Guide Navigation:
Page 1 - #Example Flight Plan and #ICAO codes
Page 2 - #Terminology and #ATIS
Page 3 - #Example ATIS
Page 4 - #The NATO Phonetic Alphabet
Page 5 - #Flight Plans
Page 6 - #Flight Level (FL)
Page 7 - #UNICOM and #Traffic Pattern/Visual Circuit
Page 8 - #Holding Points
Page 9 - #ILS and #Video Guides
#Example Flight Plan:
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Callsign:
Aircraft:
IFR/VFR: #Instrument Flight Rules
Departing: #ICAO code for the departure point
Arriving: #ICAO code for the arrival point
IFL:
FL:
(Route): GPS DIRECT
Squawk: n/a
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#ICAO codes for departure and arrival points (PTFS):
Cyprus:
[IBAR] Barra Airport [IHEN] Henstridge Airfield [ILAR] Larnaca Intl. [IIAB]
McConnell AFB [IPAP] Paphos Intl.
Grindavik (Iceland):
[IGRV] Grindavik Airport
Izolirani:
[IJAF] Al Najaf [IZOL] Izolirani Intl. [ISCM] RAF Scampton
Orenji (Japan):
[IDCS] Saba Airport [ITKO] Tokyo Intl.
Perth (Australia):
[ILKL] Lukla Airport [IPPH] Perth Intl.
Greater Rockford (United States of America):
[IGAR] Air Base Garry [IBLT] Boltic Airfield [IRFD] Greater Rockford [IMLR] Mellor
Intl. [ITRC] Training Centre
Saint Barthelemy:
[IBTH] Saint Barthelemy [IUFO] UFO Base
Sauthamptona (England):
[ISAU] Sauthamptona Airport
Skopelos (Greece):
[ISKP] Skopelos Airfield
#Terminology:
Airport Terminology:
• Runway - Strip to land or takeoff the airport
• Gate/Stand - Aircraft Parking terminal
• Taxiway - Routes around
• Ramp/Apron - Area next to
Radio Terminology:
• Affirm - Affirmative, yes
• Correction - My correction is...
• Correct - True, accurate
• Disregard - Ignore
• Acknowledge - Have you understood?
• Wilco - Will comply
• Negative - No, not granted
• Confirm - I need verification of…
#Automatic Terminal Information System (ATIS):
The Automatic Terminal Information System is a continuous broadcast of
recorded airport information on a dedicated frequency for the use of pilots to
quickly and easily access important information about the airport such as
weather conditions, active runways, available approaches and any other
information that is important to pilots which are filed as NOTAMS (NOtes To Air
Men).
Example ATIS:
↓ Next Page ↓
∎ IRFD ATIS Information Romeo ∎ #"Romeo" is ATIS tag (ident)
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Controller Callsign: Chicago Centre #ATC's name in freq
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Aerodrome:
Max Taxi Speed: 30KT
Max ACFT Size: N/A #GR has no max aircraft type, accepts all
Arrival Runway(s): 18R 18L
Departure Runway(s): 18R
Pressure: QNH1004 #RP purposes only
NOTAMs: #Extra info for pilots
Providing top-down.
VFR ACFT say direction of flight, intentions in flight plan.
Advise ACFT type and STAND number on IFR REQ.
Advise receipt of information Romeo on first contact.
No emergencies.
Charts:
Chart Pack Author: MJ-Gaming
VFR Chart Author: Orange12345
Chart Pack Link:
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∎ End of ATIS Information Romeo ∎
#The NATO Phonetic Alphabet
Flight Plans (Example on page 1):
Flight Plans are documents filed by pilots or flight dispatchers that provide
important information to controllers such as aircraft type, departure airport, arrival
airport and cruise level.
Airports are often written out using their 4 letter code, called an ICAO
(International Civil Aviation Organisation) code. For example, Rockford's ICAO
code is IRFD. These codes can be found in-game, on the ground charts and on
the enroute chart (see atc-24-charts).
Airline callsigns are often written out using their 3 letter code, called an Airline
ICAO code. For example, the British Airways callsign is Speedbird and their ICAO
code is BAW. A full list of ICAO codes can be found here.
The optional routing can either be GPS DIRECT (fly straight towards destination
once instructed by ATC) or with SIDs, STARs and waypoints (see atc-24-charts)
Squawk codes are 4 random digits from 0-7 that are used in real life to identify
aircraft on ATC RADARs. In ATC24 they are used for RP purposes only, when filing
a flight plan this section should be left blank as a code will be assigned to you
upon IFR/VFR clearance.
There are 2 main types of regulations for flying that flight plans can be filed with:
• IFR - Instrument Flight Rules.
• VFR - Visual Flight Rules.
Information on which aircraft can use which type of flight rules and in what
circumstances can be found in atc-24-rules.
Flight Level (FL):
Detailed IRL Description:
In aviation and aviation meteorology, a flight level (FL) is an aircraft's altitude at
standard air pressure, expressed in hundreds of feet. The air pressure is computed
assuming an International Standard Atmosphere pressure of 1013.25 hPa (29.92
inHg) at sea level, and therefore is not necessarily the same as the aircraft's actual
altitude, either above sea level or above ground level.
Simplified ATC24 Description:
Flight Level (FL) is a different way of talking about an aircraft's altitude. FL is
altitude expressed in hundreds of feet in 3 digits. So 1000ft is FL010 as 1000 / 100 is
10. FL is used both in flight plans and radio communications.
Semicircular Rule:
The Semicircular Rule is a method of ensuring vertical separation between
aircraft. The East-West spilt is the most common version of this rule and it's the
version that should aim to be followed on ATC24. In this rule, aircraft flying in a
Eastbound direction from departure to arrival airport (heading 360-179 e.g
Rockford to Perth) should file an odd cruise level whereas aircraft flying in a
Westbound direction (heading 359-180 e.g Izolirani to Sauthemptona) should file
an even cruise level.
Conversion Sheet: Semicircular Rule Diagram:
UNICOM:
UNICOM stands for UNIversal COMunications, it is an advisory radio frequency
(122.8) that is used by aircraft to advise other aircraft of their intentions and
movements at uncontrolled airports (no ATC). This ensures that collisions
between aircraft don't happen even when the controller is offline.
On ATC24, when an airport is uncontrolled, the airport's main VC becomes the
UNICOM frequency for that airport. For example, if Rockford was offline, all the
aircraft at and around Rockford would still need to be in the Rockford VC but
would fly under UNICOM, advising the other aircraft of their intentions and
movements.
Traffic Pattern/Visual Circuit:
A Traffic Pattern or Visual Circuit is a standard path followed by aircraft when
taking off or landing while maintaining visual contact with the airfield. Traffic
patterns can be defined as left- hand or right-hand according to which way the
turns in the pattern are performed.
Traffic Patterns are mostly used by light and VFR aircraft, VFR aircraft can request
visual circuits or "to remain in the pattern" whereby they continuously fly in this
circuit to practice landings and/or approaches.
NOTE: IFR Circuits do not follow a traffic pattern, aircraft are vectored (headings,
altitudes and speeds) to an ILS or visual approach.
This example shows a left-hand circuit as the pilot is making left turns and the
runway is to their left side.
Simplified Left-Hand Circuit Diagram: More Complex Diagram, LH & RH:
Holding Points:
Holding points are a designated position intended to protect a runway, an
obstacle limitation surface, or an ILS/MLS critical/sensitive area at which taxiing
aircraft and vehicles shall stop and hold, unless otherwise authorized by the
aerodrome control tower.
In PTFS, the only holding points are the ones around the runways, or runway
holding points. They all consist of 2 dotted lines facing the runway and 2 solid lines
facing away from it.
Diagram and explanation:
How holding points appear on charts:
Instrument Landing System (ILS):
An Instrument Landing System is a type of approach facilitated by the
communication of ground equipment at the airport with the aircraft attempting
to land at a runway. This system guides the aircraft safely towards the runway so
that a landing can be performed without visual contact with the runway. The
system is made up of two different components:
Localizer:
The Localizer is the horizontal component of the ILS, i.e. it guides aircraft onto the
centreline of the runway.
Glideslope:
The Glideslope is the vertical component of the ILS, it ensures that aircraft are
descending at the correct rate to be able to perform a landing.
In PTFS, there is no ILS system in-game. However "ILS Approaches" are still used
during RP on ATC24 as they are the most common type of approaches used for
large airport IRL. When cleared for an "ILS Approach" on ATC24, it is in essence the
same as a visual approach, where you line yourself up with the runway centreline
and descend via the PAPI lights visually.
Video Guides:
We also have some guide videos put together by ATC24 staff members to run
through certain aspects of flying, controlling or playing on ATC24 in greater detail.
If you want, please give them a watch as they are very useful.
• ATC24 IFR Flight Guide ~ <@508387375127461889>
• ATC24 VFR Flight Guide ~ <@508387375127461889>
• ATC24 Charts Guide ~ <@635597819557969942>
• ATC24 Rules Guide ~ @MJ-Gaming
