Module 1 of my training course for dispatchers and inexperienced pilots.

1. MODULE 1
NAVIGATION
GENERAL

2. DEFINING OUR POSITION
GLOBALLY
WHERE ARE WE?
AND HOW DO WE DEFINE
WHERE WE ARE?

3. OBVIOUSLY IN BAKU
BUT THAT IS JUST A SMALL
PART OF THE BIG PICTURE!

4. BUT WE ARE PART OF A BIGGER
PICTURE STILL!

5. IN AVIATION WE NEED TO
CONSIDER WHERE WE
ARE…….AND WHERE WE ARE
GOING ON A GLOBAL SCALE.

6. DEFINING OUR POSITION USING
LATITUDE, LONGITUDE AND TIME.

7. LATERAL………LATITUDE
DIMENSIONS.
IN AERIAL NAVIGATION ANY POINT ON THE EARTH’S
SURFACE MAYBE PRECISELY DEFINED IN TERMS OF A
LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE COMBINATION.
PARALLELS OF LATITUDE ARE SMALL CIRCLES DRAWN
AROUND THE EARTH STARTING FROM THE
EQUATORIAL PLANE, NORTH AND SOUTH OF THE
EQUATOR AND PARALLEL WITH IT AND REDUCING IN
CIRCUMFERENCE TOWARD THE POLES.
THESE LINES ARE MEASURED IN DEGREES, MINUTES

8. • THE NORTH POLE HAS A
LATITUDE OF 90 DEGREES
NORTH.
• THE SOUTH POLE HAS A
LATITUDE OF 90 DEGREES
SOUTH.
• THE EQUATOR HAS A

9. MERIDIANS OF LONGITUDE.
THESE ARE HALF GREAT CIRCLES, PERPINDICULAR TO THE
EQUATOR, THAT EXTEND FROM THE NORTH TO THE SOUTH
POLE.
WHERE A GREAT CIRCLE IS A LINE WHICH PASSES THROUGH
THE TWO POLES FROM ANYWHERE ON THE GLOBE BUT ALWAYS
HAS THE SAME LENGTH, REGARDLESS.
THE INTERNATIONAL REFERENCE MERIDIEN – OR 0 DEGREES
LONGITUDE, ALSO KNOWN AS THE PRIME MERIDIEN IS DEFINED
AS THE GRENWICH MERIDIEN IN THE UNITED KINGDOM.
SUBSEQUENT MERIDIENS ARE DEFINED AS DEGREES EAST OR
WEST AROUND TO 180 DEGREES.

10. THERE ARE 60 MINUTES OF ARC IN A DEGREE AND 60
SECONDS OF ARC IN A MINUTE. ONE MINUTE OF ARC IS THE
BASIS FOR ONE NAUTICAL MILE.
SO WITH 180 DEGREES FROM THE PRIME MERIDIEN TO THE
EASTERN MOST POINT........AND ANOTHER 180 DEGREES
BACK TO THE PRIME MERIDIEN.
A TOTAL OF 360 DEGREES……THEN WE CAN CALCULATE
THE LENGTH OF THESE ‘GLOBAL’ GREAT CIRCLES.
360 DEGREES x 60 ‘MINUTES’ OF ARC = 21,600 NAUTICAL
MILES…..
…..WHICH IS THE LENGTH OF ALL THE ‘GLOBAL’ MERIDIENS
OF LONGITUDE AND ALSO THE EQUATOR.

12. DISTANCE.
ONE NAUTICAL MILE IS THE LENGTH, AT THE EARTH’S
SURFACE OF ONE MINUTE OF ARC OF A GREAT CIRCL, AS
WE HAVE SEEN.
THE INTERNATIONAL NAUTICAL MILE IS 1852 METRES OR
6076 FEET.
CONSEQUENTLY ONE DEGREE OF LATITUDE (MEASURED
ALONG THE EQUATOR – THE ONLY MERIDIEN IN LATITUDES)
HAS AN EQUIVALENT SURFACE DISTANCE OF 60 NAUTICAL
MILES.
ALL LONGITUDES, WHEN DIVIDED INTO DEGREES IS 60

13. IT IS LOGICAL TO EXPRESS LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE CO-ORDINATES
WITH THE DIRECTION FROM THE EQUATOR / PRIME MERIDIEN FIRST.
E.G. NORTH…SOUTH…EAST…WEST
THEN A NUMERAL GROUP REPRESENTING THE DEGREES FOLLOWED
BY A GROUP FOR THE MINUTES.
THE SYMBOLS FOR DEGREES AND MINUTES ARE OMITTED IN AVIATION.
FOR EXAMPLE S36 44.1 E147 10.2
THIS IS THE STANDARD FORMAT WHICH WE USE IN AVIATION, AND THIS
FORMAT CAN BE FOUND ON SILKWAYS PILOT’S OPERATIONAL FLIGHT
PLANS AND JEPPESEN CHARTS TO DEFINE POSITIONS,
GEOGRAPHICALLY.
FOR EXAMPLE IF WE LOOK AT THE BAKU AIRPORT JEPPESEN CHART IN
YOUR HANDOUT.

14. TIME : AS REFERENCED IN
AVIATION.

15. TIME IS A MOST IMPORTANT DIMENSION IN AERIAL
NAVIGATION; THE REFERENCE TIME IS UNIVERSAL CO-
ORDINATED TIME (SYMBOL UTC – A COMPROMISE BETWEEN
THE INITIALISMS OF THE PREFERRED FRENCH AND ENGLISH
NAMES!)
THIS UTC TIME IS USED INSTEAD OF LOCAL TIMES.
UTC IS THE TIME MEASURED AT THE INTERNATIONAL
REFERENCE MERIDEIEN (WHICH WE SAW IS LOCATED IN
GRENWICH ENGLAND)
THE SUFFIX ‘Z’ IS USED TO IDENTIFY TIMES AS UTC, SO IT MAY
BE REFERRED TO AS ZULU TIME – THE PHONETIC LETTER FOR
‘Z’.
THE WORLD IS SPLIT UP INTO 24 HOURLY TIME ZONES OF

17. WITH TIME REFERENCED TO ONE SPECIFIC TIME
ZONE……AT GRENWICH, THEN LOCAL TIME DOES NOT
NEED TO BE CONSIDERED.
WHEREVER YOU ARE IN THE WORLD……TIME DOES NOT
CHANGE IN THEORY UNDER THESE RULES, RELATIVE TO
UTC AND WHERE YOU ARE.
THERE IS ALWAYS A COMMON REFERENCE.

18. MEASUREMENT OF SPEED IN
AVIATION.
AIRCRAFT FLYING SPEED IS MEASURED WITH THE PITOT-
STATIC SYSTEM, BASICALLY A TUBE THAT POINTS OUT THE
FRONT OF AN AIRCRAFT INTO THE AIR WHICH IT IS FLYING
THROUGH.
THE AIRCRAFT’S FORWARD MOTION RAMS AIR INTO THE
TUBE, CREATING A PRESSURE.
THIS PRESSURE IS THEN REFINED BY ONBOARD
COMPUTERS AND READ ON AN AIRSPEED INDICATOR OR
MACH INDICATOR, SHOWING INDICATED AIRSPEED (IAS) OR
MACH NUMBER.
PILOTS ARE CONCERNED PRIMARILY WITH INDICATE

19. IAS AND MACH NUMBER PRESENTATION ON A BOEING 747-
400.

20. AS DISPATCHERS YOU NEED TO UNDERSTAND THAT THE
OPERATIONAL FLIGHT PLANS USE BOTH TRUE AIRSPEED
GROUNDSPEED AND MACH NUMBER.
• TRUE AIRSPEED IS USED ON THE AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL
FLIGHT PLAN ALONG WITH MACH NUMBER SO THAT ATC KNOW
HOW FAST OUR AIRCRAFT WILL FLY AND SO PLAN ITS ROUTE
AND ALSO BE ABLE TO TRACK ITS PROGRESS IN RELATION TO
OTHER AIRCRAFT.
• GROUNDSPEED IS IMPORTANT AS THIS WILL DETERMINE THE
LENGTH OF TIME THAT THE AIRCRAFT WILL TAKE TO FLY FROM
DEPARTURE AIRPORT TO IT’S DESTINATION.
• MACH NUMBER IS ALSO USED, MUCH LIKE A MOTORWAY
SPEED LIMIT IN FLIGHT AREAS, SUCH AS THE NORTH
ATLANTIC, WHERE THERE IS NO RADAR TO ASSIST ATC IN
THEIR PLANNING, AND SEPERATING AIRCRAFT FROM EACH

21. IF WE LOOK AT OUR OPERATIONAL FLIGHT PLAN, ONE OF WHICH IS
PRODUCED FOR EVERY FLIGHT WE CAN SEE THE FOLLOWING
INFORMATION:
• AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL FLIGHT PLAN SHOWING MACH NUMBER AND
TRUE AIRSPEED.
• THE AVERAGE WIND COMPONENT……WHICH IS THE RESULT OF THE
WIND EFFECT FOR THE ROUTE TO BE FLOWN AND SO DETERMINES
THE LENGTH OF TIME THE FLIGHT WILL TAKE.
• THE CALCULATED GROUNDSPEED BETWEEN EACH POSITION TO BE
FLOWN ON THE ROUTE.
SO UNDERSTANDING SPEED IS VERY

22. PRESSURE ALTIMETER.
IN AIRCRAFT AN ANEROID BAROMETER MEASURES THE
ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE FROM STATIC PORTS LOCATED ON THE
OUTSIDE OF THE AIRCRAFT’S FUSELAGE.
ON OUR AIRCRAFT THIS INFORMATION IS FED THROUGH
COMPUTERS TOO TO PROVIDE ACCURATE INFORMATION TO THE
PILOT’S ELECTRONIC FLIGHT INFORMATION SCREENS.
AS THE AIRCRAFT FLIES HIGHER THE AIR PRESSURE DECREASES
AND THE PRESSURE ALTIMETER IS DESIGNED TO CONVERT THIS
INTO A HEIGHT READING.

23. BOEING AIRCRAFT PRESSURE ALTIMETER.

24. BOEING AIRCRAFT ELECTRONIC ALTIMETER
DISPLAY

25. THE ALTIMETER IS CALIBRATED TO SHOW THE PRESSURE DIRECTLY AS AN ALTITUDE
ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL, IN ACCORDANCE WITH A MATHEMATICAL MODEL DEFINED BY
THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ATMOSPHERE (ISA).
AS YOU CAN IMAGINE THE ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE VARIES AROUND THE WORLD
DEPENDING ON THE WEATHER PATTERNS. THEREFORE A SYSTEM HAD TO BE
DEVELOPED WHERE THE ALTIMETER CAN BE SELECTED TO INDICATE ALTITUDE BASED
ON A SET REFERENCE SETTING. (WE WILL LOOK AT THE ISA LATER)
THIS IS KNOWN AS THE ‘STANDARD’ ALTIMETER SETTING AND PILOTS USE THIS WHEN
FLYING AWAY FROM AIRPORTS.
THE STANDARD ALTIMETER SETTING IS 1013.25 HECTOPASCALS OR 29.92 INCHES OF
MERCURY. EITHER OF THESE STANDARD SETTINGS CAN BE SET ON OUR BOEING
AIRCRAFT’S ALTIMETERS.
WITH THE STANDARD SETTING SET THEN THE AIRCRAFTS ALTITUDE IS NOW
REDESIGNATED AS FLIGHT LEVELS. E.G. 29,000 FEET IS CALLED FL290.
AS ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE VARIES SO MUCH GLOBALLY, IF THERE WAS NOT THIS
STANDARD SETTING, THEN AIRCRAFT WOULD BE FLYING AT HEIGHTS WHICH WOULD BE
IN REALITY DIFFERENT TO WHAT THEY THOUGH THEY WOULD BE FLYING, SO

26. AS WELL AS THIS ‘STANDARD’ REFERENCE DATUM THERE IS ALSO A
DATUM USED WHEN APPROACHING AIRPORTS SO THAT THE PILOT’S
KNOW EXACTLY HOW HIGH THEY ARE WITH REFERENCE TO THIS
AIRPORT.
THIS DATUM IS BASED ON THE MEAN SEA LEVEL AT A PARTICULAR
AIRPORT AND IS ABBREVIATED TO QNH.
THIS IS THE PRESSURE REDUCED TO MEAN SEA LEVEL. AN
ALTIMETER SET TO THE AIRFIELD QNH READS THE ELEVATION OF
THE AIRFIELD WHEN IT IS ON THE GROUND.
THE PRESSURE SETTINGS ARE PASSED TO PILOT’S PRIMARILY IN A
MEASUREMENT CALLED HECTOPASCALS (OR MIILIBARS). THEN THIS
SETTING CAN BE INDIVIDUALLY SET ON THE PILOT’S ALTIMETERS SO
THAT IT NOW HAS AN ACCURATE DATUM POINT FROM WHICH IT CAN

27. NAVIGATION AND RADIO EQUIPMENT
USED ONBOARD OUR BOEING
AIRCRAFT.
OBVIOUSLY OUR AIRCRAFT NEED A METHOD TO BE ABLE TO FLY
ACCURATELY ALONG A ROUTE FROM THEIR DEPARTURE AIRPORT
TO THEIR DESTINATION.
THEY NO LONGER HAVE TO LOOK OUT THE WINDOW AND FOLLOW
ROADS OR RAILWAY LINES DRAWN ON A MAP.
THERE ARE SOPHISTICATED NAVIGATION DEVICES LOCATED ON
THE GROUND AS WELL AS ADVANCED COMPUTERS ONBOARD THE
AIRCRAFT AND SATELLITES ORBITING THE EARTH TO ASSIST IN

28. GROUND BASED NAVIGATION AIDS
THE FOLLOWING ARE THE PRIMARY NAVIGATION BEACONS AND
GUIDANCE SYSTEMS WHICH ARE LOCATED EITHER ALONG THE
AIRCRAFT’S ROUTE OF FLIGHT OR AT THE AIRPORTS WHICH ARE
OPERATED TO AND FROM.
1. NDB – NON DIRECTIONAL BEACON.
• A RADIO BEACON WHICH SENDS OUT AN ELECTRONIC SIGNAL WHICH
WHEN TRANSFERRED TO THE AIRCRAFT’S NAVIGATION SYSTEM
SHOWS A BEARING, USING A NEEDLE AND COMPASS CARD FROM THE
AIRCRAFT TO THIS BEACON.
• THIS ALLOWS THE PILOT TO NAVIGATE HIS WAY TOWARDS THIS
BEACON OR ON A SET BEARING AWAY FROM IT USING A PIECE OF
AIRCRAFT EQUIPMENT CALLED AN ADF- AUTOMATIC DIRECTION
FINDER.

29. ADF-AUTOMATIC DIRECTION FINDER ONBOARD
DISPLAY.
EACH NDB OPERATES ON A SET FREQUENCY AND HAS IT’S OWN

30. 2. VOR – VHF (VERY HIGH FREQUENCY) OMNIDIRECTIONAL RANGE.
• THIS DEVICE HAS ITS OWN VHF FREQUENCY WHICH IT OPERATES
ON AND ALSO AN IDENTIFICATION CODE.
• LOCATED ON THE GROUND FOR ROUTE NAVIGATION AND ALSO
AS AN APPROACH AID AT AIRPORT’S TO ASSIST PILOTS IN
NAVIGATING THEIR WAY TOWARDS THE RUNWAY IN POOR
WEATHER CONDITIONS.
• THIS DEVICE ALSO USES BEARINGS TO AND FROM ITSELF, WHICH
ARE CALLED RADIALS AND EACH VOR TRANSMITS INFORMATION
TO TELL PILOTS WHICH RADIAL THEY ARE FLYING ON, FROM 1
DEGREE TO 360 DEGREES FROM OR TO THIS BEACON.
• THIS NAVIGATION SYSTEM IS MORE ACCURATE THAN THE NDB
SYSTEM AS IT SUFFERS FROM LESS ERRORS AND A HIGHER
LEVEL OF ACCURACY.

31. VOR – VHF OMNIDIRECTIONAL RANGE DISPLAY.
WE CAN SEE ON THIS DISPLAY A GREEN ARROW WHICH POINTS TOWARDS THE SELECTED VOR
BEACON. BY SELECTING A SPECIFIC RADIAL THEN THE PILOT CAN UTILISE THIS ON HIS DISPLAY
FOR A MORE ACCURATE MEANS OF NAVIGATING TO OR FROM THIS BEACON, THIS IS THEN

32. 3. DME – DISTANCE MEASURING EQUIPMENT.
• AIRCRAFT USE DME TO DETERMINE THEIR DISTANCE FROM A
LAND BASED TRANSPONDER (BASICALLY RADAR) BY SENDING
AND RECEIVING PULSE PAIRS- TWO PULSES OF FIXED
DURATION AND SEPARATION.
• THE GROUND STATIONS ARE TYPICALLY ;OCATED WITH A VOR.
• A LOW POWER DME CAN ALSO BE CO-LOCATED WITH AN ILS
(INSTRUMENT LANDING SYSTEM) GLIDE SLOPE ANTENNA
INSTALLATION WHERE IT PROVIDES AN ACCURATE DISTANCE TO
TOUCHDOWN FUNCTION.
• MOST AIRCRAFT HAVE THE EQUIPMENT TO DISPLAY TWO
INDEPENDENT DME FACILITIES WITH AN ADDITIONAL ABILITY TO
SHOW A DME RELATING TO AN ILS FRQUENCY.
• AGAIN EACH DME HAS ITS OWN FREQUENCY, OFTEN THE SAME
AS EITHER THE VOR OR ILS SYSTEM TO WHICH IT IS

33. DME – DISTANCE MEASURING EQUIPMENT.
ON THIS DISPLAY WE CAN SEE THE DME RANGE FROM ITS IDENTIFICATION CODE ELN…..

34. 4. ILS – INSTRUMENT LANDING SYSTEM
• THIS IS A SYSTEM WHICH EMITS A RADAR BEAM BOTH IN THE
HORIZONTAL, CALLED THE LOCALISER AND VERTICAL PLANE,
CALLED THE GLIDESLOPE.
• THESE TWO BEAMS ALLOW THE AIRCRAFT’S ONBOARD
EQUIPMENT TO ACCURATELY DISPLAY A MEANS FROM WHICH
THE PILOT’S CAN ACCURATELY NAVIGATE ALONG A SPECIFIC
COURSE AND SLOPE TOWARDS THE RUNWAY WHERE THE ILS
IS LOCATED.
• THESE SYSTEMS CAN ALLOW THE PILOT’S TO LAND IN VERY
POOR WEATHER CONDITIONS, AS THEY ARE EXTREMELY
ACCURATE.
• SOME ILS SYSTEMS WILL ENABLE THE AIRCRAFT’S ONBOARD
AUTOPILOTS TO FLY THE AIRCRAFT ONTO THE RUNWAY,
KNOWN AS AN AUTOLAND, WHEN THE VISIBILITY IS SO POOR

35. ILS – INSTRUMENT LANDING SYSTEM
THE ILS GLIDESLOPE AND LOCALISER SEND INFORMATION TO THE AIRCRAFT’S ONBOARD
EQUIPMENT TO INDICATE WHETHER THE AIRCRAFT IS LEFT OR RIGHT OF THE RUNWAY
CENTRELINE. OR ABOVE OR BELOW THE REQUIRED GLIDESLOPE.

36. HERE WE CAN SEE THE LOCALISER INDICATION AS WELL AS THE GLIDESLOPE INDICATION.
EXTREMELY IMPORTANT PIECE OF EQUIPMENT FOR THE PILOTS!

37. 5. INS/IRS – INERTIAL NAVIGATION SYSTEM/INERTIAL REFERENCE
SYSTEM
• THESE TWO SYSTEMS ARE VERY SIMILAR AND FOR OUR
PURPOSES WE WILL TREAT THEM AS SUCH. ALTHOUGH THE
IRS SYSTEM IS THE MOST MODERN AND CAN BE FOUND ON
BOTH OUR BOEING 767 AND BOEING 747 FLEETS.
• THE IRS PROVIDES BASIC HEADING AND ATTITUDE
REFERENCE ACCOMPLISHED THROUGH COMPUTATIONS
BASED ON ACCELEROMETER AND LASER GYRO SENSED
SIGNALS, WHICH FEEDS THE MAIN INFORMATION WHICH
PILOTS AND AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL REQUIRE.
• THE IRS SYSTEM IS BASICALLY THE HEART OF OUR
AIRCRAFT…..FEEDING THE BRAINS! NOT ONLY THE BRAINS OF
THE PILOTS BUT ALSO OF THE FLIGHT MANAGEMENT AND
INSTRUMENT SYSTEMS.

38. 6. GPS – GLOBAL POSITIONING SATELLITES
• THE GPS SYSTEM IS THE MOST ACCURATE METHOD OF NAVIGATION.
• THIS SYSTEM UTILISES SATELLITES TO UPDATE THE AIRCRAFT’S
ONBOARD NAVIGATION COMPUTERS TO GIVE THE MOST ACCURATE
INFORMATION.
• THE BOEING 747 HAS TWO INDEPENDENT GPS SYSTEMS, HOWEVER,
THEY HAVE THEIR OWN LIMITATIONS.
• THE GPS SYSTEM OF SATELLITES IS OWNED AND MANAGED BY THE
USA DEFENCE DEPARTMENT. IN TIMES OF CONFLICT DELIBERATE
ERRORS ARE PROGRAMMED INTO THIS SYSTEM TO HINDER POSSIBLE
THREATS. ALSO THE USA HAS THE RIGHT TO SWITCH OFF THIS
SYSTEM, IN THE WORST CASE SCENARIO….WAR.
• OUR AIRCRAFT THOUGH CAN UTILISE OTHER NAVIGATION OPTIONS
SHOULD THR GPS SYSTEM NOT BE AVAILABLE, RESULTING IN LIMITED

39. GLOBAL POSITIONING SATELLITE SYSTEM
THE INFORMATION FROM THESE SATELLITES PROVIDE THE MOST ACCURATE METHOD
OF UPDATING OUR AIRCRAFT’S ONBOARD NAVIGATION EQUIPMENT.

40. SPECIAL AIRPORTS, CATEGORY AND
QUALIFICATION.
AIRPORTS WHICH SILKWAYS AIRLINES FLY TO ARE SOME OF THE
MOST DEMANDING IN THE WORLD. THIS CAN BE FOR MANY REASONS:
• THERE COULD BE MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN. (HONG KONG)
• DIFFICULT AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL PROCEDURES. (CHINA)
• RISK OF THREAT FROM FOREIGN GROUND OPERATIONS.
(AFGHANISTAN)
BECAUSE OF THESE DIFFERENCES AIRPORTS HAVE DIFFERENT
CATEGORISATIONS…FROM A-C. WITH ‘A’ BEING THE EASIEST AND ‘C’
BEING THE MOST DIFFICULT.

41. WHICH AIRPORTS BELONG TO WHICH CATEGORY CAN BE FOUND IN
SILKWAY’S OPERATIONS MANUAL PART ‘A’.
• CATEGORY ‘A’ AIRPORTS ARE NOT LISTED AS THEY POSE NO UNUSUAL
FEATURES OR RISKS.
• CATEGORY ‘B’ AIRPORTS POSE RISKS WHICH THE PILOTS NEED TO BE
AWARE OF. THESE PILOTS NEED TO READ ALL THE RELEVANT MATERIAL TO
UPDATE THEMSELVES. FOR EXAMPLE HONG KONG.
• CATEGORY ‘C’ AIRPORTS POSE PARTICULAR DIFFICULTIES FOR PILOTS
AND THESE PILOTS NEED TO BE SPECIALLY BRIEFED AND TRAINED. FOR
EXAMPLE…ALL AFGHANISTAN AIRPORTS.
IF WE CONSULT OUR DOCUMENT FROM OUR OPERATIONS MANUAL PART ‘A’,
THERE CAN BE FOUND ALL THE REQUIRED INFORMATION. THIS IS INCLUDED
IN YOUR HANDOUT.

42. AIR TRAFFIC SERVICES RULES AND
REGULATIONS.
THIS IS A SUBJECT WHICH NEEDS TO BE SELF BRIEFED. THE
INFORMATION IS PROVIDED PRIMARILY IN THE JEPPESEN ROUTE
MANUAL.
IT IS A SUBJECT WHICH DOES NOT NECESSARILY IMPACT ON A
DISPATCHER’S RESPONSIBILITY ON A DAY TO DAY BASIS.
HOWEVER, THE INFORMATION IS OF AN OBVIOUS BENEFIT.
THE IMPORTANT INFORMATION HAS ALREADY BEEN
DISCUSSED…..OR WILL BE DISCUSSED IN THE FLIGHT PLANNING

43. RVSM – REDUCED VERTICAL SEPERATION
MINIMA.
• REDUCED VERTICAL SEPARATION MINIMA (RVSM) IS THE REDUCTION OF
THE STANDARD VERTICAL SEPARATION REQUIRED BETWEEN AIRCRAFT
FLYING BETWEEN FL290 (29,000ft) AND FL410 (41,000FT) INCLUSIVE.
• THE SEPARATION MIMA IS REDUCED FROM 2,000FT TO 1,000FT. FOR
AIRSPACE FROM FL290 TO FL410.
• THE REASON BEING, THAT IT ALLOWS AN INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF
AIRCRAFT THAT CAN FLY IN A DEFINED AIRSPACE.
• ONLY AIRCRAFT WITH CERTIFIED ONBOARD EQUIPMENT MAY FLY IN RVSM
AIRSPACE, WE WILL LOOK AT THIS WHEN WE DISCUSS THE COMPANY
MEL….KNOWN AS THE MINIMUM EQUIPMENT LIST.
• AS A DISPATCHER YOU NEED TO BE AWARE THAT ATC NEED TO BE

44. AS WE CAN SEE, IN RVSM AIRSPACE THE SEPARATION IS 1,000FT BETWEEN AIRCRAFT FLYING
IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS. OUR PROCEDURES NEED TO BE UNDERSTOOD AND THE AIRCRAFT
EQUIPMENT NEEDS TO BE SERVICABLE….OTHERWISE………………..

45. AS A DISPATCHER YOU NEED TO BE AWARE THAT TO OPERATE IN
RVSM AIRSPACE THE AIRCRAFT NEEDS TO HAVE THE FOLLOWING
MANDATORY EQUIPMENT SERVICABLE.
IF THIS CRITERIA IS NOT MET, THEN THE FLIGHT NEEDS TO BE
DISPATCHED OUTSIDE OF RVSM AIRSPACE. THIS WILL GENERALLY
REQUIRE PLANNING THE FLIGHT TO FLY BELOW FL290.

46. IT HAS HAPPENED….AND IT WILL HAPPEN AGAIN, WHICH IS WHY WE MUST UNDERSTAND
THAT OUR AIRCRAFT MUST BE PLANNED TO FLY AT THE CORRECT LEVELS…..MISTAKES
CAN AND DO HAPPEN!

47. AIRSPACE CLASSIFICATION.
THE CLASSIFICATION OF AIRSPACE TENDS TO BE THE SAME
WORLDWIDE….WITH JUST MINOR DIFFERENCES, DEPENDING ON
THE COUNTRY.
THERE ARE PRIMARILY SEVEN DIFFERENT CATEGORIES OF
AIRSPACE, WHICH ARE DESIGNATED WITH THE LETTERS FROM ‘A’
TO ‘G’.
THESE SEVEN CATEGORIES ARE SPLIT INTO SIX CLASSES OF
AIRSPACE UNDER ICAO STANDARDS.
THESE SIX CLASSES ARE ALLOCATED DEPENDING ON THE NEED
TO ACTIVELY CONTROL ACCESS TO AIRSPACE AND THE NATURE

48. THE ABOVE DIAGRAM IS AN EXAMPLE OF AIRSPACE CLASSIFICATION IN THE USA.

49. THE CLASSES OF ICAO AIRSPACE ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:
• CLASS A - IFR, INSTRUMENT FLIGHT RULES ONLY.
• CLASS B - NOT USED.
• CLASS C - IFR AND VFR (VISUAL FLIGHT RULES) BOTH ARE
PERMITTED.
• CLASS D - IFR AND VFR (VISUAL FLIGHT RULES) BOTH ARE
PERMITTED.
• CLASS E - IFR AND VFR (VISUAL FLIGHT RULES) BOTH ARE
PERMITTED.
• CLASS F - UNCONTROLLED AIRSPACE.
• CLASS G - UNCONTROLLED AIRSPACE.

50. JEPPESEN DOCUMENTATION.
• JEPPESEN IS THE NAME OF A GERMAN COMPANY WHICH SILKWAYS USE TO
PROVIDE OUR PILOTS WITH THE AERONAUTICAL CHARTS FOR ALL THE
AIRPORTS WE OPERATE TO, AS WELL AS THOSE AIRPORTS WHICH WE MAY
NEED TO OPERATE TO.
• JEPPESEN ALSO PROVIDES US WITH ALL THE AERONAUTICAL CHARTS WHICH
OUR PILOTS MAY NEED TO OPERATE ON OUR ROUTE NETWORK.
• JEPPESEN ALSO PROVIDES US WITH MANUALS WHICH INCLUDE ALL THE
NECESSARY ROUTE INFORMATION AND IN THESE MANUALS WE CAN FIND
THE INFORMATION ON EVERY COUNTRY’S ‘AIR TRAFFIC SERVICE RULES AND
REGULATIONS’, A TOPIC WHICH WAS MENTIONED EARLIER.
• A SELECTION OF JEPPESEN CHARTS ARE INCLUDED IN THIS MODULE’S
INFORMATION PACK.

51. E
EXAMPLES OF JEPPESEN MAP AND AIRPORT
CHART.

52. AS DISPATCHERS YOU NEED TO BE FAMILIAR WITH JEPPESEN
CHARTS. NOT FOR THEIR CONTENT, BUT BECAUSE THERE WILL BE
OCCASIONS WHERE THE PILOTS WILL ADVISE YOU THAT THEY
REQUIRE CERTAIN MAPS OR AIRPORT CHARTS WHICH ARE NOT
AVAILABLE IN THEIR MANUALS ONBOARD THE AIRCRAFT.
SO YOU NEED TO UNDERSTAND WHAT EXACTLY THE PILOTS ARE
REQUESTING, AND WHERE YOU CAN SOURCE THEM FOR THE
PILOTS.
THE AIRPORT CHARTS ARE AVAILABLE ONLINE ON THE JEPPESEN
WEBSITE, THESE CAN BE DOWNLOADED AND PRINTED OFF, IF
THERE ARE NO REPLACEMENT CHARTS IN STOCK.
LOGIN DETAILS FOR THIS WEBSITE WILL BE GIVEN TO YOU LATER
IN THIS COURSE.

53. NAVIGATION AND ROUTE PLANNING.
CURRENTLY SILKWAY’S UTILISES THE SERVICES OF CARGOLUX
FOR THE BOEING 747 AND AZAL FOR THE BOEING 767 TO PRODUCE
THE NECESSARY OFP’S, WHICH ARE THE PILOT’S OPERATIONAL
FLIGHT PLANS.
YOU HAVE AN EXAMPLE OF AN OFP IN THIS MODULE’S
INFORMATION PACK.
YOU WILL NOT BE EXPECTED TO PRODUCE THESE YOURSELF.
HOWEVER, YOU MUST KNOW HOW TO OBTAIN THESE FOR THE
PILOT’S IF REQUESTED TO DO SO.
THESE OFP’S WILL OCCASIONALLY NEED TO BE UPDATED, DUE TO

54. OFP……..OPERATIONAL FLIGHT PLANS.
IN YOUR HAND OUTS YOU HAVE A COPY OF A FLIGHT PLAN
PRODUCED BY CARGOLUX.
THIS IS FOR A FLIGHT FROM LUXEMBOURG TO NEW YORK’S JFK
AIRPORT.
YOU ALSO HAVE A COPY OF AN EXTRACT FROM THE COMPANY
OPERATIONS MANUAL PART A, WHICH EXPLAINS IN DETAIL THE
ENTIRE BREAKDOWN OF THE OFP.
WE WILL NOW HIGHLIGHT THE IMPORTANT PARTS WHICH WILL
BE NECESSARY FOR YOU TO KNOW AND UNDERSTAND.

55. ATC SLOT, OVERFLIGHT CLEARANCES AND
MOVEMENT REQUESTS.
THIS SUBJECT WILL BE COVERED BY Mr EMILE KHASANSHIN, OR
ONE OF HIS COLLEAGUES.
THIS IS AN IMPORTANT SUBJECT TO UNDERSTAND, AS WE CANNOT
AFFORD TO MAKE ANY MISTAKES.
IN YOUR HANDOUT ARE EXAMPLES OF OVERFLIGHT CLEARANCES
AND THE MOVEMENT REQUEST FORM WHICH NEEDS TO BE
COMPLETED FOR FLIGHTS TO AFGHANISTAN. BUT YOU WILL
RECEIVE DETAILED INSTRUCTION ON THIS TOPIC.