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Old 01-13-2010 | 08:27 PM
  #40  
belliott
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Joined: Sep 2006
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Originally Posted by goaround2000
Well my bike-riding-70's-latin-lover friend,

I think you and doj missed the point, I wasn't referring to the degree of difficulty involving the maneuver/approach, but rather the challenges that present themselves when operating in such environment.

With regards to the auto-pilot, well, I don't know how reliable VOR's are in Venezuela, Colombia, Guyana, or Suriname, but in Mexico, the signal can be spotty at best on the approach face (in some, but not all markets), and it serves better to have the AP off, particularly around terrain. Some guys opt to shoot these approaches coupled to the FMS, but our guidance specifically says that we are to do them on greens, as we're not approved for anything else in Mexico.

Hope that clarifies it a bit. Having done both the turbo-prop (135, no autopilot) and the 121 in a much more advanced Jet, I can tell you both types of flying represent different challenges, but they are still both challenging in their own ways, which was my original point to my incarcerated friend.

goaround
Nah... I didn't miss the point... in fact I whole heartedly agree with you... some of the approaches in the countries I listed are more of a guesstimation than an actual approach. At my former company although we had the capability to do GPS approaches they were not authorized (similar to your Op Specs) and were forced to use navaids (partially blocked or not) that led to some of the most interesting approaches I have ever seen in my life.
Back to my previous post.... I was simply trying to throw some humor into the mix... and my autopilot comment was simply a fact... they are wonderful contraptions unless the user is ineffective at which point they become dangerous.
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