Air Carrier Cargo (Freighter) Approaches
Log for April 1 - April 7, 2008


Summary of all air carrier cargo approach activity for this week
Type Count % of Total Average approaches per day Typical approaches on an active day
All approaches: 50 100% 7.14 10
ILS approaches over EDH: 34 70% 4.86 7
ILS over EDH in early a.m.: 14 28% 2 3

Date Time Flight Approach IAF
Altitude		 EDH
Ridge
Altitude		 EDH
Noise
Potential		 Notes
April 1
Tuesday 		03:46:06 ABX1927 south -- -- none ("south" and "north" approaches do not overfly EDH or Folsom)
03:49:00 UPS954 south -- -- none
04:53:09 UPS956 ILS 6,545 3,871 low
05:41:55 UPS958 ILS 6,903 3,973 low
06:56:59 ABX806 ILS 5,968 3,665 low
16:47:17 UPS2960 ILS 4,944 3,855 low Well above glide slope while inbound to IAF; dumped altitude rapidly (~ 6-degree descent), overshot glide slope and reduced descent rate as it crossed IAF about 1,550 feet low (4,944 feet MSL). Flew level until it intercepted the glide slope, near the intersection of Green Valley Road and Deer Valley Road. From that point the approach was on the glide slope. That includes the entire passage over EDH and Folsom.

Ron Briggs would have payed attention to this one. However, even at his location it would have been distinctly quieter than our past B-52H approaches.
17:20:08 UPS2958 ILS 6,480 3,937 low
17:49:47 ABX406 ILS 6,693 4,199 low
19:04:39 ABX1755 ILS 6,558 4,131 low
20:07:52 ABX1802 north -- -- none
20:11:40 UPS2984 north -- -- none Overflew west side of Folsom (not southeast corner) at reduced descent rate.
April 2
Wednesday 		03:33:13
 ABX1927
 south
 --
 --
 none
03:47:32 UPS954 south -- -- none
04:40:01 UPS956 ILS 7,133 3,930 low
05:24:16 UPS 958 ILS 6,946 3,885 low Initial approach was south of IAF, joined localizer near Deer Valley Rd slightly north of Green Valley Rd.
06:24:56 ABX806 ILS 6,417 3,868 low
Next 3 approaches all had issues due to arriving at the IAF 1,200 to 1,800 feet low. Is this a sign of unusual direction from Oakland Center before handoff to Northern California Approach?
16:27:16 UPS2960 ILS 4,675 3,812 low Arrived at IAF ~1,800 feet low, arrested descent and leveled at 4,000 ft about a mile later. Resumed descent over Silva Valley Parkway to intercept glide slope within about 1 mile. Crossed EDH western ridge on glideslope. Throttle for level flight probably produced moderate noise over the EDH eastern ridge (Serrano, possibly also Highland View). Noise would have been low over western ridge, on the glide slope. Noise at IAF would have been low to moderate.
moderate
17:03:58 UPS2958 ILS 5,154 3,232 low to moderate Arrived at IAF ~1,350 feet low. Decreased descent rate about a mile after IAF to produce ~ 1.5 degree glide slope. Crossed EDH (west) ridge ~ 650 feet low. Maintained shallow glide slope to converge on ILS glide slope, captured it about 2 to 3 miles past crossing US 50 over Folsom.
18:04:17 ABX406 ILS 5,299 3,924 low to moderate Arrived at IAF ~ 1,200 feet low. Reduced descent rate at IAF to establish ~ 1.5 degree glide slope. Converged on standard ILS glide slope, captured it as it crossed the EDH (west) ridge.
18:45:19 ABX1755 ILS 7,083 3,835 low Arrived at IAF ~ 600 feet high, captured glide slope from above soon after passing IAF.
While preparing the next entry from flight track history a new version of WebTrak was brought online without history data prior to April 17th. Consequently, remaining entries in this table are based only on a table produced earlier to summarize flight tracks during this period. They have no altitude data, no confirmation of which approach was used, no assessment of potential noise level, and are assigned a time of day corresponding to arrival at Mather instead of overflight of the EDH west ridge (for ILS approaches) or other landmarks on south or north approaches. Arrivals in the remainder of the week are logged only to record the time of arrival at Mather for individual flights.  The "Approach" column indicates in red the approach most likely to have been used by each flight based on recent history, this is not definitive based on actual flight track records.
19:51 UPS2984 ILS 4,984 The IAF WebTrak image for this flight was the last captured prior to loss of data.
20:10 ABX1802 north
April 3
Thursday		 03:43
 ABX1927
 south


03:53 UPS954 south
04:02 UPS956 ILS
05:19 UPS958 ILS
06:16 ABX806 ILS
16:19 UPS2960 ILS
17:05 UPS2958 ILS
17:53 ABX406 ILS
18:24 ABX1755 ILS
19:50 UPS2984 ILS UPS2984 usually uses the ILS approach, but was noted on April 1 using an approach from the north which did not overfly EDH or Folsom.
20:04 ABX1802 north
April 4
Friday		 03:42 ABX1927 south
03:56 UPS954 south
04:18 UPS956 ILS
05:52 UPS958 ILS
06:26 ABX806 ILS
17:08 UPS2958 ILS
17:36 ABX406 ILS
20:17 UPS897 ILS
20:25 ABX1802 north
April 5
Saturday		 04:03 ABX1927 south
04:18 UPS954 south
06:18 UPS958 ILS
06:36 ABX806 ILS
April 6
Sunday		 18:54 ABX1755 ILS
April 7
Monday		 18:06 ABX406 ILS
19:43 UPS2984 ILS UPS2984 usually uses the ILS approach, but was noted on April 1 using an approach from the north which did not overfly EDH or Folsom.
20:08 ABX1802 north

For each approach a captured image of the overall approach track is linked to contents of the Approach column. For approaches over EDH a captured image of the approach track at the point of maximum noise exposure is linked to values in the Crossing Altitude column. In almost all cases this is the point of crossing the western ridge of El Dorado Hills, whose at a point whose elevation is approximately 1,100 feet. Crossing altitudes are MSL (relative to mean sea level), as reported in the WebTrak traces of flight paths. The approach of greatest interest for EDH noise issues is the ILS (Instrument Landing System) approach. For ILS approaches the flight track image linked to the Approach column shows the aircraft at the IAF (Initial Approach Fix).

Color code for highlighting in the log table:          Early morning approach
(between 3:30 a.m. and about 6 a.m.)
        Noise potential for EDH at ridge was "none":
This approach did not overfly EDH.
Noise potential for EDH at ridge was "low":
Estimated Lmax around 70 dB or less, usually 65 to 70
          Noise potential for EDH at ridge was "low to moderate":
Estimated Lmax around 75 dB plus or minus 5 dB
        Noise potential for EDH at ridge was "moderate":
Estimated Lmax around 80 dB plus or minus 5 dB
        Noise potential for EDH at ridge was "high":
Estimated Lmax around 85 dB or more

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