Part 1: Where We Are — The Technology Behind the System
When most people think about Air Traffic Control (ATC), they imagine cutting-edge technology, glass towers with sleek screens, and systems run by magic and satellites. The reality? It’s a lot of aging but reliable equipment, kept alive and running by skilled people who know what they’re doing. It’s not glamorous, but it works—because we make it work.
Radar: The Workhorse of ATC
Radar isn’t outdated. The ASR-9 radar, found at most major U.S. airports, is still a key part of the system that keeps aircraft separated and safe. Sure, some parts are getting harder to find, but that’s what happens when something has been working for decades. And it keeps working because ATSS techs maintain it like pros.
Some of the radar’s core components, like klystrons, have been operating reliably for over 20 years. I’ve worked on sites where the same klystron was installed in the late ’90s and only recently swapped out. The ASR-9 was built to last and with proper maintenance and some modernization, it will keep doing its job for years to come.
Floppy Disks: Not the Villain You Think
The media loves to pick on the FAA for using floppy disks. What they never mention is that these disks hold about 512KB of configuration data. That’s it. Could we use a USB stick? Sure. But that floppy isn’t the weak link keeping planes from flying safely. It’s just an easy target for headlines.
Copper Lines: Still Holding It Together
Copper gets a bad rap these days, but let’s be clear: copper works. It’s reliable, well-understood, and there are still plenty of techs out there who know how to maintain and repair it. Yes, fiber has its place, but ripping out working copper lines just to say we did would be a waste of time and money. Sometimes, simpler is better.
Simple ATC Screens: On Purpose
People love to wonder why ATC displays don’t look like something out of a sci-fi movie. Here’s why: because controllers need to focus on flying metal, not fancy graphics. The screens show exactly what they need to see—no more, no less. You don’t want your controller distracted by a beautiful storm animation when two planes are converging. Simple means safe.
What Really Needs Fixing
Not everything is fine, though. Systems like IDS-4, used to get critical information to controllers, are long overdue for replacement. Voice switches, which are the backbone of controller communications, are aging and need serious attention. These are the areas where modernization should be focused, not on replacing what already works just fine.
AI and “Next-Gen”: Still Just Talking Points
There’s a lot of hype around AI and automation in ATC. The truth? AI isn’t separating planes today, and it won’t be anytime soon. Systems like TFMS (Traffic Flow Management System) give a great national picture of traffic, but even TFMS relies on the same radars and radios that ATSS techs maintain. Without those, all the AI in the world won’t help.
Bottom Line
The U.S. ATC system runs because people keep it running. The tech in place works because we maintain it, not because it’s flashy or brand new. If we want to improve ATC, we need to focus on what actually needs fixing, not chasing buzzwords or replacing good systems for appearances.
Good succinct summary of the state of the Air Traffic Control Systems. Hopefully someone like you has some authority high up the Trump Admin who can make sure we can continue to fly as safely as we have in the US for decades to come.
There is a core group of us that are working in cleaning up our data to actually be useble with AI.
I dont have Trump or anyone else’s ear beyond the ATO (air traffic organization)
Politicians want to walk Tracons and towers and ignore the guts while stepping in front of cameras claiming my equipment is ancient
Is Robert Poole entirely correct or mostly correct the FAA should be a private, nonprofit funded by fees on airlines, charters, and private flights?
Unsure who that is. My thoughts on privatization is make it small business, local shops still under the the regulations of the FAA would be best.
What we will get is Raytheon or L3 buying all the assets
He is with Reason Foundation. Decades ago he proposed we do what much of the west has done. In other words, air traffic control is paid by users, and provided by them, via a nonprofit corporation. That takes it out of government budget fights, allows long range planning, and incentives high performance.
NavCanada isn’t all sunshine and rainbows though. I believe GA would take a huge hit if we went their route and Canada has a small percentage over a year of the volume that the FAA handles in an month.
I know last proposal wouldn’t have upgraded any equipment, the FAA would have actually paid companies to purchase our equipment and it would get rolled up into like I said, Raytheon or the likes.
Streamlined and maybe quicker procurement? Probable and NY, LA, Chicago, etc would have seen those improvements. The little airport that DB flies out of (Im assuming its little), last in line cause it doesn’t bring in the money. Unless you shift the fees to GA.
We need a private plan, just nothing has hit the right notes with me.
Ahem, L3Harris.
keep it simple stupid
I learned that in the 80s.
It’s still true.
So…the people?
Yes but thats every organization. We are beholden to agency execs hyped up on latest ‘data-driven’ nonsense
So… like most big orgs?
Yep. One of the ‘quick’ fixes the FAA threw out there was something a tech developed on his own, with raspberry pi’s and would have cost the agency something like 2 million to roll out to every tower. Instead, we are going to get a Leidos created system with a 10 year maintenance contract for something like 50 million.
Thanks OBE, great to hear a sober explanation from someone who knows what they are talking about instead of the standard breathless fear-mongering form the left and the right.
Thanks. Next installment shifted a bit with the accident, Newark kerfuffle and some other things that fit on more…what is wrong
What is going on in Newark? All I’m getting from the media is “chaos!”
USB? Still too outdated. Better to open-source the code and do a weekly pull from Github.
There are proposals for that…
GitOps. Automated pushes based on commits. Of course, no quality gates or version control.
Er, definitionally, that involves version control…
USB is far too advanced.
Get the punch cards!
I was hoping for those huge computers using reel-to-reel tape that I saw in every 70s sci-fi show.
While they were not operational…when we cleaned out the old tower in Las Vegas after the new one was operational, we found punch cards and large dat tapes.
lol I remember having to transfer driver insurance data to tape before sending it to Florida, circa 2001.
We didn’t have the equipment, of course, so we farmed it out to the pair of retired dudes who were still maintaining our original, DOS-based, policy management system that dated from ca. 1990.
I think next installment Ill add pictures of the old Las Vegas Tracon with lights on and equipment removed…it was disgustingly 1970s.
OMG THIS BITCH IS GOING TO MAKE ME GO OVER THERE AND BURN THAT FUCKING THING DOWN!
Every First begins with a spark?
Are secretly a Transformer?
https://youtu.be/H0M6AGmvu2I?si=YldWjpT6t0h-8jao
You have very strong opinions about air traffic control.
Oh, dear.
CAS has attempted to throw a wrench in things, re: the sale, methinks.
CAS?
C***y Aunt Susy
Yep.
Thank you. Mojeaux’s anger now makes a lot more sense.
Yes. She did.
I was gonna link this.
But this is more low-key and probably her Mo’ MO. I light the fires.
Please dont, take a breathe mo
From the dedthread:
Huzzah!
Now the “fun” part starts. Getting your Aunt Cuntie not to fuck with the various inspectors as she tries to kill the sale. Then comes the “get your shit out of there” phase.
But you made a huge leap forward.
Best of luck to you (and your mom) during this.
As I said in the deadthread, I want to see the livestream of the cops escorting CAS off the property, guns drawn.
Closing was supposed to be June 3.
Cunty aunts were told they could stay until July 2.
Mom/Susie pay the buyers $1,500 for that month.
Now Susie is “uncomfortable” living there when someone owns it.
THE FUCK KINDA EXCUSE IS THAT.
So she pushed back the closing date to July 2.
The realtor’s confused and starting to get a clue about Susie’s nature, and has no idea what to do with this.
So Mom bucks herself up and starts texting WTF is wrong with her. So Millie calls her and starts yelling at her, telling her she’s getting as nasty as her daughter.
Oh, honey.
I have not begun to be nasty.
Mom hung up on her.
There is just no coming back from this.
So I guess now closing is on July 2. Mom acquiesced. My rage AT SUSIE just ballooned and Mom thinks I’m mad at her (kinda am), and now she and I are yelling at each other.
There are days I wished I believed in hell.
Do you want legal advice or are you just blowing off steam?
Speaking strictly as a historian I remember that the IRA would kneecap by firing from the back of the knee forward.
Speaking as offering advice, take heed of Chafed. Get the lawyer aggressively involved.
Your Auntie will probably take a lawyer much more seriously than anything you can do. AND it has the strong likelihood of keeping you and your mom on the “same team” when dealing with your relative.
From my perspective she is, and will continue to, trying to tank any and all sales. Chafed may (?) have advice, legal or friendly, on how to say, “If you have anything to discuss with mom then call this number and speak to her attorney.”
Yeah, that’s what you’re paying them for. Correspondence should go through them, or both lawyers if she has one (I’m guessing not).
I have a lawyer. He’s good. Aggressive.
She has a lawyer also, but she appears not to pay attention to him.
The motion for petition will not be withdrawn until after closing, so … I don’t actually know what her reasoning is. Even her daughter was giving her the side-eye and telling her why her new issue wasn’t a good idea,
My mother did remind me that the house is under contract and all she cares about is getting her money.
I’m trying to look past my feelz to the end goal here, but it’s very difficult.
Is it wrong that I hope she ends up living out of a shopping cart?
Thanks, OBE!
I love these sorts of write-ups.
There is indeed nothing wrong with copper – gratuitously swapping it for fiber because “fiber!” is just dumb.
There’s a lot of hype around AI and automation in ATC
My reaction to hearing that is similar to this.
Just don’t allow Los Angeles denizens to get near that copper wire.
If junkies are getting into ATC conduits, we have bigger problems.
*Narrator* Junkies have gotten into ATC conduits….
That’s reassuring 🙄
Just tell them about the copper in those giant windmills, that’ll keep em busy.
All our copper grounding at a weather radar was cut out and then ISIS was spray painted on the building. We don’t think it was ISIS, but clever meth heads. That site also had bullet holes found from time to time.
Didn’t that instantly start alarming as soon as the first cut was made? Or were they that fast?
You think we monitor our grounds?
For reference..this is the site.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/7kSARJD4pUZjf42Z6
Perfect view of the Vegas valley where all the meth heads, whores and hill people (yes, hill people) live.
Ah, got it – nowhere near the airport proper.
The hills have eyes….
That landscape is so bizarre. Houses crunched together and then five feet later, empty desert.
Last inspection in 2023, 15 more bullet holes were found in the radome. Luckily, never been up there hearing bullets ping off the 2 ton antenna in there as people use it for target practice.
“Our entire field is bad at what we do.”
*tugs collar*
Truth.
Yes. Software still is not, and may never be, a true “engineering” discipline.
It could be, if I told my boss I’ll have this done in a couple years instead of next week.
Fiber works. I want fiber as our infrastructure but want us to replace logically. Putting in an airport loop is no easy task when lines are already laid and we are transporting 19.2 radar data on them.
At least she is going to GTFO on or before July 2nd.
Weird misthread…
I like that you remove distractions and focus on needs for the ATCs, not simple, straightforward,
Great read O!
Thanks buddy!
I used to take my girlfriends to the Longville, MN airport to make out. It was uncontrolled. You had the pretty marker lights, you had the stars, you had sweater puppies…very romantic.
Somehow the local sheriff always knew we were there. Damn cock-blocker!
We used to drop acid and watch the jets land right over us, before Ontario lengthened the runway, a time I’ll always remember, or….
/Wayne!
Ontario was a blast back in the day
Granma lived in the flight path, 747s crabbing in a Santa Ana wind?
Fucking awesome!
It’s really trying to be a good airport but just isn’t making it.
Im still trying to piece together the Newark incident. One aspect is completely the FAA shooting itself in the dick with the airspace move to Philly and how that has handled with the automation equipment. The other part is this ‘loss of communications’. I have complete access to all maintenance logs and outage reports. None for the 28th. Typically that would be an ATC-0 (no services provided) or an ATC-Limited (as it implies) and there is nothing.
I’ll bet this wasn’t in the records.
https://youtube.com/shorts/KUE7dvkOQ8s?si=nNaKQ_r18FcuEsb1
Airplane > Die Hard 2 in terms of how ATC works
“And OBE is getting LARGER!”
ATC-0 was declared for the controllers that took ‘trauma’ leave. Look…if a plane goes down or a helo smashes into a plane you are landing…ya. Take that leave. You just watched people die. You lose your comms or radar? Follow procedures, we have backups, and go about what you need to do.
The walk-out (that is what it was, no matter what the union says it was) was because of the airspace move and shitty infrastructure to support that move.
I see the proggies on my social media feed are resurrecting posts calling on the military to arrest Trump for violations of the constitution. Some are noting this is not possible because Trump has placed his allies in high up positions as part of his plan to bring a fascist dictatorship into place. I’m assuming they’ve never heard of Anwar Al-Awlaki.
Was it Suthen who argued this morning that the disappearance of a lot of community groups mean people spend too much time alone staring at their phones?
What, pray tell, are the specific violations?
Haha: none of course. But I no longer ask that question. It just gets people pissed off and threatens friendships.
It’s like the people who thought he should be arrested for treason for talking to Putin. Apart from the stupidity of the statement, they’re not sure how to respond when you point out that pretty much every US president between 1945 and 1989 talked to the Soviet leadership.
JFK called Kruschev on a private phone to defuse the Cuban Missile Crisis.
I think I see the problem.
You could always do what I did and dump every social media account and not talk to those people ever again.
Seems to work for me. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Truth
I kind of miss my oldest college buddy but his wife is a [redacted] and turned him into a person who cannot be reasoned with.
Fortunately, most of my friends on FB stick with vacation photos; kids/grandkids; life events, etc. Which is why I got on there in the first place. Also helps me stay connected with friends in Oz which is nice. I just Unfollow people who are too political. Still friends, just don’t have to see their posts.
“Nearest Green” the black man behind Jack Daniel’s brand (see The Food That Built America Season 6, Episode 10)
I need to rebrand myself as “Furthest Blue”
Still keeping my eyes peeled for some Uncle Nearest Rye. I found it once, locally, but gave it away as a gift.
I see we are getting our once-a-decade India/Pakistan tit-for-tat
Sounds like Pakistan started it. Shocking, I know.
Does that mean we demand military aid for India and harass Pakistanis wherever found?
If it evolves into a protracted war the Indians will clean their clock at least until the nukes fly that is.
An argument against tariffs. But 1 case….
There is a synthesizer brand from Germany. Verbos. They make premium, expensive Eurorack modules (I currently own several of them). One of their most popular modules, the Harmonic Oscillator, has just seen a massive price increase due to tariffs. Before the tariffs hit, the price was $709. This is certainly top tier level pricing in the eurorack world (for what the thing is) with only a small handful of brands being consistently priced higher. Post-tariff pricing, however, has jacked the price up to $965, a near 30% increase.
But here’s the kicker….
That is a very steep price for that item. It’s highly likely US sales will stall in short order. But I can order that item from a European shop minus the tariff upcharge for significantly less, while remaining under the de minimis figure of $800. This means an AMERICAN shop suffers the consequences of a lost sale, and .gov doesn’t get the tariff money, rendering the tariff only harmful to Americans. American businesses and workers suffer, while buyers need to seek routes around nonsense pricing. The only winner who doesn’t compromise is the European shop owner.
And to be clear, the entire line of modules this company makes saw the same increase in prices. It’s not likely to be the only one.
This is obviously just a single observation, but I’m not convinced that putting a tariff on a German product made by a small company of 10 or fewer people will somehow help American companies and their workers, and there’s the possibility that the largest market on the planet suddenly not buying your stuff is a threat to the small German company as well. There needs to be some fucking sense if this stupidity is to be applied in the real world.
We get it, you’re mad that Barbies are going up.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/05/business/barbie-mattel-toy-tariffs-price-hike
“Verbos. They make premium, expensive Eurorack modules”
Sounds gay.
Happy hump day, bitches.
🐫💃‼️
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siDhacKVxdE
🎶🎶
Good morning, Sean, U, and Ted’S.!
…and Roat!
Morning, GT. How goes?
OK, but this cough is really wreaking havoc on my sleep. 😩 How are you?
For whatever reason, my cough decided it wanted to be worse than it has been last night, so I ended up getting up in the middle of the night to medicate – then I was wide awake for longer than I expected after trying to get back to sleep. But I made it to the office with plenty of time to spare, just a little worn out.
I’ve realized I don’t own a holster for my 1911, which is a bit of an issue. Never been shopping for one.
Nice to finally have that problem, isn’t it? 🙂
Which problem? The shopping? Or the interrupted sleep? 😛
😑
😥
Morning all.
UnCivil: My personal favorite. https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1019469547?pid=173062
There are a million of them out there, mostly tacticool crap. The simple leather with a thumb snap is my preference because it is simple. With practice unsnapping, drawing and clicking the safety off can be done swiftly, smoothly and in one motion. Plus, the leather looks classier and it is comfortable.
If you look around you can find ones like that made for right or left hand, belt loop with or without a paddle and no belt loop with a belt clip.
It works for open and concealed carry. Pair with a decent sport coat and you are good to go.
Just curious…does your pistol have the straight or round spring housing?
I would have to look, I’m drawing a blank off the top of my head. Unfortunately, I’m in the office at the moment, so we’re not in the same building.
When holster shopping, SIG 1911s do NOT fit in standard/Colt 1911 holsters!
I was aware of that. I haven’t even started the process of shoping for a place to start.
Is there someplace local where it’s possible to test the fit so that there’s no back and forth with returns?
Suthen:
Open carry in NY is a felony. UCS probably isn’t concealing that beast.
Leather kinda blows for pistol games.
BladeTech is popular and makes a SIG1911 variant.
Krydex makes a Black Scorpion knockoff that includes a belt and 5 mag pouches for less than one DAA/Henning mag pouch. And they work (though the belt is too floppy imo. HOWEVER, that won’t work for this particular gun (I think since they’re double-stack mag pouches.
My personal favorite gaming holster is https://bigdogsteel.com/product/carnivore-competition-holster/ but I don’t see a SIG 1911 option.
UCS: The easiest thing is to contact the manufacturer if they don’t list a SIG variant. Most local gun stores (even SWAT) stock carry holsters, not gaming gear.
Also UCS: If you join us this weekend, squad with Tim Stoner. He runs a SIG 1911, and is a total SIG fanboi. If his squad’s full, I know the MD and can get you put in.
I was debating whether I should, or if it would be worthwhile to spectate and ask stupid questions. I haven’t done any of my research yet.
You can learn while doing. Just control your muzzle!,/em>
UCS – when I got my NJ CCW, I went through about a dozen holsters before I finally found one I liked. Hidden Hybrid makes some concealable and pretty comfortable holsters for a variety of pistols, so you might want to check them out.
Sig Sauer – 1911 4.2in Proprietary Sig Slide with Rail – Appendix Carry – Strong Side – Single Clip Holster
They have other SIG 1911 options also.
I don’t have real ID, am I allowed to leave the house?
No, or you’ll get arrested for your fake ID.
You’re free to leave the house but if you get pulled over you might be sent El Salvador, maybe cover any suspicious tattoos.
People only lack tattoos to hide their affiliation so off to supermax for them.
“Your lack of tattoos is troubling. Clearly there’s something you dont want us to know.”
https://www.cleveland19.com/2025/05/06/raccoon-caught-drivers-seat-with-meth-pipe-its-mouth-during-springfield-township-traffic-stop/
🦝🤪🚔
The raccoon was probably a better driver than many humans.
It’s better than pulling over cocaine bear.
She has too much weight on her to be a methhead. Damn raccoon set her up I think, first they figure out how to break into your waste bins and now this.
suh’ fam
whats goody
Apparently not Ohio drivers.
It gets better
Those criteria are bullshit.
Agreed. Oklahoma is not in the bottom ten by a mile.
Also good morning.
Morning.
That well known hellhole, Alaska. 🙄
The place went to hell once Animal moved there?