Ground Control at MEM during the FDX midnight sort
03-14-2006, 11:37 AM
#11
Organizational Learning
Joined APC: Nov 2005
Position: Directly behind the combiner
Posts: 4,948
Originally Posted by MEM_ATC
TonyC
Hey, if you're talking about your inbound runway assignment... I had nothing to do with that!
Hey, if you're talking about your inbound runway assignment... I had nothing to do with that!
OK, same thing tonight. FDX 1543 gets priority on the outbound - - we'd like 27!
Nice job last night!
.
03-14-2006, 01:21 PM
#12
Gets Weekends Off
Thread Starter
Joined APC: Mar 2006
Position: Austin Tower
Posts: 175
Originally Posted by Nightflyer
If you were the female voice working at around midnight thirty, I thought you were doing fine. I came off of 36L, and things were as smooth as usual.
You all do a great job for us, night after night, and we try to do the same for you.
MEM_ATC
03-14-2006, 02:09 PM
#13
Guest
Posts: n/a
Hey Mem ATC,
As a Pinnacle employee and time building pilot, I really enjoy flying into MEM. A few months ago, I flew in with a single and stayed the evening to watch the FedEx push with a buddy. I was concerned about getting my bug smasher out amoungst the sea of purple so the line guy at Signature gave me the phone number to MEM ATC. Gave the folks at ATC a call and the guy I spoke to was awesome, he joked with me "So your a F-18 right", very funny guy. He said it was ok to stay and they would sequence me on my outbound. Sure enough, when I called up ground control, they gave me 36C which was not being used. Once airborne I cut outa there as fast as I could. It was an awesome experience which would not have been possible without the real pros in MEM ATC. Thanks a million! Keep up the good work, hopefully soon I can say "Flagship" instead of "Skyhawk"!
As a Pinnacle employee and time building pilot, I really enjoy flying into MEM. A few months ago, I flew in with a single and stayed the evening to watch the FedEx push with a buddy. I was concerned about getting my bug smasher out amoungst the sea of purple so the line guy at Signature gave me the phone number to MEM ATC. Gave the folks at ATC a call and the guy I spoke to was awesome, he joked with me "So your a F-18 right", very funny guy. He said it was ok to stay and they would sequence me on my outbound. Sure enough, when I called up ground control, they gave me 36C which was not being used. Once airborne I cut outa there as fast as I could. It was an awesome experience which would not have been possible without the real pros in MEM ATC. Thanks a million! Keep up the good work, hopefully soon I can say "Flagship" instead of "Skyhawk"!
03-14-2006, 07:58 PM
#14
On Reserve
Joined APC: Mar 2006
Position: Former Freight Doggy
Posts: 17
Hey MEM_ATC Thanks for all the hard work at night. I flew in Nightly as USC483 then as the copilot on USC101. I miss going through there at night. Hopefully I can get back there soon. Tell John that I said hi. He still holds the record for us working 125.8 HLI VOR to the Signature Ramp in 6 mins. You all are the best.
-A
-A
03-15-2006, 09:11 AM
#15
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Nov 2005
Position: UPS 757/767 Capt ONT
Posts: 4,357
"Someone checked in with me off of runway 36R, but it sounded like he was speaking in tongue"
"A cheer went through the Tower as the surrender flag was raised"
That's some great stuff. Keep posting. If there's one thing pilots don't know enough about it's what goes on behind the scenes at ATC.
"A cheer went through the Tower as the surrender flag was raised"
That's some great stuff. Keep posting. If there's one thing pilots don't know enough about it's what goes on behind the scenes at ATC.
03-15-2006, 11:11 AM
#17
Gets Weekends Off
Thread Starter
Joined APC: Mar 2006
Position: Austin Tower
Posts: 175
FlyCMI,
Thanks for the kind words. I'll tell John that you said "hello". He's still working the midnight shift, and I doubt that we'll ever be able to pry him from those shifts.
On a USC note... I've always had pretty good luck with the USC drivers all over the country. I'm not sure what type of "in-briefing" you guys get when you start flying into a particular airport, but it seems like the new guys quickly catch on to what ATC needs in order to help them get in and out as quickly as possible.
There was one USC pilot at SDF when the runways were still 19 and 29, and he would depart 19 and be established on his northeast departure heading prior to reaching the centerline of Runway 29... which was full of UPS inbound traffic.
I was always scared that he was going to hit the tower!
All of the land and hold short operations... land long with quick turn-off's at the end... immediate departure turns when hitting gaps... it was lots of fun.
MEM_ATC
Originally Posted by FlyCMI
Hey MEM_ATC Thanks for all the hard work at night. I flew in Nightly as USC483 then as the copilot on USC101. I miss going through there at night. Hopefully I can get back there soon. Tell John that I said hi. He still holds the record for us working 125.8 HLI VOR to the Signature Ramp in 6 mins. You all are the best.
On a USC note... I've always had pretty good luck with the USC drivers all over the country. I'm not sure what type of "in-briefing" you guys get when you start flying into a particular airport, but it seems like the new guys quickly catch on to what ATC needs in order to help them get in and out as quickly as possible.
There was one USC pilot at SDF when the runways were still 19 and 29, and he would depart 19 and be established on his northeast departure heading prior to reaching the centerline of Runway 29... which was full of UPS inbound traffic.
I was always scared that he was going to hit the tower!
All of the land and hold short operations... land long with quick turn-off's at the end... immediate departure turns when hitting gaps... it was lots of fun.MEM_ATC
03-15-2006, 05:38 PM
#18
Gets Weekends Off
Thread Starter
Joined APC: Mar 2006
Position: Austin Tower
Posts: 175
MEM Ground Control Training (Night Two)
My second night of midnight training during the FDX inbound and outbound was met with mixed results: The inbound was very smooth and uneventful, however the outbound was pretty much a mess for me.
THE INBOUND
We started the inbound with two Local Controllers and one Ground Controller. One Local Controller handles the 36L/C/R parallel runways, and the other handles Runway 27 arrivals and all Ground Control responsibilities that are north of Runway 27. I was again responsible for all ground traffic off of the parallel runways, and anything turning south off of runway 27.
"Pad management" is what saved the day. It's simple, archaic and not technical at all. A radar display in the Tower Cab presents me with data tags of all aircraft inbound for landing. Each tag displays the landing runway and parking spot. I transcribe this information to a pad of paper containing columns for each landing runway. Any taxi restrictions (paper stops) or unusual routes are annotated next to each aircraft callsign.
As each aircraft contacts me upon exiting the runway, I provide the pilot with taxi instructions so that he (or she) will cross runway 27 straight into the declared parking spot. Nearly every transmission will will contain a hold short instruction for runway 27, taxiway Charlie or taxiway Alpha. The 27 "paper stop" is to avoid landing aircraft; the Charlie paperstop is to avoid other aircraft northbound on Charlie and to avoid the 36C departure path; and the Alpha paperstop is to avoid aircraft taxiing east on Alpha enroute to Spots 4 and 5.
Approach was running tight spacing on Runway 27, so there were several instances when I was unable to cross the runway with my traffic due to the arrival interval. When a large gap did appear, the Local Controller would allow me to cross at the approach end of 27 as an aircraft came across the threshold... then at Bravo and Yankee... then at Sierra. Once the landing aircraft was at taxi speed, I would then be allowed to cross at Charlie and November.
The only conflict that arose during the inbound was when two Heavies crossed Runway 27 at Sierra. The first stated his entry point as Spot 9. He crossed the runway, made the right turn and then came to a halt. The second Heavy was unable to fully clear the runway and we had to send the Runway 27 arrival around due to the traffic.
THE OUTBOUND
There are two Ground Controllers working during the FDX outbound. One handles all of the traffic at Spots 9, 10, 13, 14 and 15. The other handles all traffic at Spots 4, 5, 6, 7, 8E and 8W.
Paper strips with your flight plan information start printing out 30 minutes prior to your proposed departure time. These strips are placed in plastic "strip holders", which are then placed sequentially/numerically by callsign in large "strip bays". These bays contain approximately 80+ strips at the beginning of the departure push, and other strips are continuously printed during the push.
If you call and don't get an immediate response, I'm trying to find your paperwork. Some Controllers are adovcates of keying up and saying something just to prevent other aircraft from calling and blocking the frequency. I've been trying to get the paperwork first, then talk, but it seems like ya'll just keep calling if there's any dead space on the frequency!
We were departing to the south last night, so things were a little different. FDX programs certain aircraft to depart Runway 27. These aircraft initially contact me at Spots 4, 5 or 7. The 4 and 5 guys are told to "... expect Runway 27, hold your position on Spot 4/5 and monitor the Tower on 118.3." Spot 7 is told to "Taxi to Runway 27" and the local Jeppesen Chart tells the crew where to stop and wait. The Tower Controller then has the option of departing one of three different aircraft to suit his needs, all based on aircraft types, performance or departure route.
Aircraft coming out of Spots 4 and 5 destined for Runways 18L/C/R will initially contact FDX Ramp Tower, who will then instruct the crew to contact MEM Tower on 118.3. The Tower Controller (when traffic permits) will instruct these aircraft to "... cross the approach end of Runway 27, join Alpha westbound and contact Ground on 121.9."
I would then take the Alpha traffic and sequence to Runway 18L/C with other traffic crossing Runway 27 at Yankee, Bravo and Sierra. Aircraft departing Runway 18R will be taxied "... west on Alpha, hold short of Sierra, then contact (the other) Ground on 121.65.
In the middle that mess, aircraft are calling me at Spots 8W, 8E, 7 and 6. Most of these aircraft will cross Runway 27 at Bravo or Yankee. Traffic at Spot 7 will generally taxi via Victor to Runway 27. B727's are not allowed to cross Runway 27 at Bravo when it is advertised as an active runway on the ATIS, so they are taxied via Victor and V1 to cross Runway 27, and are then sequenced with all of the traffic coming from Spots 4 and 5 on Alpha. Whew!
FDX Ramp Tower "owns" Taxiway Victor between Sierra and Yankee during the midnight operaton, so I am not allowed to taxi into or through any of those "spots" or areas to get you moving. I must take you out via the taxiway immediately in front of your exit Spot.
Needless to say, I didn't do to well at mixing and matching my traffic at the intersection of Runway 27 and Taxiways Victor, Bravo, Yankee and Alpha.
To make matters worse, the midnight crew says that there's an incline coming out of the FDX ramp via Bravo, and they are reluctant to "hit the gap" with a Heavy aircraft with traffic inside of 3 - 4 miles on the final approach. At one point I had traffic waiting at 8W, 8E and several at 6... all waiting for a large enough gap that would allow me to cross Runway 27.
It was a tough night of training last night, but I experienced and learned quite a bit -- some of it at your expense. Hopefully tonight will be better.
MEM_ATC
THE INBOUND
We started the inbound with two Local Controllers and one Ground Controller. One Local Controller handles the 36L/C/R parallel runways, and the other handles Runway 27 arrivals and all Ground Control responsibilities that are north of Runway 27. I was again responsible for all ground traffic off of the parallel runways, and anything turning south off of runway 27.
"Pad management" is what saved the day. It's simple, archaic and not technical at all. A radar display in the Tower Cab presents me with data tags of all aircraft inbound for landing. Each tag displays the landing runway and parking spot. I transcribe this information to a pad of paper containing columns for each landing runway. Any taxi restrictions (paper stops) or unusual routes are annotated next to each aircraft callsign.
As each aircraft contacts me upon exiting the runway, I provide the pilot with taxi instructions so that he (or she) will cross runway 27 straight into the declared parking spot. Nearly every transmission will will contain a hold short instruction for runway 27, taxiway Charlie or taxiway Alpha. The 27 "paper stop" is to avoid landing aircraft; the Charlie paperstop is to avoid other aircraft northbound on Charlie and to avoid the 36C departure path; and the Alpha paperstop is to avoid aircraft taxiing east on Alpha enroute to Spots 4 and 5.
Approach was running tight spacing on Runway 27, so there were several instances when I was unable to cross the runway with my traffic due to the arrival interval. When a large gap did appear, the Local Controller would allow me to cross at the approach end of 27 as an aircraft came across the threshold... then at Bravo and Yankee... then at Sierra. Once the landing aircraft was at taxi speed, I would then be allowed to cross at Charlie and November.
The only conflict that arose during the inbound was when two Heavies crossed Runway 27 at Sierra. The first stated his entry point as Spot 9. He crossed the runway, made the right turn and then came to a halt. The second Heavy was unable to fully clear the runway and we had to send the Runway 27 arrival around due to the traffic.
THE OUTBOUND
There are two Ground Controllers working during the FDX outbound. One handles all of the traffic at Spots 9, 10, 13, 14 and 15. The other handles all traffic at Spots 4, 5, 6, 7, 8E and 8W.
Paper strips with your flight plan information start printing out 30 minutes prior to your proposed departure time. These strips are placed in plastic "strip holders", which are then placed sequentially/numerically by callsign in large "strip bays". These bays contain approximately 80+ strips at the beginning of the departure push, and other strips are continuously printed during the push.
If you call and don't get an immediate response, I'm trying to find your paperwork. Some Controllers are adovcates of keying up and saying something just to prevent other aircraft from calling and blocking the frequency. I've been trying to get the paperwork first, then talk, but it seems like ya'll just keep calling if there's any dead space on the frequency!
We were departing to the south last night, so things were a little different. FDX programs certain aircraft to depart Runway 27. These aircraft initially contact me at Spots 4, 5 or 7. The 4 and 5 guys are told to "... expect Runway 27, hold your position on Spot 4/5 and monitor the Tower on 118.3." Spot 7 is told to "Taxi to Runway 27" and the local Jeppesen Chart tells the crew where to stop and wait. The Tower Controller then has the option of departing one of three different aircraft to suit his needs, all based on aircraft types, performance or departure route.
Aircraft coming out of Spots 4 and 5 destined for Runways 18L/C/R will initially contact FDX Ramp Tower, who will then instruct the crew to contact MEM Tower on 118.3. The Tower Controller (when traffic permits) will instruct these aircraft to "... cross the approach end of Runway 27, join Alpha westbound and contact Ground on 121.9."
I would then take the Alpha traffic and sequence to Runway 18L/C with other traffic crossing Runway 27 at Yankee, Bravo and Sierra. Aircraft departing Runway 18R will be taxied "... west on Alpha, hold short of Sierra, then contact (the other) Ground on 121.65.
In the middle that mess, aircraft are calling me at Spots 8W, 8E, 7 and 6. Most of these aircraft will cross Runway 27 at Bravo or Yankee. Traffic at Spot 7 will generally taxi via Victor to Runway 27. B727's are not allowed to cross Runway 27 at Bravo when it is advertised as an active runway on the ATIS, so they are taxied via Victor and V1 to cross Runway 27, and are then sequenced with all of the traffic coming from Spots 4 and 5 on Alpha. Whew!
FDX Ramp Tower "owns" Taxiway Victor between Sierra and Yankee during the midnight operaton, so I am not allowed to taxi into or through any of those "spots" or areas to get you moving. I must take you out via the taxiway immediately in front of your exit Spot.
Needless to say, I didn't do to well at mixing and matching my traffic at the intersection of Runway 27 and Taxiways Victor, Bravo, Yankee and Alpha.
To make matters worse, the midnight crew says that there's an incline coming out of the FDX ramp via Bravo, and they are reluctant to "hit the gap" with a Heavy aircraft with traffic inside of 3 - 4 miles on the final approach. At one point I had traffic waiting at 8W, 8E and several at 6... all waiting for a large enough gap that would allow me to cross Runway 27.
It was a tough night of training last night, but I experienced and learned quite a bit -- some of it at your expense. Hopefully tonight will be better.
MEM_ATC
03-15-2006, 08:13 PM
#19
Beverage Consultant
Joined APC: Nov 2005
Position: Bartender & cabana boy
Posts: 167
Originally Posted by MEM_ATC
Paper strips with your flight plan information start printing out 30 minutes prior to your proposed departure time. MEM_ATC
Hats off to those of you on the other end of the radio.
03-15-2006, 09:01 PM
#20
Organizational Learning
Joined APC: Nov 2005
Position: Directly behind the combiner
Posts: 4,948
Hey, I got 27 - - I was happy!
Seriously, it's a tough, tough job - - you guys do a great job. Just promise me this: before you get to the point where you've lost all your patience with imperfect, human, error-prone pilots just trying to do their best to stay awake at 3 AM and keep up with a series of "vias" and "hold shorts ofs", and when you're inclined to mix a little sarcasm and holier-than-thou bad attitude into the radio calls, just take a break. Just take a deep breath, and remember we're all in this thing together, and smile a little.
I'll make mistakes - - I hope you'll be tolerant.
You'll make mistakes - - I hope I'll be tolerant.
It only gets nasty when we start acting like we're better than the guy at the other end of the radio waves.
- The truth only hurts if it should -
Seriously, it's a tough, tough job - - you guys do a great job. Just promise me this: before you get to the point where you've lost all your patience with imperfect, human, error-prone pilots just trying to do their best to stay awake at 3 AM and keep up with a series of "vias" and "hold shorts ofs", and when you're inclined to mix a little sarcasm and holier-than-thou bad attitude into the radio calls, just take a break. Just take a deep breath, and remember we're all in this thing together, and smile a little.
I'll make mistakes - - I hope you'll be tolerant.
You'll make mistakes - - I hope I'll be tolerant.
It only gets nasty when we start acting like we're better than the guy at the other end of the radio waves.
- The truth only hurts if it should -
