I recently had the opportunity to tour the SoCal Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) facility near Miramar. The

windowless building was constructed to sustain a 9.0 earthquake and has its own generators in case of a power loss or glitch. There are 185 TRACONs in the US, and SoCal is the busiest. There are six TRACON sectors working out of Kearny Mesa, covering San Diego as well as Los Angeles, Burbank, Palm Springs, Ontario and Long Beach and providing services to 46 airports.

In addition to touring the training and work facility at TRACON,

our small group had access to several controllers, and I took the chance to ask many questions related to General Aviation pilots and flight training. Here are some notes and observations from my time spent at SoCal.

1. • When you request VFR Flight Following, they don't need to know your equipment/slant code. That's an IFR thing. They don't have a field on their screen to collect that information, so just tell them you're a "C172", not a "C172 slant Golf". They do, however, need to know your destination airport and desired cruising

   

   
   

   This is the box SoCal controllers use to communicate with other controllers and Towers.

    

   altitude, so give them that information after you've established contact with them by saying "Piper 477-Foxtrot Lima; VFR request", on your initial call-up. If you're going to an airport within their TRACON (Montgomery, Burbank, Van Nuys, etc.), you can just give them the name; they know all the ICAO codes by heart. However, if you're going to Sierra Sky Park near Fresno, you should probably tell them your destination is "Echo-seven-niner", as they likely don't have that one memorized.
   

1. • They don't mark or tick off anything when you tell the last (or next-to-last) controller as you approach your destination that you have "Information Alpha at Gillespie". They just keep track of this in their mind, which is why they sometimes ask if you have ATIS after you've already given it to them, or forget to ask if you don't offer that you have it.
   

1. • Things you don't need to read back. I asked specifically what they want you to read back, and what they don't care about. Naturally, they want you to read back any assigned altitude or heading (just like IFR), but they don't care that you read back any of these items: requests to "Ident", altimeter settings they give you along your route, radar contact position checks (unless it's wrong).
   

1. • ADS-B isn't being used at all. Everything they use in the SoCal radar environment is derived from airplane transponder pings. I was amazed that they aren't using any ADS-B data. They turned it on a while ago and it created all kinds of errors and ghosting, so they turned it off. A couple controllers scoffed when asked about whether they'd be ready for the January 1, 2020 ADS-B mandate. (Don't hold your breath).
   

1. • They've deployed a system known as Fusion, which essentially combines radar data from several sources, to enhance coverage.

   

   This is apparently the reason they no longer lose radar contact when you're flying through the Banning Pass, etc.
   

1. • The Palm Springs TRSA is going away. KPSP will transition from a Class-D to a Class-C airport, although they had no timeline on when that would occur. TRACON also requested that KLGB (Long Beach) become a Class-C airport, but that request was denied.
   

1. • There is a new airspace strategy beginning this fall termed

   

   
   

   The Minimum Vectoring Altitudes in San Diego’s Class Bravo airspace.

    

   'Metroplex'. According to the controllers, it will drastically change approaches and arrivals at airports throughout SoCal, although the Class Bravo airspace itself will not change. I will report more on these changes as they become imminent.
   

1. • When you're using VFR Flight Following, you don't need to advise ATC when you're going to change altitude. You don't need permission to begin your descent. The exception to this, of course, is you've been restricted at or above/below a specific altitude. (IFR pilots, you already know how this works).
   

1. • When you're doing practice instrument approaches, if you can remain VFR (flying only in VMC, not IMC), you should request 'VFR Practice Approach' (whether you’re going missed or landing). The reason: they have to provide 3-nm lateral and 1,000' vertical separation if you're IFR, but only 500' vertical and no lateral (see and avoid) if you're VFR. They can load up more airplanes on the approach if they're VFR than they can if you're IFR. Obviously, whether it's 'practice' or not, if you anticipate you'll be in IMC at any time, be sure you have an IFR - not VFR - clearance! Also, be sure you hear “cleared into Class Bravo” whenever you’re doing VFR practice approaches.
   

1. • There is no great rush in "checking in" with the next controller when you're handed-off during a flight (this is true for VFR and

   

   IFR). The fact that you're on a discrete squawk code means the next controller knows about you and that you're coming. If you tune to the next frequency and it's very busy with a lot of back and forth chatter, just keep flying and be patient; you'll either hear a break and be able to jump in, or if they really need to talk to you, they'll call you.
   

1. • Along the lines of establishing contact; I've always had this pet-peeve about saying things like "checking in" or "with you" on initial call-up, but this is apparently a bigger issue for me than it is for controllers! They didn't really mind whether you say that or not; apparently they hear it so much in the course of a shift, that they've become immune to it.
   

1. • In our pre-tour briefing, the controllers stressed how important it is that pilots are aware not only of airspace but flight patterns into and out of that airspace. An example they gave was traffic

   

   going into Long Beach. A lot of VFR pilots squawking '1200' (not talking to anyone) skirt around LGB's Class Delta to the South for scenic flights along the coast around the Queen Mary and San Pedro Bay, but they don't realize they are traipsing across the final approach path into Long Beach. If you don't have traffic in your airplane (or even if you do), they recommend just calling SoCal, getting a discrete squawk code, and using them for traffic advisories when you're flying in the area. They would rather be talking to you so they can make sure you don't get in the way, rather than having to vector all incoming traffic around you because you're in the way and oblivious. (A similar situation could occur in San Diego east county. You should know that if you're flying or maneuvering over Loveland Reservoir at 4,500', for example, you are right at the point where inbound traffic to Gillespie on the LOC/DME approach is descending from 4,900' to 4,000', and most likely not looking outside the airplane).
   

1. • In terms of avoiding controlled airspace, they recommend you circumvent Class B and C airspace by at least 2-miles laterally, and 1,000' vertically. In the Mode C veil, where your transponder

   

   pukes out your pressure altitude, the lateral is more critical to you, as the pilot. Their radar is not nearly as precise as your GPS or ForeFlight; when you skirt around the Bravo by a half-mile or so, to them it often looks like you're INSIDE the Bravo. If you create the need for them to vector IFR traffic around you, it's likely they'll tag your radar ping, and when you eventually land, you'll get the dreaded "I have a phone number for you to call..." message. Flying 1,000' below the Bravo is not always possible due to terrain, so at the very least, if you are going to be within 1,000' of the Bravo or Charlie floor, widen out your flight path a bit so you laterally stay at least 2-nm outside the airspace.
   

1. • I asked a couple controllers what their biggest pet-peeves or gripes regarding communicating with pilots were. One senior controller replied, "Pilots that don't know their airplane's

   

   
   

   This is not how you recycle your transponder.

    

   capabilities". I didn't initially understand this comment. He went on to give an example of a Cirrus pilot that had a transponder spewing out a random series of squawk codes. He asked the pilot to "recycle transponder", and the pilot didn't understand or know how to do that. Eventually the controller had to walk the pilot through how to turn off, then turn back on, his transponder. A scary thought for someone flying inside Class Bravo airspace.
   

1. • Another controller mentioned pilots that were non-specific in communicating. The example she gave is when she issues a traffic alert and advises the pilot climb, turn or descend immediately. The pilot replies with something like "Roger", or "Wilco", but doesn't let the controller know exactly what he will be doing (climbing, turning or descending).
   

1. • Finally, I asked a couple controllers about the FAA's new 'Compliance Philosophy'. I wrote about this in my July, 2016 newsletter (click here to subscribe). The FAA is taking a more consumer-friendly approach regarding unintentional pilot deviations and errors (remedial training rather than automatic enforcement action). None of the controllers had heard of the program, much less undergone any training or orientation. So there you go.
   

For more on TRACON, click here to visit NASA’s page.

© Garry Wing 2016