What's the Inside of the Tower Look Like?

Windpane

Windpane

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Windpane
How is ATC keeping track of so many details?

What kinds of screens and capabilities are on ATC panels?
 
Depends on which tower. They use different displays and are allowed different capabilities based on the level of the facility. If it’s a class D, generally the radar feed is nothing more than for situational awareness. If it’s a C or B where the tower controller is also approach rated or gone thru specific training (BRITE), they can use the display for all IFR radar functions. The display could be digital or analog, color or monochrome.

5B019199-2E30-4B8F-8AC2-94E6CB340D8E.jpeg F6C5F127-6F02-48B9-BD11-01AB7819EB56.jpeg
 
Are they memorizing or jotting details down about who's what?
 
I'll go right in the tower. Sounds good. I doubt anyone is all that busy especially around sunset. I can figure this out.
 
Windpane said:
Are they memorizing or jotting details down about who's what?
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They should have callsigns and intentions of each aircraft memorized but to assist, they use flight progress strips. Generally for tower they’re hand written though.

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Velocity173 said:
They should have callsigns and intentions of each aircraft memorized but to assist, they use flight progress strips. Generally for tower they’re hand written though.

View attachment 78058
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Is this right?

Col 1
Tailnumber
Type
Heading?

Col 2
Squawk
Time of departure?
Altitude in 100s
 
Salty said:
Is this right?

Col 1
Tailnumber
Type
Heading?

Col 2
Squawk
Time of departure?
Altitude in 100s
Click to expand...

All except heading. That a computer identification (CID). Just a number that identifies that particular strip so if a controller wants to amend anything on it, they reference that number in doing so.

I guess the altitude could be looked at as hundreds if you put two zeros at the end. The three altitudes there are in FLs.
 
Velocity173 said:
All except heading. That a computer identification (CID). Just a number that identifies that particular strip so if a controller wants to amend anything on it, they reference that number in doing so.

I guess the altitude could be looked at as hundreds if you put two zeros at the end. The three altitudes there are in FLs.
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I didn’t think it was headings being that it was down to the degrees, but I didn’t have any other guess.
 
Taken a long time ago, this is my office.

Davis%20Monthan%20AFB_2019%201200%20x%20675%20%2816%29.png


The only person sitting down is where I'm normally found. That isn't me and we no longer have the D-Bright (scope top center of picture)

Person on the right is ground control/clearance delivery (she washed out by the way). Person to her left is flight data, next to the left is cab coordinator, next person is local, and the person sitting down is the watch supervisor. Other two people are oxygen thieves. Why everyone is standing up is a mystery. Just over the left shoulder of cab coordinator is the strip bay (those green things in the posted picture above) The beige screens are where all the phone lines, intercoms, land lines and radios are selected. Any questions about what is what, just ask.
 
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Windpane said:
Are they memorizing or jotting details down about who's what?
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No, I know who they are. ;) Person on the right is ground control/clearance delivery (she washed out by the way). Person to her left is flight data, next to the left is cab coordinator, next person is local, and the person sitting down is the watch supervisor. Other two people are oxygen thieves.

Edit: posted above.
 
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luvflyin said:
Yes. A lot of the 'picture' is in their head. Radar helps a lot. Most of the 'jotting' is done via keyboard these days but pencil and paper still has it's use
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More often than you’d think they know a lot less about you than you wish they did. That’s not meant as disrespect in any way. A great deal of the country they don’t have you on radar and have no idea where you actually are (relatively speaking).
 
Timbeck2 said:
Taken a long time ago, this is my office.

Davis%20Monthan%20AFB_2019%201200%20x%20675%20%2816%29.png


The only person sitting down is where I'm normally found. That isn't me and we no longer have the D-Bright (scope top center of picture)
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One of my offices, also taken a long time ago. Worked in the yellow one until the big one arrived and got put together.

Untitled-41.jpg
 
Salty said:
More often than you’d think they know a lot less about you than you wish they did. That’s not meant as disrespect in any way. A great deal of the country they don’t have you on radar and have no idea where you actually are (relatively speaking).
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If you are where you say you are they got a real good idea.
 
Timbeck2 said:
Taken a long time ago, this is my office.

Davis%20Monthan%20AFB_2019%201200%20x%20675%20%2816%29.png


The only person sitting down is where I'm normally found. That isn't me and we no longer have the D-Bright (scope top center of picture)

Person on the right is ground control/clearance delivery (she washed out by the way). Person to her left is flight data, next to the left is cab coordinator, next person is local, and the person sitting down is the watch supervisor. Other two people are oxygen thieves. Why everyone is standing up is a mystery. Just over the left shoulder of cab coordinator is the strip bay (those green things in the posted picture above) The beige screens are where all the phone lines, intercoms, land lines and radios are selected. Any questions about what is what, just ask.
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It looks a lot more clean and simple than I imagined. What are their respective jobs? Is it just about the same for the civilian towers either big coms or the small locals?
 
Windpane said:
It looks a lot more clean and simple than I imagined. What are their respective jobs? Is it just about the same for the civilian towers either big coms or the small locals?
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My local tower (contract) never has more than two controllers in it. In fact, I think they only have 7 or 8 total who work there.
 
Yeah, ATC looks like an alright gig, but FAA blocks out any newbs from beginning the training after 30. Makes sense to me though. Based on how it looks on the youtube videos, ATC is expected to be like all knowing geniuses with perfect memory. I haven't seen any slip up yet though, so... I've seen some pilots slip up with ATC though. Hehe. If not getting into the groove of the job before over the hill, it's probably too risky. Plus it's not a big job market, eh. I bet there's a big line to get a gig in a tower out there.
 
Windpane said:
Yeah, ATC looks like an alright gig, but FAA blocks out any newbs from beginning the training after 30. Makes sense to me though. Based on how it looks on the youtube videos, ATC is expected to be like all knowing geniuses with perfect memory. I haven't seen any slip up yet though, so... I've seen some pilots slip up with ATC though. Hehe. If not getting into the groove of the job before over the hill, it's probably too risky. Plus it's not a big job market, eh. I bet there's a big line to get a gig in a tower out there.
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Oh ATC slips up all the time. Operational Errors (loss of sep) have been on the rise for some time. That’s mostly due to automatic recording of errors (TARP) and more acceptance of reporting mistakes (ATSAP). In 8 years of doing ATC in the Marines though, I was flawless. ;)
 
That video helps a lot. I need to know that.

As far as more mistakes by ATC these days, you don't think that it's a matter of the airspace being more filled with planes than ever in history complicating the job, or maybe the brains are getting too weak because new ideals and habits such as corporate food and too much TV. If brains get weak, they make mistakes, and there's no way to compensate except to automate the job...if that actually would work.
 
Windpane said:
That video helps a lot. I need to know that.

As far as more mistakes by ATC these days, you don't think that it's a matter of the airspace being more filled with planes than ever in history complicating the job, or maybe the brains are getting too weak because new ideals and habits such as corporate food and too much TV. If brains get weak, they make mistakes, and there's no way to compensate except to automate the job...if that actually would work.
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Lol! I don’t know about that second part. I can tell you this, my brother is a controller and he can’t stand the new crop. Don’t study, make mistakes, stay on their phones all the time, show up late, etc, etc.

Automation has helped with the job but you can only fit so many planes in the space allotted. For instance, ADS-B has been touted as reducing separation but for the most part, that’s not gonna happen. It will help with previous non radar areas and oceanic areas but the high density TRACONs won’t change any. Automation can also cause an over reliance as well. Example, some of the new guys that work with my brother use the software (STARS) to give them vectors. That’s great and all but it takes a few key strokes to do it. When it gets busy, their vectors go to **** because they don’t have a couple of seconds to get the vector from the computer. Now they actually have to think to issue a vector but they can’t. Millennials...:D
 
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Phoenix Sky Harbor will be doing the operation raincheck monthly going forward due to the high demand. I did it a few years ago and have even more respect for their job, both in the tower and the “basement”
 
Timbeck2 said:
Taken a long time ago, this is my office.

Davis%20Monthan%20AFB_2019%201200%20x%20675%20%2816%29.png


The only person sitting down is where I'm normally found. That isn't me and we no longer have the D-Bright (scope top center of picture)

Person on the right is ground control/clearance delivery (she washed out by the way). Person to her left is flight data, next to the left is cab coordinator, next person is local, and the person sitting down is the watch supervisor. Other two people are oxygen thieves. Why everyone is standing up is a mystery. Just over the left shoulder of cab coordinator is the strip bay (those green things in the posted picture above) The beige screens are where all the phone lines, intercoms, land lines and radios are selected. Any questions about what is what, just ask.
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What, no coffee pot?!! How am I supposed to trust what you guys tell me?
 
With small exception every FAA tower I've ever been in has the same walnut formica counter-tops, windows, and a signal light dangling from the ceiling. If it's an IFR facility there'll be a strip printer. For years, the old Oshkosh tower would get a strip printer ONLY during the EAA. I remember being up there and the controller who was there year round begging them to leave it for him. If the tower has a radar facility below there's usually a tube to drop the strips in. At the old IAD tower it dropped down one floor to the radar room. At the new DCA tower it went down about ten stories (the radar room was at the base of the tower). If you got into the tower elevator at DCA back in the day, there would often be a bucket of strip holders waiting to go up in it. When they moved the TRACON out to Vint Hill, I asked the local controller how hard he had to throw the strip to get it out there.

The new towers now seem to all have blue formica and a cordless signalling light. The new Dulles tower even has a central vacuum system for cleaning the place up.
 
Someone mentioned Operation Raincheck which is a great program run by the FAA that can set up tours of ATC facilities. Check it out if you haven't already.
 
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