Approach

APPROACH PLANNING
---Depends on aircraft speed, weather information, complexity of procedure, special procedures
---Five Preflight Planning of Approach
---Weather, airport conditions, NOTAMs
---Aircraft performance, speeds, power settings
---Getting data for communications and automation setup
---Instrument procedure review, procedure briefing
---Operational reviews and operational briefing
---Standard Operational Procedures (SOP) for Part 91 flight
---Appropriate weather
---Aircraft fuel, condition, equipment, performance and weight

WEATHER CONSIDERATIONS
---Which approach for wind, ceiling, visibility, altimeter setting, temperature and conditions

WEATHER SOURCES
---Obtained en route by Aircraft Communications Addressing Reporting System (ACARS) or
---Enhanced Weather Information System (EWINS), Automated Flight Service Stations (AFSS) or
---Direct User Access Terminal System (DUATS) or Flight Information Services Data Link (FISDL)
---New technology is on the way to put it into the cockpit
---Not all services presently meet FAA standards of reliability, currency and accuracy
---Faults time/date stamp, display with missing data, incorrect overlay or mapping are non-standard
---Compare with FAA/NWS products

BROADCAST WEATHER
---ACARS system gives airport specific information need to aircraft operations digital or voice

AUTOMATIC TERMINAL INFORMATION SERVICE (ATIS)
---A continuous broadcast airport weather data required for arrivals and departures
---Derived from automated and human observations

AUTOMATED WEATHER OBSERVING PROGRAMS
---VHF radio and navaid sources known as AWOS weather and ASOS surface weather
---This weather cannot be used for IFR if altimeter setting and visibility are missing.

CENTER WEATHER
---ARTCCs and Flight Watch gives METAR or SPECI(AL weather for airport observer without radio

REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS
---Pilot required to know airport and runway for alternate, diversion facilities and minimums

PART 91 OPERATORS
---FAR Part 91.103 requires a pilot to know all available information including NOTAMS
---No FARs requiring pilot have current weather but judgment seems to make knowing essential
---Flight planning required to see if 600-2 and 800-2 ceiling and visibility applies for alternate
---600-2 and 800-2 is for flight planning, once alternate becomes destination published plate rules
---Exceptions to 600-2 and 800-2 rule exceptions have A top left of charts
---See Page 5-5 for Part 135 and 121 operations
---An approach giving vertical guidance that doesn't meet standards is a non-precision approach.

PERFORMANCE CONSIDERATIONS
---Airplane performance for approach and landing limitations apply
---Aircraft must be able to go-around and out climb obstructions
---A review of performance considerations is a part of approach planning

AIRPLANE PERFORMANCE OPERATING LIMITATIONS
---Source for performance is Aircraft Flight Manual (AFM) or Pilot's Operating Handbook (POH)
---Primary are landing distance, climb gradient and go-around capability

APPROACH SPEED AND CATEGORY
---Planning includes approach category and speed
---Approach category is based on reference landing speed (Vref) or 1.3 of Vso
Categories
---A= less than 91 knots
---B= 91 but below 121 knot
---C=121 but below 141
---D=141 but below 166
---E= 166 or more
---Use of higher approach speed raises category
---No flaps, icing, circling all may require higher approach speed
---Possibility of higher approach speed is part of briefing

OPERATIONAL CONSIDERATIONS
---FAA set instrument approach standards for callouts, flight profiles, configurations and duties

APPROACH CHART FORMATS
---As of 2000 Pilot Briefing Information format used (See Appendix B Of textbook))

APPROACH CHART NAMING CONVENTIONS
---Plate top and bottom give navaid used, runway and airport name

STRAIGHT-IN PROCEDURES
---Reverse alphabetical letters Z and then Y when similar approaches are to the same runway
---(See figure 5-5) Multiple Approaches

CIRCLING ONLY PROCEDURES
---Runway without straight-in minimums are named by facility and by a letter beginning with A
---Circling only approaches if alignment exceeds 30 degrees, descent over 400 per NM

AREA NAVIGATION APPROACHES
---This procedure ‘moves' the facility over to make a direct entry to the airport runway
---GPS overlay on prior approach says "or GPS A" says approach uses what it can or none at all
---GPS A is a circling approach
---Flight Management Systems will eventually become total GPS approaches
---GPS coding uses Receiver Autonomous Integrity Monitoring (RAIM)
---RNAV procedures use both (GPS) and RNAV coding so both systems will work
---"GPS" is not included in ATC clearances for RNAV approaches

COMMUNICATIONS
---Frequencies are listed in logical order from arrival to touchdown
---Know what to say and when to say it

APPROACH CONTROL
---Controls all IFR traffic and VFR workload permitting
---Primarily radio between ATC and pilot
---Hand off from ARTCC controller to approach controller
---May give radar approach or vectors to any other approach
---Normal to be cleared with altitude separation to outer fix
---Radar separation may take place of vertical separation
---Pilot should not turn inbound until getting a clearance on the final vector
---Vectors allow pilot to be established on final before Final Approach Fix (FAF)

AIR ROUTE TRAFFIC CONTROL CENTER (ARTCC)
---Distance reduces precision available by Airport Surveillance Radar and Precision Approach Radar
---Radar service is auto-terminating on landing as is an IFR flight plan
---The replacement of radar by ADS-B will remove all the variables affecting today's radar control
---Off route transitions may require higher altitudes just because of radar coverage requirements
---Terrain clearance advisories may not be possible unless radar has you as a target
---The Common Traffic Advisory Frequency (CTAF) may be your only traffic advisory frequency
---You cannot get a clearance until the preceding aircraft has landed, cancelled or is VFR

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