iscover
The ideal working environment. The tower cabin is cosy but it has a great view. One person provides approach, tower and surface movement control. There are around 1,300 aircraft movements per month, mostly RPT and local operators. (Rod Pascoe)
Airspace Management
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Hf Has a Future
A key feature of the Communication Navigation Surveillance/Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM) system is the ability to transmit data between controller and pilot and to give precise GPS-derived position reports via a datalink. This digital datalink has the advantage of being quick and, above all, clear — something not possible with conventional high frequency (HF) voice communication.
Although satcom and satellites for navigation and communication is a fact of life (refer p49 Sept 95 AA, Fans — the Future is Here), satellite systems are expensive. In 1993, an Air New Zealand 767-200, fitted with a Collins HFS-700 HF transceiver and a modem, conducted high frequency datalink (HFDL) trials in the Pacific and SE Asia. These trials involved the transmission of Automatic Dependent Surveillance (ADS) position reports back to Auckland using various frequencies in the 3 to 30 MHz band. In the North Atlantic, similar trials were being carried out by a number of American airlines, all keen to develop a cheaper satellite based navigation and communication alternative.
Being a digital system, atmospheric noise normally associated with HF transmissions is not a significant problem and, as with satcom, the data is transmitted in a matter of seconds rather than minutes. For aircraft already fitted with HF radio for oceanic or remote overland operations, the cost of adding a datalink capability is less expensive than satcom equipment. To retrofit a 767 to FANS-1 capability would cost almost a million dollars using Satcom.
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Although HFDL is designed to complement, rather than compete with satcom, HF has an advantage in that coverage is worldwide, whereas satellites are not able to communicate with aircraft over polar regions.
After successful testing in the Pacific and North Atlantic of HFDL, and with the proven benefits of FANS as the ‘carrot on the string’ for the airlines, equipment manufacturers are gearing up for future sales. HF giant Rockwell/Collins is producing fully integrated HF systems including a management unit which will interface with existing avionics providing a complete communication system. The management unit will also select the best medium available at the time (HF, VHF or Satcom) for the transmission of data depending on the priority of the message and automatically and continually retune HF antennas for optimum signal strength.
Airlines are keen to have their 767s FANS capable on oceanic routes. The particular problem with ‘FANSing-up’ the 767 is the lack of space on the aircraft for satcom gear. The Collins HFDL equipment is a single package which replaces the existing HF radio in the avionics rack, no extra space is required.
Air Tropic Control
On a lighter note — imagine a job on an island in the Whitsundays off the North Queensland coast. Ian Hunting became the senior air traffic controller at Hamilton Island in 1992 — some people have all the luck. But before you rush out and become an air traffic controller, there are only two positions on this tropical island and Ian and his colleague, Kevin Clarke, aren’t looking at retiring just yet.
Hamilton Island airport is jointly owned and operated by Ansett and Hamilton Island Enterprises. AirServices Australia contracts its services to Ansett and opens the tower on an ‘as required’ basis. Ansett operates a number of daily direct services from Sydney, Cairns and Brisbane. Ian and Kevin share the shifts so that the ATC facilities are manned when Ansett require, normally for operations of 737 aircraft and bigger. At the moment, tower hours of operation are between 9.30 and 4.30, seven days a week. When demand dictates, usually around holiday time, these hours are extended.
The controllers here have a unique job in more ways than one. The airspace they “own” is different from the normal tower control position of their city counterparts. Theirs is a procedural approach (no radar) and tower control operation where they control not only aircraft on the runway and in the vicinity of the airport (the control zone) but also the associated control area steps up to 4000ft to the north and south of the island. Above 4000ft Brisbane Sector 7 takes over.
There is no shortage of tourists coming to Hamilton, and they don’t all arrive courtesy Ansett. The airport has reached international status on a dozen occasions with Condor Flugdienst (a Lufthansa affiliate) operating 757 charters directly into Hamilton Island. The dream of Keith Williams, creator and former owner of the resort and airport, was to fly international tourists directly to the island, bypassing the gateways of Sydney, Brisbane and Cairns.
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