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I thought I'd start off a new thread with a different flavour that can be added to over time by anyone at all. I'm not in the business of telling people what to do. This is merely a suggestion we have tried on the chat and found extremely interesting and educational. I have a very high regard for pilots (I'm not one of them) and ATC (not one of those either) after years of listening to them when I once considered pilots as simply drivers in the sky. Together these guys do an incredable job of safely getting those monsters in the sky up and back to earth.
Firstly you'll need to select an airport on the map (I'll presume you know where that is since you're reading this) which has both ground traffic and liveatc coverage (link below) with a good selection of approach/tower frequencies and preferrably where using the map you can track them all the way to the gate to make it all the more intersting. EHAM (AMS) (Amsterdam in the Netherlands) or YSSY (SYD) (Sydney in Australia) are but a couple of examples which are increasing at a rapid pace. Just remember Syd has a curfew 23:00-06:00 local time. Probably these days you can even use your mobile devices although I dont own one.
Next you'll need to decide where you want to sit either at your favourite desktop, or laptop in your favorite lounge chair, layback lounge chair (as I usually do) or outdoor garden if the wi-fi signal will reach. Dont forget to consider where to sit your drink and nibblies. You neednt be as insane as some of us who go outside armed with cam in all sorts of weather conditions using FR24 to get 'flyovers'. You may even prefer a warm beverage- the choice is yours.
Then go to the fridge or wherever and select your favourite poison, or to the wine rack if you happen to enjoy a good red wine. Dont forget red wine is best with food so grab a pack of chips or peanuts on the way out.
Once you've got your airport selected and liveatc up and running using the 4 letter ICAO Code or airport name on your favourite media player, look up on google the 4 letter airport icao code using the blue dot on the map (at top of map) and enter as follows. '(ICAO code) approach charts pdf' e.g 'YSSY approach charts PDF' and one of the first results is this one;
http://cartasaereas.altervista.org/cartas/YSSY.pdf (which cant be used for navigation purposes) but suits our purpose to a 'T' and which looks like a whole lot of gobbledygook but in time and with practice watching the FR24 map and listening to liveatc you'll soon be tracking aircraft on approach/departure and anticipating waypoints and vectors, sids and stars and frequency changes like a real pilot does. Always try to obtain the most recent, up to date charts possible if there are a number of them.
LIVEATC; http://www.liveatc.net/
There you have it. You'll soon see how an aircraft gets from A to B in real time in the real world tracking it as far as you possibly can and seeking out new places to visit with new charts and liveatc. If you want some variation, try cockpit view for some stunning realism down to the runway threshold (at present). The beauty of this method is that you dont require a scanner (just nick the laptop from the missus and hook it up to the stereo or the kid's ghetto blaster or boom-box for a real blast of ATC). Unfortunately for those who live on the wrong side of this ball we stand on the powers that be dont consider the UK people exist or cant be trusted to listen to ATC (perhaps I should use the term 'broadcast it' as you may be able to listen) and you wont find them on Liveatc (it's illegal in the UK). That doesnt mean you have to miss out altogether as there are some interesting times to be experienced all over the world. You only need a little interest and imagination to locate them checking out the map and liveatc. As MLAT is introduced you'll also probably notice how they (ATC) keep larger jets and light aircraft separate from each other with vastly different approach and departure 'tracks' and/or procedures. In some areas you may even notice that now. It is a most fascinating subject.
I hope you enjoy it as much as we have on the chat (and thanks to the guys on the chat who've all contributed to the enjoyment). And please if you have any suggestions or improvements (or questions) by all means add to the thread or ask away. That's what we're here for. There are also other resources available that can add to the enjoyment but I'll leave that for the moment (and to others perhaps to add) as it's almost 01:30 here in OZ
Regards,
Gregg
Firstly you'll need to select an airport on the map (I'll presume you know where that is since you're reading this) which has both ground traffic and liveatc coverage (link below) with a good selection of approach/tower frequencies and preferrably where using the map you can track them all the way to the gate to make it all the more intersting. EHAM (AMS) (Amsterdam in the Netherlands) or YSSY (SYD) (Sydney in Australia) are but a couple of examples which are increasing at a rapid pace. Just remember Syd has a curfew 23:00-06:00 local time. Probably these days you can even use your mobile devices although I dont own one.
Next you'll need to decide where you want to sit either at your favourite desktop, or laptop in your favorite lounge chair, layback lounge chair (as I usually do) or outdoor garden if the wi-fi signal will reach. Dont forget to consider where to sit your drink and nibblies. You neednt be as insane as some of us who go outside armed with cam in all sorts of weather conditions using FR24 to get 'flyovers'. You may even prefer a warm beverage- the choice is yours.
Then go to the fridge or wherever and select your favourite poison, or to the wine rack if you happen to enjoy a good red wine. Dont forget red wine is best with food so grab a pack of chips or peanuts on the way out.
Once you've got your airport selected and liveatc up and running using the 4 letter ICAO Code or airport name on your favourite media player, look up on google the 4 letter airport icao code using the blue dot on the map (at top of map) and enter as follows. '(ICAO code) approach charts pdf' e.g 'YSSY approach charts PDF' and one of the first results is this one;
http://cartasaereas.altervista.org/cartas/YSSY.pdf (which cant be used for navigation purposes) but suits our purpose to a 'T' and which looks like a whole lot of gobbledygook but in time and with practice watching the FR24 map and listening to liveatc you'll soon be tracking aircraft on approach/departure and anticipating waypoints and vectors, sids and stars and frequency changes like a real pilot does. Always try to obtain the most recent, up to date charts possible if there are a number of them.
LIVEATC; http://www.liveatc.net/
There you have it. You'll soon see how an aircraft gets from A to B in real time in the real world tracking it as far as you possibly can and seeking out new places to visit with new charts and liveatc. If you want some variation, try cockpit view for some stunning realism down to the runway threshold (at present). The beauty of this method is that you dont require a scanner (just nick the laptop from the missus and hook it up to the stereo or the kid's ghetto blaster or boom-box for a real blast of ATC). Unfortunately for those who live on the wrong side of this ball we stand on the powers that be dont consider the UK people exist or cant be trusted to listen to ATC (perhaps I should use the term 'broadcast it' as you may be able to listen) and you wont find them on Liveatc (it's illegal in the UK). That doesnt mean you have to miss out altogether as there are some interesting times to be experienced all over the world. You only need a little interest and imagination to locate them checking out the map and liveatc. As MLAT is introduced you'll also probably notice how they (ATC) keep larger jets and light aircraft separate from each other with vastly different approach and departure 'tracks' and/or procedures. In some areas you may even notice that now. It is a most fascinating subject.
I hope you enjoy it as much as we have on the chat (and thanks to the guys on the chat who've all contributed to the enjoyment). And please if you have any suggestions or improvements (or questions) by all means add to the thread or ask away. That's what we're here for. There are also other resources available that can add to the enjoyment but I'll leave that for the moment (and to others perhaps to add) as it's almost 01:30 here in OZ
Regards,
Gregg
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