Training Area

A designated training area has been established by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority for flight training. This exists to the south-east of the airport. Once pilots progress past the circuit training stage of their courses they will begin flying to and around the training area.

Click to enlarge the image, right, and use your browser “back” button to return to this page.

The training area is outside controlled airspace, therefore aircraft do not need a clearance from air traffic control to operate in the training area.

This area extends from around 13 kilometres south-east of the airport in an arc from Hampton Park to Carrum Downs then down to the Yaringa Yacht Marina on Western Port and then over to Koo Wee Rup and up to the south of Pakenham and to Hampton Park, making it a wedge shape. Inside the training area is a designated aerobatic area and a parachuting area on the southern edge.

The area is heavily used with some aircraft training outside the area in adjoining airspace.

The training area extends from surface level (“SFC”) up to 7500 feet and in some areas 8500 feet.

Aircraft departing Moorabbin for the training area will generally either remain over land until they pass Carrum, then track coastal or stay over land and track to the training area. Tracking back to the airport from the training area, the aircraft will either track coastal or track north over the Eumemmerring area to the airport.

The majority of aircraft using Moorabbin Airport fly under Visual Flight Rules (VFR). There are designated routes for VFR aircraft to ensure that VFR traffic remains separate from aircraft flying under Instrument Flight Rules (IFR). It is not mandatory that VFR aircraft fly these routes, but many do, especially as they approach or depart airports.

These routes are outside controlled airspace (“OCTA”), that is, aircraft are not being directed by air traffic control. Whenever they fly outside controlled airspace, pilots are following the rules of the air. More information about airspace is found here.

VFR routes include defined entry and exit points to and from controlled airspace. These are landmarks that are easily seen by the pilot from the air. These landmarks are highlighted in the images below, which also show the average percentage of arrivals or departures that use the route.

There is no minimum altitude for aircraft in the process of landing. Aircraft will generally descend on a glide slope of three degrees.

The altitude of aircraft after departure will depend on factors such as the type of aircraft and its weight, how heavily laden it is with fuel and passengers, and the atmospheric conditions at the time. All these factors affect an aircraft’s climb rate. There is no regulated minimum altitude for an aircraft in the process of taking off.

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Arrival routes

The VFR arrival route from the north tracks via Kilmore at an altitude of not above 4500 feet. Before crossing the Hume Freeway aircraft must be at or below 3500 feet. At Sugarloaf Reservoir aircraft cannot be above 2500 feet before tracking to the Academy (an old monastery) at 1500 feet. Sandown Racecourse marks the boundary of the Moorabbin control zone.

The inbound route from the west starts at Bacchus Marsh where aircraft must be below 3500 feet. It then tracks to Laverton Bureau of Meteorology Tower while descending to 1500 feet. Aircraft track to Altona South river mouth from where they can track directly across the bay to Brighton if they are equipped to fly beyond gliding distance from land. If not, they join the VFR coastal route, tracking to Station Pier via Williamstown, and maintaining 1500 feet. From Brighton, aircraft track via Southland Shopping Centre to the start point for an approach to the active runway.

From the south aircraft track via Mornington Peninsula to Carrum at 1500 feet. They then fly to Mordialloc Pier before joining the approach to the active runway.

Inbound from the east aircraft will track via the former General Motors Holden complex at 1500 feet, and then Parkmore Shopping Centre and Sandown Racecourse

Departure routes

The departure route to the north tracks via Ringwood, Sugarloaf Reservoir and Kilmore Gap. If departing from Runway 31 Left aircraft must maintain runway heading until over the Kingston Centre.

Outbound to the south aircraft must remain overland until the Paterson River to avoid inbound traffic, and then may turn and follow the coast. If departing Runway 17 Right aircraft turn left to follow the coast when south of Woodland Golf Course.

The route to the north-west tracks via the coast. After departure aircraft will climb to 2500 feet and follow the route past Altona South and Laverton Bureau of Meteorology Tower.

Training Area

A designated training area has been established by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority for flight training. This exists to the south-east of the airport. Once pilots progress past the circuit training stage of their courses they will begin flying to and around the training area.

Click to enlarge the image, right, and use your browser “back” button to return to this page.

The training area is outside controlled airspace, therefore aircraft do not need a clearance from air traffic control to operate in the training area.

This area extends from around 13 kilometres south-east of the airport in an arc from Hampton Park to Carrum Downs then down to the Yaringa Yacht Marina on Western Port and then over to Koo Wee Rup and up to the south of Pakenham and to Hampton Park, making it a wedge shape. Inside the training area is a designated aerobatic area and a parachuting area on the southern edge.

The area is heavily used with some aircraft training outside the area in adjoining airspace.

The training area extends from surface level (“SFC”) up to 7500 feet and in some areas 8500 feet.

Aircraft departing Moorabbin for the training area will generally either remain over land until they pass Carrum, then track coastal or stay over land and track to the training area. Tracking back to the airport from the training area, the aircraft will either track coastal or track north over the Eumemmerring area to the airport.

Circuit training is the first stage of practical pilot training focused on take-offs and landings. It involves the pilot making approaches to the runway or helipad, touching down and then applying power to take off again. This is undertaken in accordance with Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) Regulations which are consistent with international practices.

How circuits are conducted

A training circuit consists of five legs – take-off, crosswind, downwind, base and final approach to the runway.

Aircraft take off into the wind, climb to 500 feet and then turn onto the crosswind leg. They continue to ascend to 1000 feet and turn onto the downwind leg. Having turned onto the base leg the descent commences. After turning onto the final leg and lining up with the runway the aircraft will touch down and take off again.

Helicopters circuit inside the fixed wing circuit at a lower altitude.

The majority of circuits are performed on the eastern side of the airport while arrivals and departures operate from the western side.

“Left-hand” circuits will be conducted when Runway 17 Left is being used, and “right-hand” circuits when Runway 35 Right is used. For left-hand circuits, the pilot turns left after take-off and flies anticlockwise. For right-hand circuit, the pilot turns right and flies in a clockwise direction.

A simplified representation of a left-hand circuit is shown at right. The take off and final stage of the circuit is flown into the wind, as this is the safest way for an aircraft to operate. The aircraft symbols and dotted lines indicate recommended ways for an aircraft to join the circuit pattern. Click the image to enlarge it, and use your browser “Back” button to return to this page.

Moorabbin Airport’s voluntary Fly Friendly Program asks tenants and airport users to keep circuits as tight as possible. However, because the student pilots performing circuits are so new to flying, this is not always achievable.

More information about circuit training is found here.

Animation of the Moorabbin circuit

The animated aircraft below and the static tracks shown in blue are created from actual tracks flown by aircraft in the circuit. This illustrates the degree of variation that will occur in the way student pilots fly circuits. The altitudes above mean sea level of the aircraft are also shown.

You can enlarge to full-screen by clicking the square-shaped button in the bottom right-hand corner of the player.

To replay the animation press the “Replay” button in the bottom left-hand corner of the player.

Effects of runway direction

Air traffic control will determine which runways are used at any given time depending on the direction of the wind – this is because aircraft must generally take off and land into the wind for safety reasons. Depending on which runway direction is in use, different suburbs will be affected by different legs of the circuit.

The Noise Complaints and Information Service tends to receive more complaints from suburbs under the crosswind and base legs of the circuit. This is the case at all airports where circuit training occurs. When the north-south runways are being used in a northerly direction (Runways 35 Left and Right), parts of Heatherton and Dingley Village will be affected by the crosswind leg and Braeside and Mordialloc will be affected by the base leg. The opposite is true when these runways are being used in a southerly direction (Runways 17 Left and Right).

Similarly, when the north-west – south-east runways are used in a northerly direction (Runways 31 Left and Right), Heatherton is affected by the crosswind leg and Dingley Village and Braeside by the base leg with the opposite effect when the runways are used in a southerly direction (Runways 13 Left and Right).

Circuit Training hours

Training during both day and night is important for developing pilot competencies, as is experience with using different types of navigational aids.

Circuit training times for Moorabbin Airport are:

Non-daylight saving periods:
Monday to Friday: 8:00am – 9:00pm
Weekends: 9:00am – 6:00pm or last light, whichever is sooner

Daylight saving periods:
Monday to Friday: 8:00am – 10:00pm
Weekends: 9:00am – 6:00pm or last light, whichever is sooner

Please note that these times above apply only to circuit training, and not to arriving and departing aircraft which may operate 24 hours a day. It is important to note that when aircraft are arriving outside control tower hours they are required to fly a circuit before landing for safety reasons. Therefore it may seem like aircraft are flying circuits outside hours when this is not the case.

There are only two lit runways, Runway 13 Left/35 Right and Runway 17 Left/31 Right. This means these runways must be used for night circuits. In turn, this means that all night circuits will take place to the east of the airport. Due to flying training courses running on different schedules, some nights will have multiple aircraft operating and other nights none at all.

Altitudes

Select a quarter to see charts showing a breakdown of which side of the airport circuits were conducted in that period. The breakdowns are shown as percentages rather than total counts. This is because the source radar data for Moorabbin Airport has gaps due to the radar being located at Melbourne Airport. As these gaps occur randomly throughout the day, the data, while incomplete, provides a representative picture of the distribution of circuits.

Flight paths in Melbourne are designed to accommodate, and keep segregated, aircraft arriving from and departing to ports in different directions. While there are some different flight paths for jets and non-jets there are other flight paths that are used by both types of aircraft. The vast majority of aircraft at Melbourne Airport are medium to large jets.

Arrivals

Jet arrivals into Melbourne are generally aligned with the runway at least ten kilometres from the airport. From this point they will fly towards the runway in a straight line. This means that suburbs in line with the runways are overflown by arriving jets. Other suburbs may be overflown by aircraft proceeding towards the point at which they join the final approach and align with the runway.

Runways 16 and 27 have Instrument Landing Systems. This type of approach requires aircraft to be aligned with the runway at a distance of around twenty kilometres and height above the elevation of the runway of around 3000 feet when they begin their approach. Aircraft will descend steadily to the runway using the horizontal and vertical guidance provided by the system. A similar instrument approach known as Honeywell SmartPath is available on all runways.

There is no minimum altitude for aircraft in the process of landing. Aircraft will generally descend on a glide slope of three degrees.

Departures

Departure flight paths allow aircraft to maintain the runway heading for a short time until they are stabilised in flight, and then to turn towards the route that will take them to their destination.

The altitude of aircraft after departure will depend on factors such as the type of aircraft and its weight, how heavily laden it is with fuel and passengers, and the atmospheric conditions at the time. All these factors affect an aircraft’s climb rate. There is no regulated minimum altitude for an aircraft in the process of taking off.

Smart Tracking

A growing number of modern aircraft are now fitted with navigation systems that use satellite-assisted guidance which allow aircraft to fly with a higher degree of accuracy and more closely follow the same route as other aircraft. Airservices refers to these routes as ‘Smart Tracking’. Smart Tracking technology makes air travel safer, cleaner and more dependable. It also has the potential to improve noise outcomes for communities living close to airports.

While there are standard flight paths, aircraft may be directed off these at times for reasons including the need to avoid bad weather or for traffic management, that is, to ensure safe separation between aircraft. See WebTrak for further information about where aircraft fly.