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NOTE: The control tower at John Wayne Airport is presently undergoing refurbishment and expansion, and the controllers are using a temporary control tower standing in front of the airport's fire station.  The FAA is in the process of replacing the cab at the top of the old tower with a new, much larger cab.  While this is going on, the tower's broadcasting antennas are located on a temporary framework much lower than their normal location.  For this reason the transmission quality is less than it should be, and the tower controllers may be difficult to hear.

Virtual Tower Guide

So, what is all this?  You are listening (or should be) to the aircraft control tower at John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, California. The live feed you hear is from a scanner located near the airport.  You will hear the tower controller directing aircraft on the ground, on approach, departing, and in the general airport airspace as he or she keeps the traffic flowing in and out of John Wayne.

This framed web page is designed to present you with a vast amount of information relevant to airport operations and commercial aircraft in a coherent fashion that mimics that of an airport control tower.  I think that his increases the recreational and educational possibilities of the SNA ATC live feed.

Screen setup: At the center is a diagram of SNA showing both runways and all taxiways with their designations in a style much like that of a control tower ASDE (Airport Surface Detection Equipment) -- a radar display that shows the position of aircraft on the ground.  If you "click" on this image, the display switches to a map showing the area about 8 miles around SNA.  On the left of the screen are two "control panels."  The top panel controls what you see in upper right hand window display while the lower control panel controls what you see in the lower window display.  To change the displays, click the appropriate control toggle switch: 

Views available with upper control panel:

Doppler Radar -- Radar image of precipitation in SNA area. (SNA is just to the right of the "g" in "Long Beach".)
Weather View -- Live camera view from downtown near SNA.  (The camera is located in Newport Beach.)
Airport Photo -- Photo of SNA airport from the air. (matches airport diagram).
Aircraft Guide -- An album of small photos of and links for commercial aircraft.

Charts and Views -- Sample approach charts as well as photos of the airport.  (More to come soon.)
Surface Weather -- Weather reports from SNA including temperature and wind direction and speed.
Flight Schedule -- This list the expected Arrivals and Departures in real time from SNA.
Flight Tracking -- Look up real-time information on a particular flight.
Virtual Tower Guide -- This guide.
Airline Callsigns -- Callsigns sometimes don't sound like the airline names.
Acknowledgments -- Links to all of special people and organizations that made this site possible.

While John Wayne might not be as busy or big as Dallas/Forth Worth, it is very busy and in some ways more complicated.  The controller oversees the arrival and departure of numerous airliners (from Brasilia turboprops to Boeing heavies) through an airspace filled with dozens of smaller aircraft including everything from executive jets to Cessnas to experimental aircraft.  At any one moment, the controller might be controlling several airliners taxing on the ground, two on approach, one departing, along several general aviation aircraft looking to takeoff, land, or transit the airspace.  He or she must direct them safely to their destinations while constantly advising them to watch out for each other.  Add in factors like inexperienced pilots and weather and things can be very difficult for the controller.

Basic SNA operations:

On the ground, the controller maintains control over aircraft on the ground if they are waiting to depart or are on or near the main runway.  The controller will direct aircraft on taxiway L (Lima) to "hold short" of either runway (meaning the aircraft is not to enter the stated runway), to cross a runway, to "position and hold" on the runway (get into position, but do not takeoff yet), or to takeoff.  Departing airliners that takeoff are quickly handed over to "departure control," while departing general aviation aircraft may remain under the tower's control for some time.  Arriving airliners and executive jets are usually already lined up on the runway for approach to the runway by Socal Approach, and they usually contact John Wayne Tower when they are about 7 to 10 miles away.  The tower controller will normally clear them to land right away, or very quickly.

Arriving general aviation aircraft can come from just about any direction and may desire to do number of things.  Standard procedure is to contact the tower when the aircraft is over certain landmarks.  For example, most arriving smaller aircraft will fly over the Huntington Beach pier or Mile Square Park and announce, "Cessna 12G, over the pier for landing on 19 Right."  The controller then tries to fit these aircraft into the landing pattern between the jets on approach.  When things are very busy, the controller may have the aircraft do a 360 degree turn or ask them to call again when they have reached South Coast Plaza.  Very often the controller must guide in pilots who are unfamiliar with the area, sometimes having them fly along the 405 freeway.

If the main runway is too busy and the arriving aircraft can use the smaller runway, he or she will direct the pilot to "Cross the airport at 1200 feet, and enter the left downwind for 19 Left."  The controller is asking the pilot to fly over the field and get in line to land on the smaller runway.  This smaller runway (19L/01R) has its own controller as well.

One of the controller's biggest jobs is to keep all the pilots aware of one another's positions.  You will constantly hear calls such as "Traffic at 2 o'clock is a Bonanza at 800 feet."   The controller in this case is letting a pilot know that there is a small single-engine aircraft flying at 800 feet somewhere in front to the pilot's left.  This sort of command is very common, particularly because the airport's two runways are so close together and aircraft are often landing on each runway at the same time.

So, what can you do with all of this stuff?  Well, you could hear a particular flight (e.g. "American 563" or "Delta 1659"), and then look up the flight with the Flight Tracking service.  It will tell you what its destination is, where it departed, its speed and altitude, and what type of aircraft it is (among other things).  You could then switch on the Spotter's Guide and see what the aircraft looks like.  Want to know more about the aircraft, click the picture!

Or maybe it sounds like controllers are having a difficult time getting all the flights out.  Maybe it's the weather.  Switch on the doppler radar image--perhaps there is a thunderstorm nearby.  Or perhaps the winds have picked up and changed direction:  Switch on the Surface Weather report and find out.

The controller has to keep in his or her mind a complete picture of where each aircraft is and where it is going.  See if you can do the same based upon the pilot's calls and the controller's commands.  How many aircraft are in the landing pattern?  Are any holding?  Is there an emergency or a missed approach forcing the controller to reshuffle things?  Is this all amazing or what?

   Email Tom Heaney