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62-848: Gulu Airport ( IATA : ULU , ICAO : HUGU ) is a civilian and military airport in the Northern Region of Uganda . It is a designated entry and exit point in and out of the country. The airport is located 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) north-west of the central business district of Gulu , the largest metropolitan area in the Northern Region. The airport is approximately 306 kilometres (190 mi), by air, north of Entebbe International Airport , Uganda's largest civilian and military airport. The geographical coordinates of Gulu Airport are: 02°47'58.0"N, 32°16'31.0"E (Latitude:2.799444; 32.275278). The airport sits at an elevation of 3,510 feet (1,070 m) above mean sea level . The airport serves

124-485: A fix of their geographic location on the surface of the Earth. Fixes are computed by extending lines through known navigational reference points until they intersect. For visual reference points, the angles of these lines can be determined by compass ; the bearings of NDB radio signals are found using radio direction finder (RDF) equipment. Plotting fixes in this manner allow crews to determine their position. This usage

186-493: A locator outer marker , or LOM); in Canada, low-powered NDBs have replaced marker beacons entirely. Marker beacons on ILS approaches are now being phased out worldwide with DME ranges or GPS signals used, instead, to delineate the different segments of the approach. German Navy U-boats during World War II were equipped with a Telefunken Spez 2113S homing beacon. This transmitter could operate on 100 kHz to 1500 kHz with

248-474: A DME in a similar installation for the ILS as the outer marker, only in this case, they function as the inner marker. NDB owners are mostly governmental agencies and airport authorities. NDB radiators are vertically polarised. NDB antennas are usually too short for resonance at the frequency they operate – typically perhaps 20 metres length compared to a wavelength around 1000 m. Therefore, they require

310-493: A few hundred combinations; a three-letter system of airport codes was implemented. This system allowed for 17,576 permutations, assuming all letters can be used in conjunction with each other. Since the U.S. Navy reserved "N" codes, and to prevent confusion with Federal Communications Commission broadcast call signs , which begin with "W" or "K", the airports of certain U.S. cities whose name begins with one of these letters had to adopt "irregular" airport codes: This practice

372-567: A new airport is built, replacing the old one, leaving the city's new "major" airport (or the only remaining airport) code to no longer correspond with the city's name. The original airport in Nashville, Tennessee, was built in 1936 as part of the Works Progress Administration and called Berry Field with the designation, BNA. A new facility known as Nashville International Airport was built in 1987 but still uses BNA. This

434-404: A power of 150 W. It was used to send the submarine's location to other submarines or aircraft, which were equipped with DF receivers and loop antennas. NDBs typically operate in the frequency range from 190 kHz to 535 kHz (although they are allocated frequencies from 190 to 1750 kHz) and transmit a carrier modulated by either 400 or 1020 Hz. NDBs can also be collocated with

496-433: A suitable matching network that may consist of an inductor and a capacitor to "tune" the antenna. Vertical NDB antennas may also have a T-antenna , nicknamed a top hat , which is an umbrella-like structure designed to add loading at the end and improve its radiating efficiency. Usually a ground plane or counterpoise is connected underneath the antenna. Apart from Morse code identity of either 400 Hz or 1020 Hz,

558-509: Is GSN and its IATA code is SPN, and some coincide with IATA codes of non-U.S. airports. Canada's unusual codes—which bear little to no similarity with any conventional abbreviation to the city's name—such as YUL in Montréal , and YYZ in Toronto , originated from the two-letter codes used to identify weather reporting stations in the 1930s. The letters preceding the two-letter code follow

620-408: Is a radio beacon which does not include inherent directional information. Radio beacons are radio transmitters at a known location, used as an aviation or marine navigational aid . NDB are in contrast to directional radio beacons and other navigational aids, such as low-frequency radio range , VHF omnidirectional range (VOR) and tactical air navigation system (TACAN). NDB signals follow

682-524: Is at the position. However, using a separate RBI and compass, this requires considerable mental calculation to determine the appropriate relative bearing. To simplify this task, a compass card driven by the aircraft's magnetic compass is added to the RBI to form a radio magnetic indicator (RMI). The ADF needle is then referenced immediately to the aircraft's magnetic heading, which reduces the necessity for mental calculation. Many RMIs used for aviation also allow

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744-586: Is different from the name in English, yet the airport code represents only the English name. Examples include: Due to scarcity of codes, some airports are given codes with letters not found in their names: The use of 'X' as a filler letter is a practice to create three-letter identifiers when more straightforward options were unavailable: Some airports in the United States retained their NWS ( National Weather Service ) codes and simply appended an X at

806-423: Is equipped with ILS, it is called a precision approach runway. NDBs are most commonly used as markers or "locators" for an instrument landing system (ILS) approach or standard approach. NDBs may designate the starting area for an ILS approach or a path to follow for a standard terminal arrival route , or STAR. In the United States, an NDB is often combined with the outer marker beacon in the ILS approach (called

868-434: Is important in situations where other navigational equipment, such as VORs with distance measuring equipment (DME), have failed. In marine navigation, NDBs may still be useful should Global Positioning System (GPS) reception fail. To determine the distance to an NDB station, the pilot uses this method: A runway equipped with NDB or VOR (or both) as the only navigation aid is called a non-precision approach runway; if it

930-513: Is in conjunction to rules aimed to avoid confusion that seem to apply in the United States, which state that "the first and second letters or second and third letters of an identifier may not be duplicated with less than 200 nautical miles separation." Thus, Washington, D.C. area's three airports all have radically different codes: IAD for Washington–Dulles , DCA for Washington–Reagan (District of Columbia Airport), and BWI for Baltimore (Baltimore–Washington International, formerly BAL). Since HOU

992-415: Is less than 50 watts ; "medium" from 50 W to 2,000 W; and "high" at more than 2,000 W. There are four types of non-directional beacons in the aeronautical navigation service: The last two types are used in conjunction with an instrument landing system (ILS). NDB navigation consists of two parts — the automatic direction finder (ADF) equipment on the aircraft that detects an NDB's signal, and

1054-543: Is not followed outside the United States: In addition, since three letter codes starting with Q are widely used in radio communication, cities whose name begins with "Q" also had to find alternate codes, as in the case of: IATA codes should not be confused with the FAA identifiers of U.S. airports. Most FAA identifiers agree with the corresponding IATA codes, but some do not, such as Saipan , whose FAA identifier

1116-478: Is the case, Flight inspection organizations periodically check critical parameters with properly equipped aircraft to calibrate and certify NDB precision. The ICAO minimum accuracy for NDBs is ±5° Besides their use in aircraft navigation, NDBs are also popular with long-distance radio enthusiasts ( DXers ). Because NDBs are generally low-power (usually 25 watts, some can be up to 5 kW), they normally cannot be heard over long distances, but favorable conditions in

1178-416: Is used for William P. Hobby Airport , the new Houston–Intercontinental became IAH. The code BKK was originally assigned to Bangkok–Don Mueang and was later transferred to Suvarnabhumi Airport , while the former adopted DMK. The code ISK was originally assigned to Gandhinagar Airport (Nashik's old airport) and later on transferred to Ozar Airport (Nashik's current airport). Shanghai–Hongqiao retained

1240-571: The Canadian transcontinental railroads were built, each station was assigned its own two-letter Morse code : When the Canadian government established airports, it used the existing railway codes for them as well. If the airport had a weather station, authorities added a "Y" to the front of the code, meaning "Yes" to indicate it had a weather station or some other letter to indicate it did not. When international codes were created in cooperation with

1302-654: The DXing hobby. In North America, the NDB band is from 190 to 435 kHz and from 510 to 530 kHz. In Europe, there is a longwave broadcasting band from 150 to 280 kHz, so the European NDB band is from 280 kHz to 530 kHz with a gap between 495 and 505 kHz because 500 kHz was the international maritime distress (emergency) frequency . The beacons that transmit between 510 kHz and 530 kHz can sometimes be heard on AM radios that can tune below

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1364-436: The ionosphere can allow NDB signals to travel much farther than normal. Because of this, radio DXers interested in picking up distant signals enjoy listening to faraway NDBs. Also, since the band allocated to NDBs is free of broadcast stations and their associated interference, and because most NDBs do little more than transmit their Morse code callsign, they are very easy to identify, making NDB monitoring an active niche within

1426-481: The list of Amtrak station codes . Airport codes arose out of the convenience that the practice brought pilots for location identification in the 1930s. Initially, pilots in the United States used the two-letter code from the National Weather Service (NWS) for identifying cities. This system became unmanageable for cities and towns without an NWS identifier, and the use of two letters allowed only

1488-523: The IATA Airline Coding Directory. IATA provides codes for airport handling entities, and for certain railway stations. Alphabetical lists of airports sorted by IATA code are available. A list of railway station codes , shared in agreements between airlines and rail lines such as Amtrak , SNCF , and Deutsche Bahn , is available. However, many railway administrations have their own list of codes for their stations, such as

1550-544: The NDB and are charted in brown on sectional charts. Green and red airways are plotted east and west, while amber and blue airways are plotted north and south. As of September 2022, only one colored airway is left in the continental United States, located off the coast of North Carolina and is called G13 or Green 13. Alaska is the only other state in the United States to make use of the colored airway systems. Pilots follow these routes by tracking bearings across various navigation stations, and turning at some. While most airways in

1612-479: The NDB may broadcast: Navigation using an ADF to track NDBs is subject to several common effects: While pilots study these effects during initial training, trying to compensate for them in flight is very difficult; instead, pilots generally simply choose a heading that seems to average out any fluctuations. Radio-navigation aids must keep a certain degree of accuracy, given by international standards, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), ICAO, etc.; to assure this

1674-492: The NDB transmitter. The ADF can also locate transmitters in the standard AM medium wave broadcast band (530 kHz to 1700 kHz at 10 kHz increments in the Americas, 531 kHz to 1602 kHz at 9 kHz increments in the rest of the world). ADF equipment determines the direction or bearing to the NDB station relative to the aircraft by using a combination of directional and non-directional antennae to sense

1736-408: The NDB. Similarly, the aircraft will track directly away from the NDB if the needle is maintained on the 180 degree mark. With a crosswind, the needle must be maintained to the left or right of the 0 or 180 position by an amount corresponding to the drift due to the crosswind. The formula to determine the compass heading to an NDB station (in a no wind situation) is to take the relative bearing between

1798-503: The U.S. For example, several airports in Alaska have scheduled commercial service, such as Stebbins and Nanwalek , which use FAA codes instead of ICAO codes. Thus, neither system completely includes all airports with scheduled service. Some airports are identified in colloquial speech by their IATA code. Examples include LAX and JFK . Non-directional beacon A non-directional beacon ( NDB ) or non-directional radio beacon

1860-528: The Ugandan Minister of Works and Transport. The first phase involves resurfacing and lengthening the asphalt runway to 3.14 kilometres (10,300 ft) and widening it to 45 metres (148 ft) at a budgeted cost of US$ 4 million. The complete renovation will cost an estimated US$ 59 million and involves the construction of a larger passenger terminal building, a new car park, access roads, and cargo operations facilities. Other planned improvements include

1922-674: The United States are based on VORs, NDB airways are common elsewhere, especially in the developing world and in lightly populated areas of developed countries, like the Canadian Arctic , since they can have a long range and are much less expensive to operate than VORs. All standard airways are plotted on aeronautical charts , such as the United States sectional charts , issued by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). NDBs have long been used by aircraft navigators , and previously mariners, to help obtain

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1984-481: The United States, because "Y" was seldom used in the United States, Canada simply used the weather station codes for its airports, changing the "Y" to a "Z" if it conflicted with an airport code already in use. The result is that most major Canadian airport codes start with "Y" followed by two letters in the city's name (for example, YOW for O tta w a , YWG for W innipe g , YYC for C algar y , or YVR for V ancouve r ), whereas other Canadian airports append

2046-567: The addition of runway lights, infrastructure for fire and rescue services, and air navigation and traffic control systems. The Gulu non-directional beacon (Ident: GU ) is located on the field. Airlines offering scheduled passenger service: IATA airport code The assignment of these codes is governed by IATA Resolution 763, and it is administered by the IATA's headquarters in Montreal , Canada. The codes are published semi-annually in

2108-423: The aircraft and the station, and add the magnetic heading of the aircraft; if the total is greater than 360 degrees, then 360 must be subtracted. This gives the magnetic bearing that must be flown: (RB + MH) mod 360 = MB. When tracking to or from an NDB, it is also usual that the aircraft track on a specific bearing. To do this it is necessary to correlate the RBI reading with the compass heading. Having determined

2170-440: The airport itself instead of the city it serves, while another code is reserved which refers to the city itself which can be used to search for flights to any of its airports. For instance: Or using a code for the city in one of the major airports and then assigning another code to another airport: When different cities with the same name each have an airport, they need to be assigned different codes. Examples include: Sometimes,

2232-418: The airport's former name, such as Orlando International Airport 's MCO (for Mc C o y Air Force Base), or Chicago's O'Hare International Airport , which is coded ORD for its original name: Or char d Field. In rare cases, the code comes from the airport's unofficial name, such as Kahului Airport 's OGG (for local aviation pioneer Jimmy H ogg ). In large metropolitan areas, airport codes are often named after

2294-710: The aviation industry. Airservices Australia began shutting down a number of ground-based navigation aids in May 2016, including NDBs, VORs and DMEs. In the United States as of 2017, there were more than 1,300 NDBs, of which fewer than 300 were owned by the Federal Government. The FAA had begun decommissioning stand-alone NDBs. As of April 2018, the FAA had disabled 23 ground-based navaids including NDBs, and plans to shut down more than 300 by 2025. The FAA has no sustaining or acquisition system for NDBs and plans to phase out

2356-403: The beginning of the medium wave (MW) broadcast band. However, reception of NDBs generally requires a radio receiver that can receive frequencies below 530 kHz. Often "general coverage" shortwave radios receive all frequencies from 150 kHz to 30 MHz, and so can tune to the frequencies of NDBs. Specialized techniques (receiver preselectors, noise limiters and filters) are required for

2418-990: The city of Gulu, with an estimated population of 177,400 in 2020. It is one of the twelve upcountry airports under the administration of the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA). It is also one of the five upcountry airports authorized to handle cross-border air traffic between Uganda and neighboring countries, in an effort to promote tourism within Eastern Africa . Eagle Air has regular flights from Entebbe International Airport on Mondays and Thursdays. As of October 2019, Sky Travel and Aviation also offers twice-weekly flights from Juba International Airport in South Sudan . Charter flights between Gulu and Moyo Airport , Arua Airport , and Pakuba Airport are also occasionally flown. Dutch multinational company Fugro 's airborne survey division

2480-502: The code SHA, while the newer Shanghai–Pudong adopted PVG. The opposite was true for Berlin : the airport Berlin–Tegel used the code TXL, while its smaller counterpart Berlin–Schönefeld used SXF; the Berlin Brandenburg Airport has the airport code BER, which is also part of its branding. The airports of Hamburg (HAM) and Hannover (HAJ) are less than 100 nautical miles (190 km) apart and therefore share

2542-719: The course of the air campaign of the Uganda–Tanzania War (1978–79), Gulu Air Base hosted Ugandan and Libyan military aircraft. During the 21 years of civil war between the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and the Ugandan government, the Ugandan Air Force was actively based from Gulu. Since the LRA rebel activity ended, the Gulu military presence has been reduced to a sizeable ground force with no aircraft, based around

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2604-485: The curvature of the Earth , so they can be received at much greater distances at lower altitudes, a major advantage over VOR. However, NDB signals are also affected more by atmospheric conditions, mountainous terrain, coastal refraction and electrical storms, particularly at long range. The system, developed by United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) Captain Albert Francis Hegenberger , was used to fly

2666-513: The device to display information from a second radio tuned to a VOR station; the aircraft can then fly directly between VOR stations (so-called "Victor" routes) while using the NDBs to triangulate their position along the radial, without the need for the VOR station to have a collocated distance measuring equipment (DME). This display, along with the omni bearing indicator (OBI) for VOR/ILS information,

2728-459: The direction in which the combined signal is strongest. This bearing may be displayed on a relative bearing indicator (RBI). This display looks like a compass card with a needle superimposed, except that the card is fixed with the 0 degree position corresponding to the centreline of the aircraft. In order to track toward an NDB (with no wind), the aircraft is flown so that the needle points to the 0 degree position. The aircraft will then fly directly to

2790-404: The drift, the aircraft must be flown so that the compass heading is the required bearing adjusted for drift at the same time as the RBI reading is 0 or 180 adjusted for drift. An NDB may also be used to locate a position along the aircraft's current track (such as a radial path from a second NDB or a VOR). When the needle reaches an RBI reading corresponding to the required bearing, then the aircraft

2852-934: The end. Examples include: A lot of minor airfields without scheduled passenger traffic have ICAO codes but not IATA codes, since the four letter codes allow more number of codes, and IATA codes are mainly used for passenger services such as tickets, and ICAO codes by pilots. In the US, such airfields use FAA codes instead of ICAO. There are airports with scheduled service for which there are ICAO codes but not IATA codes, such as Nkhotakota Airport/Tangole Airport in Malawi or Chōfu Airport in Tokyo, Japan. There are also several minor airports in Russia (e.g., Omsukchan Airport ) which lack IATA codes and instead use internal Russian codes for booking. Flights to these airports cannot be booked through

2914-557: The first three letters of the city in which it is located, for instance: The code may also be a combination of the letters in its name, such as: Sometimes the airport code reflects pronunciation, rather than spelling, namely: For many reasons, some airport codes do not fit the normal scheme described above. Some airports, for example, cross several municipalities or regions, and therefore, use codes derived from some of their letters, resulting in: Other airports—particularly those serving cities with multiple airports—have codes derived from

2976-425: The following format: Most large airports in Canada have codes that begin with the letter "Y", although not all "Y" codes are Canadian (for example, YUM for Yuma, Arizona , and YNT for Yantai , China), and not all Canadian airports start with the letter "Y" (for example, ZBF for Bathurst, New Brunswick ). Many Canadian airports have a code that starts with W, X or Z, but none of these are major airports. When

3038-597: The form of " YYZ ", a song by the rock band Rush , which utilizes the Morse code signal as a musical motif. Some airports have started using their IATA codes as brand names , such as Calgary International Airport (YYC) and Vancouver International Airport (YVR). Numerous New Zealand airports use codes that contain the letter Z, to distinguish them from similar airport names in other countries. Examples include HLZ for Hamilton , ZQN for Queenstown , and WSZ for Westport . Predominantly, airport codes are named after

3100-487: The international air booking systems or have international luggage transferred there, and thus, they are booked instead through the airline or a domestic booking system. Several heliports in Greenland have 3-letter codes used internally which might be IATA codes for airports in faraway countries. There are several airports with scheduled service that have not been assigned ICAO codes that do have IATA codes, especially in

3162-521: The military hangars west of runway 35. The Air Force Base is used to train UPDF fighter pilots, as of 2019. The facilities at the airport include terminal, fire and rescue, and transportation services. Fuel, immigration, and customs services are available on arrangement. However, weather service is not available locally. In 2019, Yoweri Museveni , the President of Uganda, indicated that Gulu Airport

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3224-612: The name of the airport itself, for instance: This is also true with some cities with a single airport (even if there is more than one airport in the metropolitan area of said city), such as BDL for Hartford, Connecticut 's B ra dl ey International Airport or Baltimore's BWI, for B altimore/ W ashington I nternational Airport ; however, the latter also serves Washington, D.C. , alongside Dulles International Airport (IAD, for I nternational A irport D ulles) and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA, for D istrict of C olumbia A irport). The code also sometimes comes from

3286-416: The one they are located in: Other airport codes are of obscure origin, and each has its own peculiarities: In Asia, codes that do not correspond with their city's names include Niigata 's KIJ , Nanchang 's KHN and Pyongyang 's FNJ . EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg , which serves three countries, has three airport codes: BSL, MLH, EAP. Some cities have a name in their respective language which

3348-555: The reception of very weak signals from remote beacons. The best time to hear NDBs that are very far away is the last three hours before sunrise. Reception of NDBs is also usually best during the fall and winter because during the spring and summer, there is more atmospheric noise on the LF and MF bands. As the adoption of satellite navigation systems such as GPS progressed, several countries began to decommission beacon installations such as NDBs and VOR. The policy has caused controversy in

3410-506: The same first and middle letters, indicating that this rule might be followed only in Germany. Many cities retain historical names in their airport codes, even after having undergone an official name/spelling/transliteration change: Some airport codes are based on previous names associated with a present airport, often with a military heritage. These include: Some airports are named for an administrative division or nearby city, rather than

3472-500: The station code of Malton, Mississauga , where it is located). YUL is used for Montréal–Trudeau (UL was the ID code for the beacon in the city of Kirkland , now the location of Montréal–Trudeau). While these codes make it difficult for the public to associate them with a particular Canadian city, some codes have become popular in usage despite their cryptic nature, particularly at the largest airports. Toronto's code has entered pop culture in

3534-420: The station that points in a specific direction, such as 270 degrees (due west). NDB bearings provide a charted, consistent method for defining paths aircraft can fly. In this fashion, NDBs can, like VORs, define airways in the sky. Aircraft follow these pre-defined routes to complete a flight plan . Airways are numbered and standardized on charts. Colored airways are used for low to medium frequency stations like

3596-515: The two-letter code of the radio beacons that were the closest to the actual airport, such as YQX in Gander or YXS in Prince George . Four of the ten provincial capital airports in Canada have ended up with codes beginning with YY, including: Canada's largest airport is YYZ for Toronto Pearson (as YTZ was already allocated to Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport , the airport was given

3658-767: The world's first instrument approach on May 9, 1932. NDBs used for aviation are standardised by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Annex 10 which specifies that NDBs be operated on a frequency between 190  kHz and 1750 kHz, although normally all NDBs in North America operate between 190 kHz and 535 kHz. Each NDB is identified by a one, two, or three-letter Morse code callsign. In Canada, privately owned NDB identifiers consist of one letter and one number. Non-directional beacons in North America are classified by power output: "low" power rating

3720-595: Was contracted by the government of Uganda to perform airborne geophysical mineral exploration surveys throughout Uganda between 2006 and 2009. To perform its duties in the Northern Region, the company based two aircraft out of Gulu with daily low-level (80 meters above ground level) flights up to the Sudanese border. In 2019 the South African company Xcalibur Airborne Geophysics , was hired to carry out similar exploration work over Northeastern Uganda. During

3782-418: Was going to be upgraded to international standards, including construction of a new, larger cargo terminal building, improving firefighting capacity and installing floodlights for the runway. Other planned improvements include new aircraft hangars, control towers, access routes, ground markings and parking areas for both aircraft and vehicles. In January 2014, phased renovation of the airport was commissioned by

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3844-411: Was one of the primary radio navigation instruments prior to the introduction of the horizontal situation indicator (HSI) and subsequent digital displays used in glass cockpits . The principles of ADFs are not limited to NDB usage; such systems are also used to detect the locations of broadcast signals for many other purposes, such as finding emergency beacons. A bearing is a line passing through

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