Separation Clearance: Fill & Download for Free

Indian ATC is bereft of any humour. The heavily accented transmissions often add to the misery. We have had one controller in Varanasi Control whose “Roger” was often mistaken as “Accha”(Alright in Hindi). Still, there are a few instances where humour found its way through the maze.An Indigo A320 neo was requesting for route clearance from the tower frequency. (No separate clearance delivery or ground frequencies in that airfield)Varanasi Tower: “Ifly xyz, cleared to Mumbai as filed, initially cleared to level 80, expect level 360 10 minutes after departure, departure squawk…..”Ifly xyz: “Varanasi Tower, Ifly xyz unable FL 360.”Varanasi Tower: “Ifly xyz, recleared to FL380”Ifly xyz:”Tower, Ifly xyz unable FL 380, Sir, we are new engine option”Vebn Twr (in an exasperated voice): “So what do I do about it?”Indigo was facing huge problems back then with the new A320 neos and the company had restricted the operating altitude to FL300, which this controller was unaware of. For the next good five minutes, the indigo people proceeded to educate the tower of the restrictions imposed on the neo aircraft.Finally ifly was cleared to FL 280 and everyone was happy.Someone quipped on the frequency: “Clear them via NH19 (National Highway 19), bet it will be faster”

Purely as a level, there are thousands with the top clearance level, which only means they are able to be “read in” to programs if they have a need to know and authorization of the program owner.There are many different kinds of clearances. DOD and DOE issue separate clearance, and other agencies have their own specialized versions and compartments. Few people have a need for many of those separate clearances.It can be argued that the President and VP have access to all classified material if they demand it, so in a sense they have the ultimate clearance.

This side bay on the F-22 Raptor is used to carry the AIM-9X Sidewinder. Sidewinder is a heat-seeking missile. This means that the nose of the missile needs a clear, line of sight view of the target to get a lock on the source of the IR. While the seeker in the head can swivel for off-boresight shots, the missile must come out of the weapons bay to acquire the target.So why the slant path? The slant path serves two functions:First, by angling the missile outward, you achieve better separation clearance, by using aerodynamic forces to help push the missile away from the plane. Also, the missle’s own rocket motor is pushing it on a path away from the plane. You need good separation to avoid an accidental collision between the launching aircraft and the missile.Second, by launching on an angle, the Raptor avoids creating a right angle between the missile and the launch arm. Like the F-117 and B-2 before it, the F-22 Raptor is a stealth aircraft. Many of it’s features, such as internal weapons carriage, are design to shrink the plane’s radar signature so the enemy has a hard time finding the plane. Of course, the plane is not “Invisible”, but that isn’t the goal. The F-22’s goal is to attack before it is spotted, so the enemy has less time to take evasive action. In a dog fight, first look plus first shot usually means first kill.