airtraffic

Author Topic: ATC lingo  (Read 42997 times)

Offline JoelAVguy

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ATC lingo
« on: December 21, 2004, 09:38:54 AM »
I am some what new to ATC.... and I was wondering where I could look for ATC lingo..  Lots of stuff I hear, I have know idea what they are talking about.  I.e. XYZ jet "heavy"...  flight 1234 join the "localizer".  Any info would be great. :?:



Offline Metty!

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ATC lingo
« Reply #1 on: December 21, 2004, 09:53:05 AM »
'Heavy' refers to the wake turbulence category of an aircraft e.g. a Boeing 747 is a 'heavy' and ATC require a greater separation in miles of another aircraft behind a heavy than say a 'medium' or 'light' category of aircraft.  

'Localiser' is the the beam of the Instrument Landing System which goes out in a straight line from the runway such that if you follow the localiser beam you get to the runway.  It represents the left and right of the extended runway centerline whereas the glideslope is the beam angled at say 3 degrees from the touchdown point on the runway.  So if you intercept the localiser at 2000feet and say 10 miles you fly straight and level until you intercept the glideslope at say 6miles.  Then you descend following the glideslope and hey presto, you find the runway!

Sorry if terminology isn't correct for US consumption - I'm a Brit!

Offline JoelAVguy

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ATC Lingo- Thank You!
« Reply #2 on: December 21, 2004, 11:32:33 AM »
Thank you for the info!…yes it does seem to apply to the US.  
Your superb mastery of the English language puts me to shame. :D  
Thanks again.

Offline AmericaWestCMH

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ATC lingo
« Reply #3 on: December 21, 2004, 11:33:10 AM »
Metty is right on.  Nice job.


I believe an aircraft is "heavy" if it's 250,000lbs or more.  757s are not technically a "heavy" by definition, but it's wing design requires extra separation.

Offline IndyTower

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ATC lingo
« Reply #4 on: December 21, 2004, 01:36:08 PM »
757-300s are considered "heavy" most of the time, depending on the gross weight for a given flight.  A 757-200 can be, but is not often, considered heavy.  One flight on a 757-200 may be "heavy" and the next flight on the same 200 may not be...depends on the payload and weight.

Offline pcrowley

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ATC lingo
« Reply #5 on: December 21, 2004, 11:06:05 PM »
http://vatusa.org/training/reference.html
here is a site that has all the links for you to understand all the lingo and anything else you want to know.

Offline PCH

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ATC lingo
« Reply #6 on: December 23, 2004, 10:43:54 AM »
Quote from: pcrowley
http://vatusa.org/training/reference.html
here is a site that has all the links for you to understand all the lingo and anything else you want to know.



Thank you a lot, Paul. Not an insider, this sure helps very much.
(BTW Orlando, FL is not too bad too..Nice Airport as well!)

Best Regards,

Offline FlightRadio

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ATC lingo
« Reply #7 on: December 29, 2004, 02:21:15 AM »
My favorite is "Land and hold short of runway 18" ..

You hear that a lot on the KTVC link.  The ILS runway is only runway 28 which crosses 18 .. Sometimes they have aircraft coming in on both runways at the same time.  Lucky 18 is almost to the end of 28.. :)

Offline Epp

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ATC lingo
« Reply #8 on: January 05, 2005, 09:16:45 PM »
If you want to be correct any aircraft that "can" have a takeoff weight of more than 250,000lbs is considered a Heavy.  The aircraft does not have to be above this weight, but just has to have the capability of takeoff above this weight.

Epp