Is This Approach Legal?

Any instrument-rated pilot should know, as a double-I we knew well would stress, "While youre flying straight and level is a good time to get set up for the approach." Sage advice, but that was back in the days when pilots of most personal airplanes considered themselves fortunate to have a working DME. Moving maps hadnt been invented and the first GPS satellite had yet to be launched. As long as we had current plates-which was most of the time-and a record of a VOR check having been performed in the preceding 30 days, we were good to shoot almost any approach this side of a CAT IIIa ILS, including the then-feared-but-now-rare NDB procedure.

Key Takeaways:

• Modern aviation navigation systems, particularly GPS, offer enhanced utility and accuracy but introduce significant complexity, requiring pilots to understand new terms and regularly update databases.
• Maintaining current navigation databases is critical for IFR operations, with aircraft flight manual supplements (AFMS) providing specific guidance on whether and how an expired database's approach data can be verified and legally used.
• Planning for alternate airports with GPS involves specific regulatory considerations: non-WAAS GPS can substitute for DME, while WAAS-certified GPS allows planning for instrument approaches at alternates under certain conditions, such as not using vertical guidance for planning and checking for "alternate minimums not authorized" symbology.

Key takeaways sponsored by Aviator Pro | Start Your Training ->

See a mistake? Contact us.