Don’t Let Less Than Ideal Conditions Ruin Your Approach
By Bill Forbes - Director of Avionics Sales for Elliott Aviation
Sometimes, one experience can change your entire perspective on flying. A few years ago, a Hawker 800 pilot relayed a story to me about WAAS LPV. The pilot requested WAAS/LPV in their aircraft but had been denied his request because the aircraft owner saw it as a high cost with very little value. One business trip from Nashville to St. Louis changed the value seen in LPV.
The aircraft owners were flying in for a very important business meeting and planned to land at Lambert Field, but the ILS was down, and there was a very low ceiling. This forced the aircraft to divert to an airport many miles away. Meanwhile, the owner witnessed a Cirrus land right after their missed approach.
Because it was an unplanned arrival at a very small FBO, they had to wait for a car to become available and drive nearly an hour out of their way, missing their meeting. Needless to say, the owner was distraught that his mid-sized jet could not get into an airport while he witnessed a small piston aircraft land with ease. The owner scheduled a WAAS LPV system installation the following day.
WAAS (wide-area augmentation system) and LPV (localizer performance with vertical guidance) is a system that uses satellites and ground-based radio systems to enhance GPS signals for the entire flight path of the aircraft, including approaches that can get you down to 200 feet. From an approach standpoint, the FAA’s most recent update (November 15, 2012) shows LPV approaches at 1,519 airports, including 1,307 LPV’s to non-ILS airports. This flexibility can get you closer to where you want to go.
Other benefits include cutting distances between airports, saving time and fuel because the aircraft does not have to follow routes based on ground-based systems alone. It also allows safer flight at low altitudes because older system equipment is often blocked by terrain or elevation changes. Simply put, WAAS will get you to where you want to go faster, safer, and often with less fuel.
About the Author
Bill Forbes is an Avionics Sales Manager for Elliott Aviation. Bill has been with Elliott since 2018. He started his career in aviation as a crew chief in the Air Force in 1985. He has been associated with Beechcraft Aircraft and Service Centers since 1996. He has been involved in avionics sales and management since 2003 and has been involved in several STC projects with Collins, Honeywell, and Garmin before joining Elliott Aviation. You can reach him at bforbes@elliottaviation.com.