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ATC Training Department

ATC Training Manual

5. Aircraft

Aircraft

Introduction
Wake Turbulence
1. Separation due to vortex
2. Waiving wake turbulence Separation
Aircraft Approach Category
Aircraft classification
Equipment suffix
Figure 1 - Aircraft performance table
Figure 2 - Equipment suffix table
Automatic Altitude Reporting (Mode C)

1.Introduction [S]

All aircraft do not have the same performance. Weight, weather and winds can make the same airplane have different performance on different flights.
As a controller, you should have knowledge about the performance of aircraft under normal circumstances in order to be able to plan traffic flow and give the pilots relevant instructions.
At the end of this section, you will find a table which lists the performance of the most usual aircrafts. Use this table as reference.

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2. Wake Turbulence [S]

All aircraft generate turbulence called vortex wake. Large aircraft flying at slow speeds create the most severe wake turbulence. This turbulence can cause problems for following aircraft, which in severe cases can cause the pilot of the following aircraft to loose control. In addition to separation minimum above, the following spacing minima therefore needs to be taken into account. The wake turbulence categories are based on the certified maximum take-off weight (MTOW) of the aircraft.

Aircraft Category	MTOW
Light Aircraft (L)	7 000 kg
Medium Aircraft (M)	7 000 – 136 000 kg
Heavy Aircraft (H)	>136 000 kg

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2.1 Separation due to vortex [C]

This leads to the following minimum separation that needs to be maintained at all times on Arrival.

Leading Aircraft	Following Aircraft	Separation in NM
Heavy	Heavy	4
Heavy	Medium	5
Heavy	Light	6
Medium	Light	5

Vortex separation is required when a lighter aircraft follows a heavier aircraft.
No vortex separation is required between aircraft of same category, except between heavies.
If parallel runways are being used and they are closer to each other than 760 meters, then they should be considered as one single runway so far as wake turbulence is concerned.
Any aircraft performing a Touch and Go or a Stop and Go is considered a departing aircraft on the climb out phase.

For departing aircraft, 2 minutes separation (3 minutes if the succeeding aircraft departs from an intersection) is applied when an aircraft in wake turbulence category LIGHT or MEDIUM departs behind an aircraft in wake turbulence category HEAVY, or when a LIGHT category aircraft departs behind a MEDIUM category aircraft.

Any Helicopter under your control must be kept clear of any light aircraft due to the Rotor Down-wash it produces when hovering and the vortices it produces in forward flight.

If you have a heavy and a light aircraft both ready for departure, you should clear the light aircraft for take-off first in order to avoid wake delay. However this only applies if it does not create any undue delay to the heavy aircraft. If this is the case, then the rule applies in that the faster aircraft is released first.

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2.2 Waiving wake turbulence Separation [C+]

You may issue a take-off clearance to an aircraft that has waived wake turbulence separation, except, if it is a light or medium aircraft departing as follows:

Behind a heavy a/c and takeoff is started from an interception or along the runway in the direction of take-off
Behind a heavy a/c that is taking off or making a low or missed approach in the opposite direction on the same runway
Behind a heavy a/c that is making a low or missed approach in the same direction of the runway

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3. Aircraft Approach Category [C]

A different way to differentiate categories is by their minimum Approach Speed. This is what the different Cat A, B, C, etc refers to on various Approach Charts.

Aircraft Category	Approach Speed
A	Up to 90 kt
B	From 91 to 120 kt
C	From 121 to 140 kt
D	From 141 to 165 kt
E	Above 165 kt

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4. Aircraft classification [C]

The pilot of an aircraft must have detailed knowledge about the aircraft's performances.

As ATCO it is hard to know all details about all aircrafts by heart. There are however, situations where you need to know some certain performances in order to issue correct clearance and instructions. Hence you need to know where to find the information.

One way is asking the pilot if (s)he is able to comply with a certain instruction, but that takes extra time and you cannot ask all pilots all the time.

There are several abbreviated listings of different aircraft and their performances on the Web. One of the most comprehensive and up to date is found on ICAOs homepage:

http://www.icao.int/anb/ais/8643/index.cfm

The list over performances should be seen as a guide and it deserves to be stressed that it is the pilot that has the last word when it comes to judging if (s)he is able to comply with a certain instruction.

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5. Equipment suffix [C]

These suffixes denote what navigation and transponder equipment is available for the aircraft, as filed in the flight plan by the pilot.

Be alert as to the equipment available on the aircraft and issue vectors accordingly. A list over the most common codes for equipment can be found at the end of this section.

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6. Figure 1 - Aircraft performance table [Ref]

Aircraft	Mtow	Mlw	Range	Ceiling	Vr	Vcruise	Vcruise	Mmo	Vmo	Vref	Vsi	Vso
Aircraft	Lbs	Lbs	NM	Ceiling	kias	ktas	econ ktas	Mach	Kias	Kias	Kias	Kias
A300-B4	347.200	295.400	2.200	FL400	145	474@FL310	430@FL310		345	155	150	120
A300-600R	375.890	308.640	4.050	FL400	145	474@FL310	430@FL310		345	155	150	120
A319	141.095	134.480	2.650	FL390		467
A320-200	162.193	138.890	3.672	FL390	153	487@FL280	450@FL370	.82	360	140
A321	182.980	162.035	2.300	FL390		448
A330	507.050	390.225	4.800	FL450	145	.86M	.82M	.90		140	137	108
A340-200	566.590	399.000	7.350	FL410	145	475	430			170	145	135
Antonov 225
ATR-42	36.817	36.156	542	FL250	102	265@FL170	243@FL250	.55	250	105	102	84
ATR-72	47.400	47.068	950	FL250	110	284@FL150	248@FL230	.55	250	110	115	94
Avro RJ-85	96.796	84.821	1.600	FL350	135	412@FL350	389@FL350	.73		121		93
BAe ATP	50.550	49.050	1.860	FL250	115	266@FL150	236@FL190		227	120
BAe 146-200	93.000	84.820	1.620	FL300	135	432@FL310	383@FL300	.74		130	93	92
BAe J-31	16.204	15.212	690	FL250	110	261@FL200	230@FL250			125	100	85
BAe J-41	24.000	23.300	626	FL260	115	291@FL200	260@FL250	.65
B727-222	197.000	154.500	2.700	FL350	140	517@FL350	460@FL350			140
B737-200	115.500	103.000	1.815	FL330	149	462@FL330	428@FL330	.84	350	132	99	102
B737-300	124.500	114.000	2.270	FL330	146	459@FL339		.82		135
B737-400	138.500	121.000	2.700	FL330	156	464@FL330		.82		139	172
B737-500	115.500	110.000	2.420			464@FL340		.82		128
B737-600	143.500	120.500	3.230	FL410		.79M@FL391		.82		126
B737-700	153.000	128.000	3.241	FL410		.79M@FL377		.82		130
B737-800	172.500	144.000	2.924	FL410		.79M@FL352		.82		139
B747-200	833.000	630.000	6.150	FL450	179	507@FL350	484@FL350	.92	375	158
B747-400	870.000	573.990	7.200	FL450	171	507@FL350	496@FL350	.92	365	158	206	146
B757-200	240.000	198.000	3.401	FL410	153	487@FL370	430	.86		136	145	120
B767-200ER	387.000	278.000	4.754	FL420	164	510@FL400	.80M	.85		138
B767-300ER	407.000	310.000	6.150	FL420	166	.80M	471@FL350	.85		154
B777-200A	506.000	450.000	4.600	FL431	151	.87M@FL350	.83M@FL350	.87		138	150	120
B777-200B	580.000	450.000	6.300	FL431	151	.87M@FL350	.83M@FL350	.87		140	150	120
Cessna 182				FL143		156@7.500FT			160		54	50
Cessna 208	8.000	7.800	1.275	FL276	85	184@10.000FT			175	85	73	60
Cessna 310	5.200	5.200	1.000	FL250		215			233
Cessna 414-A	6.750			FL308	105	237			237	93	82	72
C. Citation X	35.300	31.800	3.300	FL510		.88M		.92	350
Concorde	408.000	243.000	3.250	FL630	175	2.02M@FL600				162
CRJ-100	47.600	38.000	1.620	FL410	144	.80M@FL310	.74M	.80		135	122	118
CRJ-700	72.500	67.000	1.702	FL410		464	442
DC 8-71	355.000	258.000	4.830	FL420	164	479@FL390			352	143
DC 9-15	90.700	81.700	1.670	FL350		467@FL350	430@FL350
DC 9-30	121.000	110.000	1.670	FL350	140	490@FL250	431@FL350	.84	325	131
DC 9-51	121.000	110.000	2.150	FL350	145	490@FL250	440@FL350	.84	325	132
DC 10-30	572.000	403.000	5.970	FL334	185	490@FL300	475@FL310	.88	356	153
DHC6-300s	12.500		920	FL210		182
DHC7-150	45.000	42.000	1.242	FL230		231@FL230					90	75
DHC8-200b	36.300	33.900	1.450	FL250	103	265@FL250	237@FL250	.59		94		72
DHC8-300A	43.000	40.000	1.250	FL250		287@FL250					90	77
Do 328-100	30.842	29.167	1.000	FL310	114	335@FL200		.59	270	135	120	97
Fokker 28	64.856	59.000	1.130	FL301		455@FL300	366@FL300			120
Fokker 50	43.980	42.990	2.224	FL250		287@FL250	275@FL250	.50		91	80	70
Fokker 100	91.490	88.000	1.550	FL370	140	432@FL350	404@FL350	.82	320	142	160	109
Learjet 35-A	18.300	15.300	2.430	FL450	130	486@FL450	418@FL450	.83	359		96
L-1011-100	466.000	368.000	4.212	FL420	160	478@FL420				150
L-1329 Jetstar	40.921		2.200	FL330		488	440
MD-11	618.000	430.000	6.840	FL450	155	511@FL310	460@FL310	.87	365	165	145	125
MD-82	149.500	130.000	2.050	FL350		499@FL270	439@FL350	.84	340
MD-83	160.000	139.500	2.502	FL350		499@FL270	439@FL350	.84	340
MD-87	149.500	128.000	2.980	FL350		499@FL270	439@FL350	.84	340
MD-90-30	156.000	142.000	2.398	FL370	146	.76M@FL350	439@FL350	.84	340	131	152	105
Pilatus PC6A	6.173	5.864	394	FL250			115@FL100		151			52
Piper PA-31	6.500		1.295	FL273		218	147		227
Saab 340B	29.000	28.500	935	FL250	115	285@FL250	252@FL250	.50		114	115	88
Saab 2000	50.265	48.500	1.265	FL310	110	370@FL250	321@FL310	.62		120	98	80
Shorts 360	26.453	26.100	636	FL190	102	213@10.000FT	182@10.000FT		196	110	97	81

Table definitions:
MTOW	Maximum Takeoff Weight
MLW	Maximum Landing Weight
Range	Maximum Operating Distance
Ceiling	Maximum Operating Altitude
Vr	Takeoff Rotation Speed at MTOW (KIAS)
Vcruise	Design Cruising Speed at Given Altitude (KTAS)
Vcruise Economy	Speed and Altitude for Bets Fuel Economy and Long Range (KTAS)
Mmo	Maximum Operating Spped (Redline in Mach)
Vmo	Maximum Operating Speed (Redline - Jet/Turboprop) (KIAS)
Vne	Nevner Exceed Speed (Redline - Recip-Prop) (KIAS)
Vref	Final Approach Speed at MLW in Landing Configuration (no wind)
Vsi	Stall Speed in MLW in Clean Configuration (Flaps Up) (KIAS)
Vso	Stall Speed in Knots IAS at MLW in Landing Configuration (KIAS)

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7. Figure 2 - Equipment suffix table [Ref]

Code	Equipment
No DME Equipment on board
/X	No Transponder
/U	Transponder with Mode C
DME Equipment Available
/D	No Transponder
/A	Transponder with Mode C
TACAN ONLY (usually Military Aircraft)
/M	No Transponder
/N	Transponder with no Mode C
/P	Transponder with Mode C
AREA NAVIGATION (RNAV)
/Y	LORAN, VOR/DME, or INS with no Transponder
/I	LORAN, VOR/DME, or INS, Transponder with Mode C
ADVANCED RNAV WITH TRANSPONDER AND MODE C (If an aircraft is unable to operate with a transponder and/or Mode C, it will revert to the appropriate code listed above under Area Navigation)
/E	Flight Management System (FMS) with en route, terminal, and approach capability. Equipment requirements are: Dual FMS A flight director and autopilot control system capable of following the lateral and vertical FMS flight path At least dual inertial reference units (IRU's) A database containing the waypoints and speed/altitude constraints for the route and/or procedure to be flown that is automatically loaded into the FMS flight plan An Electronic map
/F	A single FMS with en route, terminal, and approach capability that meets the requirements of /E 1-4 above
/G	Global Positioning System (GPS)/Global navigation Satellite System (GNSS) equipped aircraft with en route, terminal, and GPS approach capability
/R	Required Navigational Performance. (Denotes capability to operate in RNP designated airspace and routes)
/W	Reduced Vertical Separation Minima (RVSM)

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8. Automatic Altitude Reporting (MODE C)

All transponders are equipped with a MODE C on VATSIM - automatic altitude reporting capability. This system converts aircraft altitude in 100 foot increments to coded digital information which is transmitted together with MODE C framing pulses to the interrogating radar facility

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All information herein is for Flight Simulation only and is NOT to be used for real aviation.
External documents and links are under the copyright and/or responsibility of the original creators or publishers.

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Aircraft

1.Introduction [S]

2. Wake Turbulence [S]

2.1 Separation due to vortex [C]

2.2 Waiving wake turbulence Separation [C+]

3. Aircraft Approach Category [C]

4. Aircraft classification [C]

5. Equipment suffix [C]

6. Figure 1 - Aircraft performance table [Ref]

7. Figure 2 - Equipment suffix table [Ref]

8. Automatic Altitude Reporting (MODE C)

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