FAA Announces Plan to trim number of Approaches

denverpilot

denverpilot

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DenverPilot
http://www.avweb.com/eletter/archives/avflash/2365-full.html#207643

Well, that seemed almost inevitable, in retrospect.

Gee, it takes money and time to flight check all of those thousands of GPS approaches added in the last decade or so. Who'd'a-thunk-it?! :)

(Did we get a new sarcasm smiley yet?)

NextGen will fix it all, I'm sure. Let's spend more money on that. (Snicker...)

Looks like FAA is throwing in the towel somewhat on growing the Flight Check fleet and crews, which they were definitely doing for a while there.

Last I looked there were six new GPS approaches being worked on for KAPA... meanwhile the main ILS lost its marker beacons. Hmm. Always amazed me that one FAA group was broke, and had to cut major chunks out of the working systems, while the GPS approaches kept multiplying like rabbits nationwide. Guess the chickens finally came home to roost?

Now seeing this, I suspect a number of those approaches will be cancelled before they exist, but I have heard that they're working on different departure routes. Haven't been able to find any of the documentation on that, but airport managers say they're changing the IFR departure paths for noise abatement, soon. Maybe Mari has heard more on that one. That's mostly a TRACON thing unless we're getting a new SID, I suppose.

The current Denver system for the feeder airports tends to put every single NORDO on a SID, STAR or missed approach, right over the top of the DEN VOR or FQF VOR and right into the DIA mix, which seems relatively screwy, in general. Especially if they're landing to the north, which is the common bad-weather wind direction here. Aiming NORDOs for the busiest spot in the whole State always seemed wrong to me after I started looking at it. (That's mostly just a side comment.)

I've also always been fascinated that KBJC's main ILS is tagged "RADAR Required" for finding NILVE. You're kinda screwed if you file to KBJC and go NORDO in a /A aircraft in IMC. Or worse, /U since there's only a VOR/DME besides the ILS. No published transition routes and no procedure turn on the ILS is available off of the BJC VOR.

I guess you instantly head to your alternate in that case. (Wasn't planning on ever NOT filing an alternate if I ever truly had to get into BJC in hard IMC, which will probably be never... Just a mental exercise.)

Ahh, fun with analyzing "the system".
 
denverpilot said:
http://www.avweb.com/eletter/archives/avflash/2365-full.html#207643

Well, that seemed almost inevitable, in retrospect.

Gee, it takes money and time to flight check all of those thousands of GPS approaches added in the last decade or so. Who'd'a-thunk-it?! :)

(Did we get a new sarcasm smiley yet?)

NextGen will fix it all, I'm sure. Let's spend more money on that. (Snicker...)

Looks like FAA is throwing in the towel somewhat on growing the Flight Check fleet and crews, which they were definitely doing for a while there.

Last I looked there were six new GPS approaches being worked on for KAPA... meanwhile the main ILS lost its marker beacons. Hmm. Always amazed me that one FAA group was broke, and had to cut major chunks out of the working systems, while the GPS approaches kept multiplying like rabbits nationwide. Guess the chickens finally came home to roost?

Now seeing this, I suspect a number of those approaches will be cancelled before they exist, but I have heard that they're working on different departure routes. Haven't been able to find any of the documentation on that, but airport managers say they're changing the IFR departure paths for noise abatement, soon. Maybe Mari has heard more on that one. That's mostly a TRACON thing unless we're getting a new SID, I suppose.

The current Denver system for the feeder airports tends to put every single NORDO on a SID, STAR or missed approach, right over the top of the DEN VOR or FQF VOR and right into the DIA mix, which seems relatively screwy, in general. Especially if they're landing to the north, which is the common bad-weather wind direction here. Aiming NORDOs for the busiest spot in the whole State always seemed wrong to me after I started looking at it. (That's mostly just a side comment.)

I've also always been fascinated that KBJC's main ILS is tagged "RADAR Required" for finding NILVE. You're kinda screwed if you file to KBJC and go NORDO in a /A aircraft in IMC. Or worse, /U since there's only a VOR/DME besides the ILS. No published transition routes and no procedure turn on the ILS is available off of the BJC VOR.

I guess you instantly head to your alternate in that case. (Wasn't planning on ever NOT filing an alternate if I ever truly had to get into BJC in hard IMC, which will probably be never... Just a mental exercise.)

Ahh, fun with analyzing "the system".
Click to expand...

It was bound to happen with their shiny new WAAS toy: LPV everywhere.

Then, there is RNP AR, for which the bar is set so high most operators can't even see it, much less touch it.

Yet, I am slightly jaded. A "few weeks from now" is after the election and no matter who is in the white house there will be "new" ideas in either winner's transition. Can you spel "yousir fees?"
 
aterpster said:
It was bound to happen with their shiny new WAAS toy: LPV everywhere.
Click to expand...

Sigh. Yep.

aterpster said:
Then, there is RNP AR, for which the bar is set so high most operators can't even see it, much less touch it.
Click to expand...

LOL!


aterpster said:
Yet, I am slightly jaded. A "few weeks from now" is after the election and no matter who is in the white house there will be "new" ideas in either winner's transition. Can you spel "yousir fees?"
Click to expand...

I'm afraid...

One Party wants all government spending other than Defense contracts to go away, the other is chomping at the bit to act just like Europe which they idolize. I see no good news coming for aviation from either group. I fear the best we can hope for is status-quo on FAA stuff, while in reality, FAA is in the middle of the largest technology change to the airspace system in my lifetime.

They're utilizing all the ancient marketing schemes of "better, faster, cheaper" describing NexGen, when it's plain to anyone looking critically at the system, that it's already completely missed the cheaper mark at the design stages, let alone today at the implementation stage, and speed-wise, they're deploying the best RF data transmission tech available... in 1995 and behind schedule on it badly here in my region.

No matter how we slice it, better hold on to that wallet. Going to be someone along soon asking for money out of it... Directly or indirectly.
 
Npt surprising that they're cutting approaches. I think there's a more logical way to handle approaches at most airports that's more efficient.
 
It makes sense to spend money on approaches that are used, and not the ones that aren't. That seems to be the intent.
 
I will never shoot the 4 billion GPS approaches published at places like KORD and KJFK
 
Ghery said:
What's wrong with DME arcs? Assuming, of course, that you have DME or an approach certified GPS. :D
Click to expand...

I've not flown a DME arc since I got my IFR training ( I did not do one as part of the test ). Does anyone know offhand if a STEC 55x coupled to a 530W will fly the DME ARC by itself? I'm amazed as how it does a full ILS including the procedure turn but have not even looked for a DME approach to try.
 
jtheune said:
I've not flown a DME arc since I got my IFR training ( I did not do one as part of the test ). Does anyone know offhand if a STEC 55x coupled to a 530W will fly the DME ARC by itself? I'm amazed as how it does a full ILS including the procedure turn but have not even looked for a DME approach to try.
Click to expand...

It should do it just fine in Nav - GPSS mode.
 
jtheune said:
I've not flown a DME arc since I got my IFR training ( I did not do one as part of the test ). Does anyone know offhand if a STEC 55x coupled to a 530W will fly the DME ARC by itself? I'm amazed as how it does a full ILS including the procedure turn but have not even looked for a DME approach to try.
Click to expand...

I fly one every IPC. Quite convenient at OLM to go off to the north, fly the ILS 17, go missed, set up for the DME VOR 35, shoot that, then RNAV 17 and call it a day. Don't know about an AP helping as there isn't one in the 172 that has the 430W in the panel and the APs in the Arrow and 182 are marked inop.
 
taters said:
I will never shoot the 4 billion GPS approaches published at places like KORD and KJFK
Click to expand...

Nor will anyone else! I'm always amazed at how hard they work to make GPS approaches to runways that already have an ILS.

There's probably going to be more of the "unique" approaches going away. I didn't get a chance to fly the VOR/DME RNAV approaches at C29 before they went away. I would guess that there's going to be fewer LOC BC's, the VOR/DME RNAV's are going to be gone entirely, and some of the others are going to go the way of the dodo as well.

Now I feel like going and finding out what's out there and where...
 
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