03Reading the console

The scope

The scope is one map you scroll or pinch to zoom. Zoomed out it shows the airspace round the airport’s radar reference (the GBR TACAN at Gibraltar, the FUN DVOR at Madeira) with range rings every 5 NM, the bearing scale, restricted airspace and high ground, the arrival routes and holds, and the final approach paths. Zoom in and the runway, finals and the aerodrome appear to scale over the street map. Zoom right out to follow flights across Europe and Africa. Drag to pan.

Your traffic is drawn as plane icons in the shape of the real type (airliner, wide-body, business jet, turboprop or military) pointing the way the nose points. Arrivals are amber, departures blue and the selected flight is outlined. Once you transfer a departure to the next unit it turns purple, its strip greys out and you can no longer select it or give it instructions. Anything in conflict, and any aircraft in an emergency, turns red. Grey icons with a short tag are real aircraft from the live feed that are not yours. Beyond radar cover your flights become yellow icons, and inbounds about to call appear as pending tracks. On the ground, aircraft are drawn to scale as silhouettes, with nav lights and a beacon once started.

The side panel

The ATIS block shows the current information letter (click it to read the full broadcast), the runway selector, the METAR and tiles for wind, head and crosswind on the runway in use, visibility and cloud, QNH, approach minima and temperature. Below it is what the airport needs on top: the road crossing control at Gibraltar, the anemometer readings and wind-limit state at Madeira. The selected flight card has the buttons that make sense for that aircraft right now. The strips are sorted with the flights waiting on you first. When the ATIS changes a red ATIS warning flashes by the runway until you click it, and the Flights button opens the day's arrivals and departures board.

The command line

Type a callsign (or just its digits, such as 8901) followed by one or more instructions, then press Enter. With a flight selected you can leave the callsign out. Press / to jump to the command line, Tab to cycle flights and Space to pause. With Voice on you hear every transmission, and Hold to talk lets you say the instruction in standard phraseology instead.

On a phone or tablet

On a narrow screen the scope sits on top and a tab bar along the bottom chooses one panel under it: Flight (the selected aircraft and its buttons), Strips (with a red count of flights waiting on you), ATIS, Radio (the message log) or Scope for the map on its own. Tap an aircraft or a strip and the Flight panel opens. On a tablet held upright Flight and Strips sit side by side, and on a phone turned on its side the panel moves to the right of the scope.

10The radio

With Voice on, every transmission opens and closes with a squelch click and a burst of static. Calls to the next unit (Sevilla or Casablanca from Gibraltar, Lisboa from Madeira) go down the landline, so they have none and show in pink in the log.

• Say again. Now and then a crew misses an instruction and asks you to repeat it. Nothing you said has been applied: press the Say again button on its card or send it again.
• Blocked transmissions. When two stations call at once you hear a squeal and see two stations transmitting at once, blocked in the log. The crew calls again a few seconds later.
• Wrong frequency. Send a crew to the wrong frequency with HO and it comes back to you after half a minute, saying there was no reply.

The ATIS

Click the information letter in the ATIS panel to read the full broadcast, and press Broadcast it to hear it. It carries the runway, the approach in use, wind, visibility, cloud, temperature, QNH, the transition level, turbulence, windshear and wind-limit warnings, any runway closure and the local reminders, such as the road at Gibraltar and the departure release. When it changes, a red ATIS button flashes until you click it.

11Command reference

Commands chain: EZY6497 L180 A40 S200 is one transmission. The callsign can be shortened to its unique digits.

09Emergencies and the unexpected

Pick how often things go wrong when you open a session: Off, Occasional (about every 20 minutes) or Frequent (about every 10). Guided exercises have none. An emergency aircraft turns red on the scope and the strips, squawks 7700 for a MAYDAY, and its card shows what is wrong with a Roger button. Your first transmission to it acknowledges it, so you can roger it and give the approach in one go.

12Scoring and your career

Every session you work for more than a minute goes into your Career logbook: time on frequency, movements, go-arounds, separation losses and score, with a chart of your recent scores and badges to earn, from First contact to Ten hours. One logbook covers every airport, and each airport adds badges of its own, such as Madeira’s Rosário turn and Island endorsement. The logbook is kept in your browser, so it stays on this device.

01Your position at Gibraltar

You are Gibraltar Radar (122.8) and Gibraltar Tower (131.2) combined. Ground movement is handled on the Tower frequency. Arrivals call Radar at about 50 NM inbound. You hand them to Tower once they are established on the approach, or you clear them to land yourself. Departures start with Tower, go to Radar once airborne, and you transfer them to Sevilla Control 132.6 (north and west) or Casablanca Control 125.5 (south) beyond about 22 NM.

A session starts at the day and hour you pick and runs to the end of that day's timetable. The guided exercises start at 1855Z (2055 local). The aerodrome is drawn with its edge lights, threshold and end lights, blue taxiway edge lights, flashing runway guard lights and floodlit apron.

02The aerodrome

Holding points and where they lead

Alpha (north side, west of the terminal) and Echo (north side, east) serve the civil and north aprons. Charlie and Delta serve the south apron. Every entry to the runway is mid-field, so every departure backtracks. Runway 27 departures normally enter at Echo and backtrack east to the east turning circle. Runway 09 departures enter at Alpha and backtrack west across the road to the west turning circle.

04Ground and departures

Start-up and push

Departures call from the stand with the ATIS letter. Select the flight and press Start & push…: a pop-out asks which way the nose should face after the push, previews the push on the map and recommends the side that leads to the departure holding point (east for runway 27, west for 09). Typed, it is PUSH E or PUSH W. A few seconds after the push the crew reports ready to taxi. Pushed it the wrong way? Press Pull back to stand (or type PULL, or say “pull forward onto stand”) before you clear it to taxi: the tug tows it back onto the stand nose-in and the crew asks for push back again.

Taxi

Press Taxi… to open the route picker. It lists each holding point the aircraft can reach with up to three routings, such as Echo via Bravo or Echo via Alpha and Bravo, with their lengths. Hover over one to see it drawn on the map, then click to issue the clearance. The clearance names the taxiways. Aircraft give way to each other: one that stops behind another shows GIVING WAY in its label. Stop one yourself with HP (hold position) and release it with RES (continue taxi). Re-clear a taxiing aircraft to a different holding point with TAXI A and the rest. Where the chart publishes intermediate holding points along a taxiway (the yellow dashed lines with a sign, such as Tango 3 at London City), TAXI T3 stops the aircraft there until you clear it on.

Departure routes and the release

Every departure flies a named standard route, given with the start-up: PIMOS 1A or 1B to the east, LINTO 1A/1B to the west and TTN 1A/1B to Morocco. The A routes are for runway 27 (left turn heading 200), the B routes for runway 09 (straight ahead to 1,500 ft, then right heading 160). Both turns keep departures clear of R164 to the north and the Rock to the south. Once clear of the Rock the aircraft routes on to UPMUP and PIMOS, ODLUK and LINTO, or TTN by itself, climbing to 4,000 ft.

Gibraltar sits under Spanish airspace, so no departure goes without a release from the next unit: Sevilla for the east and west routes, Casablanca for TTN. Press Request release or type REL any time after start-up. The call goes down the landline (shown in pink in the log) and the unit calls back within a couple of minutes: usually “released, valid until” a time ten minutes away, sometimes “not before” a time a few minutes ahead. The strip shows REL… while you wait and REL once released. CTO is refused without a valid release. If the window runs out before take-off, ask again.

Line up and take-off

LU lines an aircraft up and backtracks it to the turning circle. CTO clears it for take-off. Issued at the holding point, CTO lines it up, backtracks, turns and rolls in one go. The departure route is confirmed with the clearance:

If the runway changed since start-up, Tower gives the amended route. The departure minimum is 1,000 m visibility at the threshold.

After take-off

Above 1,000 ft the crew wants Radar: press To Radar 122.8 (HO). On its route it turns towards its exit fix by itself and asks for further climb near 4,000 ft: give it A80. Vector it with a heading and it leaves the route, then asks for its exit fix when clear of the Rock (DCT UPMUP A80). Beyond about 22 NM it is ready for Sevilla Control 132.6 or Casablanca Control 125.5. Transfer it with HO, or name the frequency yourself with HO 132.6. Give the wrong one and the crew finds nobody there and comes back to you a little later, which costs points. One that leaves your airspace without a transfer costs more.

05Winston Churchill Avenue

Gibraltar's runway is crossed at mid-point by a four-lane public road, footpath and cycle lane. The published rule is to close it to pedestrians by 15 NM and to vehicles by 10 NM, which gives about three minutes to clear it. A FOD inspection follows before any jet movement.

• Closing takes 150 seconds in the simulator. The barriers turn amber, then red when it is closed.
• You are warned when an arrival passes 15 NM with the road open, and penalised if it is still open at 10 NM.
• Landing with the road open forces a go-around and counts as an incident. So does a take-off, backtrack or vacate across the road with the barriers up.
• The road cannot be reopened while anything is on the runway. Reopening takes 15 seconds. A queue of traffic and walkers builds while it is shut, so do not leave it closed longer than you need.

06Arrivals and the SRA

Inbound

Arrivals contact Radar at 50 NM from the east via PIMOS, from the west via LINTO and ODLUK, or from Morocco via Tetouan. Descend them early: Gibraltar is close to everything. The published holds are UPMUP (inbound 297°, minimum 3,000 ft) and ODLUK (inbound 074°, minimum 4,000 ft). About 8 NM before the end of its routing (10 NM final for 27, RIPRA for 09) the crew asks for the SRA. Without a clearance it holds over that fix and asks again. Clear it with APP and it turns straight onto the approach.

The surveillance radar approach

There is no ILS. Approaches are SRAs to a visual landing: Radar talks the aircraft down a 2.8° profile to a point 3 NM from the threshold, where the crew must be visual.

Clear the approach with APP 27 or APP 09. If the aircraft's heading will intercept the final it follows your vectors, and otherwise it routes itself to the 10 NM point or to RIPRA. Hand it to Tower with HO and clear it to land with CTL once the road is shut and the runway is free.

Separation

Keep 3 NM or 1,000 ft between airborne aircraft, reduced to 2.5 NM when both are established on final. Holding at UPMUP stacks traffic 1,000 ft apart. A loss of separation costs 50 points and turns both targets red.

After landing

Landings on 27 usually roll well past the mid-field taxiways and stop near the west end. VAC sends the aircraft on to the turning circle and back along the runway (across the road) to Alpha, where it stops clear of the runway and asks for taxi (TAXI). Landings on 09 can usually turn off at Echo. Name an exit with VAC A or VAC E.

07Weather

When the wind is between 110° and 250°, the Rock sits upwind of the approach, and above these speeds turbulence and windshear are likely on final:

• Levanter (easterly): runway 09 is in use. The approach comes up from the south through RIPRA and turns in over the bay, into the curl coming off the Rock. Expect go-arounds.
• Poniente (south-westerly): above 25 kt, waterspouts can form on the runway 27 approach. They develop quickly and without warning.
• Sea fog: below 5 km or 1,000 ft the SRA cannot be flown. Crews refuse the approach, hold briefly, then ask to divert to Málaga or Tangier. Approve it with the Approve diversion button.
• Thunderstorms: cumulonimbus adds a windshear risk on every approach.

08Airspace and terrain

R164 is Spanish restricted airspace from the surface to FL300, beginning at the frontier fence just north of the runway. Any aircraft below FL300 inside it is an infringement. Runway 27 departures turn left onto 200° to stay out, and missed approaches turn south.

The Rock rises to 1,398 ft immediately south of the aerodrome. Overflight is prohibited, and below 3,000 ft it is penalised as a terrain hazard. When you give a departure a direct routing below 3,500 ft, you get a warning if the track crosses the Rock.

Helicopter routes in the Bay of Gibraltar conflict with the 09 approach and the 27 departure. They are not simulated, but they are one more reason the published procedures keep traffic tight to the runway.

13Guided exercises

Each exercise opens the simulator with a small traffic load and a coach card on the scope. The card tells you what the crew wants, which button or command does it, and moves on when you have done it. Complete all three for the Academy graduate badge.

14What is simplified at Gibraltar

• Radar and Tower are one position, and Ground is worked on the Tower frequency.
• The timetable is a representative week, and routes between airports are approximate. Live now uses today’s real flights and positions, but once a flight is yours it follows your instructions rather than its real track.
• The R164 northern boundary and the outline of the Rock are approximations. The aerodrome layout follows OpenStreetMap, checked against chart D1.
• The departure route names, post-departure headings, release times and crew wind limits are modelled, not published.
• Emergencies follow a simple script: the crew declares, you acknowledge and give priority, and it lands. Fire service, ambulance and inspections are reported in the log rather than drawn.
• Helicopter traffic, the arresting gear and lamp signals are not simulated.

01Your position at London City

You are Thames Director (132.700) and City Tower (118.080) combined, with ground movement on the Tower frequency. Arrivals call Thames off their STAR, heading for the JACKO hold over Essex or the GODLU hold over Kent. You hand them to the Tower once they are on the ILS. Departures start with the Tower, go to Thames once airborne, and you transfer them to London Control when they ask for more than 3,000 ft. The ATIS is City Information on 136.355.

The transition altitude is 6,000 ft. London City sits under the London TMA, with Heathrow's traffic to the west, Stansted's to the north and Gatwick's to the south: that is why every SID stops at 3,000 ft and every arrival is fed in low along the river.

02The aerodrome

Where departures go

Runway 27 departures taxi east along T to Mike; runway 09 departures west to Alpha. Both join the runway at its end, so there is no backtrack. Lima, Kilo, Bravo and Charlie are intersections: a departure from one of them backtracks to the turning area first. Arrivals take the first exit ahead of them: Echo, Delta or Charlie rolling west on 27, Foxtrot, Kilo, Lima or Mike rolling east on 09.

03Ground and departures

SIDs

Four RNAV SIDs, named for their exit fix: BPK for Scotland and the north, SAXBI for Ireland, the west and the Channel Islands, SOQQA for the Netherlands and Scandinavia, and ODUKU for France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Iberia. Off runway 27 they are the 1A routes, off 09 the 1H. All climb straight ahead first, with no turn below 1,102 ft off 27 or 570 ft off 09, and all stop at 3,000 ft.

The release from London Control

Every departure needs a release from London Control on the landline before take-off. Press Request release or type REL once it is taxiing. The release is valid for about ten minutes, and CTO is refused without one. Once airborne, hand it to Thames with HO; when it asks for more, climb it and transfer it to London Control with HO again.

04Arrivals and the steep ILS

STARs, holds and transitions

London Control brings arrivals down their RNAV STARs to JACKO (FL090, from the north, west and east) or GODLU (FL100, from the south and south-west). From the hold, Thames takes them along a transition: LAVNO 1J/1G west up the estuary to the runway 27 localiser at 3,000 ft, or ODLEG 1J/1G round the south of the city to the runway 09 localiser at 2,000 ft. You can shorten either with a direct-to, or vector off it.

The 5.5° ILS

Clear the approach with APP. The glidepath is 5.5°, nearly twice the usual 3°: about 585 ft per mile, or 1,200 ft a minute at City approach speeds. Only aircraft certified for steep approaches come here: the Embraer 190 and 195-E2, the A220-100, the Dash 8-400, the ATR and a handful of business jets.

Hand the arrival to the Tower with HO and clear it to land with CTL before four miles. At four miles the crew calls the Tower and checks the weather; below the approach ban, they go around.

05Airspace and obstacles

London City is inside the London CTR, under the TMA. Central London's restricted areas R157 to R160 begin a few miles west. The runway 09 final crosses R160, which is fine on the published procedures under your clearance; vectoring an aircraft through it below 3,000 ft, off the procedures, counts as an infringement.

The towers of Canary Wharf rise to 771 ft about 2.4 NM west of the runway. Any aircraft over them below 1,200 ft is an obstacle incident, and below 900 ft a serious one.

06Guided exercises

Each exercise opens the simulator with a small traffic load and a coach card on the scope. Complete all three for the Docklands endorsement badge.

07What is simplified at London City

• Thames Director and City Tower are one position, and Ground is worked on the Tower frequency.
• London Control frequencies are representative, and the release times are modelled.
• The SID coding page was not in the chart set, so SIDs follow the tracks drawn on the SID charts.
• Every crew is approved for the steep approach, and the four-mile check stands in for the real decision altitude, which is much closer in.
• The timetable is a representative summer week. Live now uses today's real flights and positions.

01Your position at Madeira

You are Madeira Approach (119.605) and Madeira Tower (124.660) combined, with ground movement on the Tower frequency. Arrivals call Approach on their STAR, inbound to the PILIM hold. You hand them to Tower once they are on the approach. Departures start with Tower, go to Approach once airborne, and you transfer them to Lisboa Control 132.255 once they are established on their SID. The ATIS is Madeira Information on 130.355.

The transition altitude is 5,000 ft, so levels above it are flight levels. The minimum sector altitude is 3,500 ft over the sea to the east and 8,200 ft everywhere else, because of the island.

02The aerodrome

Where departures go

Runway 05 departures taxi to Charlie and backtrack to the 05 turn pad. Runway 23 departures taxi to Bravo and backtrack to the 23 pad. Arrivals vacate at whichever of the two they reach, backtracking if they stop past it.

03Ground and departures

SIDs

Every departure flies an RNAV SID named for its exit fix: DEGUN for mainland Portugal, Spain and central Europe, LAPPA for the UK, Ireland and northern Europe, GALOZ for the Azores and North America, GOSGA for the Canaries and Africa, and MARCU for Porto Santo. Off runway 05 they are the 1E routes: start a right turn as soon as practicable onto 087°, away from the high ground. Off 23 they are the 1W routes: left onto 175°, and the DEGUN, LAPPA and MARCU 1W cross 4,000 ft before turning back north.

The release from Lisboa

Madeira sits inside the Lisboa FIR, and every departure needs a release from Lisboa Control on the landline. Press Request release or type REL once the aircraft is taxiing. The release is usually valid for about ten minutes. CTO is refused without one.

Take-off wind limits

Crews will not take off with a wind from 300°–010° above 20 kt, or from 020°–040° or 120°–190° above 25 kt. They wait at the holding point and tell you why. Once airborne, hand them to Approach with HO, climb them when they ask, and transfer them to Lisboa with HO 132.255.

04Arrivals and the VOR approach

STARs and holding

Arrivals fly the LIDRO 1P from Portugal and Spain, KICAS 1P from the UK and the north, IBBAN 1P from the Azores and America and EKNOT 1P from the Canaries, all to PILIM at 3,000 ft or above. PILIM is the published hold, and it is where they wait when the wind is out of limits.

VOR approach and the Rosário circuit to runway 05

Clear the approach with APP (or APP 05). The aircraft routes via ABUSU onto the FUN 211° radial, descends to the missed approach point at 3.6 DME, then flies the visual circuit: a right turn round the GELO point, not below 850 ft, and the Rosário point, not below 460 ft, onto a short final over the sea. The circling minima are an MDA of 940 ft, 5 km visibility and an 800 ft ceiling.

VOR approach to runway 23

The same approach via ABUSU, then a visual track of 235° to the runway, staying left of the extended centreline. The minima are higher: MDA 1,300 ft, 7 km and a 1,200 ft ceiling.

Hand the arrival to Tower with HO and clear it to land with CTL once the runway is free. After landing, it turns off at Bravo or Charlie (VAC and an exit picks one), stops clear of the runway and asks for taxi: TAXI sends it to its stand.

05RNP AR approaches

Madeira also has three RNP AR approaches. They are flown by the crew’s flight management system along a published path of straight legs and fixed-radius arcs, round the coast to a short final, with a vertical path all the way down. You don’t vector them: you clear them from their start fix, and the crew flies the rest. Their minima are much lower than the circling minima, so they are what gets aircraft in when the cloud is low.

• Clear one with APP RNP: the aircraft takes the approach whose start fix is nearer its route. To pick one yourself, use APP 05 RNPY, APP 05 RNPZ or APP 23 RNP, or the RNP buttons on the flight.
• The aircraft descends to 3,000 ft and flies to the start fix. An aircraft that reaches MONEC from the north flies one lap of the MONEC hold to turn round before it starts the approach.
• From the start fix you watch, not vector. A heading or a direct-to takes it off the approach, and you have to clear it again.
• When the cloud is below the circling minima but above the RNP ones, the ATIS says to expect the RNP approach and crews ask for it. The weather panel shows both: VOR · RNP.
• The missed approach is published too: climb to 3,000 ft along the arcs east of the airport and back to MONEC, where the crew holds and asks for another approach.

Try it in the RNP only weather scenario: drizzle and an 800 ft cloud base, too low for the VOR approach.

06Wind limits

Madeira’s wind limits are published as a wind rose on every approach chart. They apply to the mean wind or the gust at either anemometer, MID (mid-runway) or ROSÁRIO (on the cliffs under the 05 circuit). The ATIS panel shows both readings and turns red when a limit is exceeded.

• Out of limits, a crew refuses the approach and holds. Send it to PILIM with HOLD PILIM and stack the next one 1,000 ft above.
• After a couple of minutes in the hold the crew asks to divert, usually to Porto Santo via MARCU. Approve it with Approve diversion.
• A tailwind above 10 kt also stops a landing, so change the runway when the wind swings round.

07Airspace and terrain

TMA Madeira is roughly a 60 NM circle round Porto Santo, with the entry and exit fixes on its edge. Radar vectoring is done from the Porto Santo antenna. The minimum vectoring altitude is 3,000 ft over the sea and 9,000 ft over the island. In the simulator, any aircraft over the island’s high ground below 5,000 ft is a terrain incident, and below 3,000 ft a serious one.

There is no restricted area next to the field, but the island itself does the same job: departures turn out to sea, and missed approaches turn left onto 137° away from the cliffs.

08Guided exercises

Each exercise opens the simulator with a small traffic load and a coach card on the scope. Complete all three for the Island endorsement badge.

09What is simplified at Madeira

• Approach and Tower are one position, and Ground is worked on the Tower frequency.
• The RNP AR approaches are flown at RNP 0.3 by every crew. Real operators need a special approval for them, and some fly lower RNP 0.1 minima.
• The MID and Rosário anemometer readings are derived from the METAR wind rather than measured separately.
• SIDs are flown as headings to the turn and then direct to the exit fix, and the release times are modelled.
• The timetable is a representative week. Live now uses today’s real flights and positions.