NFR,
I fly 146, into and out of Darwin a couple of times a week. Have been flying in and out for 13yrs in all types including abinitio training.
Thanks for the info regarding 60nm. If Brisbane centre is responsible for the airspace, who charges for it?
I would have thought that traffic management was designed for efficient management of traffic? That sounds like a good plan to me.
I realise lots of pilots complain about extra distance required to track via SID's and STAR's at locations such as Perth and Sydney, BUT 10 extra track miles takes less than 2 mins extra in a jet and a little over 2 in a light twin - Brasilia, metro, speed aircraft. (fairly common inDarwin).
I am not aware of any SID's or STAR's that require an aircraft to track via a 15nm final in VMC with the exception of maybe Sydney.
The benifit is that you can plan for a STAR, SID you can't plan your approach for random vectors and speed changes.
I arrived in Perth yesterday and due to low traffic density the standard STAR was cancelled, in fact never issued, and we were given direct to a 6 nm final from 150nm. The way I see it is if traffic demands it I have no problems tracking via these procedures at all.
I believe if AsA were running the shop up there we would have more stability with regards to longer term controllers. If Alice Springs can keep, experienced and competent controllers then Darwin should be able to.
As stated some where above, Darwin is currently used as a training ground for RAAF controllers, brining with it the obvious problems of low experienced controllers learning their art.
If AsA took over, do you think approach controlling would be carried out in Darwin or some where down south?