JANUARY 7, 2009
Changes to filing guidance and LI heli IFR route
By Paul Gottwig
As many of you read in my last newsletter article I spoke of IFR filing procedures for getting through La Guardia airport's airspace and into the Manhattan Heliports. After speaking more with the NBAA GAdesk down in Washington DC and the NY TRACON it looks like the flight plan automation works a little different than first thought. Firstly, when filing for a NY heliport be sure to put KLGA into your destination block, not the heliport identifier like I had said in the article. Put the SVFR break off request and the heliport ID in the remarks section. The way the flight plan automation works is it automatically creates a space for your aircraft at the airport of destination, basically letting the airport know you are coming. I know many times the notes in the remarks section seem to not get transmitted with your flight plan. This is mainly due to a limited number of characters being accepted by the computer for this space and therefore none of it getting transferred to the controller. I apologize for confusing this issue for you and appreciate all the input I have received from operators who routinely file these procedures. Please keep it up, the education process is never-ending as we transition into GPS based navigation while still utilizing proven techniques in our area.
One of the main complaints of IFR helicopter operators are the delays given while trying to get a clearance from an outlying area or, more often, the requirement to agree to take the CPTR RNAV (GPS) 250 approach in order to avoid a lengthy delay. I stressed to both parties, ATC and the NBAA Helpdesk, the lack of weather reporting near the missed approach area for this approach and the hesitancy in accepting such a deal when the weather is questionable. They understand completely and there seems to no problem handling the few helicopters and hour usually coming in and out. At times there have been as many as 8 (planned) helicopters coming into LGA and that is one of the many reasons we have seen a national level interest in our affect on traffic flows coming into our area from the surrounding ARTCC's. For now, the CPTR 250 is still your best bet for getting into the heliports without delays, but don't forget to offer to accept a turn over the outer marker and to keep your speed up if you feel you need the LGA ILS to break out of the clouds, every little bit helps.
I am also working on getting the Hampton IFR Helicopter Route published into an LTA for dissemination to our members. This route was specifically designed to provide helicopters a low level IFR route in and out of the heliports via the CPTR 250 approach and should, on most days, provide some predictability for our IFR flights. More to follow on this and the still pending CTPR GPS approaches into the city at our upcoming meeting.
DECEMBER 31, 2008
Big Three slot exemptions for helicopters
By Paul Gottwig
On December 10th, AOPA posted an article to their website stating all general aviation aircraft were going to need a "slot reservation" to get into KLGA, KJFK, and KEWR for both IFR and VFR operations. This is nothing new and has been published in FAR 93, Congestion Management Rule for LGA airport, for years. While the latest update to these rules dated October 10, 2008 does decrease the slot allocation for general aviation from 6 to 3 per hour it is only applicable to fixed wing aircraft.
There are several references to helicopters in the regulation; all but one refereeing to their exemption to the rule. One note of interest should be the ATA's request that helicopters not be exempted due to our taking up of landing positions. This is obviously a misrepresentation of helicopter operations and we at the ERHC, as well as the FAA are still maintaining that helicopters are not landing at the airport the vast majority of the time and do not have the volume of operations to have any appreciable affect on large airport operations.
While helicopters exemption is good news to hear the bad news is this still does not prevent helicopters from receiving delays getting into these airports. Arrivals are still subject to controller workload for VFR and the creation of spacing requirements for IFR. I have pulled a couple references from the La Guardia rule as an example of our exemption here (21kb Word doc). Review these rules in their entirety on the FAA website.
NOVEMBER 7, 2008
Update to NYC IFR LTA, now #08-01
By Paul Gottwig
Some of you may have already received the updated Eastern Service Center Letter to Airmen (LTA) 08-01 dated 15 November 2008. This is the re-release of the expired LTA 07-01 referenced in my September 15th Blog update and is effective for 2 years expiring on 15 November 2010. They have made it a little more comprehensive by adding the route from D.C. back to NY in addition to the routing from Philly. We will be disseminating the letter to you all via email soon as well as having a link here for you to download. If all goes well we should have the low level helicopter routes published on our low altitude charts prior to the expiration of this latest LTA.
SEPTEMBER 19, 2008
RNAV routes clarification
By Paul Gottwig
Due to the frequency of use it appears the point-to-point helo RNAV route between NY and Philadelphia spelled out in the Eastern Region Service Center LTA 07-01 is still in the TRACON databases and usable for flight. Although this LTA expired in May of this year the NY TRACON LTA 07-01 is still in effect and permits operators departing Manhattan heliports to begin the route at the DECKR waypoint.
Continue to use it as normal and please let me know of any issues you encounter at (H) 845-360-5167 (C) 845-857-4530.
SEPTEMBER 15, 2008
Altitudes/Charts/RNAV routes update
By Paul Gottwig
It looks like over the last few months there have been a several losses of separation between aircraft due to of misunderstood altitude clearances from both pilot deviations and ATC operational errors. Mistaken altitude clearances often leave little time for air traffic controllers to detect and correct altitudes before separation is lost. Therefore, the FAA has mandated a change to FAA Order 7110.65 requiring ATC receive or ask for a read back of all altitude clearances from pilots with the exception of your altitude clearance in conjunction with an approach clearance. A PDF of the notice in its entirety.
Effective with the September 25, 2008 airspace cycle, the Federal Aviation Administration will offer digital versions of all Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) Enroute Charts as e-commerce digital downloadable files. All conterminous U.S. and Alaska High and Low Altitude Enroute Charts will be available through the NACO website. Downloadable Enroute charts will be available 14 days prior to their airspace effective date. The download price for each zip file will be $1.60. No subscriptions will be available.
I recently sent an email to the FAA RNAV/RNP asking where we stand on the formation of the helicopter IFR RNAV routes. Here is the response:
“The FAA RNAV/RNP Group is still working to get helicopter only GPS T route charting specifications established. We still need to go through the rulemaking process, which is unfortunately taking a long time. Our original plan was to use a Letter To Airmen (LTA) to replace the old special route chart that was in use but not maintained. My office tried to get the helicopter route charting specifications work completed before the original LTA expired so your users would have the routes published on the IFR low charts. The LTA expired before the charting work was complete. Since the LTA expired in May the routes are not usable currently. Our group is working with the service center to get a new LTA drafted, coordinated, and signed. Once the new LTA is coordinated and signed, your operators will be able to fly the routes via the LTA. Once the charting specification actions are complete, the LTA routes will be published on the low altitude IFR chart. Once the first set of routes are published, then we can work on additional helicopter IFR routes like NY to BOS.”
It seems things are indeed progressing, but at a slow pace.
JULY 17, 2008
The very latest deal on the 87N IAP
By Paul Gottwig
I recently spoke with Mayor Epley out at Southampton to ensure he fully understands the impact of losing the instrument approach out there. After I explained to him that without the approach there would be many more episodes of aircraft scud running over from FOK and other surrounding areas and therefore many more noise complaints from the requirement to stay low out of the clouds he was fully onboard with resubmitting the paperwork to the FAA to get the ball rolling once again with recertifying the IAP.
Even so, it will be quite some time until it is complete. Depending upon how soon the FAA gets started again it could be next spring or even summer before we see it up and running again. I will certainly keep you posted.
JULY 14, 2008
What’s up with 87N’s approach
By Paul Gottwig
Being full into the Hamptons flying season, many members are wondering when we can expect the COPTER VOR/DME RNAV OR GPS 187 instrument approach to Southampton heliport to come back online. Last year the approach was taken off the books due to the yearly shift in magnetic variation causing the final approach course to vary outside of limitations. Once it was cancelled several things have to happen before it can be republished. Among these are paperwork to the FAA submitted by the airport manager, flight check of the procedure by the FAA and republication in the chart database. After speaking with Don Krager of the FAA Flight Procedures Office it seems the noise abatement issues out in that area are beginning to filter into the IFR structure as well.
Prior to initiating any action to republish a procedure the FAA must have certain forms completed by the airport manager of the field using the procedure. In this case, it’s Mayor Mark Epley of Southampton. It seems when submitting these forms Mr. Epley checked the boxes indicating this procedure had “significant disruption to surrounding communities”. At this time the FAA cannot further pursue rewriting this procedure until these issues have been completely resolved. In other words, they receive a letter or resubmitted forms stating the procedure does not affect the surrounding area.
After many phone calls and emails, Mr. Krager informed me two days prior to this writing that if we can get all this done by July 17, 2008 he will be able to get it into this years completion period and possibly republished by January 2009. Obviously this is going to be a tough task to complete in a week, but we will be in contact with Mayor Epley as soon as we can to try and keep the ball rolling. Until then I am also looking into some way of breaking off the ILS into Gabreski to land at 87N for the interim. Thanks for your patience.
MAY 27, 2008
Signs of Improvement?
By Paul Gottwig
On May 8th, Dave Nuss and I had a very productive meeting with the NY TRACON discussing the various issues many of our members have encountered in the past couple of years. We discussed many of the perceptions and misconceptions from both sides as well as our expectations of ATC. Our main goal continues to be predictable IFR helicopter operations. TRACON had pulled a couple of radar recordings to serve as examples of what they can do to smooth the flow for helicopters and also show the effects IFR helicopters can have on the "normal flow" of jet traffic in and out of the busy New York terminal area. From this we were able to come up with some expectations ATC has of us and what we can do to help them help us.
The PowerPoint presentation (224 kb) I presented at our quarterly meeting can be downloaded by right-clicking here, and I have added accompanying notes to each slide to explain some of the more complex thought processes. A Word document (29 kb) is also available for the slide notes if you wish to view it slideshow view. There have been many gains made in reemphasizing IFR helicopter operations in the NY area and we need to ensure we get the word out to not only all our members, but all IFR helicopter operators. As always, if we are doing everything we can to help ATC and ourselves we will be more likely to receive a high level of service.
As we begin another summer season of IFR flying please feel free to call or email me whenever you encounter issues you think need to be addressed or just want to let us know when have one of those great days where everything seems to flow like clockwork. We need the good reports as well as the bad to show other operators and ATC what works the best and what doesn't. I wish smooth flights to you all.
Thanks for your time,
Paul E. Gottwig , ERHC IFR Committee
(H) 845-360-5167 (C) 845-857-4530
APRIL 7, 2008
Good to know for NY IFR
By Paul Gottwig
Anyone flying IFR in our area will tell you it can be an extremely fast paced trial of your FMS/GPS knowledge and programming speed. ATC in this area deals with an unbelievable amount of traffic and therefore has much greater expectations of pilots knowledge of the local area than you will find in most areas. Here are a couple of tidbits you may or may not know.
1. When flying IFR to the Manhattan Heliports from the south you may receive a clearance for the CPTR RNAV (GPS) 028 or directed to proceed direct to one of it's points regardless of your filed destination. Be aware this approach is found with the JFK approaches not LGA. It certainly looks like you're going toward LGA and therefore they would have approach responsibility, but that's not where you're gonna find it.
2. Just like some pilots, ATC in this area can be somewhat lax in their use of standardized terminology in radio communications. Don't hesitate to ask what you are being vectored for, which airport a particular approach plate is found or even a confirmation of a clearance. You might hear a lot of irritation or an occasional remark by the controller, but if you are ensuring proper procedure you are helping out everyone in the end.
3. Above all things Keep a Cool Head. Getting heated with ATC is only going to make poor perceptions of IFR helicopters to everyone listening on that frequency. A calm professional, even jovial radio demeanor, provides a much better work environment and certainly makes everyone dealing with you want to help out as much as possible.
APRIL 4, 2008
Delays, stops, denials and what we're doing
By Paul Gottwig
As many of you may have heard or experienced, getting into and out of Manhattan Heliports during IMC conditions has become an increasingly difficult venture over the last couple of years. Due to excessively high traffic volume in combination with low ceilings it can be common for La Guardia to institute a 30 or even 60 minute "ground stop" to all aircraft while still on the ground at their origination point. Many of us have had a "ground delay" at company helipads or outlying airports such as HPN. While this is a different circumstance than a "ground stop" the end state is the same and we are currently researching to find out if helicopters are exempt from "ground stops".
According to AC 93-1, Reservations for Unscheduled Operations at High Density Traffic Airports (HDTA), helicopters are excluded from the requirement for a reservation, however, it says nothing about "ground delays" or what we are supposed to do while enroute and trying to fit into the traffic flow. Just as important the AC does not state in what manner the aircraft which are exempt from reservations are supposed to be prioritized. Currently we are being handled on a basis of "controller workload", which obviously is not in our best interest during peak times when controllers are operating at their full capacity.
The frustration level is high, we know, but be sure we are diligently working with the FAA and ATC to provide what we all hope in the end will be some level of predictability for helicopter IFR operations in our area.
january 1, 2008
Hi, I'm Paul Gottwig
By Paul Gottwig
As you all know there are many, many issues, both past, current and future that we at the ERHC will continue to pursue for our IFR flying community and aviation in general. Future Helicopter RNAV approaches, low level helicopter preferred IFR routes, and the upcoming NEXTGEN airspace are but a few at the top of the list. I will do my best to keep this site current with the most up to date information. Don't forget much of our information comes from all of you out there in the community getting the real-time experience so please feel free to contact me with whatever issues you have come across.