Pilot Training - IFR Magazine

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They say it never hurts to ask, but it's nice to know what kinds of things you can ask for. Chinese take-out, anyone? by Paul Berge Imagine yourself in the clag, set up for an RNAV (GPS) Rwy 4 approach when ATC says, "Change of plan, expect the IDS-4 approach." Would you know how to shoot it? Not a chance, because IDS-4 isn't an instrument approach to Runway 4 or any other runway. IDS means Information Dissemination and Display System, which should make it IDADS, but when the FAA spends a few million bucks for an ATC tool it can name it whatever it pleases. The "4" is simply a model number. There's an IDS-5 about to debut, but we'll concentrate on the venerable model number 4. IDS-4 has been around since the 1990s and was developed by a company called Systems Atlanta, so it's referred to as either "IDS" or "System Atlanta." Whatever the name, the controllers we interviewed were generally impressed with it. Where's the payoff for instrument flyers? IDS-4 benefits pilots by getting controllers the information they want when they need it rather than when they're lucky enough to find it. That means ATC will have more time to work traffic rather than hunt for information. It's What You Know What information? Anything. IDS-4 is an ATC encyclopedia. Need a NOTAM? It's probably there. Want a PIREP for what's 100 miles ahead? No need to call flight service, ask ATC; if the controller has IDS-4 that pilot report might just be at hand. Flow control restrictions are convoluted beasts at best, and even though they don't affect the basic ATC separation task a controller's access to flow requirements - ground stops, gate holds, en route spacing - can determine how smoothly you'll flow to or near the congested hubs. IDS-4 is the Marvel Mystery Oil that helps ATC move traffic by moving data. IDS-4 offers a database of airplane types - the GA component assembled by controllers during late-night shifts. Actually, IDS simply delivers information to controllers who must know everything about your flight plus everything about every other flight on the frequency. Since the system is tremendous, they can't possibly know everything. When you file to Meatcleaver, Pa., a thousand miles from Salt Lake Center's airspace, the Utah controller may not recognize your destination identifier or have any clue which heading will work. In the November issue we discussed STARS (Standard Automation Replacement System), a data processor and display that managed data on the approach controller's radarscope. IDS-4 is a separate piece of equipment that not only compliments STARS but goes further by storing, displaying, and sharing information inside an ATC facility, among ATC facilities, or between ATC and AFSS. It's a big electronic reference book with thousands of empty pages that can be filled with whatever any facility needs - pictures, text, charts, inspirational slogans. This means that an IDS-4 in Alaska won't contain the same information as one in the Midwest. That's one of the strengths of the system. Flexibility has traditionally been a tough concept to sell to the FAA. The System Information Area (SIA) is a key feature of IDS-4.

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