Aviation Topic of the Week
By Michael Oxner, October 26, 2003


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This week's topic:
Question Answers

Here they are. The answers to the questions posted last week. Let's see if I taught you anything.

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?
Referring to the approach plate linked above, you can see you have 3 options.
  1. For those not equipped with some kind of RNAV (including INS, GPS, etc), there is always the old fashioned full procedure approach. Upon receipt of the approach clearance issued above, the pilot could, once figuring out he is already clear of the restricted area CYR724, proceed either directly to the SJ NDB, or continue overhead the VOR, then outbound on the 134 degree radial (R134) to get to the SJ NDB, and fly a procedure turn from there.
  2. Also without the need for RNAV, the DME Arc transition is available. Since the arc is published from the R358 which makes up the airway, fly the airway inbound until you reach 10 DME. Then turn left and fly the arc to the R052. At this point, turn to intercept the localizer and fly the straight-in ILS from there.
  3. Speaking of straight-in approaches, if you do have RNAV, you can leave the airway upon receipt of the approach clearance and fly directly to BOOTI intersection, and join the localizer from there for the straight-in approach.

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.
As detailed in the radar identification topic, having the aircraft's report over a fix that is displayed on the radar map is enough, regardless of the SSR code selected by the aircraft. Should you desire to take further action, two other simple methods listed on the page include "Squawk ident" and issuing a new code. I'll give you that the code thing isn't as effective in ASRC, since this is not modeled on a Canadian radar system.

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?
Where the entire flight is conducted outside of controlled airspace, no IFR clearance is required. It is a good idea to get in touch with ATC before take-off so traffic information can be obtained, especially in Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC), for both point of departure and destination, given that these aerodromes are only a few minutes flying time apart. In the real world, ATC will be looking for departure and arrival messages to make sure you departed and arrived safely. These can be radioed directly to ATC or through Flight Services at phone numbers published in the Canada Flight Supplement in the aerodrome's entry.

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.
This question was a bit of a joke in that one wouldn't likely file to go sightseeing in IFR weather. Rather, it was a situation for you to flight plan altitudes.

Given that the first leg of the flight is eastbound, and the second leg is westbound, the levels chosen for IFR could be either 5,000 or 7,000 first, then 6,000 or 8,000 after passing Charlottetown VOR. Remember that for IFR flight a clearance must be obtained before the altitude change can take place. ATC will likely initiate the change, since ATC has strict direction on when they can approve altitudes inappropriate for direction of flight. For VFR, One could chose 5,500 or 7,500 for the eastbound leg, and 6,500 for the westbound leg if he wanted to remain within the altitude range given in the situation above. For VFR flight in Class E airspace, no clearance is require to change altitudes in the above situation.

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?

The AIP gives us direction as pilots in RAC 9.3 to inform ATC of what approach will be flown when issued a clearance for "an approach". It also tells us not to deviate from the stated approach since ATC will be basing separation on the pilot conducting the approach stated. Having said that, the circling procedure is not currently authorized. If a circling procedure is desired or required for traffic or winds, the pilot need only ask for approval.

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?
Flying at speeds commensurate with Category B aircraft, which would range from 91 to 120 kts, the circling procedure should not be commenced until the aircraft is within 1.5 NM of the runway threshold. I remember when one aircraft had been cleared for the straight-in ILS runway 23 via BOOTI at Saint John after being denied the GPS approach to runway 32 for traffic. He asked for permission to circle for 32 and it was granted. He was sent over to radio and immediately turned toward the airport. When asked by relaying the question through radio, the pilot indicated he had already begun the circling manoeuver for 32, still some 18 NM from the airport. He hadn't never even touched the localizer, let alone completed the ILS RWY 23 approach. This was most certainly overstepping the boundaries of a circling procedure.

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.
The approach name dictates what is required to allow an aircraft to fly a certain approach. In the above example, an aircraft not equipped with DME may not fly the approach. Similarly, with the DME named as a requirement in the above example, the DME facility must be serviceable in order for a pilot to fly this approach. If the approach name included a GPS overlay (indicated by "(GPS)" in the title), aircraft with RNAV would be allowed to fly the approach, since the primary reason for this is to ensure the pilot has some way to determine the position of the Final Approach Fix and the aircraft would have a legitimate way to do this. There is one catch: Any approach to be used in real life with RNAV must have the approach fixes retrieved from a database. The consequence of error of entering a wrong digit could be dramatic, especially at low altitudes on approach. A pilot is not allowed to input numbers "on the fly" to set up for his own approach.

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!*
I'll let you determine the entry pattern to be used, but I'll answer rest. The side of the NDB to hold on is actually mentioned in the holding clearance directly: The northeast side. This means that all but the turn to go outbound should be accomplished on the northeast side of the NDB. In a standard hold, which is what is indicated by the lack of alternate instructions, all turns are to the right. And lastly, at 8,000 feet, the maximum speed in the hold should be 230 KIAS for a B737-200, since it is considered a civil turbojet aircraft holding at or below 14,000 feet.

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.
I hope this wasn't too tricky in the wording. The speed limit as you leave CYQM is 200 knots until you're 10 NM from the airport, unless otherwise approved by ATC. If you asked to go faster, ATC could approve speeds above 200 KIAS, but since you're below 10,000 feet, you're still limited to 250 KIAS even with approval from ATC to go faster. This last part explains the next segment of the flight. Once outside of 10 NM of CYQM, you're away from controlled airports for the rest of the flight. This means your speed limit is 250 KIAS right up to the Saint John airport. The AIP states that there is no 200 KIAS speed limit in close to an uncontrolled airport, but they do encourage pilots to observe the same rule at uncontrolled airports for safety reasons. This also applies to an airport normally staffed with a control tower, but for which the tower is not currently in operation.

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?
If you're prepared for it, you could ask for and receive approval to fly a non-precision, localizer only approach from there, since the localizer is still serviceable. Quite often in winter storms the glidepath antenna signals are reflected out of tolerance either due to ice on the antennas or heavy, wet snow accumulating in front of the antenna array. Since a localizer antenna radiates a signal perpendicular to the earth, the same problems are not as evident, thereby allowing for a front-course localizer approach without the aid of a glidepath. Just remember to adhere to the non-precision approach altitudes and minima on the charts. Also, an NDB approach could be flown if the localizer also gets knocked off the air, but once again, you'd better be prepared for the change. It may be better to execute a missed approach and ask for further instructions from ATC if you're not ready for, or are in a bad position for, a short notice change.

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?
With the NOTAM worded the way it is, the only way for an IFR aircraft to depart this runway is to obtain approval from the IFR ATC unit to depart VFR, if that's the runway he needs or wants to use. The two options are to obtain a clearance including a phrase like, "... clearance valid upon reaching 3,000...", or simply obtaining approval to depart VFR and calling ATC once airborne to pick up the clearance. My AIS source from NavCanada says that NOTAM wouldn't normally be issued for a civilian aerodrome (the example above came from a real-world situation at a military installation). Instead, it would likely be published with alternate departure procedures, including assessments for a steeper climb gradient, or perhaps even a Spec Vis which might specify a visual climb to a safe altitude above the temporary obstacle before resuming a normal rate of climb. I didn't expect anyone to come up with an answer to this one, but if you knew it, you knew your departure procedures well.





So how did you do? Did you learn anything? What do you think of the answers provided? My e-mail address is moxner@nbnet.nb.ca if you want to discuss any of this. Any feedback is appreciated, whether you're praising or condemning me. I'm as interested in learning as I am in teaching. Thanks to Neil Shea of NavCanada for some input for the answers provided. My renovations are nearly done as of the date this page was posted, so I should be back to my Airport Operations series next week. Thanks for taking part in this little detour!