Route highways and ?

[Kamoflarj]

learning still, so another silly question:

Here's two routes I want to use between NZAA and NZCH.

CLARK1A LIMES H384 NP H252 NS Y288 PEAKS PEAKS4A

LENGU1A LIMES AACH1 PEAKS PEAKS4B


I understand the first one as being NBDs, VOR and Airway between the SID's and STAR's. But my question is simply, how do I decode the ''AACH1''.

Thanks
(I'll try to ask more questions in this thread )

[deeknow]

Hey Kamo. AACH1 is an abbreviated form of a route, known as a "designator". In this case (as of May 2014) it is...

QUOTE

H384 NP H252 NS Y288 (FL240 and above)[/quote]

An IFR flightplan can be filed either in that abbreviated form, or the full form above. If filed in the short form ATC will typically refer to it in that way when issuing the clearance to the flight crew. If filed in the full form they will use that longer form instead.

You can find these full routes for the designators by looking up any "Standard Route Clearance" chart at AIP
e.g. http://www.aip.net.nz/pdf/NZAA_61.1.pdf

One thing to note is that the standard route does change every now and then between two airports, so at different times of the year AACH1 might actually be a different route if the waypoints have changed. It might also be dropped entirely and be labelled something else like AACH2. Best thing to do is always download the latest AIP document before the flight, especially if flying on VATSIM etc.

Last edited by deeknow on Fri May 09, 2014 8:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Lindstrim]

It makes for less congestion on the radio frequencies.