I—Decca for Helicopter Operations

1956 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 385-389
Author(s):  
J. G. Adam

For a number of years helicopter operations will mainly take place at operating altitudes between 500 and 2000 ft. Due to the inaccuracies of existing pressure altimeters vertical separation less than 1000 ft. cannot be applied and therefore maximum use will have to be made of lateral and longitudinal separation possibilities if the development of helicopter operations in high density areas is not to be impeded. As far as possible helicopter operations will be kept apart from fixed-wing traffic but this may be difficult to achieve in terminal areas where departing and arriving fixed-wing aircraft are at low altitude and the available airspace is restricted.It is, therefore, essential that the navigational aid on which air traffic control base safe separation should be one which enables the helicopter pilot to adhere strictly to his pre-determined track and also provides him with an accurate measurement of progress along track. Quite apart from the air traffic control aspect, since the helicopter flies low, frequently in poor horizontal visibility and low cloud-base conditions, accurate track keeping is essential from the standpoint of avoiding obstructions or high ground in the vicinity of the route. Accurate and solid coverage over a wide area at low altitude is therefore an important requirement of any helicopter aid system, particularly in a high traffic density area such as western Europe.

1978 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 259-267
Author(s):  
R. L. Ford

A recently completed preliminary long-term study of air traffic control systems in Europe1 suggests that traffic density is likely at least to double before the end of the century. The study also concludes that, apart from the problem of airport capacity, which was not considered, the existing ATC systems in Europe will not be able to cope with such an increase in traffic. There is therefore a need to consider methods of increasing the capacity of the European ATC system or providing a new system and, in view of the time required to effect significant changes to such systems, the task is becoming urgent.Assumingthere is to be no deterioration insafety, theprime requirements for any proposed changes are economy and flexibility. Apart from its obvious intrinsic value, economy is necessary because there is an increasing trend towards recovering the total cost of ATC from the user. Higher charges are therefore likely to stultify the growth in air transport and an underlying assumption is that this would be undesirable. Flexibility is required because traffic forecasts so far into the future are likely to be in error and the system design must allow for this because there is likely to be some economic penalty if the forecast proves to be either too high or too low.


1951 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-65
Author(s):  
R. B. Coulson ◽  
V. D. Burgmann

It is now generally recognized that, under instrument conditions, traffic congestion at busy airports is already bad and any further increase in traffic density would be unmanageable without improvements in methods of air traffic control. A study of the problems of air traffic control by full-scale tests is prohibitively expensive and a practical alternative is required. This paper describes a series of investigations into air traffic control problems by simulation methods.Laboratory equipment suitable for such experiments is described briefly and has been shown to give a reliable quantitative assessment of the effect of changes in a control system. A number of possible control systems were studied in detail.


Author(s):  
Mitsuki Fujino ◽  
Jieun Lee ◽  
Toshiaki Hirano ◽  
Yuichi Saito ◽  
Makoto Itoh

Evaluation of air traffic controller’s situation awareness (SA) is becoming important for air traffic management with the growth of air traffic. This study compared two SA evaluation methods: Situation Awareness Global Assessment Technique (SAGAT) and Situation Present Assessment Method (SPAM) to understand how these techniques affect controllers’ predictability in different traffic density settings. Twenty students undertook simple air traffic control simulations by using both techniques. We investigated how these techniques affect their workload with Subjective Workload Assessment Technique (SWAT) and NASA-TLX. SWAT scores showed that high traffic density increased participants’ workload, and extra workload was posed right after answering SA queries. NASA-TLX scores were larger when SAGAT was used than when SPAM was used throughout the simulation. We found that the workload with SAGAT interferes with main tasks more than that of SPAM. The results of query scores suggested that SPAM is more predictive to the assessment of the controller’s SA.


1958 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-39
Author(s):  
D. O. Fraser

Apart from visual avoidance of other aircraft by pilots the only system of preventing air-to-air collisions at present is by means of air traffic control from the ground. With the increased speed of modern aircraft and increased traffic density on long-distance routes there is a tendency to demand further extension and development of air traffic control to solve the collision problem. The object of this paper is to examine the problems and limitations of air traffic control as a method of avoiding collisions between aircraft in cruising flight and how these are likely to be affected by future aircraft developments.


1958 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 259-265
Author(s):  
E. J. Dickie

Whenever the subject of air traffic control is discussed reference is made to what are described as ‘areas of high traffic density’. This is a misleading expression because the areas referred to are those in which the traffic density is high in relation to the capacity of the air traffic control system, not to the airspace itself. It is probably true to say that there are in fact only three areas where traffic density is high in relation to the volume of airspace. These are the arrival and departure paths at busy aerodromes and the area occupied by a number of aircraft flying in close formation. Elsewhere the traffic density is not such as to create congestion in the air. It is the traffic control system which becomes overloaded, not the airspace. In this paper an attempt is made to isolate some of the factors giving rise to this state of affairs and to discuss ways of achieving a better state of balance between airspace capacity on the one hand and control capacity on the other.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-11
Author(s):  
Marina Efthymiou ◽  
Frank Fichert ◽  
Olaf Lantzsch

Abstract. The paper examines the workload perceived by air traffic control officers (ATCOs) and pilots during continuous descent operations (CDOs), applying closed- and open-path procedures. CDOs reduce fuel consumption and noise emissions. Therefore, they are supported by airports as well as airlines. However, their use often depends on pilots asking for CDOs and controllers giving approval and directions. An adapted NASA Total Load Index (TLX) was used to measure the workload perception of ATCOs and pilots when applying CDOs at selected European airports. The main finding is that ATCOs’ workload increased when giving both closed- and open-path CDOs, which may have a negative impact on their willingness to apply CDOs. The main problem reported by pilots was insufficient distance-to-go information provided by ATCOs. The workload change is important when considering the use of CDOs.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 100-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maik Friedrich ◽  
Christoph Möhlenbrink

Abstract. Owing to the different approaches for remote tower operation, a standardized set of indicators is needed to evaluate the technical implementations at a task performance level. One of the most influential factors for air traffic control is weather. This article describes the influence of weather metrics on remote tower operations and how to validate them against each other. Weather metrics are essential to the evaluation of different remote controller working positions. Therefore, weather metrics were identified as part of a validation at the Erfurt-Weimar Airport. Air traffic control officers observed weather events at the tower control working position and the remote control working position. The eight participating air traffic control officers answered time-synchronized questionnaires at both workplaces. The questionnaires addressed operationally relevant weather events in the aerodrome. The validation experiment targeted the air traffic control officer’s ability to categorize and judge the same weather event at different workplaces. The results show the potential of standardized indicators for the evaluation of performance and the importance of weather metrics in relation to other evaluation metrics.


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