Ask a Controller
- Thread starter Blem
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Albrechtvonricht
New member
Which centre do you work for? Maybe we have met at the frequency.
Our callsign is COSTERA (aka Aeromexico Connect).
Our callsign is COSTERA (aka Aeromexico Connect).
Albrechtvonricht
New member
Unfortunately not. it is 737 territory, so only the regular “Aeromexico”s are the ones you listen.
Sky Pig
New member
Hi Blem. Have you seen the movie Pushing Tin? I'd love to hear your opinion on the ATC specific aspects of that movie, particularly the opening scene when Nick Falzone (John Cusack) visualizes the targets in his head. I know a lot of the movie is silly drama stuff, but it seemed like they had some real controllers consulting for the ATC scenes. Were controllers that competitive back then? Thoughts? Opinions?
It has been a while since I've seen the movie. (its basically a requirement for the job lol). To answer your questions, personally I don't visualize aircraft unless I am using non radar rules. I am a center controller and with the implementation of ADS-B the times I use non-radar is mainly regulated to satellite airport departures and oceanic aircraft. Other than that we see all the aircraft we are working 99.9% of the time on the radar display. As for competition between controllers I'm not sure its a thing anymore. I caught the tail end of the controllers hired post strike and there was culture and structure similar to the military. So you were nitpicked, strips were thrown, and a couple of other things happened that would make you think you were in a highschool boys locker room. As of now there is still some hazing that goes on but its more focused on doing the job safely and efficiently. The control room is a fun place to work but we are on our best behavior when there is a tour coming through 
MsHighAltitude
Active member
Question: When a pilot requests an approach or practice approach, how does the controller know all the fixes and altitudes? Around Port of Long Beach (Los Angeles, CA), people request different approaches into various airports (TOA, LGB, SNA, FUL and occasionally SLI & AVX) and the tracon controllers seem to know the plates like the back of their hands.
Zeede
Active member
Well, they're doing it all day, so eventually one would expect them to pick it up pretty quickly.
You definitely learn a lot from working traffic. But before we even talk to airplanes we spend months learning our airspace. This includes approaches (IAFs, MAPs, and MA altitudes.) NAVAIDs, MEAs, MVAs, MIAs, Landmarks, etc. I can't speak for Tracon but for Center controllers we are able to toggle our MIA polygons and associated altitudes on the radar display. Also many approaches are designed to start over the same IAF. In my area I am familiar with around 14 airports and their associated approaches. If all else fails we have a system similar to an EFB that has all the things we need in electronic form. Also we have paper charts as backup.
MsHighAltitude
Active member
Thank you for the response! That's pretty amazing. I guess now when I request a practice approach it comes with a bit more appreciation.
