VA & ARTCC staff: if you could re-post the following in your local threads that would be much appreciated!
We have confirmed that BA Virtual, Delta/Air France Virtual and American Airlines Virtual will all be participating. Perhaps even more VAs would like to join in? Full ATC has been organised on the Iceland side and you should see DEL, GND, TWR, APP, multiple CTRs and FSS online to guide you across Iceland and Greenland. We are also aware of extensive Arctic ATC being prepared for your trip across the tundra in North America to land at either Edmonton (Canada) or Anchorage (Alaska).
Never flown from Iceland? Here are the relevant procedures laid out step-by-step.
Step 1: Visit the Reykjavik Pilot Page -
http://vatsim-scandinavia.org/pilots/airports/iceland/Step 2: Download the Guide to Iceland. You may also wish to examine the Sector Map showing the combined Iceland-Greenland airspace block, CTR/FSS sectorisation and underlying airports. There is also a collection of recommended sceneries for added enjoyment.
Step 3: Skim through the section for BIKF - Keflavik International Airport. Please do NOT depart from BIRK, our domestic/regional airport, as you will likely not be able to get off the short runway with amount of fuel needed for this long haul flight.
Step 4: On Saturday 30th July, load up at one of the 15 stands at the International Terminal (14 stands in newer sceneries). If these are not available, you can try the stands at the Cargo Apron (66-70 for older sceneries), the International Terminal Remote (newer sceneries stands 20-24) or the East Apron (designated generally as 'parking'). Do NOT load up on a runway.
Step 5: Download one of the recommended routes for this event from vRoute. For this example, we flying to Anchorage with the route "ENIMI 69N030W 73N040W 75N050W SINVU M454 POTAT J167 FYU J160 AYKID ENN TAGER8."
Step 6: Add a mach speed and flight level to the start of your route. We've chosen a B753 flying mach .82, FL360. Remember it's even flight levels for westbound flights. Our route now looks like "M082F360 ENIMI 69N030W..."
Step 7: With your route in front, call up BIKF_DEL ('Keflavik Delivery') for clearance. The response will probably be "standby." Remember, oceanic clearances are long and BIKF_DEL may be coordinating with CTRs later down the line to organise better traffic flow.
Step 8: Receive your clearance. In this example, it will probably be: "ICE123, cleared to Anchorage via runway 01, direct ENIMI, 69 north 30 west, 73 north 40 west, 75 north 50 west, then direct SINVU. Initial climb FL290, mach decimal 82, squawk 4401."
Step 9: Read that back. You must read the route back in full.
Step 10: On receiving "readback correct," you will be instructed to contact BIKF_GND for pushback and startup. You can make this request whenever you are ready, but try to avoid sitting at the stand for too long as there may be other pilots waiting for you to vacate the stand. Parking space is a premium for a busy event!
Step 11: The rest of the phraseology follows in the Guide to Iceland > BIKF section > "Phraseology Example – ICE251 – North American Departure – BIKF – PANC." Note that your 'departure frequency' is given by TWR when you are airborne, not in your initial IFR clearance. Other than that, Icelandic departure procedures are broadly the same as elsewhere in the world.
Step 12: No position reports are needed under BIRD_CTR ('Reykjavik Control'... not 'Center') as this is a radar position. CTR will just give you directs where possible and step climbs on request. For flights to Edmonton, you will remain with CTR controllers the whole way so you can stop reading here. For flights to Anchorage, as in this example, you will pass so far north that radar service cuts out. From there on, BICC_FSS ('Iceland Radio') will take over.
Step 13: Under BICC_FSS, you need to give position reports at every waypoint in your flight plan. This usually means a report every 20-30 minutes. Reports are in this format: [CALLSIGN], at [POSITION], [TIME in zulu], [FL], [mach], estimating [NEXT POSITION] at [TIME in zulu], [THIRD POSITION] thereafter. For example, "Iceland Radio, ICE123 is at 73 north 40 west, time 2104z, estimating 75 north 50 west at time 2128z, SINVU thereafter."
Step 14: BICC_FSS will read this back to you, and you then reply with "readback correct" or "negative... [correct the controller]." Please be patient with BICC_FSS as this controller also has many other responsibilities across the whole of Icelandic airspace. So you may hear him/her giving oceanic clearances in Greenland, inbound oceanic clearances from Europe/Canada/Russia and possibly even giving information services at the special underlying airport of Jan Mayen!
Step 15: Transfers to CZEG_CTR ('Edmonton Centre') will occur somewhere over Baffin Bay, the sea between Greenland and Canada. At that point you will have successfully navigated through Icelandic airspace!
We recommend you practice flying from Iceland before the event, perhaps on shorter flights to Europe/Greenland.
