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Tri-Cities/Bristol, Tennessee ILS or LOC Runway 23

The ILS or LOC approach into Tri-Cities/Bristol in Tennessee offers several key areas of interest for instrument rated pilots to study for proficiency.

Bristol, Tennessee, offers a wide range of activities for pilots and their families. [Adobe Stock/Eifel Kreutz]
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Key Takeaways:

  • The ILS or Loc Runway 23 approach to Bristol, TN, is in mountainous terrain, requiring precise altitude management (e.g., 6,000 ft from Glade Spring VOR IAF) for obstacle clearance.
  • This approach utilizes less common aids like outer and inner marker beacons, and allows for waypoint identification (FAF, step-downs) using cross radials from a secondary VOR if DME is unavailable.
  • Its missed approach procedure to the BOOIE NDB necessitates either an operational ADF or a suitable IFR GPS, highlighting the importance of a smooth navigation transition.
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Whether you’re flying in for country music of a lap around the speedway, a visitor to Bristol, Tennessee—billed as the birthplace of country music—might drop into the museum focused on that fact, or perhaps for the several yearly NASCAR events at the Bristol Motor Speedway. Nestled in a deceivingly mountainous locale on the Tennessee-Virginia border, the approach plate hints at some terrain in the area, especially to the south and east.

This Article First Appeared in FLYING Magazine

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Jason Blair

Jason Blair is a flight instructor and an FAA designated pilot examiner, and an active author in the general aviation and flight training communities.

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