The Delivery (named DEL) controller has the responsibility of issuing IFR departure clearances.
The DEL controller shall dispose of all charts needed to ensure the best possible service.
The DEL controller is responsible for:
- Issuing IFR route clearance (flight plan validation )
- Checking that pilots read back correctly all the items of the clearance
- Transferring the aircraft to the GND controller for push-back operations
The DEL controller is never responsible for:
- Push-back and taxi
- Inbound traffic arriving at the apron
- VFR traffic
On IVAO, ramp and gate areas are not explicitly differentiated from apron. Therefore, push-back is handled by the GND controller as in real life over a boarding area not necessarily located at a ramp or gate position.
As soon as he starts his connection, the DEL controller must acknowledge the ATIS issued by the TWR controller in order to be informed about the active and closed runways. In the case no active departure runway is declared, he should ask the TWR controller to correct his ATIS.
In the absence of the TWR, the ATIS should be picked up from the APP, GND or CTR following this order.
The initial flight level given in the clearance should be coordinated with the APP or, in the case of his absence, with the CTR controller. The APP controller might demand the standard published levels or any other level as a function of charts or the actual and upcoming traffic.
The IFR departure clearance is determined from the FPL route according to the airport configuration.
The departure clearance must be issued following a precise order and always containing the following four items:
ㅤ1. The standard instrument departure (SID) procedure or a multi-directional departure procedure which has been coordinated with the APP controller
ㅤ2. The active runway for departures
ㅤ3. The initial flight level or altitude
ㅤ4. The transponder code
Whenever the DEL controller is not able to find a suitable SID corresponding to the first waypoint of the FPL route, he has to:
When the DEL controller issues a departure clearance, one of his main tasks is the flight plan (FPL) verification. No pilot can obtain a departure clearance without a correct flight plan.
The following items have to be checked by the DEL controller and, if necessary, modified by the pilot (the controller is entitled to ask for modifications):
All special IVAO procedures are mandatory since they fit to situations or special IVAO features which cannot happen in real life while they may occur on the network because of its proper limitations.
In the case of a specific pilot demand concerning the departure procedure, the DEL controller should coordinate it with the radar controller in charge of departure and initial climb trajectories. In IVAO, this is the task of the DEP controller, if present, or the APP controller or, at last, the CTR controller. If no higher position is connected, the DEL controller is entitled to decide about special demands. In this case, he handles the demand as a function of his own skills, of the traffic, of the type of demand and of the pilot's ability.
In the case of over-occupation of the GND controller, the DEL controller should delay the delivery of the departure clearances.
Do not issue any departure clearance before being sure that the GND controller is able to manage the traffic movement towards the active runways within a reasonable time.
Once the pilot has read back the delivery clearance, the DEL controller must fill the SID ("Cleared WP") and initial flight level ('Cleared FL") fields of the aircraft flight strip.
A pilot who is clearly pushing back without having been cleared should be warned by a FORCE ACT to invite him to contact the ATC. In the case of no answer, or if the pilot does not pick up the ATIS within 1 minute, or if he pursues the push-back or taxiing, a new FORCE ACT must be sent, together with a private chat message (be careful to the use of a proper language). Please check the pilot's active frequency and communicate with other controllers of the aerodrome about his activity. If no answer from the aircraft, a supervisor can be called using the text command in COMMBox.
.WALLOP <reason of the call in English>
Even in the absence of the GND controller, the DEL controller does not have any delegation on ground management.
Cleared traffic must be transferred to the closest higher controller (GND, TWR, DEP, APP and CTR, following this sequence). In case any higher controller is not available, the pilot should be released to air-to-air UNICOM frequency 122.800.
These special cases never happen in real life since pilots do not forget to contact the Delivery and at least one controller beside DEL is present to issue taxi clearances.