New mobile tower is first phase of eventual remote tower service.

By Dan Pimentel February 25, 2020

Pilots who are used to flying into Northern Colorado Regional Airport (KFNL) near Fort Collins/Loveland—and operating there like they would at any non-towered airport—will need to take careful note of major air traffic control changes coming soon to the airport. Beginning in mid-March, KFNL becomes a “towered” airport with the addition of a mobile ATC trailer (MATCT) providing on-site services. The trailer and local controllers will eventually give way to a remote ATC facility as part of a test being conducted at the airport.

Initially, local controllers in the trailer will handle the traffic, while evaluators employed by Searidge Technologies of Ottawa, Ontario, will conduct “passive” operations from a remote facility. This summer and fall, a second phase of testing begins when ATC services will be provided by the remote tower, with local controllers in the MATCT acting as back-up. As testing progresses, full-time ATC services will eventually be through the remote tower only as Searidge pursues certification of the technology from FAA.

According to the Colorado Department of Transportation, the Colorado Remote Tower Project is a “first of its kind” design that integrates both satellite-based aircraft surveillance technology with ground-based video technology. For the tests to be conducted at KFNL, there will be three 360-degree panoramic video and static cameras securely mounted atop steel masts that will rise between 22 and 56 feet above the ground, simulating the same view one would expect if looking from a physical air traffic control tower. The camera and satellite-based surveillance data will then be fed to a remotely-located control center. During the test and assessment phase of this project, the control room will reside on airport property, but will accurately simulate a remote scenario. Future control centers can be located from a remote location.

KFNL was chosen as the test airport for the Colorado Remote Tower Project after a thorough site selection process in 2015 conducted in collaboration with FAA’s Nextgen office. The airport is jointly owned and operated by the cities of Fort Collins and Loveland and sees approximately 85,000 to 95,000 takeoffs and landings per year. A total of nearly 265 aircraft are based at the airport, which serves users ranging from privately-owned aircraft, commercial airliners, military aircraft, pilot training, and helicopters. The airport is home to three flight schools, specialized aircraft maintenance services, and a 24/7 fixed base operator (FBO)

In July of 2017, following significant efforts to develop the project requirements and scope, the FAA selected Searidge Technologies to design, install, test, and certify the remote tower equipment being tested at KFNL. Other partners in the project include William E. Payne & Associates, FAA, National Air Traffic Controllers Association, Northern Colorado Regional Airport administration, and the Colorado Division of Aeronautics.

Northern Colorado is one of the most rapidly developing regions of the state, according to CODOT, with the Colorado Division of Local Affairs and State Demography Office projecting that populations for the area are expected to more than double by the year 2050. “A growing population of this magnitude will result in increased demand for all modes of transportation, including air transportation. The Colorado Remote Tower Project is a proactive measure designed to address the future increase in aircraft operations at KFNL with dramatically reduced costs compared to constructing, maintaining and staffing a physical air traffic control tower,” CODOT said.

The mobile tower’s hours of operation will be 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. local time effective March 16, handling traffic on 118.4 MHz. Other frequencies include 121.65 MHz for ground, 135.075 MHz for ATIS, and 122.95 MHz for unicom. The common traffic advisory frequency (CTAF) of 122.7 MHz will be eliminated when ATC services begin being provided by local controllers in the MATCT.

By Garrett Reim13 February 2020

For US Marine Corps (USMC) F-35B demo pilot Captain Taylor Zehrung, and US Air Force (USAF) F-22 demo pilot Major Joshua Gunderson, aggressive flight manoeuvres, such as the ones displayed at the Singapore air show, are just part of the everyday job of combat aviation.

Both pilots say what was asked of them could be performed by any members of their squadrons.

“Our demos are designed to demonstrate what the aircraft can do in a combat scenario,” says Gunderson. “Everything is very specific in terms of airspeed, altitudes, [and] parameters, because I’m making sure it’s repeatable and executable and safe. But you can take any pilot in the F-22 community, give them a couple rides in this and they’ll be proficient at doing it.”

In particular, the pilots say the manoeuvres are something that are practiced regularly in combat exercises.

“The minimum radius turn we definitely use in basic fighter manoeuvres against other aircraft,” says Gunderson. “What’s great about the F-22 is our thrust out of the back end. The flight control computers allow us to turn very quickly in a very tight space, which gives us an advantage in the fight.”

The Lockheed Martin F-22 has two Pratt & Whitney F119 engines which each produce 35,000lb-thrust (156kN).

Gunderson also highlighted the J-Turn, a manoeuvre where the F-22 rockets upward at a high angle of attack, stalls and then pivots in a new direction while falling back to earth using its fly-by-wire flight controls and thrust-vectored jet engines.

“That’d be an example where you can quickly change your nose position, whether you want to get weapons on something, or just continue to get an offensive position really quickly,” says Gunderson.

For F-35B pilot Zehrung learning short-take-off-and-vertical-landing (STOVL) manoeuvres, including the in-flight hover, took some getting used to. The F-35B can hover and complete STOVL manoeuvres using a shaft-driven lift fan system in its body and thrust-vectored tail exhaust.

“The very first time I ever did it, it was very weird being in fighter jet and not moving,” he says. “But it’s become pretty normal now.”

F-22 pilot Gunderson is the USAF F-22 Demonstration Team commander and is based at Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Hampton, Virginia. F-22 pilots perform aerial displays as part of two-year rotations.

F-35B pilot Zehrung is part of the USMC’s F-35B Lighting II aerial demonstration team, which is part of attack squadron 121 at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan. F-35B pilots are asked to fly at air shows on an ad hoc basis.

It’s quite normal to be nervous the first time you tune in a new ATC frequency and call the control tower to request a landing clearance, or when you request flight following from the approach controller on a cross-country. Fortunately, as with most skills in aviation, you’ll soon feel comfortable with these procedures after some practice and coaching from your instructor.

You’ll find that it’s also helpful to have a good understanding of the air traffic system from the controller’s perspective. While it may have all started with a controller standing on an elevated platform with a pair of binoculars, today’s system is heavily dependent on advanced technology. Understanding the systems involved will not only make you feel more comfortable working with ATC but will also allow you to take full advantage of all the services and information they have to offer.

Ground controllers

Let’s first take a look at the ground controllers, who are in charge of directing traffic along the taxiways at towered airports. They are typically positioned in the control tower and visually track your position.

At larger airports, though, it can be tough for them to see you from the tower when the end of the runway may be several miles away. These larger airports have Surface Movement Radar (SMR), such as ASDE-3, AMASS, or ASDE-X, designed to display the location of aircraft and vehicles on the ground. These are used by the ground controllers as an additional tool to track ground traffic, particularly at night or in poor visibility. Older systems will display a map of the airport and the target:

Newer systems include the capability to display higher quality mapping, radar target, data blocks, safety alerts, and to interface with other systems such as digital flight strips:

The newer ASDE-X systems rely on your transponder for positive identification, so it’s important that you follow the instructions on the airport diagram and set it to altitude reporting mode when taxiing on the surface.

Approach Controllers

As a pilot, it can be helpful to understand what the controller sees on his display while talking to you on the frequency. There will be a data block associated with your aircraft’s location on the screen that moves as the aircraft moves through the airspace. The data block includes the aircraft N#, altitude, groundspeed, destination airport and aircraft type.

For unidentified VFR aircraft flying near the TRACON airspace, the controller will only be able to see the groundspeed and altitude (if equipped with an altitude-reporting transponder). The controller will use the term “unverified” when issuing traffic advisories.

If an extenuating circumstance requires you to squawk one of the special transponder codes, your aircraft data block will be highlighted with special codes. In this example an airplane is squawking 7700, as denoted by the red letters “EM”, standing for emergency, above the data block.

Many approach radar systems also display real-time precipitation and intensity levels on the screen in relation to aircraft location. Don’t hesitate to ask the controller about what they’re seeing and if they have a recommendation for a route that avoids nearby precipitation or thunderstorms.

In addition to using the radar system to track the location of aircraft, many TRACONs are also receiving a traffic feed from the Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) system. Instead of using ground-based radar to determine aircraft position, ADS-B relies on aircraft equipped with new GPS transponders, which report precise 3D position data to a nationwide network of ADS-B towers on the ground. This ADS-B traffic information is then sent to each Air Traffic Control facility and will soon be the primary source of air traffic data.

Talking to the tower

At smaller ATC tower-controlled airports, the controllers must visually identify the location of inbound aircraft and often use binoculars to help spot traffic. For this reason, it’s important that you make accurate position reports to the controllers to help them establish an accurate mental picture of the traffic around the airport.

While Class D airport towers typically don’t have a radar service located right on the field, those that are near a Class C or B airport may have a direct feed from that radar to help with identifying traffic. While they are not authorized to issue VFR airplanes a unique transponder code, they may ask you to “IDENT” on the transponder to help identify your airplane’s position on the radar screen.

From a weather perspective, tower controllers at many Class B airports also have access to information from a supplemental weather resource called Terminal Doppler Weather Radar, or TDWR. These are radars specifically designed to detect wind shear and microburst events near major airports and provide controllers with high-resolution precipitation data. There are 45 operational TDWRs in the United States, primarily near large, international airports where thunderstorms occur numerous times each year.

Controllers have access to this TDWR data on dedicated display terminals, which can assist in determining the optimum traffic flow during periods of rapidly changing inclement weather.

Visit an ATC facility

Want to take the next step in expanding your ATC knowledge? Take the time to visit your local ATC tower, TRACON or center facility. You’re going to be working closely with the controllers on the radio and it really helps the relationship to meet and talk with them in person.

Controllers will, when you go into a tower, a TRACON, or center for a visit, go out of their way to explain anything that you ask about. And when you are flying, talking with them over the radio, they will do everything they can to accommodate any request that you make.

Call and tell them you are a pilot and would like to come for a visit. Some have a scheduled program, others will try to handle you on an individual basis. If you are a member of a local flying group, you should be able to get a controller to come to a meeting and talk to the group. Another thing that direct contact with controllers will do is sharpen communication skills. Just knowing a few of them makes dealing with all of them a more relaxed affair.