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The Clearance delivery controller is responsible for providing departing aircraft with their IFR clearance. It is not something to be taken lightly. The smooth flow of all traffic depends on these clearances. If a clearance is incorrect another controller down the line will have to amend it, and potentially distract the pilot from his flying, while if the error would have been corrected before take-off the pilot would have had all the time to amend his plan, and not have anything to worry about when in the air.
In light of the above respecting the following guidelines is essential.
The Clearance delivery controller is only responsible for issuing initial IFR clearances to departing IFR aircraft. He has absolutely no other responsbility.
In addition to the general guidelines a Clearance delivery controller must:
You will need the following additional information:
In the real world most commercial traffic at large airports receive IFR clearance electronically via ACARS, and rarely exchange more than a few words with the clearance controller. On IVAO we can't do it this way, instead we use one of the following procedures. Which one is used will be described in the airport procedures.
"ATC clears Air Canada 329 to the Ottawa VOR via flight planned route. Maintain 8'000. Depart runway 33, turn right, climb on course. Squawk 6372.
"WestJet 722 is cleared to the Vancouver airport via Lester 7 departure, flight planned route. Depart runway 05, Squawk 3122.
All IFR clearances should be issued in the same format. This leads itself to ease of comprehension by the pilot as the information is issued to them and copied. The format of an IFR clearance can be found in MANOPS M412.1 and the accompanying note M412.1 Note. We suggest you also use the Canadian phraseology guide to learn the proper format. We will quickly describe the 10 points below.
If a release time is involved it will be mentioned after the read-back of the IFR clearance, as described in MANOPS 443.
Another obligation on IVAO is to update the cleared waypoint and cleared altitude of the aircraft label. The format to be used is as follows:
This section includes additional MANOPS procedures that have been approved and can be applied in Canada.
No special procedures exist for this position at this time.
Clearance controller will only work with departing IFR aircraft. His job is to deliver IFR clearances so departing aircraft can fly through controlled airspace. A clearance is a permission given to an aircraft to fly within controlled airspace under certain restrictions. We will now have a look at the IFR charts of Montreal Trudeau (CYUL). To get these charts, select the Resources menu at the top of this page, then select the Charts option, then click IFR airport charts. Open CAP 6, then find CYUL. The first charts are the arrival routes (STARs). There are also the approach charts for all runways. If we go on, we will also find the standard departure routes (SIDs). Finally, there are charts like noise abatement, taxi charts, etc.
The only charts required as a clearance delivery controller are the departure routes (SIDs). In Montreal, all jet aircraft depart on the Dorval departure, and all prop aircraft depart on the Jadee departure. Each airport is different, therefore you must check the local procedures as well.
Why are we talking about departure routes (SIDs)? Because your clearance will include a SID. Here are the two models to be used (found in the Canadian phraseology guide):
With SID
[callsign], is cleared to [clearance limit] via the [SID] departure, flight plan route (or any modifications), depart runway [xx], Squawk [code].
Without SID
[callsign], is cleared to [clearance limit], via flight plan route, (or the route to follow to join the flight plan route – or other modifications) Maintain [initial altitude]. Depart runway [xx] (and any instructions on what to do right after take-off), Squawk [code].
These are fill-in-the-blanks clearances to use when issuing clearances on IVAO. All clearances must be in the same format. If the pilot doesn't have charts, you will have to issue a clearance without SID. In that situation, issue a without-SID clearance that will make the pilot fly the almost same thing as if he was on a SID.
On IVAO, clearance limit is the destination airport. The "FLIGHT PLAN ROUTE" section means that you clear the pilot to fly the route he filed in his flight plan. On IVAO, pilots are not always aware of the proper routes to be flown. In the Pilots section, you have access to preferred routes. Before clearing a pilot to fly his flight plan route, make sure to check if there is any preferred route for his flight. If yes, make sure he filed that one. If not, make sure that the route is good according to local procedures. In many large airport, preferred exit routes exist to separate departures from arrivals. To change the route the aircraft will have to fly, say new route followed by FLIGHT PLAN ROUTE. That means he will have to follow your new route until FLIGHT PLAN ROUTE, then he will fly his filed route.
Departure runway is determined by Tower. Check Tower ATIS to be aware of the correct runway. If there is no other controller, see local procedures to know what runway to use for departure depending on the predominant wind and other local factors. To know what squawk code to give, see the local procedures. For example, give 4201 to the first aircraft, then 4202, etc.
Let's look at the following 3 examples, with SID, without SID, and with a route correction. All jet aircraft departing CYUL. In the second example, the pilot will fly the exact same thing as if he was on a Dorval 5 departure.
a) Air Canada 123, is cleared to the Québec airport via the Dorval 5 departure, flight plan route, depart runway 24L, squawk 6201
b) Westjet 882, is cleared to the Québec airport via the flight plan route, maintain 5 000 feet, depart runway 24L, fly runway heading, squawk 6201
c) Air Canada 456, is cleared to the Val d'Or airport via the Dorval 5 departure, direct YUL V487 YMW, flight plan route, depart runway 24L, squawk 6201
Once clearance has been issued, pilot must read ALL ELEMENTS back. If an element is not correct, confirm it with the pilot. If everything is correct, use the following model:
[callsign], readback is correct, (ATIS [atis], pushback information, other information such as departure frequency, delays, etc.).
If you are online as_DEL with another controller online (GND, TWR, etc), in "any other information" section, tell the pilot to contact the next ATC when ready (example: "contact ground on 121.90 when ready"). Don't forget to put the SID and cleared altitude in aircraft labels.
VFR operations: Remember, departing VFR traffic don't require any clearance from Clearance. They call ground directly.
We recommend you use the NARDS colour scheme (available in the downloads section) with all options other than ground detail and aircraft identification turned off.
Set your altitude filter to 000 <-> 030.