SixPapaCharlie
May the force be with you
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Sixer
In March, AggieMike arranged a tour of ft. worth Center.
I posted a write-up at student pilot but didn't post it here.
I just saw a post where someone thought they were putting ATC out by talking to them.
At any rate, there may be some experts that want to change some of this but I did the tour and this was my takeaway. What I learned not only busted a few myths but has changed my flying moving forward.
Thoughts I had prior to this tour:
1. I am annoying them requesting Flight following
2. They don’t really want to deal with me, it is just a courtesy
3. I should only request it if my flight is longer than X miles
4. I can’t get flight following unless I am going from point A to Point B meaning they can’t assist while I am just practicing
5. This is a few people in a tower and I am increasing their workload
I will address why ALL of those are wrong but first, what is Flight following? Or more importantly Who are they?
If I am leaving my field, I can call center frequency and if they are not busy, they will help.
So who are “they”?
Closest one to me is Ft. Worth Center. Ft worth center is a building about 5 miles south of DFW airport. When you walk in, it looks like a movie set, something out of CSI or a submarine movie. It is dark. They work with the lights off and it is rows and rows of computers like you wouldn’t believe. I don’t care where you work. Your company server room has nothing on these guys.
Along with these machines are rows and rows of stations consisting of several screens at each station there are between 1 and 3 people working. Each station is responsible for a specific chunk of airspace for a specific altitude.
So how many people are watching this section of airspace for us?
350! (this will vary from location to location, but WAY more resources than I ever imagined)
The Fort Worth Air Route Traffic Control Center (ZFW) is a typical ARTCC. The Center has approximately 350 controllers. The airspace is broken up into 42 sections with between 1 and 3 people watching each section for enroute traffic and there are more watching for weather and other aviation related tasks.
There are 18 low altitude sectors.
There are 7 Intermediate Altitude Sectors.
There are 16 High Altitude Sectors
There is 1 Ultra High Altitude Sector
Each of these has portions monitored by multiple people. This is for enroute traffic advisories, and there are a whole additional group of people focused on weather, military, refueling ops, and just about any other activity along the aviation spectrum. It is a lot of people watching out for us.
Myths busted:
I AM ANNOYING THEM REQUESTING FLIGHT FOLLOWING.
Guess what. Even if we are not talking to them, we are already on their radar screen. They are dealing with us whether we get flight following or not. The problem is that if we DON’T talk to them, they know very little about us. It is more annoying for us to be on their radar and they not know who we are then it is to see us on the radar and have all of our info.
Without FF they see: random plane, squawking 1200, altitude, climbing/descending.
With FF, they have tail number, Alt, airspeed, origin, destination, aircraft type, and time to hand off. If you provide your intended heading, that will appear to and they can anticipate where you will be at a given point in time. If we file a flight plan, there is a ton more info for them
They also have this ability to click a button that shows where all planes will be in 1, 2, 5, and 8 minutes to detect possible collisions given current direction and rate of flight.
So to point 1 we are not annoying them, we are helping them because they know our intentions, and what our aircraft is capable of. By getting flight following, WE are helping THEM.
THEY DON’T REALLY WANT TO DEAL WITH ME, IT IS JUST A COURTESY
Wrong. They told us straight out that this is not true. They would rather be talking to us than not. And they don’t like to use the word Courtesy because they stated they are not “doing us a favor” but rather “we are all using the system to benefit one another. “
If there is an emergency and they need to free up some people, the VFR Flight following pilots may be terminated so resources can be shifted but they are not sitting there thinking “Oh crap, I have to deal with this VFR traffic *sigh*”
It is the opposite, they are thinking “Crap, this guy is not talking to us and I don’t know what he is planning. I wish he would contact us”
The gentleman leading the tour said he can’t count the times there is an audible sigh in the room when 2 VFR planes are on a collision course with one another and not talking to ATC and they just watch and hold their breath until they see the planes come out the other side of one another. They alluded to the fact that they have seen some not end well.
I SHOULD ONLY REQUEST FF IF MY FLIGHT IS LONGER THAN X MILES
Wrong. There is no minimum flight distance that warrants flight following more than another.
Per Ft. Worth ATC: “Unless you are staying in the pattern, please call us up and get flight following.”
I always used this mythical number I pulled out of the air of 50 miles. If it was less than 50, I wouldn’t bother ATC. They said there is no such minimum flight distance. “You are on the radar, so tell us who you are and where you are going.”
I CAN’T GET FLIGHT FOLLOWING UNLESS I AM GOING FROM POINT A TO POINT B.
THEY CAN’T ASSIST WHILE I AM PRACTICING MANEUVERS.
Wrong. If we are out maneuvering / practicing, etc, we are just as entitled to usage of the ATC system as the Boeing 757 headed across the U.S
However the phrasing is slightly different.
Instead of saying: “Request Flight Following”
Say: “Request Traffic Advisories”
When we are done, we need to let them know we are returning to the airport and once we have the field in sight, request radar service termination or they will terminate.
THERE ARE A FEW PEOPLE IN A TOWER AND I AM INCREASING THEIR WORKLOAD
Wrong. There are a HUGE number of people ready to help us fly safely. We are not making their job more difficult, or putting them out in any way by requesting flight following.
So I just wanted to pass this along in case there were others like me that thought FF was a burden or it should only be used for certain trips based on time or distance, etc. They said not to do that.
I think it is the equivalent of saying "well this is just a small mine field so I don't need my metal detector"
So if you don't want to use it because you don't want to, that is fine but if you don't want to use it because you think somehow your mission isn't important, long, or far enough, phooey! call em up. If you don't want to use it because you feel like you are stressing out their work load, call em up. If they are overstressed and can't handle it, they will deny. After that tour, I will be calling center upon departing the pattern moving forward because anytime I hadn't got FF it was due to apprehension based on the above concerns.
Hope this helps at least a little for any other students or new pilots that have misconceptions about getting flight following.
Just for a visual (photos not allowed on our tour)
Rows and Rows and Rows of this:
I posted a write-up at student pilot but didn't post it here.
I just saw a post where someone thought they were putting ATC out by talking to them.
At any rate, there may be some experts that want to change some of this but I did the tour and this was my takeaway. What I learned not only busted a few myths but has changed my flying moving forward.
Thoughts I had prior to this tour:
1. I am annoying them requesting Flight following
2. They don’t really want to deal with me, it is just a courtesy
3. I should only request it if my flight is longer than X miles
4. I can’t get flight following unless I am going from point A to Point B meaning they can’t assist while I am just practicing
5. This is a few people in a tower and I am increasing their workload
I will address why ALL of those are wrong but first, what is Flight following? Or more importantly Who are they?
If I am leaving my field, I can call center frequency and if they are not busy, they will help.
So who are “they”?
Closest one to me is Ft. Worth Center. Ft worth center is a building about 5 miles south of DFW airport. When you walk in, it looks like a movie set, something out of CSI or a submarine movie. It is dark. They work with the lights off and it is rows and rows of computers like you wouldn’t believe. I don’t care where you work. Your company server room has nothing on these guys.
Along with these machines are rows and rows of stations consisting of several screens at each station there are between 1 and 3 people working. Each station is responsible for a specific chunk of airspace for a specific altitude.
So how many people are watching this section of airspace for us?
350! (this will vary from location to location, but WAY more resources than I ever imagined)
The Fort Worth Air Route Traffic Control Center (ZFW) is a typical ARTCC. The Center has approximately 350 controllers. The airspace is broken up into 42 sections with between 1 and 3 people watching each section for enroute traffic and there are more watching for weather and other aviation related tasks.
There are 18 low altitude sectors.
There are 7 Intermediate Altitude Sectors.
There are 16 High Altitude Sectors
There is 1 Ultra High Altitude Sector
Each of these has portions monitored by multiple people. This is for enroute traffic advisories, and there are a whole additional group of people focused on weather, military, refueling ops, and just about any other activity along the aviation spectrum. It is a lot of people watching out for us.
Myths busted:
I AM ANNOYING THEM REQUESTING FLIGHT FOLLOWING.
Guess what. Even if we are not talking to them, we are already on their radar screen. They are dealing with us whether we get flight following or not. The problem is that if we DON’T talk to them, they know very little about us. It is more annoying for us to be on their radar and they not know who we are then it is to see us on the radar and have all of our info.
Without FF they see: random plane, squawking 1200, altitude, climbing/descending.
With FF, they have tail number, Alt, airspeed, origin, destination, aircraft type, and time to hand off. If you provide your intended heading, that will appear to and they can anticipate where you will be at a given point in time. If we file a flight plan, there is a ton more info for them
They also have this ability to click a button that shows where all planes will be in 1, 2, 5, and 8 minutes to detect possible collisions given current direction and rate of flight.
So to point 1 we are not annoying them, we are helping them because they know our intentions, and what our aircraft is capable of. By getting flight following, WE are helping THEM.
THEY DON’T REALLY WANT TO DEAL WITH ME, IT IS JUST A COURTESY
Wrong. They told us straight out that this is not true. They would rather be talking to us than not. And they don’t like to use the word Courtesy because they stated they are not “doing us a favor” but rather “we are all using the system to benefit one another. “
If there is an emergency and they need to free up some people, the VFR Flight following pilots may be terminated so resources can be shifted but they are not sitting there thinking “Oh crap, I have to deal with this VFR traffic *sigh*”
It is the opposite, they are thinking “Crap, this guy is not talking to us and I don’t know what he is planning. I wish he would contact us”
The gentleman leading the tour said he can’t count the times there is an audible sigh in the room when 2 VFR planes are on a collision course with one another and not talking to ATC and they just watch and hold their breath until they see the planes come out the other side of one another. They alluded to the fact that they have seen some not end well.
I SHOULD ONLY REQUEST FF IF MY FLIGHT IS LONGER THAN X MILES
Wrong. There is no minimum flight distance that warrants flight following more than another.
Per Ft. Worth ATC: “Unless you are staying in the pattern, please call us up and get flight following.”
I always used this mythical number I pulled out of the air of 50 miles. If it was less than 50, I wouldn’t bother ATC. They said there is no such minimum flight distance. “You are on the radar, so tell us who you are and where you are going.”
I CAN’T GET FLIGHT FOLLOWING UNLESS I AM GOING FROM POINT A TO POINT B.
THEY CAN’T ASSIST WHILE I AM PRACTICING MANEUVERS.
Wrong. If we are out maneuvering / practicing, etc, we are just as entitled to usage of the ATC system as the Boeing 757 headed across the U.S
However the phrasing is slightly different.
Instead of saying: “Request Flight Following”
Say: “Request Traffic Advisories”
When we are done, we need to let them know we are returning to the airport and once we have the field in sight, request radar service termination or they will terminate.
THERE ARE A FEW PEOPLE IN A TOWER AND I AM INCREASING THEIR WORKLOAD
Wrong. There are a HUGE number of people ready to help us fly safely. We are not making their job more difficult, or putting them out in any way by requesting flight following.
So I just wanted to pass this along in case there were others like me that thought FF was a burden or it should only be used for certain trips based on time or distance, etc. They said not to do that.
I think it is the equivalent of saying "well this is just a small mine field so I don't need my metal detector"
So if you don't want to use it because you don't want to, that is fine but if you don't want to use it because you think somehow your mission isn't important, long, or far enough, phooey! call em up. If you don't want to use it because you feel like you are stressing out their work load, call em up. If they are overstressed and can't handle it, they will deny. After that tour, I will be calling center upon departing the pattern moving forward because anytime I hadn't got FF it was due to apprehension based on the above concerns.
Hope this helps at least a little for any other students or new pilots that have misconceptions about getting flight following.
Just for a visual (photos not allowed on our tour)
Rows and Rows and Rows of this:
Attachments
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