Aviation Topic of the Week
By Michael Oxner, October 19, 2003


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This week's topic:
Questions You Answer

I've run into some technical difficulties due to unexpected renovations. My time available for this week's topic is very limited, as is my computer access, so the original content planned had to be postponed, hopefully resuming the Airport Operations next week. I've always loved the old "National Drivers Test" that CTV used to air, so for now, I thought I'd test your knowledge. I'll stick with topics I've already covered, so the answers are in the Archives if you get stuck. Also, drop me a line if you want me to discuss anything you answer, or even if you want the answers in a follow up page. Any reference approach plates can be found at the Moncton FIR website, and are linked in the questions as required.

Question #1

You're inbound to Saint John, NB (CYSJ) on V310 (the YSJ 358R inbound) from the north in a Dash 8. You're interested in doing the ILS runway 23 approach, but ATC isn't able to provide radar vectors to final. He says, "C-FOOL cleared to the Saint John airport for an approach." Looking at the approach plate for the ILS 23 (click here to show it), how many options do you have for transitioning from the enroute phase of flight to the ILS runway 23 approach? Can you name them all?

Question #2

You're an ATC in Moncton Center (CZQM_CTR). A VFR aircraft calls you and says, "Moncton Center, Cessna Foxtrot Romeo Alpha Tango with you over the Charlottetown VOR at 4,500, VFR enroute to Moncton. Request flight following." You see a target over the YYG (Charlottetown) VOR, but instead of squawking 1200 like you would expect for a VFR aircraft, it has 4326 dialed in. Can you consider the target over the VOR to be our VFR aircraft or must you take further action to radar identify him? If further action is required, name 2 simple ways to radar identify him.

Question #3

You're on the ground at Charlo, NB (CYCL) and have filed an IFR flight plan for a short flight (only about 32 NM) to Bathurst, NB (CZBF) at 5,000 feet. The base of controlled airspace over both airports, and all the airspace in between, is 12,500 ASL. Do you need an IFR clearance from ATC to make this short flight?

Question #4

You want to fly from Moncton, NB (CYQM), to Halifax, NS (CYHZ), but you want to do the airways that take you over PEI to do some sightseeing, first. The radials that make up the airways are as follows. For V300 from YQM to YYG, the outbound radial from YQM is 105 and the inbound to YYG is 286. Then, turning the corner at YYG to YHZ, the outbound radial making up V310 from YYG is the 210R, while the inbound to YHZ is the 029R. You determine the altitude range you want to fly in is somewhere between 5,000 and 8,000. Since it's IFR at CYQM, choose altitudes appropriate to the direction of flight for IFR. With the weather at CYYG VFR, you plan to cancel IFR and continue VFR to CYHZ. Pick out some appropriate VFR altitudes for both legs, as well.

Question #5

Back to our approach at CYSJ in Question #1 above. You've been cleared for "an approach" by ATC. You have informed ATC that you plan to do the ILS RWY 23. While on final for 23, you break out of cloud at about 800 feet AGL, well above the circling limits. You are told the winds are lighter than expected, and with runway 32 being a shorter distance to taxi, you consider circling to land on 32. Do you currently have authority to conduct the circling procedure? Why or why not?

Regardless of your answer for the first part, assume you have authority to circle for this next question. You're flying approach speeds which correspond with a Category B aircraft. How far from the airport could you begin the circling procedure if you do have authority to circle?

Question #6

Look now to the LOC(BC)/DME RWY 26 approach at Les Iles de la Madeleine, PQ (CYGR). The DME is NOTAMed off the air for maintenance until about 2 hours after your ETA. Considering the NAVAID outage, with the winds hard down 26 and bad weather, can you conduct the above mentioned approach? BONUS: Qualify your answer with the reason why or why not.

Question #7

You're IFR inbound to CYHZ in a B737-200, and ATC informs you that the weather is bad with RVRs lower than the minima required to allow you to fly the approach. As a result, you begin to look to your alternate airport as filed. Then you are informed that your dispatcher wants you to hold for up to 30 minutes and hope the weather improves allowing you to get into CYHZ. You do the calculations and you confirm you have enough fuel to hold that long and still fly to your alternate without any difficulty so you agree. You decide to hold in the smooth, clear air above the cloud deck and ATC issues you the following holding clearance:

"CVA822 is cleared to the BLUENOSE NDB via direct, maintain 8,000, hold northeast, inbound on the localizer, expect further clearance at 1610"

The localizer's inbound track is 235°, and you're approaching from the northwest. Do you know what entry pattern you might use? What side of the NDB do you hold on (in terms of direction relative to the NDB)? What direction should the turns be? Finally, how fast can you fly in the hold? *phew!*

Question #8

You're VFR, cruising the coastline of the Bay of Fundy in style in a Learjet. The flight begins in Moncton, turning south, then southwest, eventually landing in Saint John. Moncton Tower approves a right turn out for your departure off runway 11. You clear the control zone to the south, level at 2,500 where you intend to stay for the journey, and the next airport you will see is your destination, Saint John, where there is no control tower in operation. Hoping you wouldn't fly so fast and miss all the magnificent scenery on this fantastic tour, what are your maximum speeds according to CARs and the proscribed speed limits? I'll give you a hint, there is more than one answer here as the limit changes in different areas. Give all the answers you can think of with the appropriate reasons governing the limits you choose, and where they take effect.

Question #9

One more time, we return to the situation in Question #1 at CYSJ. We'll back up a bit to provide yet another "what if?" scenario. You're on the localizer for the ILS RWY 23 approach. The glidepath needle comes alive as you approach the SJ NDB. Just before you begin descent, the red flag appears in the ILS gauge indicating the glidepath signal is not being received, and you are told by ATC that the glidepath has failed, but the localizer is still showing "in the green". Must you commence a missed approach, or do you have other options? If you see other options, what are they?

Question #10

While not specifically discussed, I'll include this as a bonus question. If a NOTAM is issued regarding a temporary obstruction off the departure path of a runway at your favorite airport saying, "IFR departures not authorized" for this particular runway, are there any conditions under which an IFR aircraft may depart from that runway?




As I said, I hope to have the house back to normal in time to continue on with the Airport Operations series next week. If I get enough interest in reviewing these questions in public in the meantime, I'll consider pushing off the re-entry into that series the following week and post answers to these questions next week instead. If I'm not back to normal operations by next week, I'll post them anyway. If you want to submit any comments, my e-mail address is moxner@nbnet.nb.ca. Thanks for taking the time to read!