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Are You Established?

Debates are a mainstay of hangar-flying discussions. Those debates can become particularly compelling and energized when the weather is below minimums or the wind is sending small structures and the occasional passerby tumbling across the ramp. Youll often hear conflicting statements from different pilots, many even beginning, Well, the examiner on my last checkride said…

Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • The definition of "established" on a final approach course is widely debated, often mistakenly equated with the navigation needle being "alive" or showing "positive course guidance," which overlooks the critical requirement from the Pilot/Controller Glossary to be "stable or fixed."
  • Neither the Practical Test Standards (PTS) tolerances nor Federal Aviation Regulations (FARs) requiring operation "along the centerline" of an ATS route provide a definitive, measurable metric for being established.
  • The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) offers the most concrete metric: being within half full-scale deflection for ILS/VOR or 5 degrees for NDB. The article's comprehensive definition combines this with the requirement to be stable or fixed on the centerline of an ATS route.
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Debates are a mainstay of hangar-flying discussions. Those debates can become particularly compelling and energized when the weather is below minimums or the wind is sending small structures and the occasional passerby tumbling across the ramp. You’ll often hear conflicting statements from different pilots, many even beginning, “Well, the examiner on my last checkride said…”

One common debate is what constitutes being “established” on a final approach course. This is important because being established often allows you to do something important, like, well, descend for a landing.

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