Blast from the Past

Approaches like the KOWD LOC RWY 35 were once common, but they’re almost retro today. Nonetheless, they still exist and we should know how to fly them.

lbencini-tibo

Thursday, January 16, 2025 at 05:00 AM ET

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Key Takeaways:

The Norwood Memorial Airport (KOWD) LOC RWY 35 approach is a "retro approach" due to its reliance on older navigation aids like the Outer Marker (OM) and Locator Outer Marker (LOM), which, despite being largely superseded by GPS, remain critical for establishing ground-based Minimum Safe Altitudes (MSAs).
Flying this traditional approach requires specific equipment (ADF, DME, or GPS as substitutes) and careful adherence to procedures, including handling complex missed approach instructions and understanding part-time tower operations.
The article explores charting complexities, such as the ambiguous "WHYBE" fix and discrepancies in Minimum Enroute Altitudes (MEAs) on associated airways, necessitating FAA clarification, and contrasts these with the advantages of the modern RNAV (GPS) RWY 35 approach at KOWD.

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Norwood Memorial Airport (KOWD) is a public airport in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, approximately 15 miles southwest of Boston Logan International Airport. The Boston Class B starts at 3000 feet MSL over Norwood.

From 1942 to 1945, Norwood served as a Naval Outlying Landing Field of Naval Air Station Squantum. (The NAS closed in 1953.) This historical significance as a training field for aspiring naval aviators with its two 4000-foot runways, is a testament to its rich past. A year after the end of the Second World War, the U.S. Department of War gave the airport to the town of Norwood, which renamed it Norwood Memorial Airport in memory of Norwood residents killed during WWII.