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Private Approaches

Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • The article introduces "private approaches," which are FAA-coordinated but privately developed, funded, and published, requiring specific authorization for use.
  • A unique dilemma arises because these private approaches, despite not being publicly charted, are included in avionics navigators' databases.
  • This makes it possible for a pilot to safely fly an unauthorized private approach using navigator data, creating a situation that is safe but illegal, contrasting with the common "legal but not safe" scenario.
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Frequently we discuss that complying with the regulations isn’t necessarily safe. The common example is instrument currency where six in six isn’t always enough to remain proficient. But, I just encountered an opposite situation where an operation could be safe, but not legal.

This year’s Twin Cessna Flyers owners’ organization convention was held at the Horseshoe Bay Resort in Texas. This is a large resort with extensive facilities, including their own private airport (KDZB) that’s open to the public. It’s a nice airport with a 6000-by-100-foot runway, a jet center, and predictably expensive fuel. To serve the heavy iron that frequents the airport (in 2020, 40 percent of the based aircraft were jets), the airport has private GPS approaches to each end of the runway.

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