SYD Today-Calibration on Instrument Approaches

[RB]

Had a flight out of Syd today at 12.10pm. We were there early & from T2 it looked like it was developing into a delay day. We had 3 gate switches & were then loaded onto a bus around normal boarding time. The Qantaslink bus we were on then sat between the QF & DJ area before we were dropped off at our plane at Dom 4G near the DHL shed. Once eventually underway the pilot informed us that there had been a maintenance issue but also there was an operation doing "calibration of instrument approaches"-anyone have more knowledge of this process?
I think we were lucky to get away with only a half hour delay.

 

[markis10]

This used to be a function of the old air wing and it's F28s, now done by AeroPearl which is partly owned by Paspaley, the pearl folks in Darwin.

 

[iRobbo]

It depends on what Aid they are doing and what they are checking it for. They will check VOR's for range and accuracy (fly away until they lose it, at different altitudes, track inbound to see when they pick it up, fly arcs at different ranges and altitudes etc). They will fly the approaches associated with the Aid at the airport it is servicing, all in Visual conditions (in case there is something wrong with the Aid). An example: at Brisbane recently they were checking the VOR and they wanted to fly a 12 mile arc at (IIRC) 2500' followed by several approaches to Runway 19 (which was the duty runway) followed by an approach to Runway 14, followed by an approach to Runway 01 (all overshoots). There were a few other vectors they wanted to fly, they provide details of what they want to do. They obviously take up a landing slot when on the approach to 19. Different again for approaches to 14 and 01 (stops departures and arrivals for an approach to 01 when 19 is the duty runway). It's a lot of work and a lot of coordination between approach/departures and the Tower. That particular session took about an hour, that's about the least amount of time I've seen them do, I have seen them land to re-fuel and go again. Not fun times for anyone....

 

[RB]

It depends on what Aid they are doing and what they are checking it for. They will check VOR's for range and accuracy (fly away until they lose it, at different altitudes, track inbound to see when they pick it up, fly arcs at different ranges and altitudes etc). They will fly the approaches associated with the Aid at the airport it is servicing, all in Visual conditions (in case there is something wrong with the Aid). An example: at Brisbane recently they were checking the VOR and they wanted to fly a 12 mile arc at (IIRC) 2500' followed by several approaches to Runway 19 (which was the duty runway) followed by an approach to Runway 14, followed by an approach to Runway 01 (all overshoots). There were a few other vectors they wanted to fly, they provide details of what they want to do. They obviously take up a landing slot when on the approach to 19. Different again for approaches to 14 and 01 (stops departures and arrivals for an approach to 01 when 19 is the duty runway). It's a lot of work and a lot of coordination between approach/departures and the Tower. That particular session took about an hour, that's about the least amount of time I've seen them do, I have seen them land to re-fuel and go again. Not fun times for anyone....

Thanks for the feedback. Not sure how long yesterday ended up taking. Saw them on the way (didn't know what was going on, just flying at odd angles & heights it seemed) to the airport & again while watching the takeoff/landing bankups from T2.
Had never sat in a bus between QF & DJ before & had certainly never been bused to Syd 4G!