Somebody has to be
on the other end.
Controlling is the half of this hobby most people never try, and it is the half the network actually runs short of. You need a headset, a couple of evenings a month, and the patience to be new at something. Everything else you get taught.
- No cost, and no cost at any point later
- No simulator needed to control
- No prior experience assumed
What a controller is actually for
Three jobs, in this order. Everything you get taught is in service of one of them, and the third matters more on a hobbyist network than anywhere else.
Keep traffic moving in an order
Somebody has to decide who goes first. A controller builds a sequence out of a dozen aircraft that all want the same runway, and does it far enough ahead that nobody has to stop.
Keep aircraft apart
In the air and on the ground. Most of the job is noticing that two aircraft are going to be in the same place in six minutes, and making a small change now rather than a large one later.
Help the person flying
Weather, a runway change, a question about a procedure, or simply slowing down for somebody who has never done this before. Half of what a controller says is not an instruction.
The six ratings
A rating is what you hold. Each one is awarded by a mentor who watched you work, and each opens up a position you could not sit down at before. Walk the ladder with the arrow keys, or pick a rung.
AAStep 1 of 6
Air Traffic Control Applicant Officer
The rating everybody starts on. You can work delivery on a live network the day you are awarded it, which means issuing real clearances to real people.
- What it lets you work
- Delivery
- Before you start on it
- The introductory course, which is what awards it. Nothing beyond that.
- To stay current
- Two hours in any 90 days
A few sessions, and a clearance you can issue without reading it off a card.
The five positions
A position is what you work. Each one wants a rating from the ladder above it, and each assumes you can already do the one below. Most people are on tower inside a month, and nobody is timing you.
| Detail | _DELDelivery | _GNDGround | _TWRTower | _APPApproach | _CTRCentre |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rating needed | or AP without radar | ||||
| What you do | Issues the route, the initial climb and the squawk before anything moves. Usually the first voice a pilot hears. | Pushes aircraft off stand and taxis them to the runway, and keeps the manoeuvring area from gridlocking. | Owns the runway. Clears aircraft to land, to take off and to cross, and fits those three against each other. | Turns a queue of arrivals into an evenly spaced line on final, and climbs departures out through it. | Works aircraft in the cruise across a whole sector, and hands them on in a state the next controller can use. |
| Where you work | The stand. Nothing is moving yet. | Aprons, stands and taxiways | Within about 5 nm of the field | Within about 40 nm of the field | Whole sectors, often several hundred miles |
| Up to | Surface | Surface | 2,500 ft | FL100 | Above FL100 |
| Hardest when | The half hour before an event pushes, when forty aircraft all want a clearance at once. | When arrivals and departures overlap and the same taxiway is wanted in both directions. | A departure bank with arrivals still coming in, which is most Friday evenings. | Any evening with more than roughly eight arrivals in the hour. | Events, when a sector fills with traffic all heading the same way at the same level. |
| Before you start | The introductory course, which is what awards AA. Nothing beyond that. | Comfortable issuing clearances, and a look at the aerodrome chart. | AP signed off at a field with no radar, then a session sitting in on a busy tower. | Tower signed off, plus time spent watching approach work at a busy field. | Approach signed off, and coordination you can do without thinking about it. |
| To move up | A few sessions, and a clearance you can issue without reading it off a card. | Four to eight hours on position, and a field you can taxi without checking the chart. | Ten to twenty hours, and the habit of saying what you want before you need it. | Twenty five to forty hours, and a plan that stays three aircraft ahead. | This is the top of the ladder. Everything past here is an endorsement. |
| To stay current | Two hours in any 90 days | Two hours in any 90 days | Three hours in any 90 days | Four hours in any 90 days | Four hours in any 90 days |
Endorsements
Once you are working area control the ladder stops, and what is left is sideways rather than upward. None of these is required, and none of them is a promotion.
- OCN
Oceanic
Taught nowOceanic sectors, including the North Atlantic tracks, where there is no radar and separation is worked from position reports.
Why it is separate
Nothing about it resembles radar control. You are separating aircraft you cannot see, using time and Mach number, and a mistake takes twenty minutes to become obvious.
What you need first
ACE signed off, plus a dedicated course. Most people do this because they want to, not because they need it.
- MAJ
Major aerodrome
Taught nowThe handful of fields busy enough to need their own sign off, where local procedure matters more than general skill.
Why it is separate
Heathrow is not a bigger version of Bristol. The procedures, the taxi routes and the expectations are specific, and pilots there expect you to know them.
What you need first
The relevant rating, plus mentored sessions at that particular field.
- SPO
Special operations
On requestMilitary traffic, air to air refuelling, formation handling and the occasional event that does not follow the normal rules.
Why it is separate
Different phraseology, different separation, and traffic that will ask you for things a scheduled airliner never would.
What you need first
Any radar rating, and an interest in the subject. Currently taught on request rather than as a scheduled course.
Your first three sessions
Nobody is put on a live frequency and left there. This is the order it happens in, and it is the same for everyone.
You sit in and listen
Your first session has no microphone in it. You connect as an observer next to a mentor working a live position, and you hear the whole thing while they explain what they are doing and why.
You work a quiet position
A field with light traffic, your mentor alongside you on a private channel. They take over the moment it stops being useful, and you take it back when you are ready.
You go solo
Same position, no mentor on the channel, but somebody is around if you want them. This is the point most people describe as the moment it clicked.
Who would be teaching you
Mentors are members who took their own checkout not that long ago. Pick one in a time zone near yours, because a session at 03:00 helps nobody.
Max C.
Delivery, Ground and Tower
AS, ACUTC+0Sam M.
Tower and Approach
AC, ASRUTC+1Alex S.
Approach, Centre and Oceanic
ASR, ACE, OCNUTC+0Silas S.
Delivery, Ground and Tower
AS, ACUTC+10Keanu K.
Delivery and Ground
AA, ASUTC+8Carson O.
Tower, Approach and procedural
AC, ASR, APUTC-5
Questions people actually ask
Do I need to have controlled before?
No, and most people have not. The whole point of the mentoring is that you start from nothing. If you have controlled elsewhere, say so and the early sessions get skipped.
What do I need to buy?
Nothing. The controller client is free, and a cheap headset with a microphone is enough. Nobody can hear the difference between a good microphone and an expensive one over the network.
Do I have to work my way up through every position?
Yes, and it is quicker than it looks. AA and AS come together, and plenty of people hold AC inside a couple of months. The ladder exists because each rating assumes you can already do the one below it.
How much time does it take?
A couple of evenings a month is enough to keep moving. The hours listed against each position are time spent controlling, not a schedule, and nobody is counting how fast you get through them.
What happens if I do not control for a while?
Ratings need recent time on position to stay valid, which is what the currency figures in the table mean. If yours lapses, it is a refresher session rather than starting again.
What if my English is not perfect?
Standard phraseology exists precisely so that it does not have to be. You are learning a small fixed vocabulary rather than a language, and controllers on this network come from all over.
What happens if I make a mess of it?
Nothing. Nobody is harmed, no aircraft is lost, and the mentor takes the position back for a minute while you catch up. Everyone controlling today has had a session that went badly.
Can I still fly while I train?
Yes. Most controllers fly more than they control, and flying is the fastest way to learn what a controller sounds like when they are doing it well.
The frequency is quieter than you think.
Create an account, say you want to control, and somebody will put you next to a live position this week.
Positions currently uncovered
- EGCC_GNDManchester GroundAS
- EGGD_TWRBristol TowerAC
- EGPH_TWREdinburgh TowerAC
- EGKK_APPGatwick ApproachASR
- EGPX_CTRScottish ControlACE
Every one of these is a rating away, and the first one on the list is where most people start.