RNAV (GPS) approaches
LPV, LNAV/VNAV, and LNAV on one chart, plus the TAA and the hold-in-lieu-of-procedure-turn -- flown on the real RNAV (GPS) RWY 6 into Manchester.
15 min read · Instrument approach systems
After this lesson you can
- Sort LPV, LNAV/VNAV, LNAV, and LP by the guidance each provides and the minimum type (DA or MDA) each is flown to.
- Explain why an LNAV/VNAV line can carry a temperature restriction that an LPV line does not.
- Read a Terminal Arrival Area (TAA) and identify which of its sectors a given arrival will enter.
- Identify the hold-in-lieu-of-procedure-turn (HILPT) on a real RNAV chart and explain when it must be flown.
A single RNAV (GPS) chart can publish up to four different lines of minimums for the same final approach course, flown by the same receiver, with heights that vary by a factor of two or more between the best and the worst. Choosing the wrong line either wastes minimums the airplane and pilot were entitled to fly, or, worse, means descending on a line the equipment in the airplane cannot actually support that day.
The logic is consistent: which line is available depends on what the receiver can actually deliver in the moment, and it tells you, on its own display, before you commit to a line. This lesson works through all four lines, the TAA that gets you into the approach from almost any direction, and the hold-in-lieu-of-procedure-turn, all on a real chart: RNAV (GPS) RWY 6 into Manchester-Boston Regional (MHT).
The rest of this lesson
- 1.Four lines, one question: how much vertical guidance is really there?
- 2.LPV: the best available line
- 3.LNAV/VNAV and the cold-weather trap
- 4.LNAV, and the fading LP line
- 5.The TAA: one shape, entry from almost any direction
- 6.Reading it on the chart: RNAV (GPS) RWY 6, Manchester
- 7.What changes if WAAS is lost
These 7 sections, their figures, the checks along the way and the end-of-lesson quiz come with the IFR track. Paid once, yours for good.
Key terms
Try to recall each definition before turning the card.