People Over Planes, Inc.
of Contra Costa County, California
P.O. Box 2336, Pleasant Hill, CA 94523
(peopleplanes@oocities.com)
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  Last Updated
  July 23, 2000.
An information group providing the community with information on the operation of Buchanan Field airport from the perspective of the community.
 
Airport and Air Space Assessment from the MTC's
Regional Airport System Plan Update 2000

The following excerpts are from the above-indicated report from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, which is the regional planning and funding government body for the Bay Area, emphasis added with bold italics, and ancillary notes added in green text.  Definitions for VOR, VORTAC, TRACON, and RAPCON are provided below.

Buchanan Field (CCR). The commuter aircraft type will probably advance to 50 to 90 passenger regional turbojet aircraft by 2010 and would be the most suitable equipment for the type of shuttle service [i.e., Bay Area to LA] discussed in this scenario.  The length of Runway 19R/1L at 5,010 feet may be inadequate for fully loaded regional jet aircraft operations at Buchanan. [Runway 19R/1L is the longest of Buchanan's two major runways]  The runway may have to be extended beyond 6,000 feet toward the nearby freeways. LA Basin-bound departures will encounter delays because of the eastbound departures off SFO and OAK.  Those departures off Buchanan may have to be "tunneled" out toward the Manteca VORTAC, at low altitudes, until clear of the SFO and OAK eastbound departure routes. [According to one of Buchanan'c controllers, "low altitudes" probably means 10,000 ft to 15,000 ft, which is below cruise altitude of 29,000 feet and above.]  A new southbound route may be possible via Skaggs VORTAC to Point Reyes VOR then direct WAGES (Watsonville). Northbound regional jet departures to Portland or Seattle (if there are any) would be subject to similar delays and subsequently be blended into the SFO and OAK northbound departures routed over Red Bluff. Commuter arrivals from the LA Basin into Buchanan would likely be routed over Panoche and north of Sunol direct to the Buchanan VOR. They would receive the same enroute and terminal radar services as those arrivals being routed over Panoche to OAK. Regional jet commuter operations out of and into Buchanan will encounter daily delays during the peak Bay Area traffic hours because of the necessity to weave those operations through the SFO, OAK, and SJC arrival and departure flows.  Radar coverage is attainable at approximately 1,000 feet over Buchanan from the Travis RAPCON and Bay TRACON radar sites.
[Air traffic into and out of Buchanan is controlled through Travis RAPCON, which means that Buchanan air traffic must be keep below Bay TRACON traffic until it can be handed over to an enroute traffic control center.  Buchanan currently has no radar coverage below 1,000 feet]

Livermore Municipal Airport (LVK): Livermore Airport's Runway 25/7, is 5,255 feet long and may have to be extended to accommodate fully loaded regional jet operations. The airport is ideally located for commuter arrivals from the east and from the LA Basin. The LA Basin turboprop or regional jet commuters would be routed over Panoche along the same routing for arrivals into OAK from over Panoche. Arrivals from the east (SAC, RNO, SCK, MOD) would be routed toward Tracy to Livermore Airport. Southbound departures would be routed toward Manteca to the LA Basin or Salinas-Santa Barbara and may be tunneled eastbound until clear of SFO and OAK departures routed over Linden and Stockton VORTACs. Departures would be subject to individual releases during peak Bay Area traffic periods, but would not encounter abnormal delays as those likely at Gnoss or Buchanan Field airports. Remote radar coverage is attainable down to approximately 1,000 feet in the vicinity of Livermore Airport from the Bay TRACON radar site.

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VOR (VERY HIGH FREQUENCY OMNIDIRECTIONAL RANGE STATION): A ground based electronic navigational aid transmitting navigation signals 360 degrees in azimuth, oriented from magnetic north. The historic basis for navigation in the national airspace system.  

VORTAC: a combination of a VOR and a Tactical Air Navigation (TACAN) facility, the combination providing both distance and bearing information.

TRACON (TERMINAL RADAR APPROACH CONTROL): An FAA air traffic control service to aircraft arriving and departing or transiting airspace controlled by the facility.  TRACONs control Instrument-flight rules (IFR) flights and participating Visual-flight rules (VFR) flights. The TRACON for the Bay Area, Bay TRACON, is located at Oakland International Airport. All commercial airline flights must be IFR.

RAPCON (RADAR APPROACH CONTROL): The Air Force version of a TRACON. 

 WAGES:  We don't know what this means -- its probably a flight route along the coast over the pacific ocean.

WhereAir Carrier Flights Fly during Good Weather (Westerly winds)


 


WhereAir Carrier Flights Fly during Bad Weather (South Easterly winds)


 

Glossary

INSTRUMENT APPROACH: A series of predetermined maneuvers for the orderly transfer of an aircraft under instrument flight conditions from the beginning of the initial approach to a landing, or to a point from which a landing may be made visually. 

IFR (INSTRUMENT FLIGHT RULES): Rules governing the procedures for conducting instrument flight. Also a term used by pilots and controllers to indicate type of flight plan. 

ILS (INSTRUMENT LANDING SYSTEM): Precision instrument approach system, which normally consists of localizer, glide slope, outer marker, middle marker, and approach lights (Ref. FAR Part 91). 

PRM (PRECISION RUNWAY MONITORING): Provides air traffic controllers with high precision secondary surveillance data for aircraft on final approach to parallel runways that have extended centerlines separated by less than 4300 feet. High-resolution color monitoring displays (FMA) are required to present surveillance track data to controllers along with detailed maps depicting approaches and no transgression zone. 

RELIEVER AIRPORT: An airport to serve general aviation aircraft, which might otherwise use a congested air carrier served airport. 

SOIA (SIMULTANEOUS OFFSET INSTRUMENT APPROACH): An approach system permitting simultaneous Instrument Landing System (ILS) approaches to airports having staggered runways with centerlines, which are parallel. Integral parts of a total system are ILS/MLS, radar, communications, ATC procedures, and appropriate airborne equipment. SOIA combines Offset ILS and Instrument Landing System definitions. 

TRACON (TERMINAL RADAR APPROACH CONTROL): An FAA air traffic control service to aircraft arriving and departing or transiting airspace controlled by the facility. TRACONs control IFR and participating VFR flights. The TRACON for the Bay Area, Bay TRACON, is located at Oakland International Airport. 

VFR (VISUAL FLIGHT RULES): Rules governing procedures for conducting flight under visual meteorological conditions, or weather conditions with ceiling of 1,000 feet above ground level and visibility of three miles or greater. It is the pilot’s responsibility to maintain visual separation, not the air traffic control authorization, may proceed to destination airport under VFR. 

VOR (VERY HIGH FREQUENCY OMNIDIRECTIONAL RANGE STATION): A ground based electronic navigational aid transmitting navigation signals 360 degrees in azimuth, oriented from magnetic north. The historic basis for navigation in the national airspace system.