No longer...
Yesterday, I crossed the Atlantic for the first time at the controls of an airplane! I've done it many times before as a passenger. But, this time I was driving!
It was an amazing experience "Crossing the Pond." LOTS of work, but LOTS OF FUN!
There are a great number of things to be done prior to departure and while enroute. The biggest things we must do are check sufficient fuel, and avoid "Gross Navigational Errors" so that we don't end up missing our shot at land on the other side.
We cross the ocean using a method called "Random Track" meaning we come up with our own routing through our flight planning system. Some of you may have heard of the North Atlantic Track System. At the present we are not equipped to fly these routes, as we need something called CPDLC. This stands for Controller to Pilot Data Link Communications. It's bascially like a messenger system where we can send text based messages to the controllers and vice versa instead of talking on the radio. So, prior to crossing, we must grab the track message and make sure we avoid the NATs and are well clear.
We use the old school HF Radios, same as a HAM Radio Operator has in their house. But we have a system known as SELCAL (Selective Calling). We provide ATC with our SELCAL ID, and then we don't have to listen to the radio until they "Call us". They will punch in the code to contact us, and then it actually rings in the airplane just like a telephone. Then we turn on the receiver and do our thing. When we're done, we "hang up" and wait for another call. This is a great feature because it saves us from having to listen to the static and other interference and noise on the radio.
After flight planning ourselves to ensure we're clear of the tracks, we get a "Coast Out" waypoint and begin our checks. Once airborne we check the GPS units clock against the Time Signal on the HF Radio to make sure we're within tolerances. If that checks out, we continue, or apply any corrections as necessary.
Once we have done our "Coast Out" checks we go back to the old school days of flying and grab a North Atlantic Plotter Chart. Yes, that's right, we actually PLOT our routing on the chart so we can see where we are going. More on this in a minute.
Gander Center and Oceanic Control will provide us with an Oceanic Clearance. When crossing the ocean you are not cleared from departure to destination without receiving the Oceanic Segment as a separate clearance. This is because of the volume of traffic, there may be unique requirements for your crossing, such as speed or altitude changes.
An Oceanic Clearance would sound something like this "ABC is cleared to Keflavik Airport via RIKAL, 52 NORTH 50 WEST, 56 NORTH 40 WEST, 62 NORTH 30 WEST, DUXIB, KEF, Maintain Flight Level 370, Mach 0.70"
Once we acknowledge this clearance "ROGER, RADAR SERVICE TERMINATES AT 50 WEST, CONTACT GANDER RADIO WITH POSITION REPORTS ON 127.90"
The North Atlantic is not radar controlled. This is why we must give position reports at all of these Lat/Long Crossings to ensure we are where we say we are going to be.
When giving a position report we tell them our Lat Long crossing and time, our altitude, the next waypoint and ETA, the next waypoint after that, and our Mach Number. We then must arrive within + / - 3 minutes of that time. At every Lat/Long crossing we do a fuel check. To see if we have more / less or are right on what we flight planned.
To ensure that this ETA is met, 10 minutes after a position report we do a check of our speed, position, and fuel again. This is where the plotter chart becomes important. We use the GPS to get a Longitude ONLY. We then go to the chart and plot or longitude, and see what the latitude crossing is. Then with the latitude number from our chart, we arrive back at the GPS to cross-check and make sure we are on course.
Once we have done our "Coast Out" checks we go back to the old school days of flying and grab a North Atlantic Plotter Chart. Yes, that's right, we actually PLOT our routing on the chart so we can see where we are going. More on this in a minute.
Gander Center and Oceanic Control will provide us with an Oceanic Clearance. When crossing the ocean you are not cleared from departure to destination without receiving the Oceanic Segment as a separate clearance. This is because of the volume of traffic, there may be unique requirements for your crossing, such as speed or altitude changes.
An Oceanic Clearance would sound something like this "ABC is cleared to Keflavik Airport via RIKAL, 52 NORTH 50 WEST, 56 NORTH 40 WEST, 62 NORTH 30 WEST, DUXIB, KEF, Maintain Flight Level 370, Mach 0.70"
Once we acknowledge this clearance "ROGER, RADAR SERVICE TERMINATES AT 50 WEST, CONTACT GANDER RADIO WITH POSITION REPORTS ON 127.90"
The North Atlantic is not radar controlled. This is why we must give position reports at all of these Lat/Long Crossings to ensure we are where we say we are going to be.
When giving a position report we tell them our Lat Long crossing and time, our altitude, the next waypoint and ETA, the next waypoint after that, and our Mach Number. We then must arrive within + / - 3 minutes of that time. At every Lat/Long crossing we do a fuel check. To see if we have more / less or are right on what we flight planned.
To ensure that this ETA is met, 10 minutes after a position report we do a check of our speed, position, and fuel again. This is where the plotter chart becomes important. We use the GPS to get a Longitude ONLY. We then go to the chart and plot or longitude, and see what the latitude crossing is. Then with the latitude number from our chart, we arrive back at the GPS to cross-check and make sure we are on course.
This is about mid-way across. You can see our positions checked. The circles with the time next to them are the cross-checks we do 10 minutes after the position reports.
The large marking you see on the map in the middle is called our Equal Time Point. This point determines that it will take you an equal amount of time to return to land, or continue to destination. These must be done for all oceanic crossings to ensure safety. Technically we have 3 ETP's. Normal, Engine Failure, and Depressurization. The depressurization one is absolutely critical because it relies on a descent to 10,000 ft which means we burn a significant amount more fuel.
Planning the ETP Requires weather checks across what some pilots refer to as the Ring of Fire in this area. Gander, Goose Bay, St. Johns, Iqaluit, Sondrestrom Fjord, Keflavik, and Rekjavik. The ETP is only for the Oceanic Segment, so if we leave Toronto, we would not return to Toronto, we would return to Goose Bay or wherever the suitable airport would be.
Our flight plan after the majority of the oceanic segment is complete. When we receive the oceanic clearance. The PNF circles the waypoints we've been cleared to. Once you cross the waypoint, the first line is stroked through to show it was crossed and reported. Then our 10 minute check afterwards we put the second line through. "Circled, Crossed, Cross-Checked"
The ETAs we provide are in the smaller circles on the right. And then if our actual is the same, we put a check mark beside the box. If not, we cross it out and write the actual beside. The numbers to the right in the margin are like our scratch-pad for writing down frequencies and clearances, etc etc.
The last bit of Canada
Over Iceland
On the Ground - Keflavik
Old School Ground Power Unit
New Fuel Truck
When we fuel with a patient on board, we always have a fire truck standing by in case there's a problem.
The people in Iceland were great! I'm going to be seeing a lot of them I'm sure over the next while.
After Iceland we hopped across to the South of England near the English Channel and the Isle of White.
It's a quaint hotel, and a very nice looking city. We're definitely in Rural England though. The winding, wooded roads of the English Countryside that took us from the airport to the hotel.
Well that's about it for now! Maybe off to the middle of Europe tomorrow! Will keep you all posted and thanks for reading!
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