Assignment of Cruising Levels Definition, take off, landing, cruising level assignment and routes

Flight Levels-FL Used by air traffic controllers to simplify the vertical separation of aircrafts is a standard nominal altitude of an aircraft, in hundreds of feet. =FL FL230= 23,000 feet FL 320=32,000 feet 

Phases of Aircraft Ascent

Transition Altitude The altitude above the sea level where the aircraft change to Flight Levels Transition altitude-vary from country to country from 1000 to 18,000 ft.

Minimum Flight Altitude The Lowest Altitude where the Aircraft may operate safely.eg.6000’   An altitude keeping adequate clearance from nearby terrain and manmade obstacles, allowing proper navigational functions. MFL- defined for VFR and IFR

Minimum Flight Altitude The lowest altitude at which aircraft may safely operate and for Indian cities, it is 300m based on PNAV. An altitude allowing adequate vertical clearance from nearby terrain and manmade obstacles, and allowing proper navigational functions.

Definition :Cruise Level portion of aircraft travel where flight is most fuel efficient, occurring between Ascent and Descent phases and usually FOR the majority of a journey expressed in Mach. Cruising consists of Heading (direction of flight) Changes at constant airspeed and altitude. Cruising over when the aircraft approaches the destination at the Descent phase of flight commences for landing.

Cruising speed of commercial aircrafts Boeing A 747 = Mach 0.86 Boeing A 777 = Mach 0.84 Airbus A 380 = Mach 0.85 Mach 1= speed of Sound = 660 Kim at Sea level Mach 0.84= 84% 660 at 35,000 feet

Minimum Cruising Level

Airbus 340 jet in Cruise

Take off The phase of flight in which an aircraft goes through a transition from moving along the ground (taxiing to flying in the air, usually starting on a runway) Typical takeoff air speeds for jetliners are in the 130–155 knot range (150–180 mph, 240–285 km/h).

A380 at Take off

Landing Last part of a flight, where a flying aircraft, returning to the ground. Landing occurs after descent For landing, airspeed and the rate of descent are reduced for a gentle touch down

Cruising levels according to heading FL 280 to FL430 Even level-FL 280, 300, 320, 340, 360,380,400,420 and track from 180* to 359* Odd level-FL 290,310,330, 350, 370, 390, 410,430 and track from 000* to 179*

ATS ROUTES AND SIGNIFICANT POINTS Definition, Airspace classification,ATS Route, altitude sectorization,

Chennai Airport 12° 59' 40N 80° 10' 50E Mag Var: 1.431W 52 ft AMSL

Routes The 6 parallel one-way RNAV routes; II. Routes Crossing the 6 parallel one-way RNAV routes; III. Routes Not Crossing the 6 parallels, but crossing Class II routes; and IV. Routes Not Crossing neither 6 parallels nor Class II routes.

ATS Routes A specified route designed for channeling the flow of traffic as necessary for the provision of air traffic services. Defined by route specifications which include an ATS route designator, the track to or from significant points (waypoints), distance between significant points, reporting requirements and, as determined by the appropriate ATS authority, the lowest safe altitude.

ATS Route from Chennai to New Delhi

Indian Airspace Total Airspace : 6.0 Million Sq.Km (approx) Land area : 2.2 Million Sq.Km (approx) Oceanic area : 3.8 Million Sq.Km (approx) Entire Airspace been divided into 5 FIRs -Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai & Guwahati Radar Coverage: Mono Pulse SSR (MSSR) installed at 12 strategic locations to ensure radar coverageto the entire land area(Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Nagpur, Hyderabad,Mangalore,Thiruvananthapuram,Varanasi, Guwahati & Berhampur)

ATS Route A Route Designator showing name of significant points and coordinates=V543, GWANGJU VOR(KWA)350734N 1264844E. Track Magnitude and distance in NM=7/101 Upper limit and lower limit & Minimum Flight Altitude and airspace classification-FL 600 /FL 8000 ft,A,B,C or D Direction of Cruising levels Controlling Unit Frequency-124.50 MHz

Airspace Classification

Special use Airspace Air Traffic Control Assigned Airspace Controlled Firing Area Military Operating Areas Prohibited Area Restricted Area Warning Area

High Altitude Route Sectors

Altitude Sectorization High Altitude Sectorization –Sector 35,AAA,FL240 Low Altitude Sectorization-AAB,FL 230

Types of Routing-1.Airways Airway-Airway routing occurs along pre-defined pathways; Airways is thought of three-dimensional highways for aircraft- Rules governing airway routing cover altitude, airspeed, and requirements for entering and leaving the airway – Most airways are eight nautical miles (14 kilometers) wide, and the airway flight levels keep aircraft separated by at least 500 vertical feet from aircraft on the flight level above and below Airways have names consisting of one or more letters followed by one or more digits (e.g., V484 or UA419). .

Types of Routing-2.Navaids Navaid- routing occurs between Navaids (short for Navigational Aids Not always connected by airways. Navaid routing typically only allowed in the continental U.S. If a flight plan specified Navaid routing between two Navaids, which are connected via an airway, the rules for that particular airway must be followed as if the aircraft was flying Airway routing between those two Navaids. Allowable altitudes are covered in Flight Levels

Types of Routing-3. Direct Direct routing occurs when one or both of the route segment endpoints are at a latitude/longitude not located at a Navaid Some flight planning organizations specify that checkpoints generated for a Direct route be a limited distance apart, or limited by time to fly between the checkpoints (i.e. direct checkpoints could be farther apart for a fast aircraft than for a slow one

Surveillance Systems (En Route) Air Route Surveillance Radar (ARSR) a long range radar system designed to provide a display of aircraft over large areas controlled by Air Route Traffic Control Centers Each ARSR site monitor aircraft flying within a200-mile radius of the antenna to 600miles ARSR antenna rotate at 5rpm providing sweeps at12 second intervals Data from multiple ARSR sites presented on controller displays in a mosaic, providing radar coverage over a large geographic area