August 2003 Changes
Since this change as of August 2003 there have been several name changes.  All radar services except Military are now to be addressed as Norcal Approach
May 2004 Change
127.8 has become 124.32

Air Traffic Control (ATC)
The primary purpose of ATC is the give safe separation between aircraft. This includes airports, en route, and flight information. The secondary interest is the movement of aircraft. When no other aircraft is in conflict the pilot is in charge. When aircraft conflict in controlled airspace then the conflict and movement becomes a shared responsibility that can be shifted between ATC and the pilot. for example, when ATC points out traffic, the traffic is an ATC responsibility until the pilot acknowledges having the traffic in sight. At that point and until the pilot tells ATC that the traffic is no longer in sight, the traffic remains a pilot responsibility. There may be times when it is to the pilot's advantage "not to see' traffic and to report losing traffic that was once acknowledged as being seen.

In the moving of aircraft, the limiting factor has become not airspace but runway. Airports are two-ended funnels with arriving and departing aircraft focused at each end of the runway. There are limits to what ATC can see and do. It, behooves the pilot to be sensitive to these limits and fly his arrivals and departures to give maximum assistance to ATC while retaining his PIC responsibility to avoid conflicts while expediting movement. The pilot must retain situational awareness of other aircraft both as to position and movement.

All aircraft movements cannot maintain maximum efficiency. There will be delays and waits that are 'safety margins' built into the system. Plan for and expect that your arrival or departure will not be ideal. Do not try to change things that cannot be changed. If your situation becomes critical, declare an emergency sooner rather than later. You are far more likely to hear from the FAA for a failure to declare than you are for declaring.

As with other situations aircraft communications exchanges information through symbols, signs, words and behavior. Very often this communication is imperfect, resulting in erroneous information transfer. there are many causes for error but the most common is incorrect reference. The sender and receiver must be on the same channel to exchange message and feedback.

The student should make a point to visit all local ATC facilities such as a tower to learn to put faces with the voices as soon as 9/11 conditions improve.. Some pilots buy radios to listen to at home or in the car. This would be very good, if it were not for the fact that 80% of the General Aviation radio procedures leave much to be desired. Most pilots are not aware of the extent to which the ATC controller patiently compensates for pilot incompetence. Very often the delay in an ATC response is because the controller finds it necessary to sort out what was said and put it into understandable form. The radio identification of a pilot as a student pilot is essential since it allows the controller to be aware and anticipate problems caused by inexperience. On the other hand, the certified pilot is expected to be both competent on the radio and in the air.

Tower controllers, air and ground, are on constant listening watch for relatively long periods of time. Up to two hours. Their brains are turned on when the tower name is said. If you keep saying the tower name after the first contact it only causes confusion. They may write the aircraft call number and expected entry while they issue a clearance. This is a three dimensional chess game with different types of aircraft coming from different directions to different runways at differing speeds. They are good at what they do but the pilot must be knowledgeable as well. Tower controllers will usually clear you for the most economical arrival traffic conditions permitting. Tower communications should always be a concise expression of required information. By including your altitude you provide other aircraft with additional collusion avoidance information.

Professional pilots use the specifically appropriate procedure. It is difficult to accept that over 90% of all ATC radio communications is "canned". There is a standard format of what the pilot should say, a preferred place to say it, a standardized sequence, and a required ATC response. Most ATC communications are "canned" instructions delivered in a predicable highly formatted manner. Once understood these instructions are easy to prepare an answer or possible answers ahead of time. By including ATC requirements in your callup you can anticipate your instructions and get the golden ring as, "Approved as requested".

A 'clearance' is a kind of verbal contract between sender (ATC) and receiver (pilot). The feedback must be accurate so the 'hearback' can be assured of reception. Any error is a potential disaster.

The use of correct 'standard' communications procedure with ATC makes for cleaner more professional operations with less chance of misunderstanding. Think of what you expect the controller to say and incorporate it as a 'request' or advisory. ALL radar facility communications to you are repeated back again in your response in as complete a format as you are able. With experience some abbreviation is permissible. Safety in today's airspace requires mutual understanding and trust. More often than not the operation of the ATC system (not the controllers) is done for the convenience of the system rather than for the convenience of the pilots or their aircraft.

Listen to ATC communications to improve your situational awareness and minimize unnecessary communications. With experience you will be able to anticipate how you can help ATC such as by requesting a different runway or departure. Become sensitive to how busy the controller is and adjust your procedure accordingly. If the controller is obviously busy don't bother with making a request...do that later. If the controller does not give you time to acknowledge...don't. If you are given a command EXECUTE and then use the radio. If you don't understand all or any part of what is said, have them "say again" or "say again all after...".

As a driver, you are familiar with defensive driving. You must fly defensively as well. Never assume that another aircraft is going to maneuver in a given direction or follow a particular ATC directive. On the other hand, you should follow ATC directions. If you don't understand the directions, say so. Don't taxi from your tie-down without knowing where you are going and how you are going to get there. If any doubt exists, get ATC assistance.

Flying in controlled airspace is a partnership, really a limited partnership, where responsibility, control, and liability is constantly shifting back and forth. Your position as a pilot in command depends on your understanding of how, when and where any shifting occurs. ATC is primarily concerned in aircraft separation. Regardless of the congestion, a controller cannot reduce separation unless a pilot declars an emergency. An emergency allows a pilot or controller to deviate from minimum separation rules or any other rules.

ATC will shift full separation responsibility to the pilot at every opportunity. A recent FAA interpretation says that a pilot is responsible for any clearance given by ATC whether or not it is heard, misunderstood, misinterpreted, readback, or mis-readback.

One of the ways that ATC can shift the entire load to the pilot is by prompting him to acknowledge having an aircraft in sight. ATC can 'point-out' traffic and prompt you to 'report traffic in sight'. Once you have reported the traffic as being in sight you are responsible for separation. However, you can shift responsibility back to ATC just by saying you have lost sight of the traffic.

Crowded Skies
By the mid 1970 the word was:
--The ATC system is subject to frequent flight delay
--Numerous disturbing aircraft to aircraft incidents.
--We are running out of sky room.
--Inability to maintain a high standard of safety.
Solutions
--1978 a comprehensive plan for modernizing and improving ATC and airway facilities by 2000.
--Reduce radio transmissions.
--Electronic assistance
--Shared responsibility

The New ATC
ATC has for many years suffered through

Open architecture of both hardware and software is the plan to ensure that never again will total obsolescence occur in the ATC system. The ideal is to have 12-year procurement and 25-year life in an age where the life expectancy of a top level device and system is measured in months. The upgrades are planed around Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) computers and software. 1/7 of the total cost of STARS is in hardware of a billion-dollar investment. The problem is that by the time the hardware installation is completed the equipment is already out of date. By having a standard operating system it is hoped that a mix of old and new can be achieved in an ongoing manner. There will be no unique interfaces incorporated in any of the new upgrades.

One aspect of STARS is the passive final approach spacing tool (pFAST). This integrates surveillance data, flight plan data, aircraft performance characteristics and airway procedures into a central database. This will allow the ATC controller to use real time information to refine spacing and sequence. It is expected that this along with a similar program for enroute aircraft will increase both airway and runway capacity.

An additional radio program is designed around the VHF Digital Link (VDL) Mode 3 which will allow four voice and simultaneous data channels where only one voice channel exists at the present. The ADS-B system will give pilots the same situational awareness as enjoyed by ATC. This change has been traditionally fought by the FAA/ATC bureaucracy that is now overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of aircraft trying to occupy ever smaller space.

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