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ANCHORAGE ARTCC STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES

Any questions or amendments regarding this document please contact John Van, ARTCC Chief

 CONTENTS:

Section I - Purpose

Section III - Sector Boundaries & Duties

 Section IV - Frequencies

 Section V - Cruise Altitudes

 

 Section I - Purpose

 The purpose of these Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) is to set out the rules of the Anchorage ARTCC, and to explain the duties of the various controller positions These will help to help prevent confusion and to promote efficiency between controllers using Pro Controller.

Section II - General Rules  All rules and regulations set forth by VATSIM & VATUSA are automatically required to be adhered to; therefore, they will not be specifically mentioned in these SOPs.

 1. Rating requirements - There is NO rating required to control within the Anchorage ARTCC, except that only Senior Student and above may control in a Center (CTR) position. Anyone with a valid CID, familiarization with the area, and decent stress threshold is free to log in and control. However, newcomers to the ARTCC will be required to spend 4 hours at a 'ground' position (DEL, GND or TWR) to familiarize themselves with the ARTCC procedures. You do NOT have to be a controller on the roster of the Anchorage ARTCC. You should, however, be familiar with the area - especially the primary airport, Anchorage International (PANC). To be able to use voice you have to be at least a Senior Student, and have passed the test to obtain a voice endorsement.

2. Periods between promotions - A minimum of 30 days shall be maintained between promotions or ratings advancements. Except that a minimum if 45 days will be required between Controller & Senior Controller.

 3. Testing - All students & controllers must have taken the applicable lessons on the VATUSA training site before being elegible for taking the test for any position. (This includes the voice endorsement.) Students and controllers should be prepared to take to over the shoulder (OTS) practical test at ANY of the major airports in the Anchorage airspace. At the time of the OTS test students & controllers will be asked questions about the various procedures and questions about the Anchorage airspace and the airfields. A student taking the OTS voice test will be asked questions about the abbreviations and the names of the VOR's in the airspace (eg. What is the name of the JOH VOR.)

4. Callsign - Please check the Who's Online stats page before signing on to avoid "stepping on someone else's shoes." If a position you desire to man is already taken you may log on as an observer to see if any other positions need to be filled. You may also ask if anyone needs relief from their current position, or ask if a current controller would like to split their area into halves (ANC_E_CTR and ANC_W_CTR). This should only be done if both parties agree, and is only necessary if traffic load permits. Please see Section IV for more information on suggested callsigns and their respective frequencies.

4. OLA (Operation Lag Awareness) - Lag tends to be a noticeable problem on weekends and during periods of high traffic count - especially during fly-ins! Please be aware of the potential for lag, and handle any incurrence with lag in professional manner. Certain precautions can be taken in case lag does become a factor : Give pilots an intercept to final at least 15 miles out. Give pilots about a 20 or 30 degree intercept to final - no more than 30 degrees! Give pilots an EFC time (expect further clearance). Example : If a pilot is wanting FL350, but you can't yet clear him all the way to FL350, you may say - "DAL230, c/m FL290, expect FL350 in 20 minutes." Clear pilots to land/t&g/option well before the OM! Pilots should be cleared to land (or whatever) at least 10 miles out to reduce workload on the pilot. If lag does appear, refrain from sending lots of pings, guard and ATC messages, Wx requests, etc.. as this will only add to the net congestion. Wait until the lag has dissipated, then resume as necessary, and politely correct any errors the lag may have caused.

 Section III - Sector Boundaries and Duties

Clearance Delivery - XXX_DEL Clearance delivery is responsible for issuing IFR clearances for all departing IFR aircraft. DEL should be the first ATC that a departing pilots speaks with, so advise them of any expected delays, significant weather, or other pertinent information. The following should make up a clearance. The limit of the clearance, the intial navigational fix, the initial altitude, the departure frequency and the squawk code. When issuing clearances to aircraft landing at aiports in the surrounding ARTCCs, please try and issue them in accordance with the Letters of Agreement that we have with those ARTCCs. DEL should maintain communication with GND.

Ground - XXX_GND  Ground control is responsible for the movement of all traffic on the 'ground' at the airport - except for the active runways. The controller's duties include, but are not limited to the following: issuing IFR clearances (if no DEL), taxiing aircraft to an appropriate departure runway or terminal, communicating with tower, and issuing weather information. NOTE - GND should taxi departing aircraft to the hold short line of the departure runway, then handoff the aircraft to tower. GND can NOT clear aircraft for takeoff! Before handing to tower, GND should make sure all IFR aircraft have received an IFR clearance! GND should maintain communication with TWR and DEL.

Tower - XXX_TWR Tower is responsible for all movement and activities on all active runways. The controller's duties include, but are not limited to the following: all of the responsibilities of GND (if ground is not manned), clearing aircraft for takeoff, landing, t&g, stop and go, low approach, or the option, and determining the active runway(s). NOTE - TWR should clear aircraft to land well before the OM. TWR should also handoff departing a/c to APP/DEP as soon as the aircraft is airborne - even if the aircraft is remaining in the pattern! TWR should maintain communication and coordinate with GND, DEP & APP.

Departure - XXX  DEP Departure is responsible for separating and sequencing all departing aircraft through an appropriate departure gate. Departure 'owns' the airspace up to 16,000' MSL. DEP shares the SAME airspace with APP, and must maintain constant communication with APP! Departing aircraft should be kept out of the path of arriving aircraft. DEP should handoff to CTR before the aircraft reaches 16,000' or 40NM DME from the airport. NOTE - DEP cannot climb aircraft above 16,000'! Aircraft that will be climbing to CTR airspace should be handed off to CTR BEFORE they level off at16,000! Then Center can continue their climb - without making the pilot level off! Pilots will appreciate this effective method of climbing! DEP should communicate and coordinate with TWR, APP, and CTR.

Approach - XXX  APP  Approach is responsible for separating and sequencing all arriving aircraft safely and efficiently. This is to assure that any arriving aircraft will not conflict with any departing aircraft. The approach airspace includes all airspace within 40NM of the airport up to 16,000' MSL. APP shares the SAME airspace with DEP, and must maintain constant communication with DEP! APP should vector IFR airctaft to an appropriate approach to the active runway(s), and sequence in VFR aircraft as well. On initial handoff from CTR, APP should tell the pilot the current altimeter setting, and what runway and approach he should expect. APP will also handle any aircraft remaining in the traffic pattern to sequence them in with other arrivals. NOTE - APP should clear IFR a/c for the appropriate approach and then hand to tower! APP should NOT clear aircraft to land if tower is manned. This handoff should occur at least 10 miles from the airport. APP should take on all responsibilities of TWR if TWR is not manned!! APP should communicate and coordinate with TWR, DEP, and CTR.

Center - XXX_CTR  Anchorage Center is responsible for all other airspace and air traffic within the Anchorage ARTCC boundaries. Their duties include, but are not limited to the following : handling overflights or pass-thrus, vectoring aircraft for initial approach into PANC, initiating descents for arriving aircraft, providing APP and DEP services to other airports in the ARTCC sector, issuing traffic and weather advisories, provide ATC services and flight following to participating VFR aircraft, coordinating with adjacent ARTCCs, and assuming the responsibilites of ANC_APP if it is unmanned. CTR airspace is all airspace that is not currently taken by APP. NOTE - CTR should not descend arriving Anchorage aircraft below 17,000', because 16,000 and below belongs to APP. CTR should handoff to APP before a/c level off at 17,000 or before they reach 40NM DME from the airport. (Only exception to this rule is when issuing crossing restrictions for aircraft flying a STAR.) On initial contact with an aircraft CTR should issue the current altimeter setting of the pilot's destination airfield, and, if a pilot has filed for a STAR, clear the aircraft for that arrival. Then the crossing restriction should be issued. CTR should communicate and coordinate with APP and DEP, as well as with the adjacent ARTCCs.

** If sector dividing needs to occur due to intense volumes of traffic, the boundaries, dividing lines, and handoff points need to be agreed upon by both parties before hand and they need to be told to the adjacent facilities for handoff procedures. **

 Section IV - Frequencies

 Callsigns and Frequencies Here

 Section V - Cruise Altitudes

 IFR Below FL290 and above 3000ft:

 Heading 360-179 (East): cruise at odd thousands of feet such as 11,000, 15,000, etc...

 Heading 180-359 (West): cruise even thousands of feet such as 12,000, 22,000, etc...

IFR At and above FL290:

Heading 360-179 (East): cruise at FL290, FL330, FL370, FL410 and every 4,000ft after that.

Heading 180-359 (West): cruise at FL310, FL350, FL390 and every 4,000ft after that.

VFR. Heading 360-179 (East):

Odd altitudes plus 500ft such as 5,500, 7,500, 9,500 etc.

Heading 180-359 (West): Even altitudes plus 500ft such as 8,500 10,500 12,500 etc.

NOTE: No VFR flights are allowed in Class A airspace (18,000ft and above), so that the highest VFR altitude that can be assigned is 17,500ft.

The following graphic* illustrates the above text!

 

*Graphic provided by VATUSA Training.

Amended 6/15/02

Please note we are no way affiliated with any real world aviation organization or the FAA this is just a hobby. 

Website last updated: Wednesday, October 02, 2002

Copyright 2002, Anchorage ARTCC