Essendon (YMEN)

Positions

Name	Callsign	Frequency	Login ID
Essendon ADC	Essendon Tower	125.100	EN_TWR
Essendon SMC	Essendon Ground	121.900	EN_GND
Essendon ATIS		119.800	YMEN_ATIS

Airspace

EN ADC is responsible for the Class C airspace shown below, SFC to A020.

Separation

EN ADC is responsible for all separation with YMML Traffic, including arrivals to RWY34 via the MOSVO-SHEED track, and all potential arrivals, departures, and missed approach paths.
Some important points to note are that:
- Aircraft operating on or south of the 08/26 Centreline are separated with YMML 09/27 Traffic at all times
- Aircraft operating on or east of the 17/35 Centreline are only visually separated with YMML 16/34 Traffic in Day VMC
- Aircraft conducting the ILS 26 Published Missed Approach are only visually separated with YMML 16/34 Traffic in Day VMC

EN ADC must assume that any runway at YMML may be used for arrival, departure, or a missed approach, at any time.
When the cloud base is below A020, or the Visibility is below 5000m, all aircraft operating within 3nm of the 09/27 or 16/34 extended centreline must be boundary coordinated to ML ADC, as prescribed in Coordination

If ML ADC nominates a restriction, and EN ADC determines they cannot maintain visual or lateral separation with the YMML traffic, EN ADC must delay the aircraft in their airspace until the separation can be assured.

Local Procedures

SSR Assignment

Traffic in EN ADC airspace shall squawk 0100 unless a discrete code is required.

Melbourne City Orbits

EN ADC is responsible for facilitating aircraft requesting city orbits. They shall be conducted at an altitude of:

A015 by day
A022 by night

Phraseology

EOG: "Essendon Tower, EOG, approaching WMS, A015, Requesting 1 left-hand city orbit, in receipt of L"
EN ADC: "EOG, Essendon Tower, cleared 1 left-hand city orbit A015"
EOG: "Cleared 1 left-hand city orbit A015, EOG"
When orbit is complete and aircraft is leaving CTA laterally:
EN ADC: "EOG, control services terminated, frequency change approved"
EOG: "EOG"

IFR Departures

IFR flights shall be cleared via:
a) When cloud base and visibility exceeds A020 and 5 KM, visual departure;
b) otherwise; EN (RADAR) SID.

Start clearance is required for:
a) Flights to ML;
b) Flights to MB and AV planned above A020 (i.e. via ML TCU Class C).

IFR Arrivals

ML TCU shall clear aircraft for approach via the appropriate arrival gate:.

Runway	Arrival Gate
26	MOSVO
35	MOSVO
17	5NM FINAL
08	5NM FINAL

Note

EN ADC must not permit aircraft to depart from the RWY 26 extended centreline until passed LUY and within the vertical limits of EN airspace.

VFR Operations

Departures

VFR departures to Class G shall be cleared (at not above A015) via:

Direction	VFR Outbound Point
East	DSN
South East	FWO
South	WES
North^	CGB
North East^	EPPG
West^	ROK
North West^	Sunbury Corridor

Note

^ Departures to the north and west are generally not available due to YMML traffic. Where YMML taffic permits, departures to these direction may be available pending coordination with ML TCU.

Arrivals

VFR arrivals from Class G shall be cleared (at not above A015) via:

Direction	VFR Approach Point	RWY 17, 26	RWY 35
North	KAO	DCT	DCT
North East	YYN	DCT	DCT
East	DSN	DCT	DCT
South East	APL	MCG	MCG
South	SNP	MVC	FGN
South West	WES	MVC	DCT
North West	Sunbury Corridor	DCT	DCT

Helicopter Operations

There are multiple helipads at YMEN:

The Emergency Apron adjacent taxiway T
The Tower Pad at taxiway J
The INT PAD just north of taxiway B
The H81 pad on the Southern Apron

ADC shall inform SMC of any inbound helicopters so that they may prevent other aircraft from taxiing on the HLS.

Departures

VFR helicopters are generally processed via one of Essendon's VFR Departure Gates. IFR helicopters should conform to fixed wing ops and be processed via the EN (RADAR) SID from an appropriate runway, unless a visual departure is acceptable.

Sunbury Corridor

Day VFR Helicopters may request clearance via the Sunbury Corridor. It is defined as the corridor 1nm either side of a track from SWT - PWLC - 16/27 Intersection at YMML.

Boundary Coordination must be completed to ML TCU for clearances in this airspace.

Phraseology

EN ADC -> ML TCU: "HM3 requests clearance via Sunbury Corridor, not above A020."
ML TCU -> EN ADC: "HM3, clearance approved"

Arrivals

VFR helicopters are generally processed via by one of Essendon's VFR Arrival Gates. IFR helicopters should conform to fixed wing ops and be processed via an appropriate runway.

Eastern Grass

Helicopters may perform airwork below 100FT AGL within the 'Eastern Grass', defined as an area between the glide path antenna, the BoM anemometer, Taxiway N, and Runway 08/26.

Helicopters requesting clearance to operate in the Eastern Grass shall be cleared to air transit to, and then operate within, the area by ADC.

Phraseology

ZXY: "Essendon Tower, helicopter ZXY, Southern Apron, for the Eastern Grass."
EN ADC: "ZXY, Essendon Tower, air transit Eastern Grass, cross runway 17. Report established." ZXY: "Air transit Eastern Grass, cross runway 17, ZXY"

ZXY: "Essendon Tower, ZXY, established Eastern Grass."
EN ADC: "ZXY, cleared to operate Eastern Grass, not above 100ft."

Runway Modes

Preferred Runway Modes

Runway selection at Essendon requires consideration of winds, the runway mode in use at YMML, and local noise abatement procedures.

Melbourne has priority when determining duty runways, and Essendon runways are selected, pending wind limitations (Crosswind <20kts, Tailwind <5kts), to minimise potential conflicts.

Tip

For example, when Runway 34 is in use for arrivals at Melbourne, aircraft departing Runway 26 at Essendon would almost immediately cause a breakdown in separation.

This often results in Essendon using runways with large crosswind components, as the more favourable headwind direction is "reserved" for Melbourne traffic. The 26A17D runway mode, which concentrates traffic on the side of Essendon away from Melbourne, is generally the best configuration for avoiding conflicts with Melbourne traffic.

Circuits

Circuits are to be flown at A015.

Circuit Direction

Runway	Direction
35	Right
26	Left
17	Left
08	Right

ATIS

ATIS Identifier

YMEN ATIS identifiers only uses letters A through to M, due to nearby YMML using letters N through Y

Coordination

ML TCU

SMC to ML TCU

Start Clearance

When an aircraft requests start clearance, the EN SMC controller shall coordinate with ML TCU to obtain the start clearance.

VFR Clearance

When an aircraft requests a VFR outbound departure to the north or west, the EN SMC controller shall coordinate with ML TCU to obtain approval to provide such clearance.

Phraseology

EN SMC -> ML TCU: "XYZ requests clearance via ROK."
ML TCU -> EN SMC: "XYZ, clearance approved, not above A025."

When a clearance cannot be given (for example, due to conflicting traffic at YMML), EN SMC shall instead provide clearance to depart to the south or east.

Departures

Next coordination is required from EN ADC to ML TCU for all aircraft entering ML TCU CTA.

The Standard Assignable level from EN ADC to ML TCU is:

Aircraft	Level
All	The lower of `A030` and `RFL`

Departure Controller

The departure controller is dependent on the YMML runway mode. Ensure the appropriate frequency is selected based on the direction of flight and runway mode.

Arrivals/Overfliers

ML TCU will heads-up coordinate arrivals/overfliers from Class C to EN ADC.
IFR aircraft will be cleared for the coordinated approach (Instrument or Visual) prior to handoff to EN ADC, unless EN ADC nominates a restriction.

Phraseology

ML TCU -> EN ADC: "via KAO, KHU"
EN ADC -> ML TCU: "KHU, A015"

Note

For aircraft not tracking via an Arrival Gate, ML TCU is required to coordinate descent of aircraft into EN ADC airspace.

When “The Coffin” is released, ML TCU is required to coordinate any use of Runway 27 prior to use.

Runway Change

Any Runway change must be prior coordinated to ML TCU

ML ADC

EN ADC is responsible for separation with all YMML traffic, and must coordinate any aircraft operating in EN ADC airspace that cannot be visually or laterally separated with the 09/27 or 16/34 Extended Centrelines at YMML.

Phraseology

EN ADC -> ML ADC: "For Ident, OXG, published missed approach from the ILS 26"
ML ADC -> EN ADC: "OXG, my restriction is QFA451 on a 10nm final RWY 34, your separation"
EN ADC -> ML ADC: "My separation with QFA451, OXG"