The plate says it’s an option. Your GPS software and database are up-to-date. Yet that new LP approach refuses to load. That could be a plus if you like vertical guidance.
Stalking the Elusive LP
With the advent of WAAS, the FAA developed approaches that provided vertical guidance while offering the lateral accuracy that previously was only available with an ILS or localizer approach. It was named LPV for Localizer Performance with Vertical and now sports decision heights as low as 200 feet.
Key Takeaways:
- LP (Localizer Performance) approaches are WAAS-enabled GPS procedures that provide tighter lateral guidance than LNAV, potentially allowing lower minimum descent altitudes, but they lack the vertical guidance found in LPV approaches.
- Flying LP approaches requires specific aircraft flight manual authorization and updated GPS navigator software, and a notable consequence is the loss of advisory vertical guidance often available with LNAV+V.
- Despite being published by the FAA, LP approaches were unavailable to pilots for an extended period because aviation database providers initially lacked the necessary coding support, with full availability not expected until mid-2012.
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