Aircraft Data Flashcards

[Quilt]

I'm going to be starting at NATS soon and the one thing I've heard stressed a lot is to get a head start learning aircraft data. My question is - what data is useful for an ATCO to memorise?

I have 3 major sources to go at -

Jane's - seems a bit light on info.

Eurocontrol - seems a bit heavy on info.

NATS - just right? Do I really need to learn length and wingspan to 2 decimal points?

So if I were to design my own aircraft flashcards which would be the best data to learn? Also, should I go with my gut feeling that I should know more about an Airbus A320 say than a Bombardier CRJ-900LR?

[Trevor Hannant]

Have you been told whether you’re doing Tower, Approach or Area yet?

[alfaman]

Originally Posted by Trevor Hannant

Have you been told whether you’re doing Tower, Approach or Area yet?

I very much doubt it, that decision isn't made until the end of the Basic course.

[Quilt]

Originally Posted by Trevor Hannant

Have you been told whether you’re doing Tower, Approach or Area yet?

Haven’t been told yet. I’m assuming that to start with we’ll train as though all 3 are a possibility.

[AyrTC]

I don’t know if NATS still use them however if you are going to Global ATS in Gloucester you will be probably going down the Aerodrome route.

[Quilt]

Originally Posted by AyrTC

I don’t know if NATS still use them however if you are going to Global ATS in Gloucester you will be probably going down the Aerodrome route.

I’m going to CTC in January - as far as I know this could lead to any.

[tf412]

Does the question about whether the OP will be studying for aerodrome, approach or area imply that aircraft stats are significantly more important to learn for one rating as opposed to the others?

[LookingForAJob]

For area and approach, performance like typical cruise speed, climb/descent rates and approach speeds are going to be of use. On an aerodrome, physical size or weight can be important because of infrastructure limitations. TBH, I've never been sure of the value of learning such stuff pretty much by rote. In the real world, relative speeds (and critical or challenging type mixes) and the like will soon become apparent, and what is often more important is the range of operational performance that is possible rather than nominal or typical values, and on an airport (certainly in the UK) if there are places where aircraft over a particular size or of a particular type are limited for some reason this will be clearly set out in the MATS part 2 (the procedures document for that particular airport)..

[tf412]

I, too, would question the value of learning things by rote that are more than likely to be subsequently forgotten, unless otherwise reinforced on the job.

However, if I’m not mistaken, a good deal of the college-based learning is done in precisely this way (by rote), so regardless of its value or otherwise, I think the OP is looking for suggestions on how to get a head start on this side of things.

[10 DME ARC]

I would say aircraft data simply have a good knowledge of aircraft types jet or props. The aircraft speeds are in front of you but learn how to divide by 60 to get miles per minute, its amazing how very well educated people I have trained find it very hard to do mental arithmetic! In my day one of the first things they did was set hundreds of mental arithmetic questions to practise on and then give you a ten minute test to see haw many you can do! No baring other than to get your brain working quicker!

[jmmoric]

According to EASA, the required knowledge during BASIC training for aircraft and their performance is:

- Recognise the most commonly used aircraft.

- State the ICAO aircraft type designators and categories for the most commonly used aircraft.
ie: Type designators, approach and wake turbulence categories

- State the standard average performance data of the most commonly used aircraft.
ie: Rate of climb/descent, cruising speed, ceiling

So the job of the school is to pick a number of aircraft that are common, and then make cards with the required knowledge to give to the students.

Fortunately, it doesn't state how you select the aircraft, or haw many... So the most easy is to take a pick amongst the ones the students are most likely getting to work with.

To answer the initial thread, the school decides what you have to learn, just ask them.

[tf412]

Originally Posted by jmmoric

According to EASA, the required knowledge during BASIC training for aircraft and their performance is:

- Recognise the most commonly used aircraft.

- State the ICAO aircraft type designators and categories for the most commonly used aircraft.
ie: Type designators, approach and wake turbulence categories

- State the standard average performance data of the most commonly used aircraft.
ie: Rate of climb/descent, cruising speed, ceiling

So the job of the school is to pick a number of aircraft that are common, and then make cards with the required knowledge to give to the students.

Fortunately, it doesn't state how you select the aircraft, or haw many... So the most easy is to take a pick amongst the ones the students are most likely getting to work with.

To answer the initial thread, the school decides what you have to learn, just ask them.

Thanks – this is really helpful! It makes a lot of sense to learn those bits of information, and it mostly reflects the aircraft details provided in a NATS pre-learning document. It also feels a lot more manageable than having to learn tones of things that would appear unnecessary, like number of seats, wingspan, etc.

[Trevor Hannant]

Originally Posted by alfaman

I very much doubt it, that decision isn't made until the end of the Basic course.

Current courses new before they started

[Trevor Hannant]

Originally Posted by Quilt

Haven’t been told yet. I’m assuming that to start with we’ll train as though all 3 are a possibility.

As above, I wouldn’t get into the depths of wingspans, number of seats etc. jmmoric’s advice is a good starting point as if you go Area, a good amount of the stuff in the pre-learning will be of no use at all

[Runway26]

Originally Posted by Trevor Hannant

As above, I wouldn’t get into the depths of wingspans, number of seats etc. jmmoric’s advice is a good starting point as if you go Area, a good amount of the stuff in the pre-learning will be of no use at all

have you gone down the area Trevor?

I know at global it is 50 of the ‘most common’ aircraft types. My course and I didn’t start to learn them until the week before the exam although we were told it would be best but when the actual revising started we all kept pushing it back as other stuff became more important to learn at the time.
The 50 types on our list though were all over the place, 747, a380, eufi, chinook, pa28, caravan, glex and so on.
Might be worth doing some detective work and finding someone who has been through the same college for a list of what to concentrate on. No point learning ones that you won’t need to know.
I heard (and can’t verify this) that at CTC you only need to learn a handful for the aircraft recognition part of the tests. Someone with more knowledge on CTC will verify that for you though.

[DaveReidUK]

Originally Posted by jmmoric

According to EASA, the required knowledge during BASIC training for aircraft and their performance is:

- Recognise the most commonly used aircraft.

- State the ICAO aircraft type designators and categories for the most commonly used aircraft.
ie: Type designators, approach and wake turbulence categories

- State the standard average performance data of the most commonly used aircraft.
ie: Rate of climb/descent, cruising speed, ceiling

So the job of the school is to pick a number of aircraft that are common, and then make cards with the required knowledge to give to the students.

Fortunately, it doesn't state how you select the aircraft, or haw many... So the most easy is to take a pick amongst the ones the students are most likely getting to work with.

To answer the initial thread, the school decides what you have to learn, just ask them.

FAA Order 7110.65 used to contain an Appendix with typical climb/descent rates for pretty well anything with an ICAO type designator.

It doesn't any longer, but you can still download a relatively recent issue (2015) from the FAA website: JO 7110.65W

[alfaman]

Originally Posted by Trevor Hannant

Current courses new before they started

No they don't: they might presume based on the ITO they go to,& the units with the greatest volume, but things change. The only fixed point is when they pass basic onto rating.

[Runway26]

Originally Posted by alfaman

No they don't: they might presume based on the ITO they go to,& the units with the greatest volume, but things change. The only fixed point is when they pass basic onto rating.

is that at CTC?
I was told by NATS before starting at Global I was doing ADI and APS. I later found out Global don’t teach area ratings but still I knew I’d be in a tower.

[alfaman]

Originally Posted by Runway26

is that at CTC?
I was told by NATS before starting at Global I was doing ADI and APS. I later found out Global don’t teach area ratings but still I knew I’d be in a tower.

If you're at Global, chances are you'll do Basic then all being well continue to ADI & APS, but nothing in NATS is ever cast in stone - business need is always first.

[Quilt]

Thanks to everyone for their help, I wound up creating a set of flash cards with:

* Aircraft Name
* ICAO
* Wake Turbulence Category
* Cruise Speed
* Cruise Level
* Climb Rate to FL150
* Descent Rate to FL100

I’ve stuck to the same ~50 aircraft as the NATS pack. I think that should be a decent start and isn’t bad information to know regardless of my eventual rating.

Enjoying how the rest of the discussion has turned out in this thread. I’m hoping for an area rating at CTC (I was told I was too tall to go to Gloucester) but I know it could go either way.