BEHIND THE SCENES AT GATWICK AIRPORT - British Airways ...

ISSN 2045 - 1105Competitions | Screenshots | News | ReviewsReal Pilots Read...AIRWAYS80 YearsofGatwickOctober / November 2010Issue # 8www.bavirtual.co.uk Free...from the world of British Airways Virtual for the Virtual Pilot and Aviation EnthusiastBEHIND THE SCENES ATGATWICK AIRPORTLiam TallisJournal #2:Daylight DashAntonis CastrinakisVirtual ATCDaniel ParkinExpeditionTropic EagleDaniel MathaiDestination of the month: PaphosDaniel EdwardsTHE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF BRITISH AIRWAYS VIRTUAL

The TeamEditor: Christopher ElliottImage Editor: Neel PatelReviews Editor: Brendan FarmerNews Editor: Chris SiegristContributors: Antonis Castrinakis, Liam Tallis, Daniel Parkin,Daniel Mathai, Brendan Farmer, Daniel EdwardsLayout & Design: Christopher ElliottWebsite Maintenance: Alan HunterEditorial ContactEmail: airway@bavirtual.co.ukWebsite: www.bavirtual.co.uk/about/pressBAV DirectorsCEO: Stephen EllisACEO: Lee JamesHR: Tom MoseleyOperations: Florian HarmsTechnical: Adam Parnell and Alan HunterTraining: John Barnes and Stephen BellConsultants: Rob Parker, Stephen Ellis and Graham YoungSubmissionsAirways Magazine will happily accept and review forpublication all letters, photographs, screenshots, articles, orother contributions. However, we do not guaranteepublication. Airways Magazine is unable to return anysubmissions sent to us and we will not be responsible for theirloss. We will try and respond as soon as possible. Anythingsent to us will be assumed suitable for publication unless weare notified otherwise.CopyrightThe entire contents of Airways Magazine is © 2009 - 2010and no part of this magazine may be reproduced in any formor stored on a retrieval system without prior permission of thepublisher, BAV Publications.BAV Publications takes considerable care and attention toensure the accuracy of the information published in AirwaysMagazine; however, we cannot be held liable for any loss ordamage resulting either directly or indirectly from any error oromission. We are pleased to recognise all trademark andcopyright holders and try to where possible. If we make amistake or omission, let us know and we will correct it in thenext bi-monthly issue of Airways Magazine.LegalAirways Magazine is produced for British Airways Virtual andis completely independent. The thoughts, views and opinionsexpressed herein are not necessarily the thoughts, views andopinions of Airways Magazine or British Airways Virtual, it’sDirectors, Managers or Pilots.Airways Magazine is produced free of charge for the membersof British Airways Virtual, and all articles are freely submitted.The Editor of Airways Magazine reserves the right to changearticles for clarity provided that it does not alter theirMeaning.Airways Magazine is no official medium of British AirwaysPLC and any or all logos used herein are the property of theirrespective owners and used under strict permission. © AllRights Reserved.Any and all aviation advice, guidance, information, tips andtechniques contained herein are for the exclusive use ofVirtual Pilots within the environment of Microsoft FlightSimulator and as such are not to be used or attempted in areal world aviation environment under any circumstances.Front Cover Image: Copyright © Matt Dwww.airliners.net4 AIRWAYS magazine October/November 2010EditorChristopher ElliottLocation: UKEmail: airway@bavirtual.co.ukChris has been using flight simulators for 17 years sincethe early years of A320: USA Edition on the CommodoreAmiga 600. He moved onto MSFS in 1998 and now usesFSX. Back in the 1990’s, he went on work experience withBritish Airways and Air Canada, and he had two flying lessonsin a Cessna 150 and Grumman AA5A Cheetah.Chris is currently studying BA(Hons) English Literatureand Media Production. During his time at University, hehas worked as a runner on a music video shoot and hasvolunteered in PR. He has also published writing inpublications including Aviation News, True Detective,Blesmag and Writers’ Forum magazines.News EditorChris SiegristLocation: UK / SwitzerlandEmail: airways.news@bavirtual.co.ukChris has been flight “simming” for the past 5 years, whichincludes 1 year online. He is a regular traveler with BritishAirways. He has also had a full-motion flight simulatorexperience flying the Airbus A340-300.Chris is currently a student.He enjoys reading aviationrelated books and playing Tennis when he is not onFlight Simulator 2004.Image EditorNeel PatelLocation: UKEmail: airways.images@bavirtual.co.ukNeel has been involved in flight simulation since FS98where he only flew default aircraft. Neel started to take“Simming” more seriously with FS2004 and has sincelogged hundreds of hours on IVAO and VATSIM. Neelhas also acquired competent image editing skills.Neel said, “I have always been interested in aviation for aslong as I can remember. I will never forget the first time Isaw a British Airways Concorde fly over my house whilstplaying football in the garden. Since then, I have beeninto airline business and operations, technical aircraftinformation and anything aviation related!”In June 2010, he started taking flying lessons and has nowlogged a few hours as he works towards his PPL;realising his dream.Neel recently graduated from City University London.He is currently working as an Import/Export Manager for aPharmaceutical company.

Reviews EditorBrendan FarmerLocation: USAEmail: airways.reviews@bavirtual.co.ukBrendan has been involved in flight simulator for about10 years since FS98. He has gone on to accumulatethousands of hours on VATSIM and, more recently, onIVAO.Brendan is also a co-host on FSBreak. He isexperienced in reviewing flight sim add-ons.Brendan is also working toward his PPL; flying out ofPaine Field, WA. He has plans to persue a career inaviation after he finishes his studies.Contents:Regulars6 NEWS36 Screen-shots40 Competitions46 UK2000 Gatwick ReviewFeatures10 Gatwick Trip by Liam Tallis18 Journal #2 by Antonis Castrinakis30 Virtual ATC by Daniel Parkin42 Expedition Tropic Eagle by DanielMathai48 Destination of the Month: Paphosby Daniel EdwardsFollow us on...@airwaysmagAIRWAYS magazine October/November 2010 5

NEWSairways.news@bavirtual.co.ukUK2000 London HeathrowV2 ReleasedOn the 25th of August 2010, theUK2000 Scenery design teamreleased Heathrow Xtreme V2. So,what‘s new in version two?Terminal 5C with all stands(including the A380 ones!) havebeen added, some modificationshave been made to Terminal 5 A andB. The BA hangar has beendemolished, as well as Terminal 2.A new front has been added toTerminal 4, the ex-home of BritishAirways, and that’s just to mention afew!The UK2000 team has suggested100 FPS (!) is possible on modernPC’s with Microsoft Flight Simulator9 installed. With over half a millionpolygons, it’s surely one of the finestand most detailed sceneries forFlight Simulator.There’s one little contra (at thetime of writing): at the moment,there’s no AES support.Owners of the previous version areoffered a £5 upgrade to version two.The scenery is available throughtheir website here: http://www.uk2000scenery.com/newsite/default.htm, or through Simmarkethttp://secure.simmarket.comBA Welcomes the Boeing777-300EROn 10th of July 2010, the first of sixBoeing 777-300ER’s landed atCardiff - where British Airways hasits main maintenance facility.The aircraft arrived at 09:51 localtime. The aircraft was fitted withseats until it was ferried over to LHR(Heathrow) where the problems withthe new Thales IFE (In flightentertainment system) were fixed.On 31st of August, the first flightas BA139 took off to Mumbai/Bombay.The aircraft is being used onflights to Dubai, Mumbai/Bombay,Chicago and Delhi. The aircraft isfitted with 14 First Class seats, 56Club World (Business) seats, 44World Traveller Plus (PremiumEconomy) seats and 183 WorldTraveller (Economy) seats.At the time of writing, the sisteraircraft (G-STBB) was at Cardiff tobe fitted with the seats, IFE etc.,.Once G-STBC enters service, theaircraft will be solely used on theDubai and Delhi routes. The other 3aircraft are due to arrive in 2012.The next issue of Airways Magazine will be available in December 20106 Airways magazine October/November 2010

NEWSBritish Airways’ Share PriceRisingMicrosoft Flight...SecondVideo ReleasedIn August 2010, Microsoftannounced a new addition to theirflight simulator franchise, MicrosoftFlight.Microsoft released a short videoof the new product along with apress release stating the new versionwould be catering for "everyone" andwould be incorporating MicrosoftLive for "interactive onlineexperiences."Since then, a new video has beenreleased, which is available on theirwebsite. The video features somesky and pans down to some treesand the light, yellow aircraft passingoverhead. It looks good; however,so did FSX.Many community members havebeen speculating on what this newoffering will include, and whether ornot this version would be for serious"simmers." On a YouTube channel,FSProductions2010, they state that,"...it runs all FSX planes as well isDX11 and amazing on frames,"allegedly sourced from "a website;"although, the website wasn't stated.Whether this is true or not has yetto be seen. Emailing Microsoft, wegot this response, "Please refer to thewebsite for further information."Microsoft are clearly keeping a tightlid on this release with more teaservideos to come in the interim period.Watch the videos at: http://www.microsoft.com/games/flightBetween 2nd September and 1stOctober, investors have seen anincrease in the value of BA shares.Despite strike action, BA was ableto announce a profit and has sinceseen a positive step forward toward2011.The rise has been from 220.9p to242.4p over the period, which is a9.73% increase.The past month’s performance hasbeen continuing since 10th July. Thelast three month increase has beenfrom 188p to 242.4p. This is a28.94% increase over the last 3months.The transatlantic ticketing andrevenue sharing agreement withAmerican Airlines has finally beensigned, having been rejected twice,which should mean cost savings forthe group, which also includes Iberia.As 2011 looks promising, Brokersare reporting that BA shares may notbe for the “faint-hearted” but maystart to see a good return in 12months time.Airways magazine October/November 2010 7

NEWSRolls-Royce appoints newCEOJohn Rishton has been named as theincoming CEO of Rolls-Royce,taking over the company from JohnRose who will step down at the endof March.Rishton, already a non-executivedirector of the Rolls-Royce boardand head of the audit committee, iscurrently CEO of Royal Ahold, aDutch retail group. He was CFO atBritish Airways for four years, a keyRolls-Royce customer.Rishton takes over the enginemaker at a vital time for thebusiness, in particular in thecommercial aircraft engine domain.In the narrowbody market, Rolls-Royce faces a difficult period, havingfailed to secure a commitment for aits powerplant offering in the marketfor the coming years while Pratt &Whitney is moving forward on thegeared turbofan and CFMInternational has secured customerbacking for its Leap-X. Rolls-Royceis a key partner on the InternationalAero Engines V2500 program, butthe future of that partnership is indoubt given uncertainty over theroad forward.Additionally, developmentactivities for the TrentXWB for theAirbus A350 will be moving intohigh-gear just as Rishton takes over;Rolls will be looking to avoid someof the development glitches it hasrecently experienced with the Trent1000 for the Boeing 787.Rose has been at Rolls since 1984and CEO since 1996.BA paints last 757 in retro colour schemeBritish Airways is planning to retireits last Boeing 757-200 fromrevenue service on October 30,visiting Shuttle cities on the last day.An Ian Allan special enthusiastcharter flight from London toManchester is also being planned forNovember the 6 th . BA will paint thelast 757 in this delivery livery toAre we soon going to seewinglets on BA's B767s?British Airways is eager to upgradeits Boeing 767-300ERs withAviation Partners Boeing blendedwinglets, but needs to overcomecertification issues stemming fromthe engine fit on its fleet.Because BA’s 767s are Rolls-Royce RB211-powered, theapproved blended winglet retrofitdeveloped for the General ElectricandPratt & Whitney- poweredversions cannot be used due to thedifferent weight and installationcharacteristics of the Rolls engine.BA operates 21 of the 31 Rollspowered767s in service, while sevenare operated by Qantas and three bycelebrate over 17 years of faithfulservice. The last three 757scurrently in service are G-CPER, G-CPES and G-CPET (besides thoseoperated by OpenSkies).G-CPET (msn 29115) entered thepaint shop on 26th September 2010and rolled out at London (Heathrow)around October 3rd in the retrocolour scheme.China Eastern Airlines. BA CEOWillie Walsh says the airline isdiscussing with the manufacturers away forward to fund the design andcertification of a retrofit for the smallfleet of Rolls-Royce powered 767s inexistence.8 Airways magazine October/November 2010

“We had originally planned to phaseout our B767s in 2012, but becauseof the B787 delay, we are keepingthem until around 2015, which hasimproved the business case [forwinglets],” said Walsh.NEWSTakeover in the UKSeptember 21: UK regional airlineEastern Airways has bought AirSouth West from Sutton HarbourHoldings plc and will take overoperations in October.In the £2 million deal, Eastern willabsorb losses made by Air SouthWest, valued at £3.8 million. It willenable Eastern, based at HumbersideAirport, to open routes to Plymouth,Newquay and ten other UK, Irishand Channel Islands destinations.Commenting on the disposal ofAir South West, Michael Knight,Chairman of Sutton HarbourHoldings plc said, "Air South Westhas made an important contributionto the Group since its inception andwe look forward to seeing it continueto provide a valuable service to theregion. This disposal will bring to anend to the Group's exposure toairline trading losses which haveseverely impacted the Group'sfinancial results, particularly over thelast eighteen months."AA, BA AND IBERIA ANNOUNCE BETTER DEAL FORTRANSATLANTIC FLIERSMore access to cheaper fares,bigger choice of flight times andeasier connecting journeys willbecome reality for transatlantic flierswith the launch of the new jointbusiness between American Airlines,British Airways and Iberia.The CEOs of the three oneworld®airlines met in London on 6thOctober for the official start of thenew trilateral relationship, whichenables oneworld to compete farmore effectively with other globalalliances on routes between Europeand North America.American Airlines, British Airwaysand Iberia announced today fournew routes that will start from nextApril as an early benefit of the newjoint business. They are: New YorkJFK-Budapest and Chicago-Helsinki(operated by American), LondonHeathrow-San Diego (operated byBritish Airways) and Madrid-LosAngeles (operated by Iberia).The airlines have also placedcodeshares on a significant numberof additional routes, greatlyincreasing the number of destinationchoices available to customers.American will add its code to 322British Airways and Iberia flightsserving 101 destinations, BritishAirways will add its code to 2063American and Iberia flights serving181 destinations and Iberia will addits code to 354 American and BritishAirways flights serving 96destinations. There will be furtheropportunities to increase codesharesin the future. In total, customers willbe able to travel more easily on theairlines’ combined route networkwhich will serve more than 400destinations in 105 countries witharound 5,200 daily departures.Willie Walsh, chief executive ofBritish Airways, said: “Today’s routeannouncement is a great example ofhow by working together we canbenefit customers. Combined sellingand scheduling means that we willable to operate routes that wouldnot have been viable for us tooperate individually. This partnershipwill provide a one-stop shop fortransatlantic travel regardless of howyou book, which of our airlines youfly with or where you want totransfer.”Airways magazine October/November 2010 9

Behind thescenesatGatwick AirportSince Gatwick Airports’ humble beginnings 80 years ago, when Ronald Watersfirst licensed the airfield, Gatwick has grown into a busy, vibrant airport.Liam Tallis remembers his trip and guided tour...Some years ago, around 2003, the date having nowslipped my mind, I was much more involved withVATSIM-UK (or SATCO back then?). A few of uswho made Gatwick our regular controlling haunt wereoffered, I still to this day think, a once in a lifetimeopportunity. It was arranged that a small group(about 10 of us) would be taken on a behind thescenes guided tour of Gatwick airport by the (then)Managing Director, Roger Cato.We all arrived at the airport, at the designated timeand meeting place in the south terminal, withpassports in hand. After being checked by security, wewere issued our temporary airside passes, which Iassumed would allow us to be airside; but, only underthe supervision of someone in possession of a fullpass. The group was spilt up, one group visiting thetower and the other having an airside tour by car.I was in the group having the car tour first, and thefirst thing I noticed, while reviewing my pictures forthis piece, was that British Airways had a muchstronger presence at Gatwick back in the early 00’s.Much of the long haul operations since then havemoved to Heathrow, and a large number of the shorterflights have either moved to Heathrow or are nowcancelled.We were initially transported to the tower area, bybus, before being taken in a small airside car, whichnipped quickly around the airfield. We saw all theareas of the North and South terminals. I feltprivileged and excited to be getting up close andpersonal with the large aircraft for the first time.After our airside tour, we were further indulged bythe National Air Traffic Service with a guided tour ofthe control tower. Standing outside the tower, I wassurprised at how tall it was and I was pleased to findout that a rather rapid lift would be taking us to thetop.10 Airways magazine October/November 2010Image © Lee Shand

At the time, being part of VATSIM-UK, we were all interested to hearabout specific procedures at Gatwickand thinking about how we wouldtake them back to the virtual world.We were given demonstrations ofhow the radars worked, the weathersystem and even the runway lightingsystem!The final part of the day was at thefire training location near thethreshold of runway 08R. Weinspected the equipment used forfire training and fire fighting that wasbased at the airport. It wasreassuring to see the extensivetraining that the fire fighters undergoand the various situations they trainfor.To end our day, Gatwick providedlunch in a meeting room by theairport and we had time forreflections and questions with theAirport Manager. It was a great day,from a spotter’s point of view, andthe day was also informative aboutthe airports' future plans.My day was concluded with somefurther spotting at the viewinggallery, on the South Terminal roof.If anyone is in the position of beingable to organise, or attend such aday for members of the virtualaviation community, then do makesure you try to go as it is such anenlightening experience for those ofus who do not work with aircraft ona daily basis.History1937Gatwick became the nineteenthElementary and Reserve FlyingTraining School in the country.Airwork Ltd moved in from Heston,having been displaced from theredue to lack of space. Thismaintenance company brought withthem its contract to maintain Whitleybombers for the RAF and, along withSouthern Aircraft, became a vitalcomponent of the RAF'smaintenance operations in WWII.1939 - 1945During the Second World War, theairport was requisitioned by the AirMinistry for use by the RAF, its areawas later extended by furtherrequisitioning to include part ofGatwick Racecourse.1946Gatwick was retained underrequisition and operated for civilianuse by the Ministry of Civil Aviationwith a small number of charterairlines using the airport.1952The Government gave approval forthe proposed development ofGatwick as an alternative toHeathrow.1956Gatwick closed in March 1956 andbuilding began on 'the new LondonAirport'.Gatwick Airport ConsultativeCommittee, an independent forum ofall interested parties concerned withAirways magazine October/November 2010 11

the development and operation ofthe airport, met for the very firsttime in 1956. The committee stillplays a pivotal consultative role onairport issues today.The new Gatwick Airport was builtin two and three-quarter yearscosting £7.8 million.1958Her Majesty The Queen officiallyopened Gatwick Airport on 9 June1958.A 1958 Evening Standard featureabout the newly built airportmarvelled at the new 'finger and gate'system (piers and gaterooms) whichwould enable passengers to wait inone place until called to theiraircraft, rather than walk or take abus.Gatwick was the first airport in theworld to combine air, rail and roadtransport in a close-knit single unit.The first airline to operate out ofGatwick in 1958 was Transair and inthe first seven months of operating,186,172 passengers used the airport- Gatwick now welcomes that manypassengers in one busy weekend.1959Passenger figures grew to 368,000,still less than a busy week in SouthTerminal today.1962Work began on enlarging the airport- the terminal was doubled in sizeand two more piers were built.1964The runway was extended to 8,200feet to accommodate the growingnumber of jet aircraft using Gatwick.1967-1968Passenger figures exceeded 2 millionfor the first time and the new officeblock was constructed above theterminal building.1970-1973The runway was extended to 9,075feet in 1970 and again in 1973 to10,165 feet (today it is 3,256 metresin length).1977Pier 2 was opened. It was extendedin 1984, providing extra jetty-servedstands.1982Pope John Paul II flew into Gatwickon the first Papal visit to the UK.1983The Satellite Pier was officiallyopened by Lavinia, Duchess ofNorfolk. The satellite replaced theold North Pier and incorporated thefirst rapid transit system of its kindoutside the USA. Work also beganon building a second terminal. TheNorth Terminal was to be the largestsingle construction project south ofLondon to have taken place in the1980's - the main building isapproximately six times the size ofthe Royal Albert Hall.1984InterCity launched its non-stopGatwick Express rail service fromVictoria.The new Air Traffic Control Towerwas built and officially opened byPrincess Michael of Kent - the toweris still among the tallest in Europe.1985Construction began on the newnorthern runway, which would beused as alternative to the mainrunway in case of emergencies.Pier 1 is the only part of the presentday South Terminal that dates backto the original building in 1958. Acomplete modernisation buildingprogramme was finished in 1985 torefurbish the pier.In July 1985, British AirwaysConcorde made its first evercommercial flight from Gatwick.1987BAA Plc, of which Gatwick AirportLtd is a wholly owned subsidiary,was floated on the stock exchange.1.35 million people purchasedshares in the company.12 Airways magazine October/November 2010

1988The £200 million North Terminalwas officially opened by Her MajestyThe Queen and The Duke ofEdinburgh.1991A second pier was opened at NorthTerminal providing pier-servedstands for 11 aircraft.1994The new North TerminalInternational Departures Lounge andthe first phase of the new SouthTerminal International DeparturesLounge opened. The investment forboth the lounges was £30 million.1998British Airways introduced the firstBoeing 777 to their fleet at Gatwick.2000BAA Gatwick launched its groundbreakingSustainable DevelopmentStrategy, which, following threeyears close consultation with localauthorities and communities aroundGatwick, outlines how the airportshould develop during the next tenyears.A £29.5m extension to theinternational department lounge inthe South Terminal was opened,offering increased seating capacityand new shops and restaurants.A new extension to the NorthTerminal international departurelounge was opened, a £35mdevelopment which offerspassengers extra seating and a widerrange of shops and catering facilities.2004The new Pier 6 Air Bridge spanningTaxiway Lima was positioned andlifted into position by a fleet ofmassive cranes over the weekend of22nd/23rd May 2004 and'christened' by a specially positionedBA 747-400 G-CIVM on Thursday27th May 2004. There is a 2.5 meterclearance for a 747-400 tail fin.2005The new Pier 6 Air Bridge wasofficially opened on May 16th byAlistair Darling MP.Awards2001Gatwick Airport won 'Top UKAirport' award by Travel Bulletin2003Gatwick Airport was voted 'Best UKAirport' by approx. 900 travel agentsand tour operators in the 2003Travel Awards.Airways magazine October/November 2010 13

Achievements• 6th busiest international airport• Busiest single runway airport• UK's second largest airport• Passengers per year: 30 million• Airlines: 70• Destinations: 200• Terminals: 2Breaking News: A380 Operations ApprovedGatwick Airport has been granted planning permissionby Crawley Borough Council to operate the new AirbusA380 aircraft. £43 million has already been invested insix new large aircraft stands, two of which canaccommodate the A380, helping Gatwick to compete onan equal footing with other London airports for longhaulcarriers operating the super jumbo.Flying on a double decker jumbo to far flung places isconsidered a ’must’ experience for many passengers, butcurrently Heathrow is the only London airport tooperate scheduled A380 flights. This reduces the choiceavailable to many leisure and business travellers forwhom Gatwick is their local airport. And, with its nonstopGatwick Express to Victoria, Gatwick is easily thebest connected airport to central London, which is a keyrequirement for the tourist and business traveller comingto the UK.Now that Gatwick has the go-ahead to commerciallyoperate the A380 it can ramp up its discussions withairlines that currently operate them and with airlineswhich have placed orders for them.If Gatwick can bring this next generation aircraft to theairport long-haul passengers will have, for the first timeever, a real choice of which London airport to fly from.Stewart Wingate, Gatwick Airport CEO said: “TheAirbus A380 represents the future of long-haul aviation.It’s modern, more efficient and uses less fuel perpassenger and we want Gatwick to be at the centre ofthis exciting new era of long-haul travel.“We are pouring £1 billion into Gatwick to improve theinfrastructure, modernise the airport facilities, improvecustomer service, bolster the rail links and drivecompetitive rates for airlines to encourage morepassengers and airlines to the airport. If we can bring theA380 and other large aircraft to Gatwick, passengers willhave even more reason to choose to fly to and from ourairport and help us on our journey to becoming theLondon airport of choice.”Under new ownership, Gatwick is targeting growth toat least 40 million passengers per year by 2018 – anincrease of 20% from its current 32.5 million passengersper year. Operating larger aircraft is one way in whichGatwick plans to drive traffic at the airport.14 Airways magazine October/November 2010

Gatwick 2010 Traffic Performance Summary:Average passenger load factors reach a record highTotalterminalpassengers000sMarketcomparison:Sep-10 Sep-09 Growth(%)Oct-09 Sep-10 Oct-08 Sep-09 Growth(%)3,206.9 3,291.8 -2.6 31,294.7 32,199.5 -2.2UK +ChannelIslands331.2 337.1 -1.8 3,565.4 3,619.9 -1.5Ireland 108.5 121.1 -10.4 1,261.1 1,444.5 -12.7EuropeanscheduledEuropeancharterNorthAtlanticOther longhaulAir transportmovementsCargo(metrictonnes)1,580.9 1,623.3 -2.6 15,159.5 14,963.7 1.3638.6 684.2 -6.7 4,904.5 5,340.9 -8.2183.2 185.8 -1.4 1,902.2 2,342.7 -18.8364.5 340.3 7.1 4,702.0 4,487.8 4.822,428 25,563 -4.8 236,077 244,621 -3.58,220 5,959 37.9 101,642 73,725 37.9Note: Origins and destinations are classified according to ultimate origin or destination of aircraft in the case of multisectorflights.Note: Figures for the market sectors have been rounded. Totals as per traffic summary.Airways magazine October/November 2010 15

#2by Antonis Castrinakis

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Virtual AirTrafficControlAs a high proportion of British Airways Virtual pilots fly online using the twoavailable networks, Daniel Parkin explains about the tools that online controllerson VATSIM use and what they see...First let's briefly cover the positions that controllers canoccupy and their areas of responsibility.XXXX_DEL:(GMP)Delivery or Ground Movement PlanningResponsible for issuing IFR clearances which includeschecking the cruise altitude for the flight and that theSID departure point is valid. Delivery will also assign adiscrete Squawk Code based on your destination, whichis used for onward identification.XXXX_GND: Ground or Ground Movement Control(GMC)Responsible for managing push backs and for safeaircraft handling on the ground. If Delivery is not online,Ground is also responsible for all their duties as well.XXXX_TWR: Tower or AIRResponsible for the active runway(s) and an area of 2nmbased on the centre of the longest runway, up to 2000ft(or the top of their airspace in busy areas). This meansthat the Tower controller is responsible for aircraft in theVFR circuit and VFR aircraft entering the zone. Alsoresponsible for Ground and Delivery if they are notonline (yes that means it can get very busy).XXXX_APP: Approach or “Director”Responsible for aircraft arriving at the Aerodromeconcerned. Aircraft will be vectored onto an approachfor the active runway before being handed off to Tower.Director can be responsible for departing aircraft if thereis no upper controller online, or if local proceduresdemand it. Also responsible for Tower, Ground andDelivery if they are not online.30 Airways magazine October/November 2010

XXXX_CTR: Control or CentreAn enroute controller who can also have top-downresponsibility for the aerodromes in their sector.As you can see VATSIM operate a top-down structurewhere the absence of one controller means that pilotsshould contact the next controller up in the hierarchy. Ifno controller is online pilots on VATSIM use “UNICOM”a text only, global frequency that can be used to declareintentions when there may be potential conflict withother aircraft.All the controllers will have passed some sort ofcompetency check to control on their position so anenroute controller will be very experienced withhundreds of hours under their belt. Other letters in theposition name may indicate a specific area ofresponsibility e.g. EGLL_N_TWR, NY_CMR_APP, etc.The SoftwareJust like the pilot client software, controller software isspecifically developed for VATSIM and available free ofcharge. Most commonly used are VRC (Virtual RadarClient) and Euro Scope. Whilst Euro Scope is the mostrecent program to appear both clients aims to simulatereal radar scopes. This software connects to the sameservers that pilots use and also link to Team Speak voiceroom for VoIP communications between controllers andpilots.What we seePreviously is a screenshot taken whilst using Euro Scopeto control EGLL_S_TWR during the VATSIM-UK OpenSkies event in September. Controllers at Heathrow onVATSIM use a set of files specifically designed forHeathrow based on real world displays and that aredifferent for each position. Above is a ground plan withstand numbers and the yellow icons are obviouslyaircraft with their call sign and orientation. The yellowoutlines show the area my position is responsible for, inthis case the southern runway and the ILS sensitive areasat each end.The list on the right shows controllers online withstations displayed based on their visibility. As a Towercontroller at Heathrow I can't see whether ManchesterTower is online but I can see Bremen or Oslo Centres(Centres have their “visibility” set higher so they in turncan see aircraft over a larger area). Next to that are thecall signs of aircraft connected to my frequency – just theone in this screenshot, Olympic 87 Golf.The list on the left in grey shows departing aircraft withtheir call sign, aircraft type and weight category, whetherthey are VFR or IFR, their status, cruise flight level,destination, departure runway, Standard InstrumentDeparture, initial altitude (nearly always 6000ft fromHeathrow) and their assigned Squawk Code (blank ifthey are squawking the correct one). It's a large amountof information but helps with clearances, taxiing and coordinationwith other controllers – when using EuroScope all controllers can see the same information. Alsoon that list is a “Scratchpad” that we use for relevantinformation, in this case taxi hold points - /PLUTO is“hold PLUTO”. An excellent aide memoir when busyand, as mentioned, good for coordination with othercontrollers. Aircraft drop off this list as they depart.The list in the middle is for arriving aircraft and is mainlyused to assign stands as aircraft arrive.Airways magazine October/November 2010 31

Below is the other display I will have open whencontrolling on Heathrow Tower. Each controller has theirown setup but I run this on my other monitor so I havegood awareness of ground movement and aircraftarriving and departing – remember I may be controllingthe entire aerodrome.aircraft on approach, CSA650 and about 2(!)Milesbehind him Speedbird 735.Both are squawking mode “Charlie” - if there weren'tthey'd only appear as a small “+” sign with no otherinformation, not even altitude - and the history dots tellus the direction of flight and, to an extent, speed.CSA650 is at Altitude 1,600ft and descending.Speedbird 735 is at Altitude 3,000ft and descending.Both have submitted flight plans with their destination asHeathrow, “LL”. The spoke circle is another aircraft,possibly on the ground but due to its position probablycrossing London above FL80. As a Tower controller I'mnot interested in traffic that high so details aren't given toavoid clutter.The settings for this screen mean that aircraft on theground only appear as circles with spokes, I'm not reallyinterested in that information. What I am interest in hereare the aircraft on approach and, to a certain extent,departing. In this scenario departing aircraft may becomea factor if I get a Go Around. In that case I need tocoordinate with EGLL_N_TWR (departures) andEGLL_N_APP (Director who will handle the aircraftnext).Below is a screenshot from a slightly different setup thatI use for Gatwick Director:Let's have a better look at what I can see on this screen.From a different point during the night here are two32 Airways magazine October/November 2010

This is Speedbird 8040 at FL161, heading towardsGatwick (EGKK). The other data shows the assigned FL,ground speed in knots (N375), any Assigned Headingand any Assigned Speed. The information in this datablock can be quickly and easily manipulated in line withgiven ATC instructions. Different controllers will useslightly different set ups according to their personalpreference or the area that they cover but theinformation imparted is very similar. As you can seefrom all the screenshots shown, we can see exactlywhere you are and what you're doing!Your Flight planFinally here is a screen shot of something I will useregularly as an Aerodrome controller. Whilst the radarclients have many other functions, far too many to coverin this article, here is one of the windows that is relevantto pilots. This is how the flight plan you submit looks inEuro Scope:As you can see it mirrors the information pilots input,even including your estimated time of departure, fuelendurance and all the remarks you add. The remarks youput in your flight plan are easily accessible and throughthis page controllers can also edit your flight plan ifnecessary. Also it is not necessary to put your SID orSTAR in. This flight plan has LOGAN as its finalwaypoint and Euro Scope has extrapolated that data intoa LAM3A arrival something that cuts down on thecontroller's workload.In summary, I hope this brief guide has given you aninsight into the information an online controller has attheir fingertips. The software we use means we can makethe ATC experience “as real as it gets” within the limitsof Flight Sim (scenery, squawk modes, etc.) and byhaving an appreciation of what controllers see I hope itmakes you as BAV members more active and skilledonline pilots. If you would like to start flying online orwant to know more about Air Traffic Control there is awealth of knowledge within BAV as well as on thewebsites of the two online networks. The environmentthat is created by flying with real people means thatmany who start flying online never look back.Airways magazine October/Nov ember 2010 33

Screen-ShotsImages.airways@36 Airways magazine October/November 2010

avirtual.co.ukScreen-ShotsAirways magazine October/November 2010 37

On-board the BA Airbus A320byDaniel Danhammer

Real Pilots Read...AIRWAYSmagazine...from the world of British Airways Virtual for the Virtual Pilot and Aviation Enthusiast!!Congratulations!!UK2000 SceneryWINNER

CompetitionsAugusts’ Crossword Answers:40 Airways magazine October/November 2010

CompetitionsThe Ebaft (www.ebaft.com) SummerSimulator Competition 2010The Winner is...Daniel Mathai, BAW1190!!!Congratulations Daniel!!Daniel has won a one hour experience in either the B747 or B777 full-motion simulatorsat British Airways Flight Training near Heathrow Airport worth £449The UK2000 Scenery OctoberScreen-shot CompetitionThe Winner is...Kamil Stankowski BAW922!!Congratulations Kamil!!Kamil has won a UK2000 Sceneryof his choiceThe SimTouch (www.simtouch.eu)October Screen-shot CompetitionThe Winner is...David Saunders BAW1066!!Congratulations Dave!!David has won a GPS Sat-Nav withSimTouch Mobile installedAirways magazine October/November 2010 41

ExpeditionTropicsEagleAs being members of the Air Training Corps based at 86 Squadron (Heston &Isleworth), Daniel Mathai and Manpreet Settie, amongst twenty other cadetsbased around the country, received the wonderful opportunity to take part inthe trip of a lifetime...an expedition to Borneo, a large island in South East Asiashared by Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei.The day before our departure out of London'sHeathrow Airport, I had my kit ready and packed andspent the night at an RAF base in Uxbridge with theother cadets where we received more uniform whichthen had to be tightly squeezed into my extremely heavyrucksacks. After messing around during the night Iluckily managed to get around four hours worth of sleepand before I knew it I was back on my feet taking the kitdown to the coach. Before we went anywhere, we had apleasant full-English breakfast along with my first dose ofanti-malarial tablets and then it was on the coach off toHeathrow Airport. We checked into Singapore Airlines,roamed around the airport for a while until it was time toboard the aircraft.The flight time onboard the superjumbo A380 wasaround twelve hours to Singapore where we thenhopped onto a smaller sized aircraft for the final leg toBorneo which was approximately 2 hours long. Whenwe reached Borneo it was late in the afternoon howeverthe strong heat and the sense of high humidity could befelt the moment I stepped out of the airport. We werethen introduced to our guides from 'Asia-Ability.' Ijumped onto the luxurious coach which took us to ourplace of residence which was at the Adventure Centre.We were introduced to our hammocks which we had tosetup ourselves straight away before the sunset. Iseemed to settle to the new environment prettyquickly....apart from the heat.The next day we had a small walk around the villageand also began our Jungle training. We were taken to asmaller version of the jungle we were going to becamping in order to be taught how to light our own fires,tie our hammocks to trees, purify water, and set-up ourcampsite. Manpreet threw up at this part possiblybecause of change in water, food, heat or a side-effect tothe tablets!After a good nights rest, we began our Jungle Trek.This lasted three days and two nights and was one of themost tiring bits of the entire expedition. However,before we went deep in the jungle, we visited a schoolwhere the small children were overwhelmed to see ourpresence as we handed them stationary and toys. Withseveral group photos at the end, we continued on to theactual trek.The trek literally involved walking from one end to theother end of a jungle; however, it wasn't flat terrain.There were parts that felt like we were climbing amountain as we had to rock climb flat against a steepwall of mud as well as having a 15KG rucksacks behindus.42 Airways magazine October/November 2010

Setting up the campsite wasn't easy since the changebetween day to night was extremely quick! Also, duringthe times we were setting up our hammocks, theheavens opened up and it began to rain like it had neverrained before! We were told that there would only be a5% chance of seeing a snake, and to our luck wemanaged to see three! What were the odds of that?Manpreet also saw a giant centipede, which we laterrealised was very dangerous! I ended up throwing up andcollapsing on a steep climb uphill; however, I managedto recover after a short while.The food was 'bearable,' in my opinion, however, sincewe were all so tired and hungry we could eat absolutelyanything! So everything tasted great! One night I hadaccidently left biscuits in my pocket and the following Iwas welcomed with a large troop of ants over mytrousers...hundreds if not thousands!!!Everyone gave 200% on the final day knowing therewere only three bridges to cross until the end. Everyonekept that in mind which motivated them as they keptlooking out for a bridge.After I struggled to cross the final bridge, I was greetedwith cold drinks a nice lie down under the shade. Wethen progressed onto one of the activities we all lookedforward to: White Water Rafting. We got changed intoour swimming trunks, put on our life floats, strapped onour helmets and grabbed a paddle each. We were thenplaced into random rafting boats in groups of six alongwith one instructor. We faced calm water, wonderfulrapids and water fights with the other boats. And somepoints we grouped up together to drench a chosen boat.Some instructors even decided to throw cadets off justfor a laugh!That night, we went back to the Adventure Centre andI was so glad to be back to somewhere I would rathercall 'home' for now. Later on, we were briefed on ourcommunity project for the next day which was a two dayprocess. The task involved refurbishing a huge bridgewhich the local villagers, including school children use tocross the river on a daily basis.The next day, we woke up bright and early, enjoyed alovely breakfast before heading out into the scorchinghot sun. Manpreet and I had several jobs that day, butout main job was being a transporter. This involvedcarrying large pieces of wood over to the bridge wherethe other cadets would arrange and nail them onto thebridge. In the heat, this wasn't easy. After the woodtransporting was complete, we the cleared up one end ofthe bridge from all rubbish and old wood so that itwould look neat for the opening ceremony. With thehelp of the local villagers, the bridge had beencompleted and was ready to be opened to the public thevery next afternoon. We stood, waiting for his arrival in acadet manner and once he arrived he gave his speechand provided us with certificates, which was thenfollowed by the cutting of the red ribbon.I was pleased to take part in a remembrance parade toremember the Sandakan Death Marches where 470prisoners of war were forced to march thought thejungle until they eventually died. Air Cadet reefs werelaid in remembrance of those who died for us. Lest WeForget.The next stage of the expedition was the nervouslyanticipatedclimb of Mount Kinabalu. The 4095m(13,435ft) beast of a mountain is not completed easilyand requires two full days of climbing at high altitude.The team all completed the first day well. It was tough,but everyone got up to the Laban Rata mountain hut at3200m high. After dinner, we all went to bed ready forthe summit ascent at 02:00 the next morning. The nextday, with our head torches on, we plodded on further uptowards Low’s Peak - the summit of Mt. Kinabalu.Finally hitting the top in time for sunrise, we arrived togreat open views of N.E. Borneo. The final push to thesummit was incredibly hard since oxygen levels were solow, however, all apart from six people couldn't make itto the top due to altitude sickness. I suffered from severechest pains however I couldn't let this stop me fromreaching the peak so I didn't tell anyone. However, laterAirways magazine October/November 2010 43

on I then had problems during the descent. The scarypart was the descent from the peak. We had to hold onto ropes and walk backwards while bits of rock werechipping away beneath our feet. It was incredibly scaryfrom my point of view.Our expedition was now over, and to end it after all thepain we went through we stayed at a hotel in Borneowhere we got to roam around the city. We then travelledback to Singapore where we stayed at the York Hotelwhich was a four star hotel. We were also greeted withthe news of the volcanic ash cloud closing UK airspace.We were stuck in Singapore. As we enjoyed our final dayin Singapore many were still worried due to exams. Thestaff was also quite tensed since we didn't have a hoteland were most likely going to be sleeping at the airport.However, luckily, at the last minute, since we were a partof a military based organisation, we were givenpermission to stay at a U.S Marine Base. The roomswere impressive and although meals had to be cookedourselves, we were very thankful to be staying in a ratherluxurious base.On Wednesday 21st April 2010, we were woken upand told that we had to be ready with our kit packedwithin twenty minutes. There was a sudden rush and wewere all downstairs awaiting a group meeting by one ofthe Officers. We were told of the good news that weremost likely going home today and that this we shouldexpect to land at Heathrow Airport at around 21.00.With a few delays before departure and en-routeturbulence and an extremely hard landing at Heathrow,everyone was glad that they could see their familiesagain and had made it back in time for their exams.44 Airways magazine October/November 2010

Reviews.airwaysReview:UK2000 SceneryGatwick (EGKK)Uk2000 have been producing top quality UK airports forFS9 and FSX for years. Brendan Farmer reviews one oftheir popular titles, Gatwick Xtreme...Gatwick Airport was built in the early part of the 20 thCentury starting as a small airfield owned by RedwindAircraft Company. They operated a flight school atGatwick. It didn’t take long for Gatwick to start beingserviced by commercial flights. In the year 1933 it wasapproved for commercial travel and Hillman’s Airwaysstarted service to Belfast and Paris from Gatwick.However in ’46 after the end of World War II Gatwickwas decommissioned but still provided charter andmaintenance and charter services. Gatwick reopened in1958 and only grew from there to what it is today. In2008 it was ranked the 28 th busiest airport and moreimpressively the 8 th largest in Europe in terms ofpassenger traffic. There are plans to expand Gatwick inthe form of another runway and/or a new passengerterminal. But for the time being Gatwick still remainsone of the busiest single runway airports in commercialaviation.But what about the UK2000’s representation ofLondon’s Gatwick Airport? UK2000 Scenery is knownfor quality, this cannot be doubted. Water is wet, the skyis blue and Gary Summons makes some of the bestscenery for the UK in Flight Simulation. This is just factand no avid simmer with an eye for quality will deny it.To really, accurately give opinion on this scenery it willbe best to discuss it as a function of several parts, liketexturing, performance etc.A close friend of mine once said that the scenery at thearrival and departure airport make the flight. Scenery isperhaps the signal greatest enhancer to FlightSimulation; it makes airports look like airports, ratherthan yellow and black uniform texture buildings. Andwithout a doubt the biggest portion of the scenery arethe qualities of textures. Day time textures in UK2000Gatwick are very good. This scenery is a little bit on theolder side, so the textures will not be of the quality thatother modern Flight Sim sceneries. But this doesn’tmean that the textures are bad, quite the oppositeactually. Through a bit of investigative work it seemsthat all the building textures are saved in a 256x25616bit format. That doesn’t sound high quality and itreally is not. But the ground textures that make the lookand feel of the airport are all saved in great, 1024x102432bit quality. Past the techno babble, I’m sure peoplewant to know how the textures look in the Simulator.Perfectly fine is the answer. The buildings do honestlylook lower res that what simmers would expect46 Airways magazine October/November 2010

@bavirtual.co.ukbut this trades off to better performance. The taxiwaymarkings are all clear and look good, as do otherfeatures like hold short lines. That is the day lighting, butwhat about night lighting? Night lighting is done inUK2000 Gatwick very well. This scenery, unlike somany others gets that very weird Sodium lighting justright. Sodium lighting is the artificial yellow lighting seenat almost every airport during the night. The othernotable thing about the night textures is how well theSodium lights at the gates blend to the darker parts ofthe scenery. It is a great, gradient that fades out. This ismuch better than a lot of sceneries and really showssome skill at texturing. Overall the night lighting is verypleasing and makes this a great airport to fly into duringthe night and day.Another very important part of any scenery is how itperforms. No one is going to want to fly at an airport if ittanks peoples frame rates. Thankfully this is not an issuewith UK2000 Gatwick. Partly as a function of the texturequality mentioned earlier, this scenery is very frame ratefriendly. Using the default Cessna 172 in FS9 this is howUK2000 Gatwick stacks up.Scenery – Frames Per Second (Avg. Daytime)Fly Tampa KSEA – 55FPSFSDreamteam KJFK – 40FPSUK2000 EGLL v2 – 43FPSUK2000 EGKK – 57FPSNot only does the scenery give good frames, it does notstutter when textures load which keeps the experiencenice and fluid. Even more, After operating out ofUK2000 Gatwick several dozen times I have neverexperienced a CTD or scenery related crash of thesimulator.There is also a bunch of great, smaller things that addto the experience. One of which is the amount of trafficat the gates. Traffic meaning airport vehicles and movingcars. Seeing catering trucks driving around, buses takingpassengers to other gates, pushback tugs going to pushout airplanes, it all adds up a very immersive groundenvironment at the gate. Not only this, but when at thegate the jetway extends out to the aircraft and baggagetrucks come greet the airplane by attaching them to thebaggage doors. Although cool, this does not work 100%of the time. For example, the Wilco 737 PIC seems towork fine and is gladly accepted by the gate crews.However the Project Opensky 777 does not work aswell. One other really neat feature is the ability to seelittle silhouettes of people walking. This is reallynoticeable in the air bridge and terminal areas. Reallyadds to the feel that the airport is alive and reallyfunctioning.This brings up another point, the lack of AES (AirportEnhancement Services by Aerosoft) support. No AESwork has been done for this scenery and it does notappear that there are plans to include UK2000 Gatwickin future updates for AES.Having never been to Gatwick myself I cannot speakdirectly to how this scenery compares to the real dealbut from comparing to pictures taken in real life,UK2000 Gatwick seems to get it right. All the terminalbuildings are accurately modeled and look good. One ofthe nicest touches is the animated traffic one seesbehind the terminals and on the roads. Much like thesilhouettes this really adds to the feel that the airport isalive and nothing is more immersive than that.In the end, UK2000 Gatwick is a great piece scenery. Ifone can look past some lower quality textures on thebuildings and no AES support, one finds an incrediblyimmersive and pleasing scenery. It includes greatphotoreal textures for the immediate surrounding area,great runway and taxiway textures. It performs great andit very stable. I highly recommend UK2000 Gatwick toall.Airways magazine October/November 2010 47

Destination of theMonth: Paphosby F/O Daniel EdwardsCyprus, the birthplace of Greek Goddess of love andbeauty Aphrodite, is the third largest island in theMediterranean. Rich in history, the earliest knownhuman activity on the island dates back to around the10th millennium BC. Archaeological remains from thisperiod include the well-preserved Neolithic village ofChoirokoitia which has beendeclared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, alongwith the Tombs of the Kings. Over its history, Cyprushas been invaded and occupied by several majorpowers, including the empires of the Hittites,Assyrians, Egyptians, Persians, Rashiduns, Umayyads,Lusignans, Venetians and Ottomans. Today, however,during the summer months it tends to be occupied bylarge numbers of British, German and Russian touristsseeking some summer sun. That being said, in manyplaces Cyprus shuts down for winter as otherdestinations are more popular for winter sun. I amsure this will change in a few years time when theeconomy recovers and people have more disposableincomes to second holidays. Although the averagehigh in summer can top 35 degrees Celsius, in wintermost days reach a high of 20 degrees but it can, anddoes, suffer from the odd rain shower. For a countrythat enjoys such hot, warm summers, it's a surprisinglygreen island.Since Cyprus joined the EU in 2004 the number offlights and tourists visiting the island has increaseddramatically. I used to holiday in Cyprus nearly eversummer with my parents when I was a child and it's acountry that I hold very dear to my heart and it's oneof the major reasons that flights to Paphos are my topbid every month!It's as close to long-haul as you can get for the 737fleet at Gatwick. It is the longest flight we serve on the737 with a block time of 4 hours 30 minutes on theoutbound leg and 4 hours 45 minutes for the returnsector. The usual outbound route takes out overDover, across the North Sea towards Brussels, intoGermany towards BOMBI intersection located almostdirectly above Frankfurt Main airport, then the routetakes a more southerly track towards Munich,Salzburg, some spectacular views across the Alps intothe Balkans with a routing near to Ljubliana, Zagreb,Sarajevo and Belgrade and then into Greek airspacebefore reaching TOMBI intersection, the boundarybetween Turkish airspace and Cypriot airspace.Because a conflict in 1974 Turkish-Cypriot relationsare, to cut a long story short, not great. The ATC unitsdo not coordinate with each other so the workloadbegins to ramp up just before we start our descenttowards Paphos.10 minutes prior to reaching TOMBI intersection,the P2 will call Nicosia on the second radio box toinform them of our estimated arrival time at TOMBItogether with our requested flight level. Nicosia inreturn give us a squawk code to set when overheadTOMBI. Not48 Airways magazine October/November 2010

long after, Istanbul will hand us over to Ercan who seemto serve merely as an intemediary between Turkey andCyprus. They offer no clearances, or at least if they tryto we are to recommended to refuse them by our RouteInformation Manual. Overhead TOMBI, Ercan hand usover to Nicosia and after changing our squawk code wecheck in with Nicosia stating our callsign, position, flightlevel and squawk code. Only a few minutes pass beforethe FMC lets us know that it's time to descend. Nicosiausually give a clearance to descend to FL110.There are a few quirks about operating into Paphos,but it is still a relatively straight forward destination tooperate into. When British Airways began to servePaphos with its own aircraft after the franchise with GBAirways finished, the flights departed Gatwick late inthe evening and arrived into Paphos shortly aftermidnight. The runway lighting is, to put it politely,appalling. There are only threshold lights and edgelights and the approach lighting is almost non-existant.There is a big feeling of descending towards a big blackhole. Fortunately, the flights have been retimed andnow arrive into Paphos mid-afternoon. The airport islocated very close to the coastline and experiences asteady sea breeze during the daytime that's just aboutstrong enough to preclude a landing with a tailwindonto runway 11. Only runway 29 has an ILS, the onlyinstrument approach to runway 11 is a VOR/DMEprocedure. If the weather is good enough, a visualcircuit to runway 29 is a good chance to practice yourhandling skills and it gives some great views of Paphoson the left-hand side just before turning downwind. Ifthe weather is not good enough for a visual circuit,Paphos airport does not have radar and therefore theILS approach to runway 29 must be flown procedurally.The procedural ILS approach requires being overheadthe airfield at 5,000ft for an 8nm outbound leg. Theplatform altitude of the approach is just 2,100ft. Themaximum speed during the procedure turn is 200 knotsfor a good reason. Terrain rises steeply from the coaston the extended centerline to just above 1,400ft. Lessthan 5nm to the north of the extended centreline theterrain rises up to 2,500ft. With a low platform altitude,forgetting to arm VOR/LOC or flying through theextended centreline could be disasterous. The ILS has aregular 3 degree glideslope to a runway with a landingdistance of 2699 metres.Slowing the aircraft down sufficiently after landing bytaxiway Hotel is difficult unless you're very light as fromthe beginning of the touchdown zone to taxiway Hotelis actually shorter than the runway in Jersey! ATC areusually very pro-active at Paphos though and will offer abacktrack to vacate via Hotel, or if preferred you canroll to the end of the runway and vacate at taxiwayAlpha and taxi along the parallel before crossing therunway to get to the Apron. Taxiway Hotel is perhapsthe bumpiest taxiway I have ever used, it is a good timeto remind the passengers that they should remainseated until the seat belt signs are switched off, it isuncomfortable sitting down, standing up withoutstumbling would be quite an achievement! Fortunatelythe apron was extended within the last decade and is ofa good quality with newly painted centreline and standmarkings. There are no on-pier stands at Paphos andparking positions can vary depending upon local levelsof traffic but typically BA aircraft are parked at theeastern end of the Apron relatively close to theTerminal building.If you've never visited Paphos on flightsim, I'dthoroughly recommend it and it's one that our mediumhaullovers will enjoy. You'll have to get in quickthough, BA has unfortunately decided that Paphos willbecome a summer-only destination and the last flightuntil next summer is on the 25th October. If you'venever visited Paphos for real, make it the destination foryour next vacation. The cuisine is fantastic, the peopleare warm and welcoming, the weather is great and thehistory is fascinating. There's something in Paphos foreveryone.Airways magazinee October/November 2010 49

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