The intent of the Letter to Airmen is to alert all aviation interests about a major RADAR outage in the Cape TRACON airspace.  The Falmouth ASR-8 Surveillance Radar, which provides primary radar for Cape TRACON is being raised to increase line-of-sight radar coverage and reduce reflections and signal blockages from adjacent buildings and trees.  The outage is expected to last five months beginning October 13, 2015 and is scheduled to return to full service on March 31, 2016.

During the outage Cape TRACON will utilize it's backup systems of the Nantucket ASR-9 and Boston's Center Radar Presentation off the North Truro radar site (CENRAP).  However air traffic control services will still be affected and limited during this time period.  Customers can expect the following impacts:

A) Increased separation between aircraft.

B) Limited air traffic services for all aircraft.

C) Potential for reduced approval of practice approaches.

D) Traffic advisories unavailable for non-transponder equipped aircraft and aircraft below 2,000 feet in some areas.

E) Possible IFR delays for aircraft at Plymouth (PYM) and Provincetown (PVC) airports due to no radar and non-radar procedures implemented.

F) CENRAP operations prohibit the use of automatic altitude readout for separation, therefore altitude confirmation will be required.

Please check all appropriate NOTAMs when planning a flight in to Cape TRACON airspace.  Inquiries or information relative to the above should be directed to Cape TRACON at (508)563-1400.