Originally Posted by
ATCOJ30
...On that score, the BADIM SID looks quite convoluted to fly, especially as you're at max range to receive the HON VOR below 5000 feet, I'm told.
May I ask a question on the above? I've heard that the ERNOK1A SID from Cardiff was suspended on the day of the changeover to SIDs (Aug 31st), and now I'm hearing that the BADIM SID is similarly 'cutting it fine' in terms of distance from HON.
My question is, why were these issues not picked up during the three-to-five years that these procedures were being developed? It would seem a tad obvious, especially if (as I had been led to believe) these procedures were tested prior to committing to them?
I appreciate that there is little use for the BCN VOR in any SIDs or STARs from either EGGD or EGFF, given its angles to both, but is there perhaps any merit in proposing a new VOR - perhaps on the field at EGGD itself, or maybe north of the city (say at Filton) which could be used instead?
I might well be talking pipe-dream, because I have no idea how much the installation and maintenance of a VOR costs, and I'm ready to accept that it's infeasible on those grounds.
But I still can't quite grasp why, if dependence on HON is vital to the following of these SIDs/STARs, it wasn't spotted as a borderline flakey, right from the off? Surely the whole point of having SIDs and STARs at all is to enable ATCOs NOT to have to come up with alternative vectors, precisely because this requires more 'hands-on' management of aircraft, and instead, to release ATCOs for other tasks - including, I appreciate, the surveillance of aircraft conducting those procedures to ensure they're being followed - but surely, this is a lot easier if the procedure is one that (a) CAN be followed by all a/c and (b) is the same every time, and recognised as such?
I am very grateful for ATCOJ30's input here, and none of my comments above are meant in an antagonistic or confrontational way. I really just want to get a handle on why, if they're not 'useable' on a constant basis, we even have these new SIDs or STARs at all. It seems that we've just moved the management overhead problem from one set of hands-on, ad-hoc vectoring requirements to another, that's all. I freely admit I may have missed a great deal more than is immediately obvious, though, so please don't interpret this as an attack, ATCOJ30.
Thanks again.