VALCA waypoint - where is it?

[ssonixx]

I was flying back from Florida on a commercial flight (AA) back to Dallas. As there was a significant system brewing north on the panhandle, I was curious about the routing that the plane was going to fly and looked up the flight plan on Flightaware. I don't often do this, so I am sure I'm doing this wrong, but the filed plan according to Flightaware was as follows:

KMCO VALCA MLB OMN AMG MGM MEI MLU CQY7 KDFW

I logged into Foreflight and tried to input the route and it couldn't locate VALCA.

What do you think?

 

[FORANE]

VALKA

 

[kayoh190]

It's not a waypoint - it's what ATC uses as a departure gate/corridor from the Orlando 8 departure. I'm not sure what the technical name for it is.

 

[ssonixx]

Is it me or is the image not clear at all. Trying again.

Definitely VALCA.

 

[midlifeflyer]

It's not a waypoint - it's what ATC uses as a departure gate/corridor from the Orlando 8 departure. I'm not sure what the technical name for it is.

It's referred to as either a "departure gate" or a "Departure Transition Area." As far as I can tell, it's not defined in the FAR, AIM or any AC or FAA Order. From what I've been able to glean fro other sources, it's a way of assigning departure transition areas to controllers in vector-only departures like the Orlando # (now 9). IThere's a brief explanation on the Memphis Center site (http://www.vzmeartcc.org/wiki/tiki-print.php?page=Departure Control).

Interesting, though, there is a VALKA (with the "K") waypoint just north of MLB. If it's not just a spelling area, question why a flight plan for a pilot would include an identifier the pilot has no way of knowing about. Unless it's means for FMS systems we light GA folks don't have access to?

Hopefully, we'll hear from a controller on this one

 

[B350ATP]

Is it me or is the image not clear at all. Trying again.

Definitely VALCA.

A VALKA exists on V23 between TRV and MLB

I was flying back from Florida on a commercial flight (AA) back to Dallas. As there was a significant system brewing north on the panhandle, I was curious about the routing that the plane was going to fly and looked up the flight plan on Flightaware. I don't often do this, so I am sure I'm doing this wrong, but the filed plan according to Flightaware was as follows:

KMCO VALCA MLB OMN AMG MGM MEI MLU CQY7 KDFW

I logged into Foreflight and tried to input the route and it couldn't locate VALCA.

What do you think?

This route above is basically VOR to VOR which is uncommon filed route for a jet aircraft. In most cases, airways are filed. I went to FLTPLAN.COM and planned a flight KMCO to KDFW and this appears to be the most common route filed

CTY SZW J2 SJI J37 PEKON J86 SPURS AGJ JUMBO.JEN9

You may be seeing an issue with Flightaware capturing the data or something else. Flightaware while "cool" is not 100 percent accurate either.

Also, I doubt a VALKA exists near Orlando/Vero Beach area IN ADDITION to a VALCA, as saying the word over the radio by ATC would cause confusion to aircraft. "Proceed direct to VALKA/VALCA". See my point ?

go to Flightaware for the flight on that date, find route on the screen, choose Decode (brings up lat/long of points) and Flightaware dislays a message "unable to decode"

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/AAL72/history/20140716/1425Z/KMCO/KDFW

the same route a few weeks earlier, it decodes it

Also, if it is not defined on a FAA/Jepp/etc chart or document, very likely a FMS database does not have it either, unless a special procedure (GITMO NAS arrivals) or an MOU between airline and ATC facility.

Just some observations

 

[Jmcmanna]

Particularly if this isn't a canned route for this city pair, or the flight plan was typed in manually for some reason by either ATC or a dispatcher, it could just be a misspelling. I worked a SWA flight from MDW-PIT recently whose flight plan had timed out. The tower typed in a new flight plan but spelled the STAR into PIT incorrectly. I didn't think computer would accept it that way, but it did.

 

[B350ATP]

Under fltplan.com, I attempted to file that same route and got this

ERROR

The Fix, VALCA, Is NOT In Data Base

Check your chart and verify the fix is spelled correctly.

NOTE: If you are trying to enter an Airport as a waypoint on a route, you must use the 4 letter ID (or put a K in front of the 3 letter ID.)

Press 'BACK' button on your browser to return

 

[ssonixx]

This route above is basically VOR to VOR which is uncommon filed route for a jet aircraft. In most cases, airways are filed. I went to FLTPLAN.COM and planned a flight KMCO to KDFW and this appears to be the most common route filed

CTY SZW J2 SJI J37 PEKON J86 SPURS AGJ JUMBO.JEN9

You may be seeing an issue with Flightaware capturing the data or something else. Flightaware while "cool" is not 100 percent accurate either.

You are right. It was not a normal routing for sure to accommodate weather.

I have not had any problems with Flightaware showing routing for my own flights (GA), both IFR and flight following, that I can point to. I can't imagine that Flightaware is doing anything other than just regurgitating whatever filed routing info that it is receiving. I doubt there is any applied intelligence there.

 

[ssonixx]

A VALKA exists on V23 between TRV and MLB

Also, I doubt a VALKA exists near Orlando/Vero Beach area IN ADDITION to a VALCA, as saying the word over the radio by ATC would cause confusion to aircraft. "Proceed direct to VALKA/VALCA". See my point ?

This.

Sounds right to me. And the fact that the filed route with the misspelling can be accepted according to another poster -- seems to be what happened here.

 

[midlifeflyer]

If you Google VALCA you'll find discussions going back a few years on the missing waypoint. If it's simply a misspelling, it seems to be done all the time.

 

[dukeblue219]

If it's not just a spelling area, question why a flight plan for a pilot would include an identifier the pilot has no way of knowing about. Unless it's means for FMS systems we light GA folks don't have access to?

My understanding from previous discussions on this sort of thing is that it would not normally be read to the pilot as part of his clearance. It shows up in the system as guidance from ARTCC to TRACON to tell them which way they want the plane to be vectored, but the clearance you'd be given as pilot would not include these hidden points (and presumably, in case of comm failure, you could fly the given route safely).

 

[midlifeflyer]

My understanding from previous discussions on this sort of thing is that it would not normally be read to the pilot as part of his clearance. It shows up in the system as guidance from ARTCC to TRACON to tell them which way they want the plane to be vectored, but the clearance you'd be given as pilot would not include these hidden points (and presumably, in case of comm failure, you could fly the given route safely).

I think you are correct.