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McGuire RAPCON Operations |
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Updates |
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This page is to inform you of the services available from the McGuire Radar Approach Control facility. This page is designed with two purposes in mind. The first is to point out peculiarities and aerial activities you should know about, and to assist you in your flight through the skies of central New Jersey. Whether you are flying for business or pleasure, operating in clear weather or clouds, following visual or instrument flight rules, our desire is to help you reach your destination safely. To do this, this page contains information about the following: |
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Contact McGuire Approach |
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Radar traffic advisory service for the McGuire area is provided on a controller work load-permitting basis. To obtain this service, aircraft should contact McGuire Approach on 120.25. McGuire Tower controls a five statute mile radius around McGuire AFB up to and including 2600' MSL and can be contacted on 118.65 for Class D airspace transition approval. FREQUENCIES: McGuire Approach 120.25 |
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1. McGuire AFB Airport Traffic Control Tower (ATCT). McGuire ATCT operates continuously as a modern, fully equipped and staffed ATC facility. Equipped with a Digital Brite Radar Indicator Tower Equipment (DBRITE) display, the ATCT provides services to all aircraft operating within the McGuire Class D airspace (NOTE: Federal Aviation Regulations [FARS] require that unless otherwise authorized/directed by ATC, no person may operate an aircraft within Class D airspace except for the purpose of landing or departing from an airport within that area). The DBRITE is utilized by tower controllers to provide traffic advisories and altitude verification to aircraft transitioning the Class D airspace. The ATCT also assists the radar approach control (RAPCON) with arrival and departure sequencing and spacing and provides limited advisory/ flight information service to overflying VFR aircraft. The ATCT also prepares and records McGuire Automatic Terminal Information Service (ATIS) broadcasts, available on frequency 110.6 MHz (VOR voice) or 270.1 MHz. The ATIS provides information on the current altimeter, runway in use, wind information, weather advisories/warnings, sky condition, visibility, Restricted Area 5001 status, and any other pertinent information for flight safety. |
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2. Lakehurst NAEC ATCT. Lakehurst ATCT operates Monday through Friday, 0700-1900 hours local, except on holidays, providing airport traffic control services to aircraft operating within the Lakehurst Class D airspace. Only military aircraft, McGuire Aero Club aircraft, and aircraft with a facility clearance are authorized to conduct approaches at NAEC Lakehurst. Contact Navy Lakehurst Tower on 127.77 or 360.2 MHz. |
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The following is an outline of the McGuire and Lakehurst Class Delta airspaces. Notice the closeness of these two facilities. |
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3. McGuire Radar Approach Control (RAPCON): a. McGuire RAPCON operates continuously in providing instrument flight rules (IFR) services. It is equipped with an ATC radar beacon system, including altitude readout for aircraft equipped with mode C. Additionally, McGuire RAPCON has a data link to New York Air Route Traffic Control Center (enroute) computer system. b. The primary RAPCON controller functions are divided as follows: Approach/Departure, Arrival, and Clearance Delivery. This facility provides approach, departure, and radar traffic advisory service throughout its delegated airspace. Preferential routes are established throughout McGuire's airspace to provide aircraft a smooth transition from the enroute system into the terminal system. Preferential departure routes are established for transitioning aircraft into the enroute traffic flow. |
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4. Use of McGuire AFB's Navigational Aid Facilities. Air Force policy allows any civil pilot to request practice IFR and VFR low approaches to Air Force runways. Civil aircraft may not touchdown, except during flight emergency, unless prior written permission is granted through McGuire Base Operations ((609) 724 - 2712/4606). However, since the ILS, VASIS, and VORTAC are established at McGuire AFB primarily to support USAF/ government flying operations, civil use of these facilities must be on a noninterference basis. Normal low density, military traffic periods are: 0600-0900 hours local, Tuesday through Saturday; all day Monday; and after 1600 hours local on Sundays. |
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1. McGuire ATC facilities provide ATC services to McGuire AFB, Lakehurst NAEC, and the following civil general aviation locations: |
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Click on the links to view more information for the airports. Two links have been added for each airport for informational purposes. |
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2. McGuire ATC facilities will provide ATC separation services for practice approaches based on the following criteria:
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3. In addition, tower enroute control (TEC) service is provided by McGuire RAPCON to commercial air carriers and general aviation traffic enroute to/from: JFK, Newark, LaGuardia, Philadelphia, Atlantic City International Airports, and points beyond. |
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1. There are more than 500 registered aircraft per thousand square miles in the state of New Jersey. This is the highest density of any state in the union. With this high number of aircraft, it becomes increasingly important to "see and avoid". Visibility is often reduced due to weather factors (fog, rain, snow, haze, etc.) and manmade phenomena (smoke, smog, etc.). Weather phenomena such as thunderstorms, precipitation, fog, haze, etc., can cause the ATC system to be overloaded. Pilot reports (PIREPS) on these conditions are a valuable source of information, and should be relayed by all pilots to McGuire RAPCON or Tower whenever possible. |
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2. The primary responsibility of all pilots, IFR and VFR, is to "see and avoid". The probability of spotting a potential collision threat increases with the time spent looking outside. Pilots should look in all directions and periodically scan the entire visual field. Effective scanning is accomplished with a series of short, regularly-spaced eye movements which bring successive areas of the sky into the visual field. Pilots should also use the radios as well as their eyes. A pilot reporting their position to the tower is also reporting to you. Once you have the traffic in sight, don't forget the rest of the sky. If your traffic seems to be moving, you're probably not on a collision course, so continue your scan and watch that traffic from time to time. However, if your traffic doesn't appear to be moving, you're probably on a collision course. Continue to watch the conflicting traffic closely and be sure to follow the rules of the sky as dictated in the Aeronautical Information Manual (AIM). |
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3. Pilot awareness of other activities in the McGuire area is critical to flight safety. Military aircraft around McGuire consist of heavy C-5 and C-141 cargo transports, KC-10 and KC-135 tankers, C-130 turboprop cargo transports, and helicopters. In addition, F-16 and A-10 fighter aircraft frequent McGuire's airspace. Since military flight proficiency training occurs on a daily basis at McGuire, it is not uncommon to see two, three, possibly up to seven or eight military aircraft executing multiple VFR and IFR practice approaches in the vicinity of McGuire AFB. |
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Air traffic around McGuire AFB has increased to such a high density and complexity that it becomes necessary to establish an alert area (A-220). A-220 is active daily from 0800-2200 hours local from the surface to 4500' MSL. The purpose of the alert area is not to restrict aircraft from transitioning McGuire's airspace, but to alert them of high-density military aircraft operations within the specified area. Traffic advisories or flight following should be obtained from McGuire Approach whenever your flight path will penetrate the alert area. For more information see the Low Altitude Charts (L27/L28). |
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1. McGuire has two restricted areas within it's airspace: |
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R5001 |
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Restricted Area 5001A/B is the Fort Dix Artillery Range. It starts 1NM east of McGuire and extends to 9NM. It can be active from surface to 8000' at anytime, so check the ATIS, or ask Approach for the current active altitude. |
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R5002 |
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Restricted Area 5002 is an air-to-ground gunnery range. It is about 20 miles south of McGuire and is normally active from sunrise to sunset, daily, from surface to 14000'. |
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2. McGuire also has two drop zones within it's airspace: |
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Coyle Drop Zone (DZ) |
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The Coyle drop zone is used by C-141 and C-130 aircraft to practice tactical airdrops. Normally aircraft will be in formations of two or three; however, it is not uncommon to see single ship operations. These flights fly at low altitudes (1,000 MSL) and are not very maneuverable. Aircraft approach the DZ from the southeast, over the water and proceed on a northwest bound heading. The Drop Zone is located in the vicinity of Coyle VORTAC (CYN). |
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Lakehurst Drop Zone (DZ) |
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The Lakehurst DZ is located within Lakehurst's Class D airspace, just west of the intersection of the runways. It is comprised of two drop zones, the Pudgy and the Jersey Devil, as shown on the right and the left here. C-141 aircraft operate here and approach the DZ from the southwest on a northeast heading. |
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1. Paradrop operations take place at BLM, CYN, and NEL. These operations can be at altitudes ranging from 2500' to 14000' MSL. They normally take pace during the summer months between sunrise and sunset. |
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2. Sailplane operations occur near Colts Neck VOR (COL). These aircraft do not have radio capability and will normally operate between 1500' to 4500'. Motorized hang glider operations also occur around COL and 3N7. These gliders fly just above tree-top level but can climb higher, and may or may not be radio equipped. |
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3. There is an acrobatic box just northwest of N73. The box is rectangular, measuring 2500' by 3300' from 500' to 3500'AGL. Airport management at N73 is responsible for opening and closing the box. Ultralight operations occur at VAY and 2N6. These operations take place between sunrise and sunset, usually from 1000' AGL and below. Rarely are these aircraft radio equipped, and as with the sailplane and motorized hang gliders, they paint minimal, if any, radar returns. |
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1. Wake turbulence is produced, to some degree, by all airplanes, A wing's lift causes a whirlpool, or VORTEX, to form behind the tip of each wing. The intensity of these vortices depends on the amount of lift being generated. When the aircraft is, heavy, slow and clean (flaps and gear up), it generates the most wake turbulence. Tests have shown wake turbulence can reach vortex velocities of over 130 knots. The vortex sinks 400-500 feet per minute until leveling off about 800'-1000' below the airplane. |
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2. Although heavy jet aircraft pose the greatest danger, wake turbulence is hazardous to any aircraft with a wing span shorter than that of the generating aircraft. Flight tests have shown that wake turbulence can induce uncontrollable roll rates in all aircraft. |
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3. At the present time, the only safe way to combat wake turbulence is to avoid areas where it is likely to be encountered. You should avoid the area directly behind and below the other aircraft. Try to stay two or three minutes behind C-141s, C-5s, KC-10s, KC-'35s, and C-130s if you share the same traffic pattern, and avoid the area one to two miles behind and down through 1500' below these aircraft. |
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4. Because of the known hazards of wake turbulence, additional radar distance separation is employed by ATC for aircraft operating behind heavy jet aircraft. In the event of radar outage, this separation is further increased. This is particularly significant to aircraft awaiting departure behind a heavy jet operation. In these situations, FAA separation procedures require that time separation (e.g. 2 minutes) be used in vice of normal radar separation of 5 miles. This often causes delays not normally experienced when the radar is operational. |
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Preferred departure routes are standard instrument departure routes designed to systematically intermix satellite airport departures with an already established enroute flow in the airway structure. These "PDRs", although sometimes complicated, are necessary in order to permit an orderly flow of traffic in an otherwise extremely complex and congested airspace. The PDRs are issued as a part of a flight plan departure clearance. Once airborne, McGuire Approach Control may delete any restrictions and expedite the routing if traffic conditions permit. McGuire RAPCON has established departure routes for satellite airports to expedite entering the enroute system. To search a complete list of McGuire's preferred routes click here. |
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NOTE: If you file for a PDR, your departure from an airport will be quicker. The reason for this is the FAA computer. The computer has been programmed for the PDRs; so if you file for one, it will be processed without delay. Otherwise, an entirely new route will have to be deconflicted with other PDRs that are already in the computer. This takes time; and to deconflict your route, the clearance will probably be different from the one you filed for, and a delay in departure will occur. |
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If you have any questions concerning our services to general aviation or the use of Air Force Base facilities, or wish to tour our ATC facilities, don't hesitate to email, call or write: Air Traffic Control Operations 305th Operations Support Squadron (305th OSS) 1830 Vandenberg Avenue McGuire AFB, NJ 08641 Phone: (609) 724-2275 Additionally, McGuire RAPCON has individual controllers, air traffic control liaisons, assigned to all base flying squadrons and each of the airports within McGuire's airspace. If you wish to talk with your liaison, please reference your phone call for them. For further liaison program information, contact your squadron's Stan/Eval or the operations desk at your airport... |
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