Couple of silly questions
 

1. Currently there are 3 en- route centres. When Manchester moves to Prestwick, will it remain as Manchester? Or will the two be merged leaving 2 en- routes, Swanwick and Scottish?

2. Can you define what an airfield is for me? Are they just airports not owned by BAA?

Thanks x

Bet she can't map-read either.

There are currently 4 NERL centres:
LACC at Swanwick
TC at West Drayton
MACC at Manchester
and
ScOACC at Prestwick

TC is moving to LACC and they'll merge, MACC is moving to ScOACC and they'll merge leaving NATS with its 2 centre strategy.

An airfield is an aerodrome is an airport is a whatever name you want to give it, nothing to do with who the operator is.

HTH
BD

But an airPORT is an aerodrome with customs facilities...

really? Wow I never knew that :) Thanks HD

BD

With greatest respect to my close colleague HD, I'm not too sure that is the case...

An Aerodrome (as defined in the ANO & MATS 1):

Any area of land or water designed, equipped, set apart or
commonly used for affording facilities for the landing and departure
of aircraft.

And in the Aerodrome licencing manual:

Any area of land or water designed, equipped, set apart or
commonly used for affording facilities for the landing and departure
of aircraft and includes any area or space, whether on the ground,
on the roof of a building or elsewhere, which is designed,
equipped or set apart for affording facilities for the landing and
departure of aircraft capable of descending or climbing vertically,
but shall not include any area the use of which for affording
facilities for the landing and departure of aircraft has been
abandoned and has not been resumed.


It doesnt specify the difference between a customs aerodrome and a non-customs aerodrome. I think the whole airport / airfield / aerodrome name thing is all to do with local slang tendancies and language variations.

I have an Aerodrome Control Licence, at a customs aerodrome / airport whatever you want to call the place. I have my own name for it, ending *** hole.

Personally, I'd define an AIRFIELD as a grass runway aerodrome.

heehee.

Traaaaaaaaaaaaa.

I was always taught that there is no such thing as an airfield. It's a bit like talking about "planes".

Nobody I've asked seems to know the answer to this, so I'll chance my luck here:

What will the combined ScACC and MACC airspace be referred to as?

Will it remain the Manchester FIR and Scottish FIR/UIR both controlled from the same Ops Room, or will it become a combined Prestwick FIR/UIR?

The new centre is dubbed Prestwick as opposed to 'Scottish', but it can't become POACC as that already exists in the form of the Prestwick Oceanic Area Control Centre at ScOACC.

Also, what if the Dublin TMA goes to Prestwick under the proposed FAB?

Could a possible option be to mirror the Canadians who have their Gander Domestic FIR and Gander Oceanic FIR at a single unit, referred to simply as Gander Center? After all I understand that the ocean will eventually be in the new building also. (Swanwick is simply London Centre also).

Will it become known as just Prestwick Centre, with a Prestwick Domestic FIR and Prestwick OACC controlling the Shanwick OCA?

Not about to lose any sleep over it, just curious... but hey, what's in a name?

:8

Manchester FIR ??


Where's that then.

London FIR and Scottish FIR are the only two we have on the mainland.

Must be a bloody big building then!:}


Sorry

Oops !

Sorry, got carried away! (or should be carried off, one or t'other!)

I did of course mean that part of the London FIR controlled by MACC. ("Manchester FIR" - duh!).

:\

You mean what used to be the Preston FIR (it's near Manchester, well, sort of) before London pinched it?

Like the one when a pilot had a journo filming a documentary on his flight deck. She was provide a commentary for the camera - "planes" this, "planes" that, "planes" the other.

"Madam", the pilot responds in his best RAF voice, "planes are used by carpenters; this is an Aircraft".

So is an Airplane like an Airguitar?

Airports are busy, like Heathrow.

Airfields are quiet, like Gatwick and Manchester.

:E

Karen: I've always thought an airfield was military and an airport civilian. My reason for this is that when I was in the RAF both controllers and pilots used the abbreviation 'field.. Examples; "identified 30 miles north of the field..." or "field in sight". I know the official documents talk about "Military Aerodromes", but no-one would have used aerodrome, or airport when referring to a military airfield. I noticed the difference when I went civvie a few years ago.

Airports have at least a dual runway operation, and are only the 6th or 7th busiest dual runway airport in the world - like Heathrow.

Airfields use single runway, but are the busiest single runway operator in the world - like Gatwick.

:E :E :E

Down South 'ere, the difference is:-

airport = "there is the port"
airfield = "there is a field":}

Some moons ago, I was at CATC doing an OJTI renewal course.
There we were, the 10 of us, in the coffee lounge discussing how much we were enjoying the course, war stories, shipwrecks and murders, when one of the many cadets in the same room approached us and said "we've been half listening to you guys, and we assume you are all "real ATCOs", what's it like?"...
The rest is available to gullible persons, for a fee.......