The approach families

Precision, APV, and non-precision: the FAA classification, DA versus MDA, and the vocabulary the rest of this module assumes.

13 min read · Instrument approach systems

After this lesson you can

  • Sort any named approach into precision (PA), approach with vertical guidance (APV), or non-precision (NPA).
  • Explain the practical difference between a decision altitude (DA) and a minimum descent altitude (MDA).
  • Read a circling-only or duplicate-approach suffix (a letter instead of a runway number) and say what it means.
  • Locate the final approach fix (FAF) or point, and the missed approach point (MAP), on any approach description.

Every instrument approach answers the same question: how does this airplane get from cruise altitude down to a runway it cannot yet see, with a guaranteed margin over the ground the whole way down? The answer is never the same twice. Some approaches steer you left and right AND tell you exactly how fast to descend. Others only steer you left and right, and leave the descent to you. The FAA sorts every approach in the country into three families based on exactly that distinction, and the family an approach belongs to decides how low you are allowed to go before you must see the runway.

This lesson builds the vocabulary the other eight lessons in this module lean on: the three approach families, the difference between a decision altitude and a minimum descent altitude, how an approach chart is named, and where the final descent segment begins and ends. Get this lesson solid, and the ILS, VOR, RNAV, and NDB lessons that follow will each feel like a variation on a theme instead of nine unrelated topics.

The rest of this lesson

  1. 1.Three families, one question: is there glidepath guidance?
  2. 2.DA and DH: the point of decision, not a floor
  3. 3.Naming an approach: what the title on the chart is telling you
  4. 4.The final approach segment and the missed approach point
  5. 5.Approach clearances and who is responsible for what
  6. 6.Reading this module

These 6 sections, their figures, the checks along the way and the end-of-lesson quiz come with the IFR track. Paid once, yours for good.

See what the IFR track costsEvery module 1 is free to read, no account, no card.

Key terms

Try to recall each definition before turning the card.