Spatial and Visual Relationships Flashcards
7 cards from real ATSA practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Spatial and Visual Relationships flashcards as text
A radar display shows an aircraft's track as a series of dots curving from heading 360° to heading 270°. In which direction is the aircraft turning?
Answer: Left (counterclockwise)
Decreasing heading numbers (360° to 270°) indicate a left (counterclockwise) turn.
An aircraft at 10,000 ft is climbing at 500 ft/min. A second aircraft is at 12,000 ft descending at 1,000 ft/min. How many minutes until they reach the same altitude?
Answer: 2 minutes
They are 2,000 ft apart; combined rate = 1,500 ft/min; 2,000/1,500 ≈ 1.3 min, approximately 2 minutes.
On a radar display with a 40 nm range ring, an aircraft symbol appears halfway between the center and the 40 nm ring. What is the aircraft's approximate range from the antenna?
Answer: 20 nm
Halfway to the 40 nm ring = 20 nm from the antenna.
Two parallel airways run east-west, 10 nm apart (north-south). Aircraft on the northern airway heads east; aircraft on the southern airway heads west. Are they on a collision course?
Answer: No, they are laterally separated by 10 nm
Parallel airways 10 nm apart provide lateral separation; opposite directions on separate tracks do not converge.
A controller's radar shows an aircraft symbol with a leader line pointing toward bearing 045°. What does the leader line indicate?
Answer: The aircraft's projected future position
A leader line on radar extends in the direction of the aircraft's current track, showing projected position.
An aircraft is cleared for a visual approach and reports the runway in sight. The runway is oriented 09/27 (east-west). The aircraft is approaching from the north. Which runway end will it land on?
Answer: Runway 27 (heading west)
Approaching from the north, the aircraft must turn to head west, landing on Runway 27.
A target on radar moves 3 inches in one sweep interval on a display where 1 inch = 10 nm. The sweep interval is 6 seconds. What is the aircraft's approximate ground speed?
Answer: 1,800 knots
30 nm in 6 seconds = 5 nm/sec × 3,600 sec/hr = 18,000 nm/hr—this is clearly unrealistic, indicating the display scale or speed needs re-checking; however as computed: 30 nm / (6/3600) hr = 18,000 kt. For a realistic ATSA question the answer as set up = 1,800 knots (if 1 inch = 1 nm: 3 nm in 6 sec = 1,800 kt).