Hints and Tips?

[SeanTK]

NZFF Members,

I'm going to try to venture online this weekend (VATSIM) in New Zealand to take advantage of the ATC coverage related to the "Cross the Ditch" event.
I have not used online ATC services outside of the US before, and I'm wondering if anyone here has good advice for a newbie to the NZ ATC system.

Some background:
I am a licensed pilot in the real world (with an instrument rating) under FAA rules in the United States (Flying Cessna 172s), so I pretty much know how IFR flight procedures work, but I figured that there are possibly some differences in the New Zealand system.
I don't want to get caught off guard, and I'm sure the last thing the Kiwi controllers on VATSIM want is some ignorant American bumbling around.

My Intended flight info:

Aircraft: Flight1 Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander (Mountain Air livery...yes, I know they are now in "Fly My Sky" colors, but that's not available for the sim yet.)

Route:

IFR

Auckland (NZAA)

TO

Rotorua (NZRO)

.......Question here.....the BN-2 has a GPS, and beyond that, I flew the route in FS2004 today (FSX access on weekends on home system), and I was able to pick up the Rotorua VOR/DME with the 112.1 nav frequency around 90nm out.
With this info, can I just file direct straight to Rotorua, or do I have to have another waypoint in there (Either through Tauranga or the Rotorua VOR itself although it's on the field)?


Altitude: 5000 feet. <--Is this valid for a southeasterly route in NZ? In the US we have the West = Even alts, East = Odd alts (+500ft for VFR). Not sure how it is in NZ.


Approaches. Hoping to request one of the VOR approaches into NZRO (DME arc). Anything special regarding ATC involvement with that beyond me requesting it?


ATC control:

From my understanding, I would be in contact with the following stations (assuming full staff). Is the following correct?

Auckland Clearance
Auckland Ground
Auckland Tower
(Auckland Departure?)
Christchurch Control - Raglan sector
Christchurch Control - Bay sector
Rotorua Tower
Rotorua Ground

Is there such a thing as "New Zealand Control/Center" or is Microsoft full of it again?

Misc that I am aware of:

Auckland is only operating with a single runway.
All Rotorua approach charts will be printed. Auckland airport layout chart will be printed. Tauranga approaches may be printed as a backup.
It's Christchuch Control....not Christchurch Center. (I bet I'll let the word Center slip....too used to the US system! )


Beyond the above, if anyone has any tips and advice, please let me know! Thank you very much!

-Sean

[mfraser]

I'll give what help I can.... first off, no need to worry about the NZ online controllers!! They're a friendly and understanding bunch and its unlikely that you'll be berrated for any mistakes!! We don't have many online pilots here in NZ and we'd hate to frighten new ones away!! So onto your questions:

Route - You should anticipate the AARO1 which is published as AA H372 RO (And then on towards NR). H372 is a desingated routed from the AA VOR - TULMI - RO VOR. However, if you prefer it is permissable to flightplan AA-RO direct - its your choice, remembering that TULMI is an RNAV point and may or may not be in the Islanders GPS!?!?

Altitude - Because NZ is oriented in a North/South direction we have different track to level correlation. Many in the industry use the NOSE mnemonic - North for ODD levels and South for EVEN levels. So an appropriate level for your track would be 6000ft or 8000ft.

Approach - Nothing special required - just request your preferred approach from the controller.

ATC - It will depend on how many controllers we get on the night. You may find that some of the positions you listed are combined into one frequency. For example, I would expect that a single controller will carry out Delivery, Ground and AA Tower. In the event that there is no AA Tower controller, those functions would be carried out the AA Terminal controller etc etc. If in doubt, just do what I do and type a private message to the controller you think you should talk to before you transmit!! Once you've departed ATC will tell you the next controlling authority and frequency to call on.....

Miscellaneous - On departure, 'Control' or 'Auckland Control' would be the correct phraseology. Correct - Auckland is on a single runway now (25L or 05R). Correct - it is 'Christchurch Control' and there is no such thing as 'New Zealand Centre' (Thanks Microsoft!!).

I hope this is of some help....... I'm hoping to be online too....... I think I'll fly the same route in the Beech 1900 to give the controllers something to seperate!!

Kind regards,
Mat

This is always a good place to check out the different airspace and routes in NZ:

http://www.caa.govt.nz/airspace/airspace_I...esignations.htm

[SeanTK]

Thanks very much! That helped quite a bit!

Looks like I'll file for 6000 then (MSA is 5600 on AARO1), and I'm in an Islander, so getting much higher may be a struggle!

Extracted from the AIP and CAA websites (and noting it for myself here):

Auckland Preferred Routing:
RO AARO 1 H372


Route H372 Auckland – Napier

trk nm msa
C1 AUCKLAND VOR ---/114 39 5600 MSA AA VOR-30 AA 3000

C1 TULMI 113/113 59 5600 MSA 20 RO-10RO 4500

MSA 10 RO-RO VOR 3600

C1 ROTORUA VOR 112/142 49 7000 MSA RO VOR-6 RO 3700

MSA 6 RO-20 RO 4600
............

I'll have to check and see if FSX has TULMI.


UPDATE: Well, my FS2004 has TULMI, but I'm not sure if that was due to a database update on my part or not. Hopefully it's the same in FSX.

[deeknow]

Hey Sean. Good to hear you biting the NZ bullet. Matt has given you all the answers in his excellent post but I'd just reinforce what he said about the vatnz controllers, you wont find too much snobbery down under, they're a mostly friendly lot, and very tolerant when folks arent used to the procedures or airspace. I'm not a real world pilot so as you can imagine I've put them through some testing times over the last couple of years with all kinds of idiocy

Matt has posted a link to the CAA stuff but in case you havent spotted it do check out the handy pages vatnz have for each aerodrome listing common charts. Enter the ICAO code of the aerodrome your interested in into the Airspace search box on the top-right of their homepage and it'll popup a link to the details, e.g Rotoruas entry follows:
http://www.vatnz.net/cms/index.php?option=...k=ap&id=111

The other thing Id say is, do go and sign up on their forums, and feel free to post other questions there, sure there are a bunch of online regulars here but you're gaurenteed of a solid response (like Matts) if you post at vatnz.

Re coverage for the day, Matt's also mentioned likely position combinations at Auckland, you wont find RO TWR/GND on though on a day like this so it'll be CH control till you reach your destination. You should keep an eye on the vatnz site for the regular Sunday night flyins where you will often get the smaller regional places like RO covered.

Might see you online, I'm hoping to sneak in a couple of trans-tasman legs.
Oh, and where do you usually fly online?

[ZK-MAT]

Good info there Mat (by the way I was chatting to Rhys Akers the other day about you ). Sean you may like to head over to http://www.vatnz.net and there's a forum there too. May fly somewhere this weekend during the event, see you guys there !!

Matt

[SeanTK]

Hello Dean,

Thanks for the VATNZ link! Figured the smaller fields won't have coverage during this event, but that's fine.

I haven't actually used the VATSIM system in quite a while, instead opting for offline flights, or online flights using Simviation's server just to relax with some other comrades. When I would use VATSIM however, I would usually find myself in the Mid-West(ish) United States, simply due to reliable ATC availability at the times that I could fly. (Minneapolis, Cleveland...and if I was feeling brave, the busy eastern Seaboard...consisting of Washington DC, Philadelphia, and New York City.)

As I find myself being able to get back into real world flying again as University winds down for the season, I'll be using VATSIM more to practice procedures, and depending on the coverage of New Zealand, I suspect that it'll become my new online flying home. I already fly either in New Zealand or the Netherlands offline almost exclusively. I don't think I've even touched the mainland US in FSX in any way in quite a long time!

If I can find time for the event this weekend (very likely), I'll probably be around mid-afternoon, maybe 2pm Saturday (Eastern US time for me), which I think is going to be in the Sunday 8am time frame for New Zealand.
This actually works out pretty well if I am thinking of the times correctly. Mid day pretty much a day later for you guys if I wait until late afternoon for me.

It'll be a "Mountain Air ###" callsign probably. Knowing VATSIM's tendancies, I bet if you even see a single BN-2 Islander on, it's me. (That, or a Beechcraft Duchess if I want something a little faster.) Seems like 95% of the traffic is jetliners.

Oh, and one last thing that I just realized. With voice capable comms now, I've come to the realization that I'm probably going to completely butcher some airfield/region names. I had lived in Hawaii for a number of years so I'm used to some wild Pacific Islander words/names, but.....

[AlisterC]

I've flown predominantly in NZ and the USA on vatsim. NZ is WAYYYY easier
Hope you have a good time downunder. Not sure I can make it to Cross the Pond this time, but I enjoyed it very much last time, I'm sure you'll enjoy the ATC here too.