RADAR CHAOS HAWAII EDITION - INSTRUCTIONS
Radar Chaos Hawaii Edition is a serious game. Air Traffic Controllers often regard their work as a 'three dimensional chess game'. The idea is to give the user a taste of real-world air traffic control. It is not like conventional games. There is no 'game over', nor are the levels sequential. You simply choose where you would like to work, and how busy you would like to be. As in the real world of air traffic control, you must strive to move aircraft as efficiently as possible, minimizing delays, avoiding conflicts and midair collisions, and giving pilots their appropriate route and altitude at all times.
You will find this game fun and challenging by it's demand for awareness and visualization. It can be a frustrating experience, and often too stressful for some. However, it's a great game for those who want something serious, requiring thought. This isn't a game. It's designed upon real-world procedures.
YOUR JOB
Guide arrivals and departures to their destinations while maintaining the required separation between all aircraft and avoid terrain. If you haven't tried the original Radar Chaos, it's a suggested first step. If you have not tried the original, don't despair. You can get yourself up-to-speed with these instructions.
Pilot voice responses can be heard in this simulation, with the option of disabling sound.
In addition to providing separation to aircraft, your job is to clear all aircraft direct their outbound waypoint (depicted by the solid red route line), at their final altitude (specified in red within the aircraft's control panel).
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CONTROL PANEL
To play this simulation, access an aircraft's control panel by clicking on it's tiny white square. In the image above, you will notice flight information (Delta Flight 137, Heading is 246, altitude is flight level 400, speed is mach .80, proceeding direct MAGGI). Mileage to the next waypoint can be turned on or off, as can the aircraft's future path. More on these two features below.
DATA BOARD
At the bottom right corner of the screen, you will see a tab called "Flight Data". Click on it and it brings up information about every flight. At a glance you can see what altitude and routing every aircraft has been given. You also can see what's coming next.
INFO BAR
At the bottom of the screen is the game information bar. It shows you what your safety and efficiency rating is, as well as the number of planes moved and time played. You will also find controls that look similar to a music player. The game can be paused, fast-forwarded and stopped. Voice can be turned on or off, and a radar information overlay can be shown or hidden. At the bottom left corner of the screen are buttons to display 'future paths' and 'mileage' for all aircraft in your control. More about these below.
HANDOFFS
When an aircraft enters or leaves your airspace, responsibility for controlling that aircraft must go with it. When you receive an aircraft from an adjacent sector, you will see a flashing H. You must click this H to accept responsibility for that aircraft. Only then will that air traffic controller give the aircraft to you. An aircraft will call you approximately 10 seconds after you accept the handoff.
When an aircraft is leaving your airspace, you must open the aircraft's control panel and click "HANDOFF". You will observe a solid H, which means the adjacent air traffic controller has not yet accepted your handoff. Once the H begins flashing, the adjacent controller has accepted your handoff, and you may now switch the aircraft to that controller by clicking "SWITCH" in the aircraft control panel.
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It is easy to see what must be done with each aircraft, by checking it's control panel. The panel shows you what waypoint to direct the aircraft to, as well as what altitude to assign. There is no need to memorize routes and altitudes.
Arrivals are different. They require some special handling. Before an aircraft can land on a runway, it must establish itself on an ILS approach path with your help. The ILS paths are red dotted lines. Aircraft must intercept these ILS paths by the following rules:
Maximum intercept angle of 30 degrees;
Level at 3000 feet;
Intercept at least 10 miles from the airport (indicated by a red < symbol);
Must be given an "approach clearance";
If you want to get fancy, you can make the aircraft intercept at only 7 miles, provided they are level at 2000 feet.
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In the image above, we have a localizer that is 080 degrees. That means the intercept angle should be 050 degrees (or 110 degrees if coming from the other side of the localizer). Watch the vectoring video below.
CONTROL METHODS
There are three types of control that you can provide to aircraft in this application: direction, altitude and speed. These are implemented by clicking on an aircraft, which displays the control interface. Initially, when you 'mouse over' an airplane you will see a red line, which indicates the aircraft's route. Once you click, you will see the control interface.
HEADING
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An aircraft's direction (or 'heading') is controlled by simply dragging the red arrow to the desired direction. This simulation can be played without the need for many heading assignments, as most controllers will separate traffic by altitude first. The "Direct" button is often all the directional instruction needed. Heading assignments (or "vectors") are required to establish aircraft on the runway arrival path (ILS).
ALTITUDE
Altitude is assigned by 1,000 foot increments, by tapping the up/down buttons. Speed is assigned by 10 knot increments, by tapping the fast/slow buttons. Aircraft that are above 25000 are generally flying 'mach speed', which is somewhat different from 'air speed' in that it relates to an absolute value equivalent to that of the sound barrier, roughly 660 miles per hour.
As a shortcut, you do not need to click 'submit', but simply 'mouse away' from the interface. The interface will close and all control assignments will then be applied to that aircraft.
SPEED
INDICATED AIRSPEED VS TRUE AIRSPEED
One thing new ATC sim enthusiasts quickly notice is the disparity between the airspeed that has been assigned to an aircraft, and the speed value shown on the aircraft's data tag. Indicated Airspeed is the value a pilot sees on their instruments, and is simply measuring air pressure, like a tire pressure gauge does. This indicated value underreads with an increase in altitude, since air becomes thinner at higher altitudes. When a pilot attempts to maintain an assigned airspeed, it's true speed is greater. So an aircraft at 3000 feet will fly a speed that is approximately 10 knots greater than assigned, and an aircraft at 10,000 feet will fly a speed that is approximately 50 knots greater than assigned.
This takes some getting used to. It is the system used in the real world. You may have tried other simulations that omit this. In our opinion, it's not a real ATC simulation if it does not employ this speed model.
MACH VS AIRSPEED
If an aircraft flies high enough, airspeed becomes almost useless. An aircaft at a typical cruise altitude of 37000 (Flight level 370) will have a speed of 450 knots, but their airspeed indicator will register only 250 knots. At altitudes above approximately 25000 feet (flight level 250), pilots will fly based on mach speed instead of indicated airspeed. Mach speed is the measure of an aircraft's speed in relation to the speed of sound.
ADVANCED READING (OPTIONAL)
If an aircraft's ideal cruise mach speed is .80 and they commence a descent for landing, their indicated airspeed will gradually increase as they enter thicker air. If the pilot maintains mach .80, the airspeed will eventually reach the aircraft's maximum "never exceed" airspeed - the maximum speed that guarantees that wings and other pieces of an aircraft will not fall off. This varies, but is typically 330 knots. At this point during descent for landing, a pilot must maintain this airspeed, and allow it's mach speed to decrease.
This mach-airspeed transition is something to consider in our simulation. If an aircraft is descending from it's cruise altitude with an assigned mach speed (say you assigned them mach .75 because of traffic), it becomes rather meaningless once they've transitioned to airspeed. If your intention is to make an arriving aircraft fly slower, you would therefore have to assign a mach speed as well as a transition speed (say mach .70, and transition at 270 knots). This probably seems complicated. Don't even worry about it while you are learning this simulation. When you reach the point where you consider yourself an advanced player, go ahead and give an assigned transition speed.
RESPONSE DELAY
When you tell a Boeing 737 to change heading, altitude or speed, it requires time for things to actually happen. This can be frustrating for the 'newbie' who knows nothing of air traffic control. After you give a pilot an instruction, expect to wait up to 15 seconds before you actually see a response to this. In particular, speed changes require time. In this simulation, responses are accelerated slightly. In real life, changes take even longer to happen.
When a pilot is told to descend from 9000 feet down to 3000 feet, the pilot requires 5 seconds to reach forward and make the adjustment to the autopilot control interface. The aircraft then gently reduces engine power and lowers it's nose, which requires another 5 seconds. By the time you observe any change on the radar display, 15 seconds have gone by and you may be wondering if the pilot even heard the instruction.
SEPARATION REQUIREMENTS
In the real world of air traffic control there are separation requirements that must exist between each and every aircraft. It is not simply enough for aircraft to 'miss each other'. There are two basic types of separation: lateral and vertical. If you have the necessary lateral separation, vertical separation is not needed, and visa verca.
LATERAL SEPARATION: In this application you must maintain a lateral distance of at least 3 miles between all aircraft, unless vertical separation exists. In the high-level sectors, this requirement is 5 miles.
VERTICAL SEPARATION: You must maintain a vertical distance of at least 1000 feet between all aircraft, unless lateral separation exists.
IN-TRAIL SEPARATION: All aircraft headed for the same waypoint must be spaced by at least 10 miles, to avoid overwhelming the next air traffic controller down the line. This can be achieved by selecting an aircraft's "MILEAGE" in their control panel, which shows it's distance to the outbound waypoint. These aircraft mileage values can be compared, to ensure the minimum is achieved, through speed control or 'delay vectors'.
In the left image below, you see arriving aircraft properly spaced on the runway ILS path. In the right image below, you see aircraft with proper in-trail sequencing for MAGGI. Note the 'mileage' values at the tops of the data tags. These aircraft will all be at least 10 miles in trail of one another as they cross MAGGI.
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TOOLS
FUTURE PATHS
Future paths are green, and can be selected for individual aircraft or all aircraft using the bottons at the bottom left corner of the screen. These paths show you where the aircraft will be in 2 minutes, and take into account speed, climb/descent, and heading changes. These are extremely useful for conflict avoidance.
ALTITUDE ARCS
Altitude arcs are green, and are displayed whenever the user hovers over an aircraft target. No arc is displayed for aircraft in level flight. The arc depicts where the aircraft will reach it's assigned altitude.
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ROUTE LINES
Route lines are red, and are displayed whenever the user hovers over an aircraft target. These paths display the route the aircraft has been assigned.
WARNING LINES
Similar to the green future paths. However, these are red in color, and automatically display whenever a future conflict exists. Specifically, the computer checks for any conflicts that will occur within the next two minutes. A 'conflict' is a situation where there is not necessarily any danger, but a likelihood of less than the required separation exists. Conflict lines take into account speed, climb/descent, and heading changes. These are extremely useful for conflict avoidance, but can easily become relied upon too much. Caution should be used. "Safety Rating" is penalized whenever these lines are present.
CONFLICT LINES
Conflict lines are light blue, and automatically appear between two aircraft that are in close proximity to each other. These are meant to assist the player when two aircraft have the potential to conflict.
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PENALTIES
SAFETY and EFFICIENCY values start at 50%. Each minute, these values are increased by 1%.
KNOCK BACKS
SAFETY
If a predicted conflict exists, safety gets knocked back 1% per 5 seconds.
If an aircraft gets directed into terrain, safety gets knocked back 20%.
If a loss of separation occurs, safety gets knocked back 20%.
If an collision occurs between two aircraft, safety gets knocked back 30%.
EFFICIENCY
If an aircraft is handed off at the wrong altitude, efficiency gets knocked back 10%.
If an arrival is not landed, efficiency gets knocked back 10%.
If an arrival is not given the correct routing, efficiency gets knocked back 10%.
If an aircraft is not properly handed off, efficiency gets knocked back 10%.
If an aircraft is not switched after a handoff, efficiency gets knocked back 5%.
Exessive control instructions reduce the efficiency rating.
VIDEOS
ENROUTE PROCEDURES
Radar Chaos Hawai Edition: Part 1 from Big Fat Simulations on Vimeo.
TRACON PROCEDURES
Radar Chaos Hawaii: Honolulu TRACON from Big Fat Simulations on Vimeo.
SEQUENCING HIGH LEVEL TRAFFIC
VECTORING
SECTOR-SPECIFIC INFORMATION
Radar Chaos Hawaii Edition is the airspace around the Hawaiian Islands, broken into six sectors. There are two high level sectors, (High North and High South) and four low level sectors (Kauai, Oahu, Maui and Hawaii) each around the busier islands. Below you will find information and videos regarding the specific differences between each of these six levels.
High North Sector | High South Sector | Kauai Sector | Oahu Sector | Maui Sector | Hawaii Sector
REFERENCE MATERIAL
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CYVR - Vancouver, Canada | AIRLINE IDENTIFIERS WJA - Westjet
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