Airfield Diagram
Status Board
Runways and their lengths and widths
Arresting gear status
Taxiways (with direction indicated if not bidirectional)
NOTAM and non-NOTAM field
conditions
Intersection takeoff information
Status of communications
equipment
Arresting gear location and type
Outages
Location of navigational aids
Weather warnings
Visual landing aids
RADAR equipment status
NAVAID status (unless NAVAID
monitors are located in the control
tower)
Other pertinent information
Table 5-5 -- Airfield diagram and status board information
RADAR EQUIPMENT
The term RADAR is formed from the words RAdio Detection And Ranging. RADAR
systems are integrated into the air traffic control system and are installed at almost all
air stations throughout the Navy. In this section, we discuss RADAR as applied in air
traffic control. It is an important tool of your trade.
Fundamentals of RADAR Operation
RADAR depends on the principle that energy emitted from one point and traveling at a
uniform rate is reflected by obstructing surfaces in its path. Such obstructions cause
small portions of the original energy to return at the same rate of speed to the point of
origin.
Echo Principle
If you shout in the direction of a cliff or some other sound-reflecting surface, you will
hear an echo. The sound waves generated by your shout travel through the air until
they strike the cliff and are reflected. They return to the originating spot, and you hear
them as weak echoes (see Figure 5-15). Time elapses between the instant your shout
leaves and the instant you hear its echo. Because sound waves travel through air at a
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