Clearing the frequency…
Final Approach · No. 1
Twelve aircraft are inbound to an airport you’ve never heard of. Heavies and lights, one low on fuel, one that can’t wait. Two runways, a wind about to turn, and nobody in the tower.
Until you.
The tower opens in --:--:--
Time runs down the screen. Each column is a runway, and each card sits at the moment that plane lands. ◇ is the earliest it could land; the line down to its card is its delay.
Drag a card up, down or across to change the order (on a phone, hold it first). Get the total delay as low as you can with nothing in red. There's no clock: take your time.
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Drag a card to change the order, or tap it.
Today's arrivals land on two runways. Time runs down the screen: each card sits at the moment that plane lands, and ◇ marks the earliest it could. The line between is its delay.
Order. Each runway lands its planes one at a time, top to bottom. Drag a card to change when it lands or which runway it uses (on a phone, hold it first), or tap it and use the arrows. A plane can never land before its ◇.
Spacing. Each plane waits for the one ahead: 80 seconds, but longer behind a heavy (H), whose wake is dangerous. A light plane (L) waits 155 seconds behind a heavy, a medium (M) 130, another heavy 105. Keep heavies together.
Holding. Up to 4 minutes' wait is absorbed by flying slower. More than that means circling in whole 4-minute orbits (amber), so a 6-minute wait costs 8.
Limits. ⛽ and ✚ planes must land by the time on their line. A plane past its fuel limit diverts and counts 30 minutes. Shaded bands are times a runway is shut. On wind days each runway must turn round before the dashed line, which shuts it for 6 minutes.
Lowest total delay with nothing in red wins. One shift a day, and no clock: plan for as long as you like, then clear them to land.
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