When was the last time you actually had to fly a missed approach due to weather at or below minimums? I’m talking for real, in the airplane, not just in practice or in the simulator. If you have, it was probably one of those common climb-and-turn procedures, or just a climbout on runway heading until ATC gave you a new vector to come back around. Sometimes, though, a published missed approach procedure can be, well, unusual. And if it’s not something you want to do, fine—just be sure to get something else in the plan.
It’s a down-to-minimums day in Pennsylvania’s Brandywine Valley just west of Philadelphia. You’re headed there in search of convenient options to park your airplane for a couple days without enduring big-airport stuff like congestion, fees, and lengthy queues. After settling on Chester County G.O. Carlson airport in Coatesville as your destination and picking Reading, PA as the alternate, the only open end is whether the 300-foot ceilings are enough to get into Coatesville. Or not…
