4.0.1 All personnel staffing the position of Ground Control within the Miami ARTCC shall abide by and conform to all rules and regulations applying to ATC within the VATSIM and VATUSA environments.
4.0.2 ATC personnel will use the standard callsign format for controllers within VATUSA airspace:
a. The first three (3) characters of the callsign (prefix) represent the airport at which Ground Control services are offered.
b. If the controller will be providing ATC service using voice, the designator _V_ should be used between the prefix and suffix.
c. If the controller is undergoing voice instruction in conjunction with providing ATC service using voice, the “voice student” designation will be used (_VS_) after the callsign prefix.
d. The last three (3) character of the callsign (suffix) shall be: GND
4.1.1 The controller staffing the Ground Control position (herein “Ground”) shall provide, when required in the absence of a Delivery controller at the airport represented by the controller’s callsign, Clearance Delivery to pilots who are not yet airborne as per the Miami ARTCC Standard Operating Procedures for Clearance Delivery.
4.1.2 Ground shall provide Ground Control services to all aircraft requesting such services, but only at the airport represented by the controller’s callsign.
4.1.3 Ground is not a radar position and will not track or “claim ownership” of any aircraft using the <F3> key in ASRC.
4.1.4 Ground will issue all taxi and movement instructions to aircraft in accordance with FAA 7110.65.
4.1.5 Ground will coordinate with the Tower Controller (when present) with regard to the use of runways for departure and the direction of traffic flow. The Tower Controller, at his discretion, may delegate departure runway selection to Ground.
4.1.6 Final runway selection for all arrivals and departures shall be at the discretion of the Tower Controller, or the controller who will issue takeoff and landing clearances.
4.1.7 Ground is responsible for aircraft movement on taxiways only.
4.1.8 Ground is not responsible for aircraft movement on any non-movement area as described by FAA 7110.65, nor on any active runway.
4.1.9 If Ground observes a change in color from yellow to pink of the Tower Controller’s callsign in the Controller List (CL) of ASRC, or the callsign of any other controller providing Tower services at the airport served by Ground, the Ground controller will hold all aircraft not taxiing to a runway at their current position until such time as the Tower Controller’s callsign reverts to yellow.
4.1.10 Ground will transfer communications as follows:
a. To the Tower Controller (when available) before an aircraft crosses any active runway.
b. In the absence of Tower, to the controller handling takeoff clearance before the aircraft is holding short of the assigned takeoff runway.
c. In the absence of any further ATC, to UNICOM (122.800) before the aircraft is holding short of the assigned takeoff runway.
4.1.11 Ground will issue a Progressive Taxi instruction to any aircraft requesting this service only when it will not interfere with providing timely service to other aircraft.
4.1.12 Until such time as Runway 8L/26R of Miami International Airport is included in the default scenery of Microsoft Flight Simulator ™, Runway 8L/26R shall be considered closed.
4.1.13 Until such time as the default scenery for Microsoft Flight Simulator ™ displays the current runway numbering system now in use at Miami International Airport, controllers will continue to refer to runways as they are displayed in the latest release of Microsoft Flight Simulator ™.
4.1.14 If Ground will instruct the pilot to switch to UNICOM because of an absence of further ATC, Ground will clear any temporary altitude assignment in the flight strip and reset the scratchpad to the default condition to reflect the destination airport.
4.2.1 Ground will use the radio frequency for the airport for which service is provided as published on the Miami ARTCC website, or as published in the most current publication of the Airport Facility Directory that lists information on the airport served.
4.2.2 The following airports in the Miami ARTCC are served by Ground Control on these radio frequencies:
Airport |
Radio Frequency |
| KMIA (Miami Intl.) |
121.800 |
| KFLL (Ft. Lauderdale Intl.) |
121.400 |
| KFXE (Ft. Lauderdale Exec.) |
121.750 |
| KOPF (Opa Locka) |
121.900 |
| KPBI (Palm Beach Intl.) |
121.900 |
| KRSW (Southwest Florida Intl.) |
121.900 |
| KTPA (Tampa Intl.) |
121.700 |
| KSRQ (Sarasota Intl.) |
121.900 |
| KTMB (Tamiami/Kendall) |
121.700 |
4.2.3 Other airports within Miami ARTCC that do not have a separate radio frequency published for Ground Control, should not be staff by a separate Ground Controller.