[09 SEP|1800-2030|DGAA,FPST] Goldbird goes Oceanic

[Alexander Cohrs]

Goldbird goes Oceanic!

We at Golden Ghana Virtual Airlines are inviting all VATSIM pilots to join us on our group flight on sunday, 9th.

We are going to depart from Accra DGAA to Sao Tome FPST. Approx. 120nm southeast of Accra, we'll lose radar contact and will be switching to position reports with Accra Center. Shortly before reaching our destination, the radar stations at Sao Tome will be catching us again.

This is one of the shortest Oceanic crossings available and therefore could serve as an excellent training for Atlantic crossings like Cross the Pond or Southern Cross. The flight time is approx. 90 minutes.

All informations in short:

Date: Sunday, September 9th
Time: 1800 UTC til 2030 UTC
Airports: Accra DGAA, Sao Tome FPST
Route: ACC UB600 DIBSI UR983 GAPAK UA400 STM
Charts and sceneries: http://vatcaf.flyvatsimafrica.org/

Golden Ghana Virtual Airlines is Ghana’s first virtual airline. It was founded Christmas 2011 and currently has 54 pilots. The VA operates scheduled passenger flights as well as cargo and vintage charter flights. It is associated with Vatsim Central Africa Division (VATCAF) and supported by the real world Aviation Club Ghana (ACG).

The GOG homepage can be found here: http://www.goldenghanavirtual.org

Kind regards

Alex

[Alexander Cohrs]

Only three days left to our oceanic hop to the beautiful island of Sao Tomé . To let you know what to expect on this flight, I made a short summary of the procedures.

At the ground at Accra (DGAA):

You'll just get a normal IFR clearance, no special oceanic clearance is needed. In case runway 21 is active at Accra (most likely), be prepared for the published special departure procedure. The clearance for it may sound like this:

ATC: "GOG123, info X correct, startup approved. Cleared to Sao Tome, after departure fly heading 167 and climb FL40. After 2 minutes or when passing 3000 feet, proceed on course. Squawk 1234."

This procedure is intended to avoid overflying a restricted area (Osu Castle) but also for not getting stuck on a fixed heading forever in case of lost com.

In Oceanic Airspace:

Let's have a look on our route: ACC UB600 DIBSI UR983 UA400 STM.

At some point before DIBSI, you will be entering Oceanic airspace. As the controller does not see you on his radar screen anymore, you need to tell him all relevant informations that he needs to separate you from other traffic. That's why the controller will ask you to make a position report. He could say something like this:

ATC: "GOG123, you are entering oceanic airspace, squawk 2000, provide position report at DIBSI."

The position reports shall tell the controller where you are, where you are going next, how high you are and how fast you are. A typical position report dialog could look like this:

GOG123: "Goldbird 123, position report"
ATC: "Goldbird 123, go ahead"
GOG123: "Goldbird 123 passed DIBSI at 2015 UTC, Flight Level 370, Mach .78, estimating IVNOR at 2045 UTC, GAPAK next."
ATC: "Goldbird 123, copy DIBSI at 2015, FL370, Mach .78, IVNOR at 2045, GAPAK next."
GOG123: "Correct, Goldbird 123"

You need to make these position reports everytime you pass a waypoint, when you change you flight level, when 45 minutes have passed since last contact or when the controller asks for that. Oh, by the way, as you need to give position reports in current UTC time, it's a very good idea to fly with real time - otherwise it will get difficult for you to calculate the correct times!

The controller will need to separate you by other traffic on the same airway and one the same level by a certain amount of minutes. There are different conditions with different timings, but in general, expect a 10 minutes separation. If you run up on another aircraft, the controller has (at least) three options:

- he can ask you to change the flight level
- he can ask you to fly a certain speed
- he can ask you to adjust the speed in a way that you don't pass the next waypoint before a certain time. For example: "Do not pass IVNOR before 2050 UTC". Now it's your turn to slow down your aircraft to comply with this instruction.

In our case, it normally will only be two position reports: One at DIBSI and one at IVNOR. Thereafter, you will be entering radar covered airspace again. The respective controller will assign a new squawk code to you and identify you on his screen.

At Sao Tomé (FPST):

The VATCAF charts show two published arrivals, that's either a VOR or a NDB Approach for runway 29 - but no ILS. In case wind urges you to land on runway 11, you'll find instructions for circle to land on the charts. I really suggest to read the charts carefully, as there is some high terrain southwest of the airport.

The runway at Sao Tomé is 7283 feet, keep that in mind when choosing an aircraft type and thinking about the loading. Also, there are only two smaller aprons, so let us try to park as closely as possible so that everybody finds a stand for his aircraft.

I think this is all for the moment. In case I made a mistake or there are questions left, please feel free to contact me.

Kind regards

Alex

[Alexander Cohrs]

Guys,

thank you to everybody who was joining us tonight on the open groupflight. That was an overwhelming attendence - and big fun.

Looks like we even build an airbridge to Sao Tomé - see the attached image.

Kind regards and thank you again

Alex