Sunday Night Ops for 2nd May 2010 - Christchurch and Rotorua
We mark the start of the new month with an evening focussed on one of New Zealand's busiest tourist routes: Christchurch and Rotorua. Every day hundreds of tourists are ferried between the mountainous beauty of the South Island and New Zealand's thermal wonderland.
Also popular online, this route features one of VATNZ's largest and most heavily trafficked airports as well as another of our unique regional destinations. From the full ILS at Christchurch to the displaced localiser for runway 36 at Rotorua, there's something for every pilot to turn their hand to.
With a variety of different ATC positions suitable for controllers of all levels, this week is a great opportunity for controllers looking to get some more time behind the scope to experience the increased traffic levels of our regular Sunday event.
Pilots should start at either airport and fly multiple sectors to the other airport and back. The goal is to fill the skies and keep the controllers busy.
These routes suit a variety of aircraft: real-world they are typically flown by the ATR72 and the 737 but feel free to come along in whatever looks the shiniest in your hangar.
Typical sector length will be approximately one hour.
- Departure Time: Sunday 2nd May 2010 19:00-23:30 NZST / 17:00-21:30 AEST / 07:00-11:30 UTC
- Flight Time: approx 60 mins each way
- Flight Plan Route:
Start at either airport and fly multiple sectors to the other one and back.
NZRO/NZCH: ROCH2 - RO Y640 PM H325 FY Y694 MESIX H159 CH
NZCH/NZRO: CHRO1 - CH V393 CC H426 TY H467 FOXTN H313 OH H182 ARETI Y539 RO
Click on the image below to view the preferred routings in the airspace map:
- Airport Details: Rotorua Airport
Likely arrival r/w 18: RNAV RWY 18 or VOR/DME RWY 18
Likely arrival r/w 36: RNAV BRAVO or VOR/DME ALFA
Likely departure r/w 18: TOTRA THREE or VOR Departure
Likely departure r/w 36: OKERE TWO or VOR Departure - Airport Details: Christchurch Airport
Likely arrival r/w 02: MESIX3A then RNAV RWY 02 or ILS/DME RWY 02
Likely arrival r/w 20: MESIX3B then RNAV RWY 20 or ILS/DME RWY 20
Likely departures r/w 02: DIVSU1A (RNAV) or DIVSU1C
Likely departures r/w 20: ALBAD1A (RNAV) or ALBAD1C - Priority ATC Positions:
NZCH_GND - Ground Control
NZCH_TWR/NZRO_TWR - Aerodrome Control
NZCH_APP - Terminal Control
NZCH-B_CTR/NZCH-K_CTR/NZOH_CTR - Enroute Control
Note: If you're providing ATC on the night, please give priority to these positions. They are not an exclusive list, but they are the ones that will see the most action this Sunday.
To reserve a particular ATC position, please post a message to that effect (including the times you expect to be online) in this thread. If possible, also book your position using vroute - large numbers of bookings in vroute attract additional traffic. - Late-comers/Shorter Alternative: Late-comers or people looking for a shorter flight should consider flying only one of the legs. The goal is to concentrate as much traffic as possible on the Christchurch/Rotorua routes.
- Charts/Airspace Info: Available by clicking on the airport links above, or from the VATNZ Airspace Reference site.
If you have any questions please feel free to email me, or reply to this thread.
Nick