Operations from
the New Control Tower commenced on 8th September 2010
 
The Isle of Man Airport
is available for aircraft movements from 06:15 with ATC being available
from 06:00 local time. (Sundays 06:45 & 07:00). The airport officially
closes at 20:45 although some operators have flights scheduled in after
this by agreement and there are often agreed time extensions to cover late
running flights. The airport can be made available at any time to cover
emergencies and Air Ambulance flights.
Scheduled Flight
Operators 2012
   
 
Isle
of Man Airport Official Website
Ronaldsway Air Traffic Control
All Air Traffic Control
in the UK (and the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands) is conducted in
accordance with the Manual of Air Traffic Services. This is published in
two parts. Part One is produced by National Air Traffic Services
(NATS) and contains general instructions pertaining to all ATC units, both
Airfield and Area. Part Two is published by each individual unit and contains
ATC instructions for that particular unit. Both parts are regularly
updated as procedures change.
At Ronaldsway, ATC is
carried out from two locations, Aerodrome Control - located at the top
of the 'stalk' and Approach Radar Control, located in the lower building.
Area Control services around the Isle of Man are provided by Scottish Control
from the Prestwick Centre and by London Military from the Swanwick Centre.
Aerodrome Control
'Ronaldsway Tower'
118.9
Controls aircraft on
and in the immediate vicinity of the airport and vehicles on the airfield
Manoeuvring Area, that is the Runways & Taxiways. 'Tower' will normally
take control of inbound aircraft from radar within about 10 miles from
the airfield, either when they are established on an instrument approach
or visual with the airfield. Tower has absolute control of the runways
and will clear an aircraft to land once a preceding landing aircraft has
taxied clear of the runway or a departing aircraft is airborne. Departing
aircraft are given start clearance and an 'airways' or local clearance
as appropriate. Ground movements are controlled to de-conflict aircraft
and to optimize the departure order of aircraft on the same route. Vehicles
are controlled on the Manoeuvring Area using a discrete UHF frequency.
118.9 is re-broadcast on this frequency so that vehicle drivers can be
aware of aircraft movements. ATC has no responsibility for vehicles operating
on the airport Aprons (aircraft parking areas)
  
    
ATIS 123.875
Aerodrome Control is
also where the ATIS - Automatic Terminal Information Service broadcast
is prepared. Transmitted continuously when the airport is open and
routinely updated every 30 minutes, it gives the runway in use, type of
instrument approach to be expected, latest weather report from Met and
any other pertinent information on the airfield or ATC operations. Each
broadcast is identified by an incrementing letter of the alphabet.
Approach Radar Control
'Ronaldsway Approach/Radar'
120.85 118.2 125.3
Normally controls aircraft
up to about 40 miles from the airport. Inbound traffic arriving via the
Airways system is transferred from Scottish Control, usually with no telephone
co-ordination required, in accordance with standing agreements that vary
according to the route flown. Inbound aircraft flying under the Instrument
Flight Rules (IFR) are vectored (given headings to steer and levels to
fly at) using radar until they are established on an appropriate Instrument
Approach or wish to continue with a visual approach. Separation is
provided by ATC from other IFR aircraft either laterally or vertically.
The minimum separations allowed are 3 miles laterally or 1000ft
vertically.They are then transferred to Tower. Aircraft arriving under
Visual Flight Rules (VFR) are provided with information on other aircraft
to enable them to safely fit in with the traffic pattern. Outbound Airways
traffic is worked by Ronaldsway Radar if there is a confliction with local
traffic, either inbound or overflying, once the confliction is resolved
the aircraft is transferred to the relevant Scottish Control sector in
accordance with the standing agreement.
Ronaldsway also offers
a service to aircraft wishing to transit our controlled airspace, or are
just passing adjacent to us. Services available outside controlled airspace
are either 'Basic Service', ''Traffic Service', 'Procedural Service'
or 'Deconfliction Service', which are defined in the Manual of Air Traffic
Services and other aeronautical publications.
    
    
Approach Control
In the event of a radar
failure, Ronaldsway is able to offer a 'Procedural Approach' service, providing
separations based on time, level and distance in accordance with MATS part
1. Although it is quite possible to work the airspace in this way (and
not unlike the service provided in 1937 in 'QBI') it is un-expeditious
and large delays are likely to build up in busy traffic situations, with
traffic being held both in the air and on the ground.
Instrument Approaches
Instrument approaches
are designed to allow an aircraft flying in Instrument Meteorological Conditions
(IMC) to become visual with the airfield and complete a landing. Each Instrument
Approach Procedure has defined minimum altitudes below which an aircraft
is not allowed to descend without visual contact with the airfield. 'Autolands'
in very low visibility conditions are not permitted at Ronaldsway.
Ronaldsway has instrument
approach procedures published for runways 03, 08 & 26. The main instrument
approaches used are the Instrument Landing Systems on runways 08 &
26. Both runways also have non-precision NDB/DME approaches and Surveillance
Radar Approaches available. Runway 08 also has a VOR/DME approach available,
using the en-route 'IOM' beacon to the west of the airfield. The only instrument
approach available to runway 03 is a Surveillance Radar Approach. There
are no instrument approaches available to runway 21, if required an instrument
approach can be made to another runway followed by visual manoeuvring to
land on runway 21. In the future it is likely that Global Positioning System
(GPS) approaches will be designed and published for all runways.
Surveillance Radar
Approach (SRA)
On an SRA the controller
uses the radar to position the aircrft on the final approach track, using
small heading adjustments to keep the aircraft on track until the pilot
has visual contact with the runway. The aircraft is usually positioned
onto a closing heading at about eight miles from touchdown level at 2000
feet. Final descent starts at six miles from touchdown and the controller
passes heading changes, normally in 5 or 10 degree increments as required,
together with an advisory altitude check every mile. The pilot accurately
flies the headings, sets an appropriate decent rate for the aircraft groundspeed
and monitors the descent path with the advisory altitudes passed, adjusting
it as required. The radar approach finishes at 2 miles from touchdown,
by which time the pilot hopefully has the airfield in sight and can continue
to land visually. Using the Watchman radar, aircraft can be positioned
very accurately on the final approach track.
CAA Approach Procedure
Charts
These give a pilot all
the information required to complete a instrument approach to land, including
the point at which the approach must be discontinued if the airfield is
not sighted. This varies according the aircraft category (based on size
& speed) and the approach type. Pilots will more normally use charts
produced by one of the big commercial companies, e.g. Aerad or Jeppesen.
Charts are published for every approach available, those below are just
a selection.
    
03
SRA 08 VOR/DME
08 ILS/DME 26 ILS/DME
26 NDB/DME
ATC Engineering
Home of the guys that
keep all the complex equipment ATC needs today running smoothly. From Radar
to radio aids, transmitters and receivers, recorders, computers and everything
that links all these together.
Navigation Aids used at
Ronaldsway
Aeronautical radio
beacons transmit an identification in morse code, usually two or three
letters. Pilots will listen to the beacon to ensure that they have tuned
the correct frequency although equipment on some modern aircraft can 'autotune'
the beacon and display the identification visually on the flight deck.
Non Directional Beacons
(NDB)
RWY 359 kHz
& CAR 366.5 Khz
Located on the airfield
and at Carnane, just south of Douglas.
Basic Medium Frequency
homing beacons, can be used for holding and non precision instrument let
down procedures. Both beacons radiate on a continuous basis, even when
the airport is closed.
 
Instrument Landing
Systems (ILS/DME)
I-RH & I-RY 111.15
Mhz CH48Y
Precision instrument
approach aids installed for runways 08 & 26. Comprising a VHF Localizer
signal for horizontal guidance and a UHF Glideslope signal for vertical
guidance together with Distance Measuring Equipment giving range from touchdown.
The runway 08 Localizer is offset by 4 degrees to the north of the final
approach track. Only one of the two ILS systems can be radiating at any
time and a complex interlocking system is installed to facilitate changing
from one to the other.
 
'IOM' VHF Omni Directional
Range with Distance Measuring Equipment (VOR/DME)
IOM 112.2 Mhz CH59X
Located to the west
of Ronaldsway near Cregneash
An en-route navigation
aid operated by NATS, also used by Ronaldsway for holding and approach
to runway 08
Watchman 10cm Primary
Surveillance Radar (PSR) & Cossor Secondary Surveillance Radar (SSR)
Mode A/C
Providing surveillance
out to a range of 60nm, the radar is used for separation and tactical vectoring
of aircraft to a final approach aid. The watchman can also be used to conduct
Surveillance Radar Approaches (SRA) to runways 03, 08 & 26, the controller
giving headings to steer to maintain the final approach track to 2nm from
touchdown, together with advisory altitudes or heights. The radar aerials
are co-located on the same turning gear, with the SSR aerial mounted on
top of the PSR aerial. Primary radar works by detecting radar pulses reflected
from objects, generally aircraft but also ships, land surfaces and precipitation
and produces a 'blip' on the radar screen. Secondary radar works by interrogating
a transponder fitted to the aircraft and returns a discrete code (squawk)
and a height, which is displayed on the screen. Using the display processor
a particular code can be associated with an aircraft callsign to display
it on the controllers screen.
  
Ronaldsway Radar Replacement Program
2011
The Isle of Man Parliament
(Tynwald) gave funding approval in 2010 for replacement of the Primary
and Secondary Radar systems. The Secondary Surveillance Radar (SSR) has
to to be replaced as approval to operate the present Mode A/C system was
scheduled to end on 31/12/11 and is currently operating on an extension.
The new Primary Surveillance Radar (PSR) is a Selex ATCR-33 10cm 'S' band
system, with the radar head located on a new site just outside the present
airport boundary. Construction started on site in April 2011 and the new
radar aerial was lifted into place on July 27th. Radar data is now coming
into the cotrol tower and the system is undergoing final setting up and
evaluation.
    
  
The SSR system is a
Wide Area Multilateration (WAM) system using multiple sites around the
island, together with several sites located on the airport. Data from each
site is integrated with the PSR data before being displayed on the surveillance
display. Aircraft can be tracked from around 60 miles away down to local
tracking of aircraft and transponder fitted vehicles operating on the airport.
  
Multilateration
Multilateration works
on the principle of an aircraft ATC transponder beacon signal being received
at multiple sites. The time of arrival of a particular transponder reply
at each site is integrated in the central processing equipment and by a
process of triangulation the exact position of the aircraft can be displayed
on the ATC surveillance display. The actual surveillance aerials are vertical
monopoles about 1 metre high and will be located on existing communications
masts around the island.
  
Link to Eurocontrol
Multilateration
Principles document
Area Control around the Isle
of Man
Provided by
National Air Traffic Services (NATS) from London & Scottish Centres
Scottish Control
Antrim Sector 123.775,
Isle of Man Sector 133.050, Rathlin Sector 129.1, Scottish Information
119.875
Controls the en-route
aircraft operating within controlled airspace. Antrim Sector
controls airway Lima 10 (L10), Advisory routes Whiskey 911 Delta (W911D)
and Whiskey 928 Delta (W928D) to the north and east of the Isle of Man.
Isle of Man Sector controls airway Lima 10 (L10) and advisory
route Whiskey 2 Delta (W2D) to the south and east of the Isle of Man. When
'bandboxed' (combined) with Wallesey or S29 Sectors uses 128.050 or
118.775. Rathlin Sector controls the high level
routes over the Isle of Man and as such has no direct interface with Ronaldsway,
Scottish Information provides a Flight Information and Alerting
service to all aircraft that require it to the north of the Isle of Man.
London Control
London Information
125.475 London Volmet North 126.6
Most of the airspace
controlled by London has no direct interface with Ronaldsway, however to
the south of the Isle of Man a Flight Information Service is provided by
London Information. London Volmet provides
a continuous broadcast of weather reports for airfields, including Ronaldsway.
London Military
London Military 277.625
127.450
Provides a service to
the many military aircraft operating around the northern Irish Sea. Often
providing an Airways crossing service, one of their major customers are
the Hawk aircraft operating from RAF Valley on Anglesey, that need to cross
the controlled airspace over the Isle of Man before continuing with operating
over southern Scotland or the Lake District. Provides a radar service in
Air to Air refuelling Area 13 which is located just to the east of the
Isle of Man.
Snaefell Radio Station
Operated by NATS and
providing en-route ATC transmit and receive services for London & Scottish
Centres.
 
Adjacent Airfields
Warton
Warton Radar 129.525
+ discrete UHF frequencies
Operated by British
Aerospace primarily as a flight test centre. Can be very busy usually with
military aircraft, most often Typhoons, Tornados, Harriers and Hawks. Provides
an extensive radar service to their aircraft all around the Irish Sea and
also a Lower Altitude Radar Service (LARS) to other users.
Blackpool
Blackpool Approach/Radar
119.950
Adjacent airport to
the east, operating scheduled services to many destinations, including
Ronaldsway. Can be very busy with private aircraft. Ronaldsway and Blackpool
will often conduct 'radar handovers' on traffic operating between the airports.
Liverpool
Liverpool Approach/Radar
119.850
Busy commercial airport
to the south east, occasionally there are radar handovers between Ronaldsway
& Liverpool, but low level coverage is limited so more often aircraft
are 'free called' between units.
RAF Valley
Valley Radar 125.225
+ UHF frequencies
Very busy military training
airfield to the south, although normally only operating Monday to Friday.
Two squadrons of Hawk training aircraft, 208 Sqn & 19 Sqn. Often Ronaldsway
stands by as diversion airfield for the Hawks which also visit regularly
for practice ILS approaches and sometimes visual circuits. Valley is also
home to 22 Sqn 'C' flight providing Search & Rescue facilities using
Sea King helicopters and the Search and Rescue Training Unit (SARTU) operating
Griffin and A139 helicopters. Radar handovers regularly conducted between
Ronaldsway and Valley. RAF Valley ATC also provides a Lower Altitude
Radar Service (LARS) in the area, offering Traffic Service and De-confliction
Service.
Belfast Aldergrove
Aldergrove Approach/Radar
128.5
One of two commercial
airports serving Belfast in Northern Ireland. There is very little overlapping
radar coverage between Ronaldsway and Aldergrove so aircraft are normally
'free called' between units. Airline flights between the airports operate
via the airways system so come via Scottish Control.
Belfast City
Belfast Approach/Radar
130.850
The second commercial
airport for Belfast. Again, poor overlapping low level radar coverage normally
precludes handovers between units and traffic is 'free called' Airline
flights between the airports operate via the airways system so come via
Scottish Control. Light aircraft operating to the club airfield at Newtownards
also usually work Belfast City.
Dublin
Dublin North 129.175
Dublin Information 118.5
The major airport for
the Irish Republic. Very busy and ATC there have a hold established just
the other side of the Flight Information Region (FIR) boundary at 'ROKNA'
which is between the Isle of Man and Dublin. Airline flights between
the airports operate via the airways system so come via Scottish Control.
|