[Scan-DC] Washington Area airport freqs

[Larry Sampas]

Potomac Consolidated TRACON (PCT) covers Dulles, Washington National
Reagan, and BWI. 128.7 is for northern part of Potomac TRACON area.
Before they dedicated a frequency to us puddle-jumper pilots, I had to
talk to Potomac on that frequency out of GAI when exiting the ADIZ,
and then again when coming back in. I still have to use it off hours
when the general aviation frequency isn't staffed.

When you call Potomac, that's who you're talking to. If you're an
airliner, you'll be talking to Washington Center enroute, and then
when you get closer, Center hands you off to Potomac. Potomac will
then hand you off to the tower when you're close enough. TRACON has
transmitter outlets in many locations -- they're not all in Sterling,
where the controllers are.

For the procedures and frequencies in the DC area, I need to check the
FAA's Airport/Facility directory (including appendix for ADIZ
operations), the Washington Sectional Chart, and the BWI/DCA/IAD
Terminal Area Chart. There's a separate set of frequencies on the
Helicopter Route chart. All the publications are updated at regular
intervals and are more authoritative than Radioreference.com.

If you search for "Operation Raincheck" you'll find that Potomac
TRACON sometimes does Saturday tours of their new facility out in
Sterling.

On Thu, Mar 19, 2009 at 1:04 PM,  <ka3jjz at netscape.com> wrote:
> Comparing the list Steve N4TX sent down, and the listings in the RadioReference database, wiki and Airnav, a few discrepancies showed up. One of the more interesting ones was that these listings weren't shown as part of the Potomac TRACON which was established a few years ago. You would think a FAA manual would have this very important point covered - after all, you will almost always (unless the pilot slips up) call 'Potomac', not the actual airport name.
>
> I see it lists Reagan Approach East as 124.55 and 317.425 and North as 128.7 and 307.9; these are all well known BWI frequencies, and the VHF freqs agrees with Airnav. I can usually hear the Potomac controller on the VHF side quite easily, and I live about 15 mins from BWI. No way I would hear them from Reagan on indoor antennas, as low in elevation as I am (although to be honest, I haven't paid much attention to what freqs were used from where lately).
>
> It should also note that Andrews shares freqs with Reagan - something that's been well documented in the past.
>
> I am not a pilot, nor do I play one on TV. Perhaps it's time to slap my old 895 on record on those 2 VHF freqs and see if I can still hear Potomac replying. If not, then perhaps they've shifted their coverage area. Stranger things have been known to happen 73 Mike
>
> links editor,Capitol Hill Monitors
> Utility Monitoring Central
> Wiki Administrator, HF Forum moderator, Radioreference.Com
>
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