Interpreting a SID

[EHM-2463 Jonathan]

Hi, I wonder if anyone can help me.  I am trying to interpret SID for flying a bit more realistically, and am probably being a bit dull.  For example, I am looking at a departure from EGFF which is the ALVIN departure.  The chart give variuos instructions and then says to pass ALVIN at a certain altitude.  What exactly is ALVIN and how do you know when you have passed it?

If anyone can clear the mist, much appreciated.

Thanks
Jonathan

[EHM-1465 Dominic]

Hi Jonathan,

That's a very good question and these special departure procedures take a bit of getting used to at first

There is a tutorial on SID's as well as ones on other subjects within our Virtual Flying Academy section under 'Divisions' on the top menu. You can find it HERE.

To deal with your main question briefly, the ALVIN mentioned in your SID is a Waypoint - this can be a navigation beacon or just a point in space - which the aircraft flies towards and past during the procedure at a particular altitude and on a particular heading. The idea is that all aircraft fly the same route which helps Air Traffic Control to keep planes separate in busy areas. In Flight Simulator, it is sometimes difficult to follow these procedures because the FS database and map does not always contain the Waypoints mentioned on real world charts. However, it does contain lots of them so sometimes you might need to look for a SID that uses a Waypoint you can find on your Map within FS, then you navigate towards it in the Simulator and when you pass it on the map, you continue with the next stage of your route.

Does that help?

[EHM-2463 Jonathan]

Dominic,

That answers it brilliantly - the mist has cleared!  I will have a good look at this when I get home and the flying the departure correctly, now I know what I am looking for.

Cheers
Jonathan