Overview
VVApproach™ is an Air Traffic Control trainer for skills development in Terminal Area (TMA) sequencing and traffic management. It is ideal for use at the commencement of a radar (or surveillance) ATC course, or for candidates transferring to Approach from another ATC discipline.
Learning Outcomes
At completion of training, the student is required to efficiently manage a two minute landing sequence to a single runway for one hour. Given that extra spacing in any sequence is cumulative, accomplishing this task necessitates robust skills in projection, strategic planning, and decision making.
This traffic management target matches the world’s highest single runway acceptance rate and is attainable from a baseline of no prior knowledge or skill-set.
Course Structure
In line with our teaching philosophy, the course is presented in a cumulative fashion, allowing students to incrementally acquire the skills needed to perform more complex tasks.
There are six training modules in the VVApproach course:
Teaches basic vectoring and the management of jet and turboprop aircraft for a circuit/pattern. This includes vectoring aircraft from any location within the TMA to rejoin the circuit/pattern for landing.
Extends vectoring skills to process circuit/pattern aircraft for a localiser intercept and landing via an ILS Approach.
The visual cues for identifying a correct landing spacing at various distances from touchdown are explained and then applied during simulation to achieve a precisely controlled landing sequence.
The complex process of processing sets of aircraft from the downwind and oblique downwind directions is explained and demonstrated, and then reinforced in targeted simulation exercises.
Strategies for sequencing aircraft inbound from the more difficult directions, such as straight-in arrivals, are introduced, followed by simulation of a typical arrival sequence including traffic from all directions.
Traffic assessment and processing skills are refined to account for the effect of drift, different runway alignments, and to incorporate speed control as a sequencing tool.
Skills & Techniques
VVApproach™ teaches practical radar/surveillance Approach Control, including vectoring, vertical and lateral separation and sequencing of aircraft arriving at a busy TMA. During more than 90 hours of practice using the VV Simulator, the following skills are acquired and reinforced:
- Vectoring principles and theory.
- Separation of aircraft by radar/surveillance, and by the use of Vertical Separation. Wake Turbulence Separation is included. Separation Assurance is heavily emphasized.
- Phraseology and the correct delivery of control instructions.
- Vectoring aircraft from anywhere in the Terminal Area to join a standard circuit/pattern for landing.
- Vectoring aircraft correctly onto an Instrument Landing System.
- Retention of aircraft within prescribed airspace boundaries.
- Orderly sequencing of jet and turboprop aircraft onto a common runway of any magnetic alignment and in any wind conditions using vectoring and speed control techniques to achieve prescribed landing spacing.
- Techniques for ensuring separation of aircraft in the event of communications failure during the sequencing process.
- Task management and prioritisation.
Sample Content
Explore excerpts from our Lesson and Demonstration content
