Multiple control towers?

I recently had occasion to pass through DFW on American. How many
control towers does that airport have? What do they all do? I was
looking out the window like a kid. I think we passed a "35C". Sure is
a GIANT airport to a 172 driver. Was into McCarren once; it was
child's play compared to what DFW looks like.

On Mar 16, 2:19 pm, "NVArt" wrote:
I recently had occasion to pass through DFW on American. How many
control towers does that airport have? What do they all do? I was
looking out the window like a kid. I think we passed a "35C". Sure is
a GIANT airport to a 172 driver. Was into McCarren once; it was
child's play compared to what DFW looks like.

There should be only one Air Traffic Control tower, but there can be
multiple airline ramp control locations where keep tabs on baggage
trains, maintenance vehicles, etc...

Jay B

Jay B wrote:
On Mar 16, 2:19 pm, "NVArt" wrote:
I recently had occasion to pass through DFW on American. How many
control towers does that airport have? What do they all do? I was
looking out the window like a kid. I think we passed a "35C". Sure is
a GIANT airport to a 172 driver. Was into McCarren once; it was
child's play compared to what DFW looks like.

There should be only one Air Traffic Control tower, but there can be
multiple airline ramp control locations where keep tabs on baggage
trains, maintenance vehicles, etc...

Jay B

There is an East, a Central and a West control tower shown on the airport
diagram. How they coordinate I haven't a clue.

http://204.108.4.16/d-tpp/0703/06039AD.PDF

In article .com,
"NVArt" wrote:

I recently had occasion to pass through DFW on American. How many
control towers does that airport have? What do they all do? I was
looking out the window like a kid. I think we passed a "35C". Sure is
a GIANT airport to a 172 driver. Was into McCarren once; it was
child's play compared to what DFW looks like.


My home field, Oakland (KOAK), is quite a bit smaller than DFW but it
has two completely separate towers...

Hamish

On Fri, 16 Mar 2007 14:32:49 -0700, Hamish Reid
wrote:


My home field, Oakland (KOAK), is quite a bit smaller than DFW but it
has two completely separate towers...

Interesting...

Do you know why? Is there a terrain feature that prevents one tower
from seeing the whole field? Are the towers short?

Some very large Bravo airports here in the east only have one tower,
as the only folks who need to be in the cab are the controllers who
need to physically see the field. Everyone else (approach / departure
/ enroute, FSS, etc...) can be in the basement or even a different
building.

In article ,
B A R R Y wrote:

On Fri, 16 Mar 2007 14:32:49 -0700, Hamish Reid
wrote:


My home field, Oakland (KOAK), is quite a bit smaller than DFW but it
has two completely separate towers...

Interesting...

Do you know why? Is there a terrain feature that prevents one tower
from seeing the whole field? Are the towers short?

Both towers are classic old 1960's things, and neither of them's
particularly short. And the airport's as flat as a pancake (and slightly
below sea level in many places).

It seems to be mostly history -- Oakland is basically two airports,
North Field and South Field, that are operationally and physically
linked, but have separate towers and quite separate concerns. North
Field (Runways 28R, 28L, 33, etc.) was there first (1920's), and
nowadays concentrates on GA and smaller freight; South Field (Runway
29/11) is the newer part built specifically for airlines and larger
freight operations in the 1960's, which seems to be when both towers
were built. Of course you occasionally see larger airline and freight
aircraft landing on North Field when necessary, and smaller GA aircraft
on South Field (especially for noise abatement reasons). After about
10pm, South Field tower takes over North Field operations as well. Yes,
there are some visibility issues, but nothing that would mandate two
separate towers as far as I can see (certainly South Field tower has few
problems handling me on North Field whenever I'm there late...).


Some very large Bravo airports here in the east only have one tower,
as the only folks who need to be in the cab are the controllers who
need to physically see the field. Everyone else (approach / departure
/ enroute, FSS, etc...) can be in the basement or even a different
building.

Oakland's departure and arrivals are handled by Northern California
(NorCal) Approach up in Sacramento. NorCal's precursor, Bay Approach,
used to be at Oakland on the North Field....

Hamish

On Fri, 16 Mar 2007 15:32:37 -0700, Hamish Reid
wrote:


Thanks for the info!

On Fri, 16 Mar 2007 17:44:35 -0400, B A R R Y
wrote:

On Fri, 16 Mar 2007 14:32:49 -0700, Hamish Reid
wrote:


My home field, Oakland (KOAK), is quite a bit smaller than DFW but it
has two completely separate towers...

Interesting...

Do you know why? Is there a terrain feature that prevents one tower
from seeing the whole field? Are the towers short?

Some very large Bravo airports here in the east only have one tower,
as the only folks who need to be in the cab are the controllers who
need to physically see the field. Everyone else (approach / departure
/ enroute, FSS, etc...) can be in the basement or even a different
building.
At Beaumont (Jefferson County) airport Beaumont approach and departure
are in the tower but not in the Cab (the glass enclosure for the
airport controller) The approach and departure controller sit in a
windowless room on the second floor of the tower.
--

Jim in Houston
osPAm
Nurse's creed: Fill what's empty, empty what's full,
and scratch where it itches!! RN does NOT mean Real Nerd!

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

Jim wrote:

At Beaumont (Jefferson County) airport Beaumont approach and departure
are in the tower but not in the Cab (the glass enclosure for the
airport controller) The approach and departure controller sit in a
windowless room on the second floor of the tower.

At Dulles, the radar room for Dulles Approach was one floor down from
the cab (the strips just fall a short distance). At DCA, the new tower
had the radar room in the basement. The tube for the strips actually
fell 12 stories or whatever. Periodically you call the elevator and
find a bucket of strip holders in it that are being returned to the cab.

Now both approach controls along with the ones for BWI, ADW, and RIC
(none of which I've been in) are out at the fringe of the class B
at Vint Hill (Potomac Approach). I asked one of the controllers
how hard you have to throw the strips to jump the intervening 20
miles.

The new Dulles tower does have central VAC.

B A R R Y wrote:

Some very large Bravo airports here in the east only have one tower,
as the only folks who need to be in the cab are the controllers who
need to physically see the field. Everyone else (approach / departure
/ enroute, FSS, etc...) can be in the basement or even a different
building.

DFW is sprawling. Your options are to make the tower way tall, and
way big so you can fit all the controllers in it such that they can
see everything, or you can distribute things.

When Dulles's new 300+ foot tower becomes operational, it will have
three sets of local (tower) and ground controllers working in it as
well as clearance delivery and supervisory positions. That will
be in addition to the existing ramp tower which controls traffic
pretty much between the terminals and the one on the Udvar-Hazy
tower which serves no useful function other than being a great place
to watch arrivals (now if I could just get them to put real ATC
audio and maybe a live radar feed, the exhibit has a prerecorded
one from EWR of all places).