Tower Tour

Flight progress strips

Flight Progress Strips (FPS) are the primary visual aid used by a controller to separate and sequence aircraft. Each strip of paper carries all the information a controller needs to know about a flight, and as instructions and information is given to the pilot, these are also recorded on the FPS. These strips of paper have been in use for many years; they are simple, easy to use, and not susceptible to computer or power failure. However computers and electronics have now reached level of reliability which makes the use of an electronic alternative viable, and these systems are being installed in many en-route centres. The main advantage of computer based systems is the ease of co-ordination: with a computer network, information about flights and their progress can be quickly disseminated to all interested parties as it happens, instead of being passed from controller to controller by a series of 'phone calls.

The picture below shows the Tower controllers desk, with the FPS for a number of flights. The strips are displayed on a board designed to aid the controller in sequencing the aircraft; the relative positions of the strips on the board representing the spatial relationships between the various flights. The strips are displayed in time order, with the earliest lowest, and in various areas of the board which represent the location of the aircraft, i.e. airborne - runway - ground.

These strips represent active flights, which are on their way to Ronaldsway but not yet talking to the Tower controller. This area holds the FPS of aircraft which are in the vicinity of the airfield, and have been sequenced into order for landing. Departing aircraft are fitted into the sequence in the same way. This area represents the runway, and the strips are placed in here whenever an aircraft is cleared onto the runway, either to land or to take off. Other strips (see the red "runway blocked" strip at top left) are used when a vehicle is cleared onto the runway. By using this system a controller is given a visual indication whenever the runway is occupied.

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