If you didn't know already, I had a run at being an air traffic controller about a year ago, that ultimately ended in the FAA not looking at my application after I told them where I'd like to work. Apparently a perfect score on their AT-SAT (a controller's version of the SAT) doesn't mean much. If you really want to hear that saga, just ask and I'll give you the run down. The reason I mention that, however, is to explain how I can get into facilities so easily: connections made in that journey.
After getting the AT-SAT test results back in 2009, I excitedly called Potomac TRACON (PCT) to see if I could visit. The central hub of coordinating life at the TRACON, Tomeeka, helped set me up with a visit, where I met Roscoe, who is a contractor working to help train and maintain the currency of the controllers. He, being a people person, is the go-to guy for the TRACON when it comes to conducting tours. The first time around, I met all kinds of people, but only spent a few minutes on the control floor. Since I'm on vacation this week, I figured I'd see if I could spend some time getting my name known again (in case another public hiring wave comes around, or if I decide to go to controller school) and sit with a few controllers on the floor. After talking to Tomeeka again, and coordinating with Roscoe, I headed up to the TRACON this morning once again.
When I worked with Air Wisconsin as a Supervisor at Dulles, one of my co-workers knew of another co-worker who had gone to Embry Riddle for CTI (insert
Spaceballs reference here), and is now at Washington Center (ZDC). Ali introduced me to Fartun when we all met up for brunch a month or so ago, so I tried to work that connection to get into the Center, as well. Once we coordinated that scheduling, I had managed to set myself up for an ATC-filled day.
I apologize in advance for not remembering most of the controllers' names in the following narrative:
After arriving at Potomac, I first sat with ASPER, which is a departure sector in the Shenandoah Area (controls Dulles Airport). It wasn't as busy as normal, because Linden (LDN), J149 (a jet route), SWANN and PALEO (fixes) were all "shut off," meaning flights with those fixes or routes were unable to depart (Hurricane Irene's effects were just coming up the coast). It was interesting for the first few minutes, as a whole bunch of Colgan aircraft were apparently lined up at Runway 30 for departure. The successive departures kept the controller busy until Washington Center and New York Center shut off the rest of the northern departure fixes, with the exception of Martinsburg (MRB). Since that toned down, I left the control room with Roscoe to talk to the ATM about some strategies for getting hired, and then came back to sit down with a controller in the Mount Vernon Area (Washington National). He was controlling OJAAY and DCAFR, which are sectors for approach and final approach, respectively. That kept him busy simply because of the workload of the two sectors, in addition to vectoring the traffic around the weather. Someone had mentioned to me that he's been here for a while, and it showed, as in the middle of all of the calls to the aircraft and other controllers, he was striking up conversation with me about why I was visiting, and so on. If you've never seen the airspace for that area, you may not fully appreciate it, as it seems relatively simple and open. In reality, the controller is cornered by Dulles to the west, and BWI airspace to the north and east. There's very little room for error, so it takes a good bit of skill to bring several aircraft into that little amount of space. With weather, there's even less space to move around. After a while of sitting there, Roscoe came back to have me meet another one of the managers, before I left to run up to Washington Center. Before I left, though, we made sure to track down one of the controllers from my flight on Tuesday to say thanks for helping us out.
I drove from Vint Hill up to Leesburg in the pouring rain, but it actually stopped raining for my walk in, which was nice. Fartun lead me in and had me sit with one of the more veteran controllers, who was sitting at a position controlling airspace down by Raleigh, NC (Tar River Sector - TYI). He wasn't much for words, but asked a few questions in between fielding turbulence reports about why I was there and offered his own opinions of ZDC. The next guy who came to replace him was a little more conversational and had a personality similar to mine (the answer to every request by another controller was: "Unable! What did you need again?"). I listened in and even provided a little more detailed info that wasn't covered in the position relief briefing about the turbulence reports (yes, I feel special). Fartun came back later and brought me over to introduce me to one of her friends and fellow controllers, Julie, who was handling the Linden Sector (LDN), which sequences arrivals and departures to the west of Dulles. She had a similar personality, was about my age, and had been told I knew a little about ATC, so sitting with her was probably the most fun of the day. That is to say, she didn't need to explain the basics of ATC, and didn't give an introductory lesson on what exactly the words, shapes and lines on the screen actually meant. I can't fault the other controllers, though, as most people they meet probably don't even know about anything other than "the control tower tells planes what to do." In any case, she was just about at the end of her shift, so when she left, I sat on one other position, which I believe was either Sea Isle (SIE) or Coyle (CYN). The first controller on the position had a cool voice, and laughed a good bit at the controller in the TRACON below his airspace, who was acting very spastic. The second controller seemed gruff at first, but in the end, I think it was more that he just wasn't overly social. He outlined the airspace on the scope for me and asked a few questions, but otherwise kept conversation to a minimum. A few minutes after the controller switch, Fartun took a break to escort me back out to the guard shack, and that was that.
Even if you're not interested in air traffic control, as a pilot it really helps you to understand why things work the way they do when you're "in the system" (participating with ATC), and how to work better with them. I'd definitely suggest a visit if you're a pilot. Even if you aren't, there are opportunities for those who aren't pilots to experience what it all looks like behind the scenes. Without ever visiting the TRACON, or the Center, you can always drop by on the weekend to visit Roscoe up in the tower at the Udvar Hazy museum, where they have a mockup of a scope from New York TRACON (N90), in the area of Newark's airspace.
During the week, we were looking at several destinations, but the last two we were looking at were Luray (W45) and Cumberland (CBE). Cumberland looks like a nice flight with some cool terrain around the airport, and I know Luray has a few things in town, but I wasn't sure about the availability of cars to get us around on a Sunday. I did know, however, that my frequent flight spot Charlottesville would definitely have a car for me, so we headed in that direction.
Before we left, Julie, being a controller, was able to get us up in the tower last minute for a quick tour. The controller there had been there forever, and had his quirks, but he also had cookies and a cool view of the airport. We stayed up there for a few minutes and then decided to head back home while there was still a little daylight left. On the way out we had to hold short for an inbound SAAB 340, but after they were off, we were off. The trip back took just under an hour, and I got a few minutes of night PIC. As an added bonus, Julie handled all the radio work and some of the flying until we got back closer to Leesburg. I think the next time we head out, we'll have to hit somewhere northwest, or southeast. Looking at my flight map, it's decidedly lacking in those two directions:
