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Topics - Dhruv Kalra

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Events / ZMP/ZKC/ZFW Present FNO: North and South on Interstate 35
« on: August 14, 2021, 11:07:21 PM »


Interstate 35 (I-35) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. It stretches from Laredo, Texas, near the Mexican border to Duluth, Minnesota. The highway splits into I-35E and I-35W in two separate places, the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex in Texas and at the Minnesota twin cities of Minneapolis–Saint Paul. In addition to the Dallas-Fort Worth and Minneapolis-Saint Paul areas, the major cities that I-35 also connects to include San Antonio, Austin, Oklahoma City, Wichita, Kansas City, and Des Moines.

Join the Minneapolis, Kansas City, and Ft. Worth ARTCCs as we light up the major length of I-35 and provide uninterrupted ATC services from Minneapolis, all the way South to Dallas/Ft. Worth. Soar over the two distinct 35E/35W splits in Minnesota and Texas, hop from Dallas to Kansas City to compare which city has better BBQ, drop into Oklahoma City to or simply connect any city pair along the storied border-to-border trunk route.

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Events / Northern Migration XVI - The Great Minnesota Get-Together
« on: March 12, 2021, 08:03:56 PM »


With summer in full swing, the snowbirds are returning home to the land of 10,000 lakes, Minnesota. Around this time, VATSIM controllers from across the country normally convene in Minneapolis for a weekend of Twin Cities VATSIM controlling for a live event hosted by Minneapolis ARTCC. So come on and bring whatever plane you fancy into KMSP for Northern Migration!

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Events / ZMP Last Minute Shopping - let it SNO!
« on: March 04, 2021, 07:47:27 AM »


ZMP knows you waited until the last minute. Don't worry, we won't tell!

Lucky for you, the world famous Mall of America is right across the street from Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport! It's a week before Christmas and the stores are still open!

ZMP will be providing full ATC service to KMSP as well as to Flying Cloud Airport (KFCM) in Eden Prairie, MN, home of the Eden Prairie shopping center.

More than enough time for you to fly in, hit the malls, and fly out...before anyone else knows how long you waited!

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News / Position Posting: Minneapolis ARTCC Deputy Air Traffic Manager
« on: January 21, 2021, 08:16:30 PM »
OPEN POSITION POSTING - DEPUTY AIR TRAFFIC MANAGER
Minneapolis ARTCC (vZMP)

The Minneapolis ARTCC (vZMP) is currently seeking applications for Deputy Air Traffic Manager (DATM) who will assist the Air Traffic Manager in providing effective management and leadership of the VATUSA Minneapolis ARTCC (vZMP).

Key Accountabilities:
  • Oversees the day-to-day operation of the facility
  • Reports to the vZMP Air Traffic Manager
  • Maintains an active online presence within the facility and on the VATSIM network
  • Functions as ARTCC Staff Member and attends periodic meetings as necessary
  • Provides for coordination of position assignments and position restrictions when necessary
  • Provides guidance and help to assigned controllers or guests
  • Assists in the coordination of events that may affect the ARTCC's airspace
  • Assists in management of the VATUSA vZMP member and visiting controller roster
  • Other duties as assigned by the Air Traffic Manager

Required Skills:
  • Must be an active member of the network in good standing with a clean history
  • Currently hold a rating of Controller (C1) or higher
  • Capable of working well in a team-oriented environment
  • Must have excellent written and oral communication skills

Desired Skills:
  • VATSIM ARTCC and/or Real world managerial or supervisory experience
  • Demonstrated possession and utilization of a high degree of energy, commitment and dedication
  • Instructor or Mentor experience on the network is a plus
  • Adept at working with different personality types and skill levels

Interested candidates should be aware that this is not an entry-level position and not for the inexperienced. The workload is considerable and should not be taken lightly. Only those who understand the requirements and can make the appropriate commitment should consider applying. Candidates can expect an initial evaluation of their application after which they MAY be contacted for a comprehensive interview.

Applications should include:
  • Full Name, Active E-Mail, and VATSIM CID
  • Introductory Cover Letter and resume detailing your experience and addressing each of required and desired skills above and any other relevant information you would like to provide
  • Candidates from outside vZMP must submit a Letter of Recommendation from a Senior Staff Member (ATM/DATM/TA) at their current ARTCC

Applications should be submitted to [email protected]

Application deadline is 31 January, 2359 UTC.

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Events / [20DEC 2359-0400z] ZMP Last Minute Shopping
« on: September 15, 2020, 02:17:00 PM »


ZMP knows you waited until the last minute. Don't worry, we won't tell!

Lucky for you, the world famous Mall of America is right across the street from Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport! It's the shortest day of the year and the stores are still open!

ZMP will be providing full ATC service to KMSP as well as to Flying Cloud Airport (KFCM) in Eden Prairie, MN, home of the Eden Prairie shopping center.

More than enough time for you to fly in, hit the malls, and fly out...before anyone else knows how long you waited!

Please review this event briefing prior to flying in: https://minniecenter.org/briefing

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The Control Room Floor / Visual Separation and You: Dos and Don'ts
« on: December 29, 2018, 09:36:50 PM »
Figured I'd jump in and throw another topic up for discussion here. The concept of how to solicit and apply visual separation. Unfortunately, throughout the process of flying under the control of a number of facilities as well as training controllers within my own, I've found that visual separation is a often misunderstood and misapplied concept. Key examples of this include, but are not limited to:

  • Attempting to apply visual separation in the flight levels

First, in order to establish some definitions, let's look at 7110.65 7-2-1, which states:

Quote from: JO 7110.65X 7-2-1 a. (Terminal) and b. (Enroute)
Visual separation may be used up to but not including FL 180

Yep. Can't use it in Class A airspace. Have to have lateral, vertical, and/or wake turbulence separation. no exceptions.

About the only exception to applying visual separation in the flight levels is to climb or descend through traffic below Class A airspace. For example, if you have a climbing aircraft with traffic above him at 17,000, an aircraft is allowed to climb into Class A airspace after visually separating from an aircraft no higher than 17,000 feet MSL. The reasoning is the instant before the aircraft breaks the plane into Class A airspace visual is no longer being applied and “separation after” will exist. An aircraft at FL 180 is also allowed to transition out of Class A airspace using visual separation if the visual maneuver will be a descent through the altitude of another aircraft at or below 17,000 feet MSL. The reasoning is that separation exists before the aircraft descends and visual is not applied until the descent starts. At that instant, the aircraft will also be out of Class A airspace.

It's important to note that if altimeters are below 29.92, meaning FL 180 is not an assignable altitude and FL 190 or above is usable, any visual separation maneuver out of FL 190 or above would begin in Class A airspace. This is not an allowable application, therefore nullifying transition out of Class A airspace. The reasoning is that FL 180 is still a discernible altitude just not an assignable altitude.

  • Attempting to apply visual separation between aircraft between which a loss of radar separation has already occured
  • Not establishing a form of prescribed separation both before and after the application of visual

These two basically go hand in hand. Visual separation is meant to be used as a tool to expedite traffic which is already separated by another form of legal separation. If you're using it to try and save a deal, tough luck:

Quote from: JO 7110.65X 7-2-1
Visual separation may be applied when other approved separation is assured before and after the application of visual separation. To ensure that other separation will exist, consider aircraft performance, wake turbulence, closure rate, routes of flight, known weather conditions, and aircraft position. Weather conditions must allow the aircraft to remain within sight until other separation exists. Visual separation is not authorized when the lead aircraft is a super.

In a nutshell, when using visual separation to climb or descend through traffic, the aircraft must be positively separated (typically assigned vertically separated altitudes) prior to the use of visual separation. Separation after is then ensured by the assignment of altitudes to both aircraft that will ensure vertical separation, or by headings/courses that will diverge to minimum lateral separation.

You can also use it to waive wake turbulence separation when operating underneath or behind large/heavy aircraft (NOT Supers). When applying this on successive arrivals to the same runway, this effectively means that your "separation after" the application of visual is runway separation appropriate to the categories of aircraft involved.

Either way, it's a tool, not a crutch. Use it wisely and proactively. It goes hand in hand with ensuring positive separation of your traffic!

  • Advising VFR aircraft to maintain visual separation with other aircraft (not used outside of Class B/C and for a very specific use case at the tower level)

Remember that within Class B airspace, VFR aircraft are radar separated from all IFR and VFR aircraft by either target resolution/500 ft vertical (from aircraft weighing 19,000lb or less) or by 1.5 miles/500 feet vertical (from turbojet aircraft and aircraft weighing >19,000lb). In Class C airspace, VFR aircraft are radar separated from IFR aircraft only by target resolution/500 ft vertical.

You can use visual separation to your advantage in these airspace strata to expedite VFR traffic movement, but all too often, I hear it being applied in the pattern at Class D towers. The only time visual separation would apply within Class D airspace would be in a case when you're faced with a Small weight class aircraft (< 41,000lb) performing a touch/go or stop/go after a departing Small+, Large, or Heavy aircraft.

The reason for the use of visual separation in this case is that once the landing portion of the touch/go or stop/go is complete, the Small aircraft effectively transitions from being an arrival to being an intersection departure. We're required to have 3 minutes of wake turbulence separation for a Smal intersection departure following a Small+ or greater full length departure. Advising the Small aircraft to maintain visual separation with the departing larger aircraft is the "out" in this case. The phraseology for this is as follows:

Quote
N12345, report the departing B737 in sight.
Departing B737 in sight, N12345.
N12345, maintain visual separation with the departing B737, caution wake turbulence, runway 1, cleared (touch and go/stop and go/for the option)

We see so little pattern work on VATSIM that this one probably won't come up very often, but it's pretty much the only time you'd hear a controller at a Class D tower issue visual separation, which is why I bring it up.

Hopefully the explanations above give you guys some insight into how and when visual separation can be properly used to help run your traffic flow more efficiently while still maintaining legal separation throughout the process. There are a few other cases where visual separation can be used (successive departures being the most notable) that some of the other r/w guys who work in towers can probably shed some light upon, but these are the ones that I wanted to hit on based on my time spent flying, controlling, and training on the network.

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News / ZMP has a new EC
« on: November 30, 2018, 07:25:23 AM »
Please join me in welcoming Lance Harry as ZMP’s new Events Coordinator. LH has been an enthusiastic and dedicated controller and mentor with us for the past year, and we’re thrilled to have him step up to dedicate his time as a staff member.

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Events / [26JAN 2359-0500z] ZMP Presents Operation Deep Freeze
« on: November 22, 2018, 02:00:24 PM »


Throw on your warmest socks, crank up the heat, and don't forget to pack your shovel! Come join us as we staff Minneapolis to the gills on January 26th. From 6:00 PM CST until we can't take it anymore, enjoy full staffing and realistic winter operations at KMSP. Bring in IFR or VFR traffic - makes no difference to us! If bad weather is in the forecast, expect delays for deicing, snow removal, and missed approaches - hope you brought enough fuel!

As always in anticipation of a large event, we ask that pilots ensure that they have up-to-date scenery for KMSP, including runway 17/35. ZMP heartily recommends FlightBeam Studios’ excellent KMSP-HD scenery for FSX and P3D, and freeware options for FSX/FS2004 and X-Plane are also available from your add-on library of choice.

ZMP controllers will be gathering live in the Twin Cities for a weekend of winter fun. We’ll keep the fire warm and look forward to seeing everyone at MSP!

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Events / [23DEC 2359-0500z] ZMP Last Minute Shopping
« on: October 28, 2018, 09:50:14 AM »


ZMP knows you waited until the last minute. Don't worry, we won't tell!

Lucky for you, the world famous Mall of America is right across the street from Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport!

ZMP will be providing full ATC service to KMSP as well as to Flying Cloud Airport (KFCM) in Eden Prairie, MN, home of the Eden Prairie shopping center.

More than enough time for you to fly in, hit the malls, and fly out...before anyone else knows how long you waited!

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Events / [31AUG 23-04z] Friday Night Ops: The Great MSP Get-Together
« on: August 21, 2018, 08:52:17 PM »


The Minnesota State Fair is the state fair of the U.S. state of Minnesota. Its slogan is "The Great Minnesota Get-Together." It is the largest state fair in the United States by average daily attendance. It is also the second-largest state fair in the United States by total attendance, trailing only the State Fair of Texas, which generally runs twice as long as the Minnesota State Fair. Residents of the state and region come to the fair to be entertained, exhibit their best livestock, show off their abilities in a variety of fields including art and cooking, learn about new products and services, and eat many different types of food—often on a stick.

Join us on Friday, Aug 31 from 1800-2300 (23-04z) as we commemorate this annual tradition with a Friday Night Ops featuring the Minneapolis area. Bring your IFR, VFR, air carrier, and general aviation traffic in and out of Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport, St. Paul Downtown Airport, or any of our other Minneapolis area fields. Stop by, indulge in whatever deep-fried delicacies strike your fancy, and then wing your way across the country!

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The Classroom (Controller Tips) / S46 16C Final Approach Vectors
« on: August 13, 2018, 07:13:08 AM »
Posting this in the hopes that someone gets something meaningful out of it (in all honestly I thought I had posted this here at some point already but I can’t seem to find it now). Many of you have seen this and use it as a training aid, but I felt it best to perhaps make some of the newer radar controllers and instructors aware of its existence.

The following video is a recording of one of a Seattle (S46) TRACON controller's final shifts prior to retirement. He's working the runway 16C final at SEA (their primary flow is south). I've personally been able to adapt many of the techniques that the controller uses in this video into my own toolbox for working Approach, especially final sequencing during busy events, and thought I'd share some of the insights. Link to the video follows along with a few bullet points of note to take away from it.

KSEA 16C Final Video

  • Position Relief Briefing: Presumably, the TRACON has some sort of checklist they run down, but even with that, note how concise the briefing is. The departing controller covers quickly the overall picture, noting that visual approaches aren't working very well. "170's losing about a mile" refers to the fact that he's assigning 170 knots to the FAF, and once aircraft are inside of it the final is compressing by about a mile per aircraft. He then quickly runs down the traffic, starting with the ones closest to the airport (the strips are presumably arranged in this logical order as well). Note that throughout all this, he's still issuing control instructions. After the briefing's complete, the relieving controller just starts firing away on frequency. No "all aircraft stand by, shift change in progress" or anything. Just a new voice.
  • Approach Clearances: many approach controllers on the network feel like they have to lock themselves into always issuing a full PTAC and always having to reference the final approach fix on the approach. In reality, at a busy major airport where 15-20 mile finals are the norm, you'll often find that step-down fixes on the applicable approaches are referenced far more than the FAF. Also, take note of the fact that the controller turns guys onto the localizer and then clears for the ILS in a separate transmission (e.g. "QXE9, turn left heading 190, join the 16C localizer" followed two or three transmissions later by "QXE9, 4 miles from MGNUM, cross MGNUM at 4,000 or above, cleared ILS rwy 16C approach, 170 knots till SODOE"). This is a fantastic technique when applied to the network for a number of reasons. It gives you time to ensure that aircraft actually intercept the localizer prior to clearing them for the approach, allows you to fire off a couple other critical instructions in the mean time, and then come back to give an abbreviated approach clearance that is often much easier for your average VATSIM IFR pilot to understand anyway. Also, by aiming aircraft for step-down fixes, you can ensure altitude separation between subsequent arrivals; just one more saving grace in case you lose lateral separation at any point!
  • Timing the Turn to Base: If you notice, the base turn for most aircraft in this sequence, taking speed differences between jets/props into account, is consistently timed so that the aircraft turning from downwind to base is effectively pointed directly at the traffic to follow. The controller is accounting for the fact that speed reduction on base coupled with the movement of the plane ahead on final will give him the required spacing he needs. Also note the early wake turbulence advisories given when aircraft will be following a heavy/B757 on final. It's not just a good idea, it's technically required by the .65, so something to get into the habit of providing. By and large, this technique translates to the network well, with the caveat that you can probably allow a 2-3 second lead time for network latency and pilot reaction time.
  • Bailout Tools: Watch this for long enough (and there's plenty to watch), you start to really appreciate some of the aces in the hole that can mean the difference between effective traffic flow and disaster on final. For example, a quick vector across the localizer for spacing is often a far more welcome alternative than a breakout for sequencing if you miss spacing right off the bat. Furthermore, never be afraid to solicit visual separation - notice that the controller in the video is calling traffic whenever possible to aircraft. A visual approach effectively negates all separation rules and can really come in handy when you need to run planes tight together. Just make sure legal separation exists before you call traffic and establish visual sep!

I've watched this several times and find myself coming away with something new to try every time. I strongly suggest taking the time to watch this to anyone who is training for their S3 or just looking to further their proficiency in working Approach. You can really rock a busy night on final with some of the techniques that you pick up from this.

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Events / [21JUL 23-04z] Northern Migration XIII
« on: May 01, 2018, 10:40:21 PM »

ZMP Northern Migration XIII LIVE

With summer in full swing, the snowbirds are returning home to the land of 10,000 lakes, Minnesota. Around this time, VATSIM controllers from across the country convene in Minneapolis for a weekend of Twin Cities VATSIM controlling for the second of two real-ops events hosted by Minneapolis ARTCC. Now in its thirteenth season, Northern Migration XIII provides comprehensive coverage of the ARTCC, from Nebraska to Michigan and everything in-between, for an event featuring Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (KMSP).

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Events / [23JUN 2200-0200z] ZMP Presents Play Ball!
« on: April 20, 2018, 07:08:26 AM »


Lace up your cleats, grab your sunflower seeds and bubblegum, and rub some dirt in your gloves! Dubbed the "greatest show on dirt", Omaha is proud to be host to the NCAA Mens' College World Series! Join us as we staff Omaha Eppley Airfield during the tournament championship weekend! KOMA will be staffed from 2200-0200z (1800-2200 CDT) for arrivals and departures.

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Events / [29APR 22-02z] MSP Mad Dash
« on: April 04, 2018, 10:12:27 PM »


Help ZMP make order from chaos as we stress test new Traffic Management tools to help improve the flow of traffic during future events!

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Events / [03MAY18 23-03z] ZMP Presents BYOB
« on: April 02, 2018, 10:32:54 PM »


ZMP Presents our 12th Annual BYOB (Bring Your Own Bizjet) featuring Omaha-Eppley Airfield (OMA)!

Each year, Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting is hosted in Omaha in which hundreds of the world's wealthiest will attend! Time to bust out your Business Jets and head to Omaha in style...

Join us on May 3rd, 2018 for full staffing at OMA from 2300-0300z (6PM-10PM CDT). See you there!

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