mk693

Hi,

I have my second stage interview on the 22nd of September. I've been reading through the booklet by Mark Crane and the book by Graham Duke. I have come across the quadrantal and semi circular rules and quite frankly i cant get my head around them !

Can someone please explain to me what each of the rules are and what i could be asked about it in the interview ?

Any help would be greatly appreciated !


Thanks

BOAC

Good stuff, this 'Google' thing

whowhenwhy

When flying above the transition altitude (3000' in the UK), unless flying under the control of ATC; Fighter Controllers or RN Ship-borne controllers, then all ac should be flown at a Flight Level (FL), with 1013Mb set on the altimeter, that is linked with their magnetic heading. Below FL 245, if you are flying between 360 and 089 degrees then you fly at an odd FL eg FL50; between 090 and 179 an odd FL + 500' eg FL55; between 180 and 269 an even FL eg FL60; between 270 and 359 an even FL + 500' eg FL65. Above FL 245, FLs are separated by 1000'. Generally, although the Reduced Vertical Separation Minima (RVSM) status of ac can change things considerably (if I've blown your mind talking about RVSM then ignore it!), if you are flying between (I think) 360 and 179 then you fly an odd FL eg FL250; if you are flying between 180 and 359 then you fly at an even FL eg FL260. In this way we achieve vertical separation for everyone and we don't have conflictions.

Oh no, sorry. That only works if we don't want to climb or descend. But it's a starting point.

mk,

boacs link is accurate only to a point. The 4000\' separation above FL290 is not accurate. If you want to go that far in depth just ask!

Regards,

WWW

HEATHROW DIRECTOR

I'll bet he's really confused now....

MikeJeff

If you fly IFR over the transition layer, you fly at a flight level.

Below FL245 you obey the quadrantal rule. If your magnetic track is 0 to 89 deg you fly at on odd flight level (eg FL50,70). If you fly a track of 90 to 179 deg you fly at odd flight levels plus 500ft (eg FL55,FL75). 180 to 269 deg is even FL (FL40,60). Final 270 to 359 is flown at (go on have a guess!)

Semicircular rule applies above FL 245. And I'm a cr@ppy PPL so I learnt it for Air Law and forgot it years ago! however it's not as straight forward as the quad rule I don't think.

mk693

Thanks for the help guys ! I'm beginning to get my head round it now. One thing i need to make sure about...what is the flight separation above FL290 ? The booklet says intervals are at 4000 feet but Graham Duke says as of April 2001, due to RVSM implementation, the intervals are 1000 feet i.e. Westbound FL 300, 320, 340... and Eastbound FL 290, 310, 330...

Is this the system that is in place now ? Is the information contained in the booklet out of date ?

If someone could help me with this i would be very grateful as i still have quite a bit of the booklet to sift through !

Thanks

VectorLine

With RVSM, standard separation up to and including FL410 is 1000'.

Above FL410 it is 2000'

If one or more aircraft are flying supersonic;
Separation up to FL450 = 2000'
Separation above FL450 = 4000'

BOAC

RVSM=Reduced Vertical Separation Minimum and applies in RVSM airspace and gives 1000' separation between opposing tracks up to FL410. Where I think your ?confusion? lies is that the 4000' 'separation' the BOOK refers to is on similar tracks. 2000' between opposing.

Read all about it (Google again!!)

PS What 'second stage' interview, may I ask?

mk693

By second stage interview i mean all the interviews i.e. technical and personnel as well as the computer based tests...

Thanks for all the help in explaining the rules to me. What questions could i be asked about these rules in the interview and how much detail is required ? Has any one had a question on these rules in their interview ?

I would just like to know what type of questions i could expect on this topic.

Cheers

bookworm

It is but there's no guarantee that what comes out of it is correct or complete.

In particular, the article that you cite fails to point out that in the UK the quadrantal rule and semicircular rule apply only to IFR flight outside controlled aispace. That makes the semicircular rule a bit redundant. VFR flights are advised to adopt quadrantal levels.

Outside the UK, the quadrantal rule is virtually non-existent, and a different flavour of semicircular rule, intended primarily to separate IFR from VFR, exists for both controlled and uncontrolled airspace.

2 sheds

Well, that should have confused him, mixing the IFRs with Separation per se.

mk693
I am afraid that many authors - and commentators - do not stick to the facts or have a complete understanding of them. Look up the Rules of the Air to answer your original question.

E-mail me directly sometime if you like - credentials available!!

2 sheds

BOAC

Quite right, bookworm - it was my feeble attempt to suggest that people might do some work for themselves!

mk693

Funny...i always thought this forum was for all those budding air traffic controllers out there who could benefit from the knowledge of their peers ! Any Tom Dick or Harry can search on Google but, as Bookworm pointed out, there is no guarantee that the information you find is correct or complete.

Apologies to those of you who took some time out to help me. I am very grateful...