To all,
Info, since there seems to be some lack of understanding out there:
The east downwind transition is a a phrase coined by controllers to
reduce coordination in house. When PCT and Tower use the phrase "east
downwind", there is no doubt what each is talking about.
The use of this airspace for VFR traffic between FDK and BRV evolved
after the loss of the VFR flyway at 9/11. It is a way that controllers
at IAD (now PCT and IAD tower) could provide a service to VFR flights
without sending them around the Class B to the west. It is not a
published procedure and there are no guarantees you will get it. I have
provided you with the information you can use to maximize the
probability of getting it by giving you non-conflicting altitudes with
IFR traffic and fixes that tell the controller you can navigate the
center of the airspace, clear of IAD and DCA traffic patterns.
IN THE BEGINNING:
IAD controllers were required to vector aircraft in the east downwind,
landing 1R/19L. The airspace is very tight, allowing for +/- 1 mile
lateral deviation from center before losing lateral separation from
either DCA airspace (they owned the VFR Flyway airspace) or traffic
departing/arriving rwy 1R/19L. It was very work intensive and involved
giving many small vectors to all aircraft, while descending from 10,000
feet to 3,000 feet abeam the airport.
UAL/BLR together with IAD specialists designed a procedure that
provided lateral and vertical guidance from the outer fixes (ROBRT,now
MULRR, and BARIN). Fixes were defined such that each one included a
crossing altitude to keep the aircraft in the narrow corridor and
vertically protect from other airspace and traffic flows, while keeping
arrivals in the Class B from 20 miles out.
These procedures were called "The ROBRT/BARIN FMS TRANSITIONS". They
started at ROBRT, now MULRR in the north for landing 1R, and BARIN in
the south for landing 19L and ended 10 miles past the airport in the
downwind, from which point the pilot was to expect vectors to final.
They were published for use by UAL, and BLR only. They were very
successful in reducing pilot-controller communications, controller
workload in vectoring, and pilot workload as well, and are in use
today. Bureaucracy as always has prevented the publishing of these
procedures for use by all air carriers and GA aircraft.
These fixes that were defined for the two TRANSITIONS are published by
JEPPESSEN in most databases for GPS navigation, VFR or IFR. Some
controllers at PCT will clear non-participating IFR aircraft direct to
one of the fixes (usually HUSEL or CARAS from the north, STAYO from the
south when the aircraft will not overfly BARIN) to minimize the need
for vectoring.
Since these fixes are not in any IFR publication available to the
general public, the only way you would know about them is if you know
about the TRANSITIONS. That now includes all the pilots reading this
message.
You only need to know two or three in order to navigate past IAD in the
center of the downwind. I suggest HUSEL, CARAS, and STAYO as the only
fixes you need to know, since they are the ones that most controllers
will know best, and they form a line bisecting the east downwind.
The fixes are depicted on the controllers radar display for you curious
ones out there.
For graphic depiction see www.mcaa-md.org in the RESOURCES section.
ENJOY
Gary Harris
N733BZ based at JYO
CFI-AI, SEL, SES
BGI, IGI, AGI
Controller at IAD Tower
gharris1211@earthlink.net