Dropping off a passenger to visit the new riverboat casino in the Lake of the Ozarks? Hanging out on one of the biggest lake destinations in the middle of the country for a week? Or just needing a good fuel stop as you pass through, you might find yourself landing at Lee C. Fine Memorial Airport at the Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri.
It’s a purpose-built airport meant to handle larger aircraft than the two other airports a little closer to town that have maximum runway lengths of 2,800 feet and 3,200 feet, respectively. Lee C. Fine Memorial Airport boasts a runway length of 6,500 feet and is served by a LOC/DME approach to Runway 22.
A: Localizer, Not Glideslope
A localizer DME approach, this particular approach does not offer a glideslope. While localizer precision laterally is helpful, the lack of a glideslope means this approach is nonprecision with a minimum descent altitude. A pilot will use the localizer and DME (no time is available on this approach) to descend to the missed approach point at 4.7 DME
B: DME from the VOR
Speaking of DME, unlike many localizers that have DME from the localizer itself, this DME comes from the SHY VOR. Make sure you have selected the proper source for DME when you are flying this approach because DME is required for the approach.
C: DME Arc
Initial approach fixes at ZOPUD and BARTI are listed from which pilots could choose to establish themselves onto the DME arc to feed inbound on this localizer. While many pilots tend to shy away from doing these, a little knocking off of the rust on these procedures can make them be effective methods to establish the approach from the en route environment. Coming from the east or west respectively, a pilot might choose these points to feed onto the approach when vectors are not provided instead of having to do any course reversals. The good news for many is that most modern GPS navigation systems will do these DME-arc procedures easily when programmed correctly.
D: Feeder Routes
While BARTI and ZOPUD are intersections that a pilot could navigate to from the en route environment, they are not technically fed via feeder routes from the SHY VOR, even though radials are given. These radials are not depicted in the heavy arrow style that is used to depict an actual feeder route as a part of the approach procedure. A little harder to notice, there are two depicted on this chart. A feeder route from the Springfield VOR to the SHY VOR and one from the SHY VOR outbound along the localizer—which would require a course reversal after passing the PICYU waypoint—are both depicted. A pilot could choose either of these and be able to descend to a lower altitude once outbound from the SHY VOR to 2,500 feet. This is lower than on the DME arc and might be something a pilot would choose to do if there were icing, or even better, a chance of getting below a cloud layer and breaking out earlier.
E: Simple Missed—but Close
The missed approach on this is pretty straightforward. A pilot would climb straight ahead to the SHY VOR and hold inbound with right turns on the 217-degree radial (037 degrees inbound) at 3,100 feet msl. That being said, it is pretty close. From going missed at a DME point of 4.7 nm from the VOR to the holding point at the VOR is going to happen fast. A climb and flying straight ahead for just under 5 miles leaves a pilot needing to stay on top of aircraft configuration before entering the hold with a course reversal.
Editor’s Note: This article appeared in the December 2021 issue of FLYING.
