 06/03 DRVSM Simulation III 
The third DRVSM Simulation was held at the William J. Hughes Technical Center in Atlantic City, New Jersey in June 2003. This simulation had as its primary objective to assess new/modified procedures associated with the requirements of RVSM. Additionally, a closer scrutiny of the impact of non-approved aircraft was conducted. There are no additional simulations planned beyond this one.
06/03 DRVSM Seminar IV
The fourth DRVSM Seminar was held at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare Hotel in Chicago (see previous seminar information).
02/03 DRVSM Seminar III
The third DRVSM Seminar was held in Los Angeles in February 2003 at the Four Point Sheraton Hotel. This seminar was consistent with the two previous seminars (see DRVSM Seminar I April 2002 and DRVSM Seminar I September 2002).
01/03 First Coordination Meeting with Representatives from Canada
The first coordination meeting with NAVCANADA was held in Washington D.C. in January 2003. Canada has already implemented RVSM in their northern airspace above 57N latitude. Canada, Mexico, and the United States will be implementing RVSM across our respective FIR boundaries on January 20, 2005.
11/02 Second Coordination Meeting with Representatives from Mexico
A second meeting with representatives from Mexico was held in November 2002 at FAA Headquarters. This meeting covered topical areas of mutual interest including training, procedures, simulations, letters of agreement, etc. Coordination between our two countries will be essential to insure consistency and continuity as we progress towards implementation. Workgroups will be established to develop appropriate procedures and coordination processes to insure the smooth transition and transfer of aircraft along our respective FIR boundaries.
09/03 DRVSM Seminar II
The second DRVSM seminar was held in September 2002 at the Peabody Hotel in Orlando Florida. This seminar was scheduled in conjunction with the NBAA Convention in order to accommodate members of that user group. As with the first seminar presentations from Air Traffic, Flight Standards, and the Safety Standards Group were given to assist operators and other interested parties to prepare their fleets for operation in RVSM airspace.
06/02 DRVSM Simulation II
The second DRVSM Simulation was conducted at the William J. Hughes Technical Center in June 2002. This simulation took a closer look at the impact of the mix of non-approved aircraft operating in RVSM airspace requiring the application of two separation standards within the same airspace based on the RVSM approval status of the aircraft. Additionally, this simulation was to assess areas wherein the nuances of RVSM would require new or modified procedures.
04/02 DRVSM Seminar I
The first DRVSM seminar was held in April 2002 at the Hyatt Hotel near Dulles Airport. This seminar was intended to inform operators and other interested parties about RVSM and its requirements/impacts to them. Representatives from Air Traffic, Flight Standards, and the Safety Standards Group provided presentations to help the user groups to prepare for the RVSM implementation and to keep them informed on the program status.
05/02 Coordination Meeting with Representatives from Mexico
The FAA DRVSM Team met with representatives from Mexico in Mexico City to begin the initial coordination process for a simultaneous implementation of RVSM between our two countries. There are other RVSM initiatives in other southern regions and a harmonization of those efforts is a goal.
03/02 Regional 530 Conference Briefed on DRVSM
The FAA’s Regional 530 Managers were briefed on the status and progress of the DRVSM program in March 2002 at the ATCSCC in Herndon, Virginia. Future briefings to this group will occur at future conferences.
02/02 User Requested Evaluation Tool (URET) Coordination
A meeting was held with the URET team in February 2002 to brief that group on the status and progress of the DRVSM program. Periodic interfaces with URET are planned due to the various areas wherein these two programs crossover or interact.
10/01 DRVSM Simulation I
The first simulation for DRVSM was conducted at the William J. Hughes Technical Center in Atlantic City, New Jersey in October 2001. A final report was issued in January 2002. This simulation had as a primary objective to assess the proper altitude strata for RVSM implementation. The results of the simulations clearly demonstrated that a full implementation from FL 290 through FL 410 in lieu of altitude bands of FL 330 to FL 390 or FL350 to FL390 yielded superior results.
Various other aspects of RVSM impacts were examined including the effect of a mixed environment wherein non-RVSM approved aircraft were inserted into the otherwise exclusionary airspace. A further review of these impacts is planned in future simulations.
 08/01 Canada and Mexico Coordination
Meetings have been held with a NAVCANADA representative where joint implementation planning for RVSM in North America has been discussed. A letter proposing such joint coordination has been sent to Canada and a positive response has been received.
Informal contact has been established with Mexican aviation authorities. Coordination meetings will follow.
06/01 Coordination with Airspace Redesign Team
DRVSM representatives met with the Sub Airspace Liaison Team (SALT) of the Airspace Redesign Team to mutually brief the status of the respective programs. The purpose of the National Airspace Redesign is to review domestic and oceanic airspace and develop a strategy that will allow Air Traffic to make changes that will achieve the most efficient airspace design for customer operations while maintaining the highest standards of safety. The goal of this meeting was to determine areas wherein programs crossed and to share information or data that could be useful and cost effective in the furtherance of both programs. There are areas wherein program overlap may occur, and a combined effort in simulation or modeling could be beneficial in reducing laboratory costs associated with duplication of testing and the time involved preparing for and conducting the testing. At present, the sharing of data will be the extent of interaction between these programs.
05/01 Second User Meeting
The Second User Meeting was held on May 31, 2001 with the purpose of bringing the User community up-to-date on DRVSM Program progress and to further discuss implementation issues.
04/01 Coordination with SUPCOM
A meeting was held with the Air Traffic Supervisors Committee (SUPCOM) to brief the committee on DRVSM activities and plans. Arrangements were made to keep the SUPCOM personnel informed of DRVSM progress.
04/01 EUROCONTROL Meetings
Primary purpose of the meeting was for key air traffic U.S. Domestic RVSM team members to meet with EUROCONTROL RVSM team members and participate in Technical Interchange Meetings. Subject areas included:
- Reviewing ATC Human-in-the-Loop (HITL) simulations for issues and procedural resolutions
- Reviewing specific procedures that were developed for RVSM implementation as a result of simulation and/or risk mitigation or to meet basic RVSM implementation requirements (i.e. accommodation of non-approved aircraft)
- Build a mechanism for information exchange among U.S., European, and Canadian Air Traffic personnel.
The EUROCONTROL Experimental Center was also visited to discuss ATC simulations/procedural development and monitoring system development and operation.
03/01 Mountain Wave Activity Evaluations
The DRVSM Team met with The University of Colorado and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/Environmental Technology Lab (NOAA/ETL) at Boulder, Colorado on Mountain Wave Activity (MWA). Further meetings included the Denver Center at Longmont, Colorado. It was noted that there is no official procedure in use by ATC for handling Mountain Wave Activity. MWA is most prevalent from October to March and has different effects at different altitudes. This activity occurs about 200 nm east/west of the Rocky Mountains. It was determined that better placement of current equipment and enhanced modeling tools can improve MWA prediction. The DRVSM Program has a fourfold approach for handling MWA:
- ACT-520 will perform a follow-up study
- A working group will be formed to develop proposed procedures for mitigating the effects of MWA
- ACT-520 will perform a MWA Risk Assessment,
- Support will be requested to continue MWA study at NOAA/ETL
02/01 First U.S. Domestic Airspace User Meeting
The February 20, 2001 User Meeting was held to establish a consensus on the approach to be taken by the DRVSM Team for implementation of RVSM in U.S. domestic airspace and to discuss implementation issues.
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