According to Jim Johnson, Honeywell's senior manager of flight
technical services, the company's FMS visual approaches
are created in collaboration with Jeppesen. [Adobe Stock]
Key Takeaways:
Honeywell Aerospace, in collaboration with Jeppesen, has introduced FMS-guided visual procedures to enhance safety during visual approaches, especially in challenging conditions like poor weather, low light, or complex airspaces.
These new procedures provide pilots with critical lateral and vertical guidance, enabling better energy management, consistent flight paths, and the ability to hand-fly or couple to an autopilot.
Designed as "advisory guidance only," these digital procedures help mitigate risks such as "high and hot" approaches, stalls, and accidental incursions into controlled airspace, as demonstrated at airports like Teterboro (KTEB) and Chicago Executive (KPWK).
Available as an annual subscription for Honeywell-equipped aircraft, this innovation modernizes the concept of visual navigation by providing precise, FMS-integrated guidance for maneuvers previously reliant solely on pilot judgment.
It is not uncommon for air traffic control to pose this question to pilots on IFR flight plans approaching certain airports when the weather is VFR. In daylight, when the visibility is good, the winds calm, and the pilot familiar with the airport—and the approach is a straight in—the visual is no big deal.
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Meg Godlewski has been an aviation journalist for more than 24 years and a CFI for more than 20 years. If she is not flying or teaching aviation, she is writing about it. Meg is a founding member of the Pilot Proficiency Center at EAA AirVenture and excels at the application of simulation technology to flatten the learning curve. Follow Meg on Twitter @2Lewski.
