RIAT ATC

All you'll ever need to know about the UK's biggest airshow
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RIAT ATC
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RIAT ATC

Post by RIAT ATC »

We would like to have a presence here, to explain a little more about what we do, complementing our Twitter feed at @riatairtraffic.

However, we'd like to set some ground rules.

While we will attempt to answer generic questions about ATC….

We will never engage on questions of specific aircraft movements (i.e. why did xxx not do yyy?). There are always very good reasons for such decisions, many of which will not be evident to spectators. At the end of the day all of us on the team are as interested in aircraft and air displays as anyone else, and we really do appreciate the desires of the enthusiasts (many, if not all of us, have been to RIAT as spectators and even P+V ticket holders in the past).

We will never give out clues to un-announced items, please don't read anything into our tweets or posts here beyond their face value, anything that we do say will be based on fact. We will not comment on rumours.

We will be checking in here as time permits. It's very busy for us from Tuesday onwards (and here I mean admin, logistics, attending meetings etc), so we don't get much free time.

We hope you can understand why we have stated this.
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Tommy
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Re: RIAT ATC

Post by Tommy »

All the best for RIAT 2022, team!

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rdchawk
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Re: RIAT ATC

Post by rdchawk »

Could a mod maybe make this a sticky?
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Seahornet
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Re: RIAT ATC

Post by Seahornet »

Thanks for coming aboard, great to have you guys on UKAR. I have to confess, one of my favourite sub-plots on RIAT arrival / departure days is monitoring the activities of all the Leader vehicles.

I'm sure we all appreciate and respect your ground rules! :slight_smile:

Now, just between you and me, will the B-2s go full length when they land...? :laughing:
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RIAT ATC
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Re: RIAT ATC

Post by RIAT ATC »

I thought the following might be of interest.

Image
This is a picture of the way we attempt to keep track of Leader Vehicles in the tower. In the past, most ATC units used strip holders with magnets in them allowing you to attach a tag or a labelled magnet (like these Leaders) on top of the strip.

Image
Image
These two images show the difference that many of us face working at RIAT. The lower pic shows a modern ATC tower, with comprehensive surveillance systems showing the ground and air pictures, controller support tools, safety nets alerting controllers to potential runway incursions and approach path deviations, and electronic data systems that update automatically when any flight data changes (new slot time, new route, new SSR code, new parking location etc). The top pic shows Fairford tower from a few years ago where we have paper, pens, radios and telephones. The challenge of maintaining a mental picture of the traffic with no radar is a great exercise of ATC muscles that many of us don't use very much in our 'day jobs'.

Image
This is about 1/4 of departure traffic. You can see how 'busy' the strips can get with writing even before they've called up and any changes have been made.
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G-CVIX
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Re: RIAT ATC

Post by G-CVIX »

Fascinating stuff! It looks mind boggling. Thanks for the information. I can see now why it's not so easy sending x past y etc.

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rdchawk
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Re: RIAT ATC

Post by rdchawk »

Quick can anyone make out the aircraft on the strips??
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Re: RIAT ATC

Post by Ian G »

What's the significance of the badger in your forum avatar?!
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RIAT ATC
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Re: RIAT ATC

Post by RIAT ATC »

rdchawk wrote:
Thu 23 Jun 2022, 12:27 pm
Quick can anyone make out the aircraft on the strips??
That's an old photo, not this year!

We only print out Monday's departure strips on the Sunday evening.
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RIAT ATC
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Re: RIAT ATC

Post by RIAT ATC »

Ian G wrote:
Thu 23 Jun 2022, 12:31 pm
What's the significance of the badger in your forum avatar?!
Billy has been our mascot for many years, well before I started. I'll have a dig around.

He has his own logbook and goes flying in some of the display aircraft.
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RIAT ATC
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Re: RIAT ATC

Post by RIAT ATC »

Penultimate page of billy's logbook. Poignant entry for 2017.
Image
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RIAT ATC
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Re: RIAT ATC

Post by RIAT ATC »

In other news, anything backtracking 27 will be vacating at Bravo (i.e. the penultimate exit) and then enter and backtrack via Alpha (far end of the runway).... just in case you want to position in P&V West to get any head-ons.
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Tommy
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Re: RIAT ATC

Post by Tommy »

RIAT ATC wrote:
Thu 23 Jun 2022, 3:41 pm
Penultimate page of billy's logbook. Poignant entry for 2017.
Image
Gosh, that’s quite sad seeing it there like that!

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RIAT ATC
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Re: RIAT ATC

Post by RIAT ATC »

Here's the facing page.
Image
Gaby's quote on the line above regarding Ramex Delta's last display is quite fitting too, given the circumstances.
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Re: RIAT ATC

Post by Luke28 »

That so cool seeing that.

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RIAT ATC
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Re: RIAT ATC

Post by RIAT ATC »

If you don't already know, the airfield opens an hour later and closes an hour earlier this year, so the first hour will be busy from the off on Arrivals days. Good for our trainees and the more experienced alike to get our hands in!
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tornadof3
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Re: RIAT ATC

Post by tornadof3 »

RIAT ATC wrote:
Thu 23 Jun 2022, 5:38 pm
If you don't already know, the airfield opens an hour later and closes an hour earlier this year, so the first hour will be busy from the off on Arrivals days. Good for our trainees and the more experienced alike to get our hands in!
What are the opening and closing times of the airfield Thursday & Friday?

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Bodz156
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Re: RIAT ATC

Post by Bodz156 »

The FAQ section of the website has all this info, but 07.30am - 5.30pm on Thursday & until 6.00pm on Friday I think..

I just hope they don't have things arriving after 5.30pm then.... 🤔
Last edited by Bodz156 on Thu 23 Jun 2022, 7:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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RIAT ATC
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Re: RIAT ATC

Post by RIAT ATC »



In previous years ATC has been open 0800-2000 local time.

We will treasure the extra hour in bed! Or use it to cycle to the airfield instead of drive!
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edhunter
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Re: RIAT ATC

Post by edhunter »

Is not possible to put the atc over the tanoy system on the Wednesday and Thursday for the arrivals?

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Re: RIAT ATC

Post by Domvickery »

edhunter wrote:
Thu 23 Jun 2022, 7:53 pm
Is not possible to put the atc over the tanoy system on the Wednesday and Thursday for the arrivals?
There’ll be a billion scanners in both P&Vs, you wont need a tanoy
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Skedge2187
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Re: RIAT ATC

Post by Skedge2187 »

Thank you for sharing this information with us, It's unreal how much one airshow can take over our lives for a few months. Well, me especially. Thank you for giving us some behind the scenes access and information. I can't wait for Wednesday for the first arrival. I'm staying a Townsend Farm all week, so I'm hoping the wind direction is on our side.

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RIAT ATC
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Re: RIAT ATC

Post by RIAT ATC »

We're really looking forward to it too. I was at DBH for a quick visit today and it's really exciting to see the increasing activity, even out on the airfield as the show build progresses.
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globemaster50
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Re: RIAT ATC

Post by globemaster50 »

Will the northern taxiway and dispersal be unavailable this year because of the building work? How will that affect your juggling workload?!

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Re: RIAT ATC

Post by Skedge2187 »

That's great to hear, It's my first year attending on Tuesday, to set up camp. Then to see the airfield with no planes. Then going to park and view on Wednesday to see the first arrival.

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