Fundamentals of Air Traffic Control [Hardcover]

Michael S. Nolan (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0534393888 | ISBN-13: 978-0534393885 | Publication Date: July 21, 2003 | Edition: 4

Appropriate for both future air traffic controllers and for pilots who need a better understanding of the air traffic control system, this text is the only college-level textbook to explain the "hows" and "whys" of the system. Michael Nolan's FUNDAMENTALS OF AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL presents a history of air traffic control, with a strong emphasis on the logic that has guided its development. He also provides current, in-depth information on such topics as navigational systems, the air traffic control system structure, control tower procedures, radar separation, national airspace system operation, and the FAA's restructuring of hiring procedures. The result is an authoritative text that gives readers a true working knowledge of the system--instead of just asking them to memorize lists of rules and regulations.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Michael S. Nolan (B.S., Industrial Technology, Illinois State University; M.S., Instructional Development and Educational Computing, Purdue University) is a former air traffic controller and holds licenses and certification as a commercial pilot, flight instructor, instrument instructor, tower operator, airframe and powerplant mechanic, and aviation weather observer. He has taught a variety of aviation courses at the University of Illinois and at Chanute Air Force Base as well as at Purdue University, where he currently teaches in the Aviation Technology Department.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 576 pages
• Publisher: Brooks Cole; 4 edition (July 21, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0534393888
• ISBN-13: 978-0534393885
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #462,582 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #11 in Books > Professional & Technical > Transportation > Aviation > Airport

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Full of historical detail, March 15, 2003

By 

Erika Mitchell (E. Calais, VT USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Fundamentals of Air Traffic Control (Hardcover)

This book is a college text about how the American air traffic control system works. Nolan was an air traffic controller himself, and is quite familiar with the history of air traffic control procedures in the U.S. The book contains chapters on the history of air traffic control, navigation systems (that have been used throughout the history of air traffic control), airspace classification, air traffic control communications, air traffic control procedures, non-radar separation, radar operations and separation, oceanic air traffic control, the future of air traffic control, and employment within the Federal Aviation Administration. Appendices cover IFR chart legends, aircraft models, and airport 3-letter identifiers. Each chapter begins with a list of explicit goals and ends with a vocabulary list and review questions. There is also an extensive glossary at the back of the book.

I think the book may give a firm historical perspective on American air traffic control to students who wish to be employed by the FAA. It provides a general overview of the tasks of air traffic controllers, but reading this book is clearly just the first small step along the way towards formal training as an air traffic controller. I found the historical coverage quite complete, and the book may be valuable as an archive of air traffic control hardware and procedures. The chapter on the future of air traffic control is very telling, however. It describes many new software products that will hopefully very soon make many of the procedures and equipment described in the remainder of the book obsolete.

One striking aspect of the book was its intense focus on US air traffic control to the extent that the existence of air travel beyond the borders of the US is barely acknowledged. (The map on p. 84, for example is quite telling- -it seems to depict the continental U.S. as an island, surrounded by water on all sides.) In a general college textbook about air traffic control, it would have been at least somewhat interesting to learn a little about how US air traffic control procedures differ from those in other countries, and why, or how our air traffic control rules have influenced or been influenced by those of other countries. Certainly a summary of such topics would be at least as valuable to future air traffic controllers as the detailed political history of the U.S. air traffic control system that is presented in chapter 1.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fundamentals of Air Traffic Control, March 23, 2008

By 

William O. Ross Jr. (Michigan) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Fundamentals of Air Traffic Control (Hardcover)

This books permits me, as a pilot, with a greater understanding of the other half of the team that makes the air traffic system safe and relatively efficient. Understanding the how and the why of ATC enables me to fly safer and with less hassle to the ATC controllers. Good introductory book.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ATC basic knowledge, February 6, 2006

By 

Sadie Kinsella (Puerto Rico) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fundamentals of Air Traffic Control (Hardcover)

This book is perfect for anyone interested in learning about the basics on ATC and how the system works. It also contains chapters about the history , the FAA, the basic separation procedures and the future of the ATC system know as 'free flight'. It's easy to read and understand.