Departures Revisited

A while back, I wrote an article on departing an airport in Class G airspace. To follow up, well delve a little deeper into the departure and discuss entering the radar environment to see what radar provides. Well also look at what radar doesnt provide.

Editorial Staff

Monday, August 25, 2014 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Pilots are responsible for understanding three types of departures (Standard Instrument Departure, Obstacle Departure Procedure, and Diverse Departure) and maintaining obstacle clearance through appropriate climb gradients and turn restrictions.
The term "radar contact" does not relieve pilots of their responsibility for obstacle avoidance; ATC only provides obstacle clearance when issuing specific radar vectors, particularly within a Diverse Vector Area (DVA).
Thorough preflight planning, including knowledge of obstacle clearance surfaces, terrain, and low, close-in obstacles, is critical for safely transitioning from the airport to the enroute structure.

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A while back, I wrote an article on departing an airport in Class G airspace. To follow up, we’ll delve a little deeper into the departure and discuss entering the radar environment to see what radar provides. We’ll also look at what radar doesn’t provide.

Basics
As a quick recap, there are three types of departures you can use to get out of any airport, Class G included. A Standard Instrument Departure (SID), which conveniently shrinks long, complicated instructions full of headings, courses, altitudes and navaids into a charted procedure.