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VFR handling for Air Traffic Controllers

General

Visual Flight Rules, or shortly VFR, is a type of flight where the pilot must fly and navigate with visual reference on the ground. It is often done with small aircraft that carries only a few passengers. The handling of VFR for air traffic controllers are quite different compared with IFR - they require less control and are much more independent than IFR flights.

Weather Requirements

Since VFR pilots navigate with visual references on the ground, they need to be able to actually see the ground. Therefore, certain weather requirements need to be met before a VFR flight can be made:

At or above FL100:

1,500 metres horizontally away from clouds
1,000ft vertically away from clouds
In flight visibility of at least 8km

Below FL100:

1,500 metres horizontally away from clouds
1,000ft vertically away from clouds
In flight visibility of at least 5km

Few and scattered clouds are not applicable - VFR flights can be made with Few and scattered clouds.
There is also a possibility to fly with Special VFR rules, that reduces the weather requirements. Look in SOP1b, in the controllers --> documents section, or in the end of this page.

The Airport Control Zone (CTR)

All manned airports have a control zone (CTR). The CTR has vertical and horizontal boundaries. The CTR is marked on the airports VAC chart with a dotted line and the vertical limit written parallel with the line.

Whenever you are flying VFR to or from an airport that is staffed by a controller, you will enter and exit the CTR via so called entry and exit points. These are also located on the VAC chart, on the dotted line as triangles. The name of the entry/exit point is decided by the near environment, a church or a village for example.

You are not allowed to enter or exit the airport CTR in other ways than through these points, if the controller doesn’t says anything else.

The CTR on the VAC chart

On the image below, the CTR of Göteborg City Säve Airport is marked. The image is taken from the VAC chart, that you can find among the other charts of the airport.
One of the Entry/Exit points
Parts of the Control zone border
Control zone vertical border (from surface to 1500 feet)

The CTR in IvAc

This is how the same airport CTR looks in IvAc, if you have the "Eurocontrol" colorscheme. You could see that the CTR border, and for example the VOR beacon NOL, west of the runway, is on the same location on the VAC chart as on the IvAc screenshot.

Different kinds of VFR flights

Not all VFR flights are the same. Here are some examples of different types of VFR flights:

A flight from one airport to another
A flight inside the departing airport control zone (CTR)
A flight inside the departing airport CTR with a traffic pattern
A flight that goes out of the CTR but later comes back and lands on the same airport

The different types can be combined; for example could a pilot first fly inside the CTR, thereafter do a traffic pattern and end with leaving the CTR.

The traffic pattern

Since many pilots just would like to do a traffic pattern, it is important to know how the layout of such pattern is. Below is a picture of a regular traffic pattern.

The traffic pattern is most often flown in a left-hand circuit. The pilot does only report when he is airborne and when he is on downwind. The intentions (whether he wants to make a touch-and-go, full-stop landing or maybe something else) needs to be reported at the downwind as well. The ATC will act out from the requested intentions, and most likely ask the pilot to report when he is on the final.

Sometimes when there is other traffic in the area, the ATC need to use “delaying actions” in order to delay the traffic. A pilot can for instance be told to extend the downwind leg before he turns to the base leg, in order to separate from landing traffic.

Swedish translations for the traffic pattern legs
Upwind                             Uppvind
Crosswind                         Korsvind
Downwind                         Medvind
Base                                  Bas
Final                                  Final

English/Swedish phraseology

The following is a phraseology example of a pilot who is flying VFR from Göteborg City Säve airport. He is starting with a traffic pattern (as desribed above), and is thereafter flying out of the controlzone.
You can note that the pilot is using his full callsign (SE-KVZ) on the first contact with ATC, and at take-off and landing. At all other times, he saves radio time by shorten the callsign to SVZ.

Hold the mouse cursor over a bold word in order to get a remark/explonation for that part / håll musen över ett fet-markerat ord för att få en förklaring för vad just den frasen innebär.

SE-KVZ:
Säve Tower, good morning, Sierra Echo Kilo Victor Zulu on apron with a Cessna 172, three persons onboard, request start-up, intentions are a traffic pattern with touch-and-go.
Sävetornet, god morgon, Sigurd Erik Kalle Viktor Zäta på parkeringen med en Cessna 172, tre personer ombord, begär motorstart. Intentioner är ett trafikvarv med studs-och-gå.

ESGP_TWR:
Hello SE-SVZ, tower. Start-up approved, QNH 1017.
Hej SE-SVZ, tornet. motorstart är beviljad, QNH 1017.

SE-KVZ:
Start-up approved, QNH 1017, SVZ.
Motorstart beviljad, QNH 1017, SVZ.

SE-KVZ:
SVZ request taxi.
SVZ begär taxning.

ESGP_TWR:
SVZ, taxi holding point runway 19.
SVZ, taxa till hållpunkt bana 19.

SE-KVZ:
Taxi holding point runway 19, SVZ.
Taxa till hållpunkt bana 19, SVZ.

---

SE-KVZ:
SVZ reports holding point runway 19.
SVZ rapporterar håll punkt bana 19.

ESGP_TWR:
SE-KVZ, cleared for left hand circuit runway 19, altitiude 1500ft or below, winds 120 degrees, 12 knots, runway 19, cleared for takeoff
Klart för vänstervarv bana 19, höjd 1500 fot eller därunder. Vinden är 120 grader 12 knop, bana 19, klart att starta, SE-KVZ.

SE-KVZ:
Cleared left hand circuit runway 19, altitiude 1500ft or below. Runway 19 clear for take-off, SE-KVZ.
Klart vänstervarv bana 19, 1500 fot eller därunder. Bana 19, klar att starta, SVZ.

---

SE-KVZ:
Reports downwind, intention touch-and-go runway 19, request to leave the controlzone on upwind, SVZ.
Rapporterar medvind, intentioner studs-och-gå på bana 19, begär att få lämna kontrollzonen på uppvinden, SVZ.

ESGP_TWR:
SVZ, roger. You are clear for final.
SVZ, det är uppfatat. Du är klar för final.

SE-KVZ:
Report on final, SVZ.
Raportera final, SVZ.

---

SE-KVZ:
We are on final runway 19, SVZ.
Vi är på final, bana 19, SVZ.

ESGP_TWR:
SE-KVZ roger, winds 125 degrees 11 knots, runway 19, cleared for touch-and-go.
SE-KVZ, det är uppfattat, vinden är 125 grader 11 knop, bana 19, klart för studs-och-gå.

SE-KVZ:
Cleared touch-and-go runway 19, SE-KVZ.
Klart för studs-och-gå bana 19, SE-KVZ.

---

SE-KVZ:
SE-KVZ request to leave the controlzone via RÄVEN.
SE-KVZ beägr att få lämna kontrollzonen via RÄVEN.

ESGP_TWR:
SVZ, leave the controlzone via RÄVEN.
SVZ, lämna kontrollzonen via RÄVEN:

SE-KVZ:
Proceeding to RÄVEN, SVZ.
Vi fortsätter mot RÄVEN, SVZ.

---

SE-KVZ:
SVZ reports RÄVEN.
SVZ rapporterar RÄVEN.

ESGP_TWR:
SVZ frequency change approved.
SVZ, det är uppfatat, du har klart att lämna min frekvens.

SE-KVZ:
Frequency change approved, SVZ. Hejdå!
Klart att lämna frekvensen, SVZ. Hejdå!

If you would like to read more...

Speciell VFR - SOP1b, sida 3 (Swedish only)
IVAO Academy about VFR

This page was last updated on 2012-01-28.