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Old 08-04-2008, 04:56 PM   #6 (permalink)
SomedayRJ
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Joined APC: Jul 2008
Position: Twin Bonanza (C50ER) Captain
Posts: 245
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However, for any VFR or IFR ops it is legal (and prudent) to use any and all means of navigation for backup and situational awareness...this includes a non-certified or non-current GPS. The catch is that you must use other nav means for legally required navigation performance (ie IFR), and must use the non-GPS nav as your primary nav system(s).

The GPS-only approach presents a special problem here...since it probably has GPS-only waypoints, you cannot use any other nav system as primary, so you cannot do GPS approaches. An exception would be a GPS/RNAV aproach if you have an FMS with DME/DME capability and the specified RNP...this you could do with the FMS and no GPS (I have done these while working for an airline which was too cheap to buy GPS).
And the approach is the problem. The airport I operate into/out of has had the VOR minimums amended by NOTAM into the clouds most nights, but (obviously) RNAV minimums remain right down at the bottom (620 MDA for LNAV, 250 or so, don't have the plate in front of me DA for LPV on aircraft so equipped) where you can actually get in if you have to. The VOR minimums are so high as to be officially useless and are probably going to stay that way; why they haven't switched the VOR off completely yet is a mystery.

Granted that in an emergency, there's a perfectly good neighboring airport with an ILS, but for ordinary operations, that's not where my car (or the FBO) is.
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