or have even thought about it, but in airline flying for both types of airplanes (Boeing and Airbus) ...every take-off is made “manually”. By that I mean, you don’t take-off with the auto-pilot ON and operating. Now some explanation is due here. There are some modes of advanced airplanes such as the Boeing 777 that has some capability for low visibility take-offs using auto-pilot, but that is not a part of this discussion. For the sake of this article, we will say that all take-offs are made WITH O UT TH E US E O F TH E A UTO-PIL O T. So for take-off ... the TOGA is a only a FLIGHT DIRECTOR mode. That means in order to get the TOGA to work during take-off,
- At least one flight director MUST be turned on, and therefore the commands for the TOGA airspeed are pitch related and displayed on the PFD for the PIL O T to respond to.
- and, of course, we have to have the TOGA system turned ARMED.
TO /G A IS TH E MO ST P O W E R F UL C O NTR O L O N A N AIRLIN E R!TO /G A IS TH E MO ST P O W E R F UL C O NTR O L O N A N AIRLIN E R!... N O W JUST WH E R E IS TH E B UTTO N , L E V E R , SWIT C H , C O NTR O L that turns it on?
I can only guess that the majority of Flight Simmers have either never heard of TOGA or don’t know enuff about it to use it. And yet it is a basic and fundamental control that is used in regular airline operations constantly. Incorporating TOGA into your flight sim routine is simply a matter of achieving a basic understanding of the system and then becoming used to using it in game-play.
Since Flight Simmers love to fly whole bunches of different airplanes ... never reaching proficiency in any of them; so it seems logical to divide the TOGA description into two basic camps: Boeing and Airbus. Now listen ... I am going to tell you up front, that it is patently impossible for me to describe EVERY nuance and operational
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difference in all these TOGA systems, so don’t take from this article that there are only TWO TOGA systems out there. This is just to give you a taste for the two major paradigms in Airline flying. For our discussion, we are going to look at the Boeing 747-400 (Specifically the PMDG modeling) and the Airbus A320 (Specifically the Wilco A320 Series1). Every other sim package you fly will have subtle and bewildering differences. I will direct my discussion to the “real” airplane where possible, and to operation of the Flight Sim where that is applicable.
So, go to the bathroom, get a cup of coffee, put on your thinking hat ... and let’s begin.
The Boeing TOGA system is armed when the FIRST FLIGHT DIRECTOR is turned on. Then when you select TOGA by pushing a TOGA switch on the thrust control quadrant with the airspeed less than 50 Knots, the thrust will go to a take-off setting.
BIG PR O B L EM: If during the take-off roll, you should delay too much and not select the TO/GA actuator until after the airplane has
reached 50 Knots (some airplanes have slightly different rolling speed requirements ... we will simplify and say 50 kts) then whatever thrust
setting you have on the engines will remain and the take-off thrust WILL N O T B E A UTOMATIC A LLY S E T! This means you
may not realize that you do not have enough thrust to get airborne ... and wind up in the gully or the canal off the end of the runway.
If the TO /G A is not selected by the time the airplane is passing 50 K nots ... it is locked out and cannot be set until the airplane is climbing out of 400 feet.
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Yeah, yeah, yeah ... that’s all well and good ... but how does a flight simmer select the TO/GA and make it set the take-off power for the simulation?
HERE IS THE BOTTOM LINE FOR SIMMERS . . . there are at least
4 WAYS TO TURN O N TH E TO /G A!!!4 WAYS TO TURN O N TH E TO /G A!!!The computer keyboard is referred to as the “QWERTY” because the first 6 keys spell QWERTY. Microsoft has supplied us with a multitude of QWERTY commands to accomplish many of our flight oriented tasks. The Microsoft (general) command to select the TO/GA is:
C RTL+ SHIF T + G . But, sad to say, that may not work on your particular simulation.
For example, on the PMDG series, they have their own set of commands. SHIF T + TA B + M works on the 747-400 and they have
further complicated the matter by using other commands for other of their products and so forth.Look at your simulation-manual for the proper QWERTY commands.
Each simulator developer h a s d e s i g n a t e d s o m e “secret” hot spots on their displays that can be selected using the mouse. I will point
out the famous “SCREW” on the PMDG 747-400. Other developers have followed their lead, and it looks as if this “SCREW” may become the de-facto TO/GA selector. On the Level D 767, they use the same MCP command as the real airplane ... depress the N1 or E PR button.
When using the 3Dvirtual cockpit option, a simmer pilot may actually use the mouse to “select” the
TOGA switch on the thrust lever control quagrant. This option is available only in some sims; but since not all of them have a complete 3D Virtual suite of operating switches, I DON”T recommend this procedure. It requires that you take your attention away from flying the airplane during a critical phase of flight.
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3: 3D VIRTUAL COCKPIT DISPLAY
4: AIRBUS ONLYOnce selected, the thrust should go to the selected take-off setting and the appropriate FLIGHT MODE ANNUNCIATIONS should appear on the PFD. Those FMA indications are:
On the “real” airplane AND the simulations also, moving the thrust levers to the full forward or TO G A position will engage the TOGA mode. Moving the thrust levers can be by QWERTY commands, but I have had limited success using the Microsoft F-4 key. I can get the thrust
levers to go full power, but the TO G A/SRS won’t indicate. You don’t want to take-off without the SRS (Speed Reference System).
Whatever technique you use, the next thing is top determine that the TOGA was actually selected. That will require looking at the PFD (Primary Flight Display). Along the top of the instrument is the FMA (Flight Mode Annunciator). L O O K AT TH E P F D B E F O R E Y O U STA RT Y O UR TA K E-O F F R O LL .
AIR B US P F DB O EIN G P F D
The AIRBUS P F D/FMA should read:
The BOEING P F D/FMA should read:
TO G AMA N
SRS
TO G A TO G AOn the Airbug airplanes:Once airborne and using the TOGA mode, the Flight Director will give pitch commands to maintain an airspeed of V2 + 10 for a normal” all-engines operating” airplane. When the airplane reaches the ACCEL LEVEL that has been set in the MCDU (default setting is something like 1500 feet AGL), the FMA prompts the pilot to move the thrust levers to CL mode by indicating a flashing CL on the FMA. The pilot must physically and MANUALLY move the thrust levers to the CL detent in order to engage the auto-thrust component of the thrust lever operating system.
So, I have managed to make the situation about as complex and difficult as I can... now it is up to you to go out and EVERY TIME you make a take-off USE the TO/GA. Get familiar with it, observe what it does ... Fly like a “real” pilot.
Happy Simming, Captain Mike
O nce selected , the thrust levers should go to TA K E-O F F power. If you get a warning horn going ‘B E E P - B E E P- B E E P- B E E P”; it is likely you still have the B R A K E S S E T. Push the Q W E RTY “ .” and the beeping should stop and the airplane should start to move .
© M
IKE
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© M
IKE
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On the Boeing airplanes:Once airborne and using the TOGA mode, the Flight Director will give pitch commands to maintain an airspeed of V2 + 10 for a normal “all-engines operating” airplane. At about 50 feet, LNAV engages if armed, and VNAV will set engine thrust as required after reaching VNAV engagement altitude (usually about 800 feet). On the 747-400, when flaps are selected to 5 degrees, the FMC will reduce the engine power to CLIMB POWER setting.TOGA automatically shuts off when any another pitch or roll mode selected.
Visit my website: www.utem.com
Already for a very long time, it has been the wish of some long standing IVAO Senior Staf f members to have the IPACK updated, expanded and adapted to IVAO-level. Some steps in that direction were already made in the past. We are very proud to a n n o u n c e i n t h i s I VA O MAGAZINE that another big step has been made: The IPACK is closed and the IVAO ACADEMY is online.
The I-Pack disappeared? What
happened to it?
A major update of the IVAO instruction
pack "IPACK" started about a year ago.
Meanwhile, the development of what is
now called the IVAO ACADEMY was
started. This IVAO ACADEMY is
designed around a whole new concept on
a newly designed website.
The old IPACK information was first
reviewed and prepared to be moved to
that new website later on. This was a very
time consuming process that got finalized
at the end of February. So, the I-Pack
content didn't just disappear, it got
"recycled" into the IVAO ACADEMY.
But there is more...
More? Can you tell us?
While reviewing the available training
material and while looking for new
information to fill in the gaps, more
thoughts came up. The available training
material does not stand on its own. It is
part of a whole training system.
A training system? This sounds very
realistic!
The IVAO IPACK/ACADEMY team
came to the following conclusions:
IVAO should aim for a dual system,
whereby its minimum requirements are
based on flying and controlling all
together without disturbing the other
participants (too much).
For the pilot:
Be able to understand what ATC wants
you to do and be able to do what they say,
but whether you land your aircraft with
the correct flap setting or with no flaps at
all, with the correct speeds or not, all that
is of lesser importance, as long as you do
as ATS says, can land your plane and
vacate the runway.
For ATC, be able to provide at least the
basic services.
That’s “Track One”.
What if I want it “As real as it gets”?
For those who want more (and more :) ),
there is enough to obtain. They may
become realistic virtual pilots or ATC by
continuing their training and add to their
knowledge. For them there is or should be
made available sufficient material and/or
references to do so.
In addition they could be rewarded for
their higher level with an additional bonus
to show that they are a "plus" and thus
(more) advanced.
In the same way, differentiate certain
airfield ATC positions by allocating a
"star" to indicate that a position rating is
required (at certain hours?) to fight the
phenomena of so-called exam tourism.
That’s “Track Two”.
How deep do you intend to go into a
subject?
Providing theoretical information on
IVAO like in the IVAO ACADEMY, we
think three basic requirements have to be
applied:
1. Relevance:
explain only what is (absolutely) necessary
on IVAO from a practical point of view
2. Simplicity:
keep those explanations short and easy to
understand
3. Correctness:
no interpretations or assumptions, but
only information from reliable and verified
sources.
Setting up this new concept is a huge
task. How do you intend to do it?
Probably few of you realize that since
IVAO became an NPO, the setup of the
IVAO ACADEMY is an important
milestone. Choices that are made now will
determine the looks and feel of the entire
IVAO organisation in the future.
IVAO is growing steadily year by year and
we will have to rely on an efficient team of
skilled co-workers to master the challenges
that lay ahead.
Every department needs to operate as a
well-oiled machine and should be able to
adapt swiftly. Good communication,
teamwork, a clear policy and well defined
strategies are crucial to make it so!
The IVAO ACADEMY is only a step
stone in an entire program that aims to
improve realism, achieve a good standard
level and motivate people to progress
steadily by keeping the learning curve as
shallow as possible.
Say, I have a nice document,
screenshot or good material that I
think may fit in the Academy. Could I
have it in there?
Sure! The responsible Senior members of
the IVAO Staff and the Division TA’s now
have the possibility to break with the past
and join forces all together, share their
visions and develop and try out a new
training system. But also any other IVAO-
member, who has a good idea, will be able
to contribute to the development of the
IVAO ACADEMY.
Here and now is that opportunity awaiting
and therefore we should not miss it now!
This is all very serious business, isn’t
it?
Let’s not forget that we are all here
together because of this hobby.
Re g a r d l e s s o f o u r b a c k g ro u n d ,
motivations, culture and… the specific
deeper interest each of us may or could
have here, the main goal is one happy
IVAO community all together on the
IVAO Network.
Therefore, as members of the IVAO
ACADEMY team, we are more than
convinced that the first stone of this new
IVAO Training building can be put there
soon, enabling us to move through these
virtual IVAO skies guided by adequately
trained Pilots and ATC.
Presented to you by the IVAO IPACK/
ACADEMY team:
Jean-Luc Courtois IVAO-ACTLreal life ATC, On-the-Job Training Instructor
Bob van der Flier, IVAO-ACATLpensioned EUROCONTROL ATC, founder and honorary member of the Eurocontrol Guild of Air Traffic Services (EGATS)
http://academy.ivao.aero/
Q&AIVAO academy, a stepping stone in an IVAO-tailored training system
INSIGHT
2007
lorem ipsum dolor met set quam nunc parum
train
ing
SECTION
A DME ARC is an approach procedure which consists of performing an arc at a constant distance from a DME (Distance Measuring Equipment) facility until reaching the final approach course.
The local facilities may or may not provide final approach guidance. In the!example shown
on Fig.1 above, the VOR provides a final approach course.
DME ARCs are usually designed to be flown at a maximum indicated speed of 200 or 210
Knots. In order to help beginners, we have chosen to fly at a rather low speed (160 kts)
and a pretty fair distance from the DME facility (13 nm). Once the student pilot has
become familiar with the procedure, he will also learn to!fly at a higher speed or a shorter
distance
IAF = INITIAL APPROACH
FIX All ARCs will have an initial fix (Initial
Approach Fix = IAF) which will be about 2
nautical miles from the arc radius to help
initiate a turn onto the arc.
However, it is advisable to initiate a turn
with a standard rate bank angle (see next
paragraph) at a distance equal to Arc
Radius + 1% of Ground Speed."
FIG. 1 - DME ARC BASICSAn exercise for student pilots
Pic. 1!- APPROACHING THE IAFNice weather, isn't it?
Distance VORDME-IAF = Arc Radius + 1% of Ground Speed
- Example 1 (= our exercise for beginners, Fig. 1) : Arc Radius = 13 nm / Ground Speed = 160 Kts=> Distance from the VORDME to the IAF = 13 + 1.6 = 14.6 nm.
- Example 2 : Arc Radius = 11 / Speed = 230 Kts=> Distance from the VORDME to the IAF = 11 + 2.3 = 13.3.!
1
DM
E A
RC
BA
SIC
S
DME ARC BASICS An exercise for student pilots
BANK ANGLE / STANDARD RATE TURNlnitiate a turn with a bank angle equal to what will give a "Standard Rate Turn" (= 3° per second = 90° in 30 seconds).
Bank angle = TAS/10 + 7
Example 1 : TAS = 160 Knots => Bank angle = 16 + 7 = 23°
Example 2 : TAS = 180 Knots => Bank angle = 18 + 7 = 25°
Pic. 2!- TURNING AT THE IAF
2
Start the turn with a bank of at
least 20° then adjust the bank
as required to roll out with the
RMI (Radio Magnetic
Indicator ) abeam the wing tip
ROLL OUT
Pic. 3 - RMI ABEAM TO THE WING TIPCrossing Radial 030° / OBS Set on QDM 210°
3
Pic. 4 - CROSSING RADIAL 040°This is a 13 DME ARC. It was initiated at Radial 360°. We are crossing Radial 040°.The distance we have flown is approximately 2.26 nm!x 4 = 9 nm.
DISTANCE
It is important to know the distance flown on the
ARC.
A good thumb rule for an 11 DME Arc is : every
10° of radials crossed is approx 2 nautical
miles. It will not vary much as most Arcs are 11
to 13 DME.
- Example 1 : Arc Radius = 10 DME => 10° Arc
= 1.74 nm => 90° Arc = 15.7 nm
- Example 2 : Arc Radius = 11 DME => 10° Arc
= 1.91 nm => 90° Arc = 17.2 nm
- Example 3 : Arc Radius = 13 DME => 10° Arc
= 2.26 nm => 90° Arc = 20.4 nm
4
stay inside
the arcRemember in winds or even while drifting on an Arc : try to stay inside the Arc, as it is easier to correct when you are inside the Arc than outside. The reason is simple : outside the Arc, you have to fly more
distance.
ALMOST LEVEL FLIGHTOnce established on an Arc, remember hardly any bank angle is required to maintain the Arc.Even at 200 Knots indicated, the bank angle
is about 3°. At 160 odd Knots, it will be barely 1° or 2°. Almost level flight.!
"
Pic. 5 - 6 - 7The following!pictures look like "level flight". Yet... Have a close look at the RMI and the OBS. Is there a difference?
5
7
Yes, there was a difference !
Pic 5 = We were crossing Radial 050°.
Pic 6 = We were crossing Radial 060°.
Pic 7 = We were crossing Radial 070°.
6
DME ARC BASICS An exercise for student pilots
" " " " " " zooming advised
*Pic. 8 - CROSSING THE LEAD RADIALAbout to fly across the LEAD RADIAL = R-120° on Fig. 1 (above). THE LEAD RADIAL
When the Arc is about to finish, that
is - LEAD you on the Final Approach
Course, you will fly across the LEAD
RADIAL.
8
*Pic. 9 - Leaving the ARC and intercepting the Final Approach Course (30° intercept angle).Hey, I was a bit too slow, using both RMI and OBS methods! I'll have to make a correction!
*LEAVING THE ARC
On crossing the LEAD
RADIAL, leave the Arc and
intercept the Final Approach
Course at an approximately
30° intercept angle.
9
FINAL APPROACH
I can understand you are
glad to be free at last. Yet
don't forget to lower your
gear : 3!green lights are
better than 1 brown coffin!
Pic. 10 - LAND!Runway in sight! Uh! About time too!
10Contributed by Georges-Guy Lourdeaux, CEO of Indianair VA and Kunal Kapoor, real world pilot and an Indianair member .
INDIANAIR is a group of!virtual airlines (VAs) in IVAO. Copyright for this article is owned by INDIANAIR. Please do not reproduce
or publish the whole or part of the article without prior approval from the authors.
Air Traffic Services, in short ATS, are
services to the pilots to guide them from the
moment they plan to start their engines until
they switch them off again. In between many
things happen and by itself it is not one
service, but there are different ones. Each of
them has it own specialization. These services
make extensive use of computers which are
most of the time connected to each other via
networks.
Note: Be advised that all terms and
abbreviations used here are explained in full
in the IVAO ACADEMY. Don’t hesitate to
have a look there. http://academy.ivao.aero
From the IVAO ACADEMY we see that
there are three different ATS services: Air
Traffic Control (ATC), Flight Information
Service (FIS) and Alerting Service. In various
countries in the world there may be another
division of tasks and each Service could
comprise different sub-services. For Air Traffic
Control it consists of Aerodrome Control
Service, Approach Control Service and Area
Control Service.
Actually there is even another important
Service to be mentioned here, which is in fact
part of Air Traffic Control in the broader
sense: Air Traffic Flow Management, in short
Flow Control. This Service takes care of a
proper regulation of all the traffic flows by
allocating departure slot times to avoid
system overloads. Simply said: To avoid
traffic jams.
All those services have to work very
closely together to make a smooth flight for
the pilots and an easy transfer from the one
service to the next one. To assist them, there
are the ATS computer systems.
Flight PlanA very important tool for ATC to
provide a smooth flight is the Flight Plan. It
contains all information about the planned
flight which the Air Traffic Services need to
know. Callsign, type of aircraft, departure
and destination airfields, requested route
and altitude, speed and duration of flight,
equipment and number of persons on
board. And this list is not even complete.
All that information has to be filled in
into the flight plan and is sent well before
the flight to the ATS units concerned. All of
them for the whole flight.
Actually, this flight plan information is
dead information. It is only a planning and
many things could change, before and
during the flight.
Why is this plan dead or not active for
the moment? Because some very essential
elements are still missing. Those are: The
squawk, the actual time of departure (ATD)
and the cleared flight level. By inserting those
three elements a Flight Plan comes to life and
can be used by all the Services involved as
an active plan.
The planning
When a flight plan has been sent to all
the Air Traffic Services, it will be made
available to all the units involved in this flight.
Within those units it will go to the positions
that will deal with it.
Example:
The pilot files a flight plan from A to B.
At airfield A there is DEL, GND, TWR, APP.
At airfield B there is APP and TWR. Total 6
positions will receive that flight plan.
But there is more. In between A and B
there is the Area Control (ACC) with two
different sectors. So, these two sectors also
receive the flight plan.
Now let’s have a closer look at the use
and purpose of the flight plan.
Purpose and useAt airfield A the DEL will have the flight
plan available when the pilot makes his first
call. DEL will see from the flight plan what the
planned route and destination is, so he will
know what clearance to give. This clearance
will include the necessary Standard
Instrument Departure route (SID). That is the
route between the departure runway and the
SID point, where the aircraft will leave the
APP Terminal Area and will further work with
the Area Control (ACC).
In other words, this simple clearance
given by DEL has a greater effect further
down the stream of the flight. Therefore the
DEL controller has to be very accurate when
he provides the flight plan clearance. E.g. if
the approved SID would be wrong, the
aircraft may end up at the wrong side of the
Terminal Area.
Another important point to look at is the
planned or requested flight level (RFL). While
cruising at a flight level we have to respect
the semi-circular rule and in some areas this is
not standard E-W but N-S orientated. If
aircraft fly into a so-called RVSM area, they
have to use the 1000ft separation instead of
the standard 2000ft, which for certain levels
will change the direction of flight. They will
fly actually on the opposite level! If not
correctly filed, it could be disturbing for the
en-route controller and for the pilot to correct
these flight levels while en-route and in the
air. But as well to explain the reason, while
the pilot is in flight. It would be much better if
the DEL/GND (or TWR controller) could do
this while giving the flight plan clearance.
So, although the DEL position is quite
often seen as the beginning of the ATC
career in IVAO, or as the easiest position
available, in fact it has a very important
function in the chain.
Plan and Time
It is interesting to realise that one could
make a time planning of the sequence of
events just from the Flight Plan. Let me
explain.
Take it that start-up and push-back takes
5 minutes, taxi from the aircraft’s gate to the
holding point takes 4 minutes. 5 + 4 = 9. In 9
minutes after the clearance delivery, the
aircraft could be waiting at the holding point
for departure. Interesting information if flow
control has to be applied and the aircraft
need to be have a slot time for departure.
Next phase of the flight is from
departure to the moment that the aircraft will
be transferred between the APP and ACC. If
the total flying time from take-off towards the
SID point will take 8 minutes, we could
calculate now that it takes 9 + 8 = 17 minutes
from clearance delivery to the SID point.
train
ing
SECTIONby
Bob (
PATC
O)
van
der
Flie
r
Flight Plan, ATC and The Chain
Next, if there is a country border, let’s
say 60 nm after the SID point, where the
aircraft will be transferred to the controller in
the next country, we could easily calculate the
estimated time for that border point.
Say the speed of the climbing aircraft is
240 kts, that is 240 nm per hour or 240/60 =
4 nm per minute. Than we know these 60 nm
will take 60/4 = 15 minutes flying time. Thus 8
+ 15 = 23 minutes after departure the aircraft
will leave the country and has passed the
border.
Actually, in the past, when there was no
radar yet, it was done this way. Still now,
when there is no radar, it is used and we call
it procedural control. Control based on
procedures.
You may realise now as well that filling in
the correct speed in the flight plan is very
important. The examples here above are all
based on the speed known from that flight
plan.
Speed is time
Interesting information, that speed. Very
much for the software developers, because
ATS systems communicate with each other.
For part of this communication they need to
know what the aircraft will do (=flight plan)
and how long it will take (speed = time).
As an IVAO controller you use IvAc with
that little window called “In/Out”. It says in
there exactly when you may expect your next
aircraft for the selected airfields and what
type of aircraft it is. How do they do this? It is
all taken from and calculated based on the
live flight plan information. Airborne time plus
estimate elapse time = landing time.
Activation
We have seen now how time calculation
and therewith position forecast can be done, if
we have a correct flight plan. Earlier we said
that a flight plan is dead and could be made
alive.
How to bring it alive? By inserting the
three missing elements: Squawk, actual time of
departure (ATD) and cleared flight level
(CFL). The moment we insert the actual
departure time, the clock starts ticking and the
system starts making its calculations and ….
we could see in our “In/Out” box when that
aircraft should arrive.
Actually, there are many more actions
triggered as from that moment a flight plan
comes alive. Some of them we will see further
down here.
Correlation
Looking at the radar one could see the
little blips that represent the position of the
aircraft. In fact these little blips are made by
the radar system. They only represent the
position information of an aircraft like the
radar antenna sees it some where moving in
the airspace. Still we don't know which
aircraft that is.
Like in real life, in IVAO the actual radar
position of the aircraft is linked with the known
flight plan information. That linking means in
fact that the flight plan information will be
connected to the radar positional information.
We call it correlation.
In other words, when you look at the
radar picture, and you see the radar blip with
the little dots behind it, you see a label
connected to the blip. That label contains a lot
of information, which is partly taken from the
flight plan. First of all the callsign, the
destination, type of aircraft and you will see
the planned or cleared flight level. Especially
that requested flight level is very important for
ATC, because that is the altitude where he has
to bring the aircraft in the first phase of its
flight.
Flight plan interpretation
As soon as an aircraft calls on the
frequency, a controller has to have a look at
the flight plan. It tells him all he needs to know
to immediately understand what this aircraft
has in mind. Many things are going through
the mind of a controller at that time, because
he only read some printed information, but in
reality he has to translate this into control
planning information.
That sounds very complicated. Well, in
reality indeed, it is not always that easy.
Take this example. Look at the position of
the aircraft on your radar. Read the
information and imagine where he is going
and what he is doing. That label is a general
and short presentation of in fact the essential
information for that first moment. All the
further details are shown in the flight plan,
which could be seen in the flight strip.
A controller looks at the blip and label
and he will notice: Callsign, climbing from
FL287 to FL370, heading for PIMOS,
destination GCLP, type B757. Each element
has a different meaning in the controller’s
interpretation. e.g. climbing from 287 to 370
in a SW direction. Is there any traffic within,
let's say the next 40 nm at a level within this
altitude band?
Interesting statement and done on
purpose. I repeat: a level band between 287
and 370 and the next 40 nm direction SW. Let
me explain. The aircraft is passing FL287 on
the climb to FL370. Flight plan says in the
label B757. Average B757 climbs at this
altitude plus or minus 1500 ft per minute. Still
8000ft to go, thus 8000/1500=5 mins flying
time. The speed according the flight plan is
500 knots. A bit fast, but okay. 500 kts is
around (500/60) 8 nm per minute. 5 mins x
8nm=40nm to go until it will be at FL370.
In this way you see how flight plan goes
together with the radar blip. You see the
sense of correlation. You see the way of ATC
working and thinking, realizing what the
“picture” is.
From one sector to the next one
While the aircraft moves through the sky,
it moves from the one controlled area or zone
into the next one. We saw that earlier already
with our time calculations for departure flights.
Each next controller would like to know
well in time, what he can expect at the border
of his sector. In real life so-called “estimates”
are passed from the one ATC position to the
next. In the past this was done by telephone,
nowadays with the help of computerized
systems. It is all handled by the computer
systems connected to each other.
Remember? All units received the dead
flight plan, which sits somewhere in the system
waiting until it will be called alive. That is
where the “estimate” comes in. In fact such an
estimate message contains the three missing
elements needed to activate the flight plan.
The squawk, the estimated time for the border
(in this case!) and the cleared or actual flight
level. That estimate message will activate the
flight plan at the next sector or unit and it
comes alive....
That is the way it goes in real life. In
IVAO our beautiful IvAc is not that far yet.
But, I can tell you we are coming closer and
closer, because the software developers are
working hard.
The chain
We saw until now, while the aircraft moves on from the one sector to the next, before entering, its flight plan comes alive to allow the next
controller to see what he may expect.
The ATC system is like a chain. Each unit is linked to the previous and next one around it. The ATC system works like a chain, from link to
link. From DEL to GND to TWR to APP to ACC and back again. Aircraft are handed over from the one to the following controller. A transfer is
made, not only by system input, but it means the responsibility for the control of that aircraft is transferred to the next controller.
That is in real life. In IVAO, still the aircraft moves from one sector to another carrying its own flight plan. Our system is slightly different
though. But there is another difference. In IVAO there is not always a chain of controllers to allow a continuous ‘chained’ control service. ATC
comes and goes as it pleases them. Still the flight moves on, but …. the ATC service chain is being interrupted.
Such interruption is done at the transfer to what we call UNICOM. “ATC service terminated, frequency change approved” and the pilot
will select UNICOM to continue communication in text.
After a while there may be again a controller on-line, who is ready to provide his service again. However, the chain was broken and now
needs to be re-connected. Again an activation has to be done to ensure the proper handling of the aircraft and its flight plan, but as well to
allow the system to continue the calculations and other things it does.
That is where the “forced act” comes in. The controller will sent a “forced activation” message to the pilot. This is an invitation to tell that
ATC is available again and that the pilot should hand-over himself from UNICOM to the frequency of this controller. But at the same time it is a
message to the system to make alive the flight plan again (activation) starting at the moment the controller makes his “assume” control input. He
accepts the responsibility to further control this aircraft.
The flight plan is alive again, the links are connected again and the linked systems continue to work.
Looking at all these points from this perspective, you will see that there is much more behind it all. Air Traffic Control is one of the services
available for the pilots. Air Traffic Controllers work very closely together with their neighboring colleagues, like in a chain. Moving from the
one link of the chain to next one is guided by ATC with the guidelines of the flight plan.
So let it be a correct flight plan, seriously filled in with all the essential information to provide the pilot with the ATC service he expects and
that the “chained’ controller will happily provide.
Have fun.
Asked to provide some ATC related articles for our great
magazine gave me a feeling of pleasure. I like to share
my experience with you for the benefit not only of you
the reader, but as well for you the user of the IVAO
Network.
My background is/was Area Control with Eurocontrol for
over 28 years. I have always appreciated the challenges
of the ATC job, but in addition the pleasure to provide
more information about ATC in general and the specifics
of the work of the Controller in particular.
Don’t hesitate to approach us if you have any questions
or idea’s on what and how to write here in this
magazine.
Bob (PATCO) van der Flier, IVAO-ACATL
It is the start of the Mount Everest climbing season and at least 7 expeditions and tons
of equipment are waiting in the hangars of the Kathmandu airport but unfortu-
nately Lukla airport has been closed for the last 21 solid days because of
clouds and high Winds . The Met office just announced that there could
be a 6 hour weather window and the small turbines are flying in from
all over the region to make best use of the available time. As the
small turbine transporters are flying into the area to make some
serious money (of course price per ton is now as high as the
mountains are), complex discussions are going on with the
two controllers at Lukla. There are only six stands on the
airport and as we all know getting to and from the airport
is a rather complex task. Although weather should be
clear there will still be strong winds to make it even
more complex."
For our first event on April 19, 2008,, we have a
challenging task for you. Complete as many flights
as possible between Kathmandu (VNKT) to Lukla
(VNLK). The more flights you successfully com-
plete, the better are your chances to win the Aerosoft
prize. All inbound flights to Lukla and all completed
outbound flights from Lukla are counted. If you de-
sire you could also fly your helicopter from Lukla air-
port to Mt. Everest Base Camp and back again.
Be aware: *not more than 6 aircraft* are allowed to
occupy a parking position at Lukla and *no one is allow-
ed* to have a longer block time than *15 minutes*.
Since Lukla has no IFR approach you have to fly VFR and
maneuver through high terrain and clouds showing up behind
the next peak.
It is strongly recommended to use Aerosofts Lukla
scenery!!!
Aerosoft offers a grand prize to all those who complete the most successful
number of flights, the prizes are as follows:
1st place: 10 Aerosoft products of your choice
2nd place: 9 Aerosoft products of your choice
3rd place: 8 Aerosoft products of your choice
.
.
10th place: 1 Aerosoft product of your choice.
Your best opportunity to prove yourself between the highest mountains on earth.
More information on this event visit http://www.ivao.aero/events
events of ivaorAeroSoft’s The Lukla Air Bridge Event
On May 17, 2008, from 15 Zulu onwards, India will host one of
the biggest monthly events of IVAO, the Real Flight Event #8,
in Mumbai.
Mumbai Airport (ICAO: VABB) was chosen as the host
division by the IVAO membership. With a great mix of
short hops to long hauls, the event truly offers some-
thing for everyone.
Mumbai airport is the busiest in India and South
Asia. Recently the Mumbai-Delhi route has
been ranked by Official Airline Guide (OAG)
as the seventh busiest domestic route in the
world based on the number of flights per
week.
In the last year, Mumbai airport handled
180,000 landings and takeoffs and over 20
million passengers, with a total of 13.56
million domestic air passengers and 6.73
million international passengers
The popular Real Flights Events, now in its
second year, is designed to reproduce real
world movements at the host airport during
the given time slot. Full Air Traffic Control
services will be provided at the host airport as
well as select nearby airfields and nearby FIRs
in the Middle East, Thailand, to name a few.
The Indian Division and IVAO Events Department
invite you to join us for a flight in Indian airspace in
April 2008.
M o r e i n f o r m a t i o n o n t h i s e v e n t v i s i t
http://www.ivao.aero/events
Real Flights Event #8 Mumbai - welcome to India
!IVAO TRIBUNE
Jose Luis Bueno’s screenshot "Hercules C130 in Jerez Spain""was voted by IVAO members as "2007’s Best Desktop Calendar Screenshot". He was also awarded the coveted IVAO Creativity award, for this outstand#ing screenshot.
If you have a screenshot that you would like to submit to participate in the IVAO’s 2008"Desktop Calendar Screenshot, please email to [email protected].
Winning Screenshot for 2007
!
Real Aeroclub de Gran Canaria - GCLB El Berriel - 23th of february of 2008
For the first time the REAL AERO"CLUB DE GRAN CANARIA in collaboration of IVAO's Spanish Di"v i s ion conducted #a#"Vir tu"al#Event" on the February 23, 2008, at the premises of the Aeroclub lo"cated at#"EL BERRIEL " GCLB".
The Spanish Division of IVAO
organized "FLY IN GCLP/GCLB". During this event, the Spanish di"vision members were present to support all the VA's and ATC's pre"sent in Hangers of Aeroclub and others who logged in from their homes.
Aeroclub provided Spanish Division with its premises "EL Berrie l" GCLB" and also excellent support to celebrate this event.
At the end of the event the Presi"dent of the Aeroclub handed over a souvenir to the IVAO’s Spanish Division.
Ralph Henschen
IVAO"TD/ES"ADIR
The Aeroclub o$ered 3 Aircraft's, %2 Single Engine & 1 Multi Engine&#to all#members who visited the prem"ises of the Aeroclub. These Air"craft's were flying the entire day.
The Virtual Pilots and ATCs #got an overview of services that the Aeroclub o$ers to its members viz., Courses %PPL/IFR/etc..&, Events, Premises, etc.,
At#"EL BERRIEL " GCLB" you could fly nearly 365 days a year. From this Aerodrome few compa"nies operate#Sightseeing flights, Rescue Services, etc. Stefan, the Pi"lot of Islas Helicopters was so kind enough to explain the mechanics and aerodynamics of a#Rotorcraft to us.
! Real Flight Event Zurich Feb. 24, 2008
On Sunday the 24th of February, the Swiss division had the pleasure to host the 7th edition of the well"known IVAO Real Flight Event Series at Zu"rich Airport.
A total of more than 350 flights were proposed with more than 20 profes"sional ATCs servicing throughout the day. Zurich Kloten is the major airport of Switzerland, with 3 runways, and surrounded by a nice mountain land"scape.
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3
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The bids for IVAO RFE #7 were posted by end 2007, and the competition was hard, especially in front of the Amsterdam Schi"phol candidature.
When we finally had the pleasure of being selected for this RFE by the IVAO community, we real"ized that the preparation of the bid was nothing compared to the preparation of the event itself: three weeks to f inal ize the schedules, flight plans, pilot brief"ing, ATC briefing and conference calls… all to make sure that eve"rything would run as smooth as possible.
Fortunately, before the IVAO RFE, the members of Swiss Divi"sion had an opportunity to train themselves in October 2007 in a "private" RFE in Geneva. This made sure our controllers were ready for the new 10"hour"event in Zurich, from 12Z to 22Z.
On 24th February precisely at 12:00Z, the event was launched. The first incoming and departing aircrafts were bang on time, as the legendary Swiss clock, which was a big relief.
The scheduled flights were de"signed almost to the full capacity of Zurich Kloten airport. Never"theless , the amount of non scheduled traffic that partici"pated in this event resulted in high delays during the peak hours.
Some pilots still remember hold"ing for 30 minutes or more before proceeding to the final approach. Further, some misty weather conditions added to the already existing tension.
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We hope all the participants, pilots and control"lers, enjoyed the afternoon in the Swiss Alps, and the IVAO Swiss Division thanks all of you for your support.
Picture Credits by Order:N.PursiainenF.MacarioP.PerniaF.MacarioH.CordesF.Stoze
6
Special Thanks to;Filippo ReccoIVAO-CH Director
Pierre NeadsIVAO-CH Event Coordinator
! Joint Winners of Video
Contest
In December 2007, we released details about a video contest where members could design and create videos which could promote IVAO to the outside world. It was a close competition and 2 di"erent vid#eos were picked as they equally best portrayed the "Spirit of IVAO". Congratulations to Camiel Galjee and Tommy Vierimaa for their stunning videos! They have both been awarded the IVAO Creativity Award for their e"orts. We must say a big thank you to everyone else who submitted a video # They were all wonderful!
All o$cial IVAO presentation videos, including videos by the contest winners, can be viewed on our youtube channel.
Press the "Subscribe" button for full access.
DIVISION FOCUS
IVAO BRAZILIVAO's Brazil Division commenced
around June,2000. This was a time when
the division's traffic was almost zero,
while the number of members were only
about 200. A year later, there was a
major transformation, the brazilian
division was gaining
popularity as
one of the
great
divisons of
IVAO, with
about 1500
members.
Today, Brazil is proud to
be one of the biggest
divisions of IVAO, with
almost 9.000 members including about
2.700 active members. The number of
members continues to increase by the
day.
It's been our objective to maintain a high
level of realism in the simulation. It has
also been a challenge, on which our 20
member staff team are working on day in
and day out.
In the Division, We have great interaction
with members involved in aviation in the
of real world ; We have many real pilots
and ATCs who use our network for
training purposes and also bring in the
professionalism in the network.
Today in our division we are seeing more
and more members that have trained
with us on the basics of aviation, have
discovered a renewed passion
in aviation, and are chasing
a dream to have a
succesful
career in
aviation in
real world.
Our staff
team have
undertaken
a lot of
projects to
improve our division, a few examples
are :
a) "ATC Groups" by ATC Operations
Department, they have formed a group
of members that love to control. This
group has their own website and also
organise events; and
b) "Virtual Flying Club" by Flight
Operations Department, this group
organizes instructors to provide training
at specific airfields.
The brazilian pilots and
controllers are know to be
very friendly, and we have
great pleasure in inviting our
foreign pilots at our
airports! Today we are not
only a big division, but over
time have proved that we are a
great place to learn, share
knowledge and make new
friends, we take pride in
following the "Spirit of IVAO"
Come and fly in Brazil, and
have a great time!!!
For more information
http://br.ivao.aero
DIVISION
FOCUS
BR & DE
Pilot Skills Tour 2008 / March 2008
A Challenge in the Air! This tour will test your pilot skills on
various types of aircrafts, exploring varied areas of
aviation! From an agriculture pilot to a airliner pilot,
passing by military, General Aviation, Cargo, Air Taxi, and
much more. Enjoy the custom scenery exclusively made
for this tour! Each leg has its proper requirements and
restrictions, and the pilots that complete the 12 legs of
this tour will be rewarded with new IVAO Award "Pilot
Skills".
Division Tours
Our division also offers frequent events which witness large
volume of traffic and also backed up by quality air traffic
control. The division also has some challenging tours, a few
of them are:
VFR Brazil Tour
The VFR Brazil Tour 2007 was a complex project, here all
Brazilian airports were been analyzed, and the most
interesting ones were chosen! This Tour will remain active
during 2008, so, what you waiting for? Start this tour to fly
around our incredible country!
IVAO GERMANYWith a total of over 8500 registered members, more than 2200 of them being active,
IVAO-DE is one of IVAO's largest divisions. Also a reason why we have some of the
best ATC coverage and flights almost anytime and not only during events and our
weekly online day (Tuesday evening, 1900-2200 local time).
TrainingFor our division members, we offer variety of training
possibilities:
Individual practical training for pilots and controllers
Group training sessions for either IFR procedures, VFR
procedures, GND/TWR tasks, and APP tasks.
Monthly 'newbie day', which is an opportunity for new
members to ask our division
staff anything they want to know
on a dedicated Teamspeak
channel.
Additionally, a lot of information
is available for self-study on our
training websites.
Member SupportFor a better and quicker email support, all emails sent via our contact form on the
websites as well as those sent to specific support email addresses are collected in a web-
based support system. This makes sure that support requests are directed to the correct staff member and
minimizes the response times.
Website
Our web services include the access of all IVAO members to:
All important charts for civil aerodromes within Germany. The charts are published on www.charts.ivao.de .
Continuously updating the routes from/to German airports in the IVAO route database (http://www.ivao.aero/
db/route), which is accessible through the websites or through IvAe. This enables every pilot to have an up-to-
date route for his intended flight at hand within a few seconds.
DIVISON
FOCUS
BR & DE
The legs of the VFR tour include the completion of certain
tasks, e.g. following rivers, overflying certain islands, to
make it more interesting for the pilots and to emphasise
visual navigation.
Flying the helicopter tour you'll face similar tasks, and the SO tour
requires you to be able to fly not only military procedures correctly,
but also to fly both helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft.
Furthermore, we are working on a pilot skills division tour which will
be published lateron this year.
The division also offers number of events, which attract large traffic
and these events are fully staffed with some of the networks finest
air traffic controllers.
Tours/ EventsWe offer a host of interesting tours around
Germany:
An IFR tour,
a VFR tour,
a tour specifically designed for helicopter
flights, and
a Special Operations tour.
Finally
It goes without saying that pilots from other
countries are also welcome to fly in Germany,
and to also participate our division tours and
events.
All necessary information can be found on our
division websites – or simply ask us! Hope to
see you in German skies soon!
For more information visit http://de.ivao.aero/
Interview with Alain!DebrouwerThe President talksby Vybhava Srinivasan
In the flight simulation
community Alain Debrou-
wer, is one such person
who probably needs no in-
troduction. He is a well re-
spected personality in the
online flight simulation
community. Alain has been
with IVAO for about 8 years
and is also currently serving
as the President of IVAO. I
had an opportunity to inter-
view him and get to know
him better.
Alain! is married with Sofie,
he has two daughters, Tess
and Sarah. He and his
family live in Zonnebeke,
Belgium. Alain passed his
PPL at Cristal River, FL.
During this course, he also
received the high perform-
ance and complex rating
for a single engine
landplane.
Back in Belgium, Alain flew
at the EBKT regional airport
as a hobby pilot. Alain was
a FISO (flight information
service officer) at the EBKT
airport and also an airport
adjunct commander for the
same airport.
Due to an increase in ex-
pense in real world flying,
last year Alain resigned
from these positions. He is
currently maintaining a low
profile.
Beside aviation, Alain is
also does photography and
is a member of IPSC club.
IVAO EXCLUSIVE
from left to right
Bart, Kenny and Filip
the evening of the
relaese of IvAc
IVAOEXCLUSIVE A
lain
De
bro
uw
er Vybhav: What was your first experi-
ence with aviation?
Alain: I think when I was about 5 years
old when I received my first flight at the
EBFN military airport where my grand-
father was an officer.
Vybhav: Do you recollect the first
copy of flight simulation that you
owned? What was your experience
like?
Alain: That’s already some time ago, it
was FS 5.1 and my knowledge of avia-
tion was low. I remember very good the
time I spend to find out how an ILS is
working -)
Vybhav: You have been involved with
online flight simulation for a long
time. How much has online flight
simulation changed? Where do you
see this heading?
Alain: From my first FS to the one I
am using now ( FS9, FSX ) it’s a
change like night and day. This to-
gether with my real life experience, I
am happy to see day by day simula-
tion is inching closer to reality. Online
Voice communication with ATC, net-
work flying, scenery of your local air-
port, highly detailed airplanes, etc …
makes FS almost a must for all avia-
tion enthusiastic persons.
Vybhav: President of IVAO! Wow,
that’s some responsibility. What is
the best part of your job?
Alain: The best part of my position
is an opportunity to meet various
members online. People from vari-
ous cultures are here together be-
cause we share a common passion.
I have had made some fantastic
online friends and also occasion to
meet them in real life.
Vybhav: What has been your
happiest moment during the last
8 years with IVAO?
Alain: There are many such happy
and memorable moments. For in-
stance:
the last business trip to the
“DevCon 2007” in Seattle along
with Kenny. It was a fantastic expe-
rience to meet Aces Team and other
big shots from the Flight Simulation
world.
My tenure as the training director of
IVAO was another great moment;
this was when IVAO was desper-
ately looking for anATC client, at
this time IVAO was struggling with
outdated Pro-control ler. Also
around the same time I met up with
Filip and Kenny at the Belgium Lan
Party. Soon we became good
friends. Kenny and Filip worked
together brainstorming on the ATC
client. Finally one day, Filip brought
me draft copy of the whole idea.
Believe me it was an incredible feel-
ing. Subsequently, I took it to the
then IVAO-DIR, Gus. After executive
approval work began after a few
months developing Bart Devriendt
also joined the developers team.
After almost a year, the client was
ready for release. It was based on
systems from eurocontrol, amster-
dam radar, belgocontrol, etc., This
was also a great moment for me for
having been so closely involved in a
development that had then rede-
fined IVAO in the flight simulation
community.
Another fantastic moment was the
start to setup the NPO , it was a
challenge that started some years
ago during a meeting in Belgium.
And the most important thing that
IVAO give's me great friends. It
doesn’t matter which religions, col-
ors, etc... as we're all here for the
same passion.
On the marked of Bologna,
Italy
On the jump seat from a RJ1H from Brussels
to Bologna
! ! ! in Eurodisney Paris
from left to right Gustavo, Alain, Filip & Erwin
Vybhav: How do you strike a balance between
work, hobby and family? It seems that you have a
couple of hours more ….. lol.
Alain: A big kiss to my wife and children !! Almost
80% of my free time goes to IVAO.
Vybhav: Which aircraft do you fly Alain?
Alain: Mostly, I fly the PMDG 736, LevelD 763 and
other general aviation planes like BE20, PC12, C182,
C56X, etc…
Vybhav: Which is your favorite route you love to fly
over and over again?
Alain: EBBR-GCLP-EBBR
Vybhav: Do you like to fly online or be a controller
online? Which would you prefer?
Alain: It depends; I prefer to be a pilot. But during
events or busy evenings you’ll see me often as EBBR
tower.
Vybhav: Did you read the first issue of ‘Virtual Sky’?
What do you think about the magazine?
Alain: It’s a fantastic idea to bring a magazine like this
related to the IVAO network. I’m already looking for-
ward for the second edition.
Vybhav: Many thanks for the interview. It was a
pleasure to hear your views.
Alain: It was a pleasure to answer your questions
IVAOEXCLUSIVE A
lain
De
bro
uw
er
FREEWARE ZONE
Preview
Every issue in this section we will hunt down the hottest downloads available in the flight simulation community. We also take this opportunity to salute these freeware developers, who devote their time and e!orts in creating some awesome add"ons, available to us for FREE. Vybhava Srinivasan
LGTS Thessaloniki International Airport 'Mecedonia'
FS2004, X-Plane Aircrafts
Filenames: gap_lgts_2006.zip
Authors: Mihalis Triantafyllou, Yiannis Dermitzakis, Greek Airport Project
Source: http://www.greekairportsproject.gr/index.html
Greek Airports Project presents the 10th scenery within the first year of scenery creation that concerns the Greek Airports and the first scenery for 2006. The International Airport of Thessaloniki “MACEDONIA" is the second largest airport in Greece.
Project Tupolev Tu-154m
FS2004, X-Plane Aircrafts
Filenames: PT Tu-154m
Authors: Pro Team
Source: http://www.fs-proteam.com/index.html
Project Tupolev has released its long awaited Tupolev Tu-154M. Explore the outstanding visual model details of this fast and reliable airliner, accurate 2D panels in normal, widescreen and multimonitor version and a system depth down to a completely new flight engineer panel.
FU24-950 series FletcherFSX Aircrafts
Filenames: fu24walt.zip
Authors: Deane Baunton
Source: http://library.avsim.netThe Fletcher was designed specifically for low level aerial topdressing operations in New Zealand. Package includes fully animated and detailed virtual cockpit, topdressing effects and various paint schemes.
Europe Forest Scenery
X-Plane Utilities
Filenames: Europe V9
Authors: Andras Fabian
Source: http://www.alpilotx.deWith X-Plane 9 came some exciting new features, but also a new Global Scenery - with native forests included - which made it necessary to re-cut the complete Europe Forests scenery
TS Noise
Utilities
Filenames: TSnoise
Authors: TeamSpeak
Source: http://old.punkr.de/files/TN1.0.4.zip
If you want to make your multi-player 'radio contact' more realistic (when using TeamSpeak), then you should have a look at this little add-on called TSNoise. It adds mike clicks and radio static the sound
TS Info
Utilities
Filenames: TS-Info
Authors: TeamSpeak
Source: http://bafio.altervista.org/tsinfo.htm
IvAcCapture is an utility that shows who is talking on TeamSpeak channel without having to switch out from IvAc Radar screen.
EKRK-Copenhagen Airport Roskilde UPDATE for DAN-VFR SceneryFS2004 SceneryFilenames: ekrkdan.zipAuthors: Jens Peter Bruun-HansenSource: http://www.avsim.com/This is an UPDATE to EKRK-Copenhagen Airport Roskilde made after satelite pictures making the aerodrome layout very precise and blending beautifully into the landscape. This update has been modified specialy for use with the DAN-VFR Danish VFR Scenery. If you dont have the previous updates og EKRK,dont bother this edition will update your scenery completely, but will require installation of original EKRK-Roskilde scenery.
Delta Air Lines Boeing 777-200LR
AI Aircraft
Filenames: ai772lrdal.zip
Authors: Hernan Anibarro
Source: http://www.avsim.com/
Delta Air Lines B777-200LR, Reg. N701DN, newly delivered to Delta to begin new operations to Shanghai. Textures only to be used with The Fruit Stand B777-200LR for AI Traffic.
NZNP- New Plymouth Airport, New ZealandFS2004 AircraftFilenames: new_plymouth_airport_nznp.zipAuthors: Lawrie RoacheSource: http://www.avsim.com/New Plymouth, a medium sized domestic airport in the Taranaki district, on the central west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. The airport is nestled below the foothills of Mount Taranaki (Mount Egmont), a dormant volcano.
What a Wonderfull World – Parts 1,2,3
FSX Scenery
Filenames: www_demo_part1.zip
Authors: Aimé Leclercq
Source: http://www.avsim.com/
WWW is a set of summer ground textures mountain and rockies ehancement for FSX. In this demo version, your have summer rock and mountain textures.
Relive Kai Tak Experience for FreeFS2004 SceneryFilenames: 9dragon1.zip to 9dragon5.zipAuthors: Milehigh ProductionsSource: http://www.avsim.com/Milehigh Productions allows you to relive Hong Kong International Airport (Kai Tak VHHX) in your FS2004, as it was in the 1990's. This package includes a custom autogen and approximately 800 square miles of photo real terrain day and night textures. Not to forget the IGS 'Checkerboard' Approach.
Zurich Freeware
FS2004 Scenery
Filenames: FreeZ v0.5 FS9
Authors: Freez
Source: http://lszh.aviation-art.ch/index.phpAfter the brilliant Zürich payware scenery product from FSDreamteam and after the recent RFE there is now an excellent freeware.
F R E E W A R E Z O N E