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Subject:Re: Most illogical documentation From:quills -at- airmail -dot- net To:Richard Lewis <tech44writer -at- yahoo -dot- com>, techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com Date:Fri, 29 Jun 2007 16:12:51 -0500
Richard, that is an art, not a science.
You fly it as you see it.
Roger, out.
:)
Scott
At 2:00 PM -0700 6/29/07, Richard Lewis wrote:
>I was control tower operator (air traffic controller) when I was in
>the Air Force. We worked off of some FAA manuals. Different types
>of aircraft fly different patterns as they approach an airport:
>Fighters spiral down from higher altitudes, bombers and big cargo
>planes fly long straight-in patterns (like your plane does when you
>fly commercial), and one or two propeller engine planes often fly an
>L angle before the turn for a short final approach. (Add on top of
>this, these plans all fly radically different air speeds.)
>
> The manuals were great at discussing separations between planes
>flying the same traffic pattern, but they made no mention of how to
>separate a variety of aircraft flying different and conflicting
>traffic patterns - the stuff that used to make the hair on our necks
>stand on end! In such circumstances (they occured frequently), it
>was all gut instinct.
>
> I have read criticism of Tech Writers stating that they often tend
>to glance over or forget about the really hard-to-handle stuff.
>The FAA Air Traffic Controller manuals are a good example.
>
> Richard Lewis
> "When in Doubt, Roger Out"
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