Procedure turn not required

Cttime wrote:

In the US we used the acronym SHARPTT supported by the FARs to determine when a procedure turn is not authorized/required.

Never heard of that, but in the US, if a PT or a hold in lieu of a PT (HILPT) is charted, the basic rule is that it must be flown. There are four exceptions to this rule:

1) Vectors to final
2) Charted leg or segment being flown is noted as NoPT
3) Timed approaches
4) Cleared straight in

DME arcs are not explicitly included because they are supposed to indicate NoPT according to charting standards, although some without may occasionally be still found.

Some argue that if flying the PT or HILPT is not necessary if it does not need to be flown. This is a misunderstanding of who the FAA is referring to in 97.3 Symbols and terms used in procedures. It is not the pilot that makes the determination of if it is necessary to reverse direction to establish the aircraft on an intermediate or final approach course, it is the FAA procedure designer. The FAA designer codes the PT following TERPS rules and then an 8260-3 form is submitted as an official attachment as part of a regulation that amends part 97. The 8260-3 goes thru the federal register and the full regulatory process before being published on charts by multiple chart providers. 91.175 (a) directs pilots to use an approach procedure prescribed by part 97, so if it is part of the procedure on the chart, it must be flown. The limitations are listed in 91.175 (j) and prescribe when a PT requires ATC permission and otherwise should not be flown.

There are legal interpretations of this from the FAA general counsel. If the controller deems it unnecessary for flying the PT, all they need to do in their clearance for the approach is use the magic words, cleared straight in. If the pilot deems it unnecessary, they can request straight in.

I have quoted the relevant section of the FAA regulations below:

97.3 Symbols and terms used in procedures*

Procedure turn means the maneuver prescribed when it is necessary to reverse direction to establish the aircraft on an intermediate or final approach course. The outbound course, direction of turn, distance within which the turn must be completed, and minimum altitude are specified in the procedure. However, the point at which the turn may be begun, and the type and rate of turn, is left to the discretion of the pilot.

91.175 Takeoff and landing under IFR.

( a) Instrument approaches to civil airports. Unless otherwise authorized by the FAA, when it is necessary to use an instrument approach to a civil airport, each person operating an aircraft must use a standard instrument approach procedure prescribed in part 97 of this chapter for that airport. This paragraph does not apply to United States military aircraft.

(j) Limitation on procedure turns. In the case of a radar vector to a final approach course or fix, a timed approach from a holding fix, or an approach for which the procedure specifies “No PT,” no pilot may make a procedure turn unless cleared to do so by ATC.

Peter wrote:

I wonder how many IR instructors and examiners know this?

I’m certain they know (a). They should know (b). Possibly not (c).

In fact any IR pilot should know (a). If not, they’re going to have real problems flying most racetracks.

Peter wrote:

I wonder how many IR instructors and examiners know this?

I’m neither but I knew that on parallel entry to racetrack you had to return to inbound track prior to reaching the fix

To me this reads like the discovery of a whole new branch of physics, where the gravitational field is 0.3% weaker than the normal one which is why it has remained undiscovered for so long, and a raft of Nobel prizes are going to be awarded to the researchers who found it

I wonder how many IR instructors and examiners know this?

Peter wrote:

Indeed, Europe tends to not use procedure turns. In “classical IFR” here, you fly to some navaid which defines the holding pattern and you sort yourself out in the hold, and then fly the procedure to land. If any descent is required (e.g. from a high MSA enroute) then this is done in the hold, going round and round.

Actually, a racetrack and a hold are not the same thing. They are very similar but there are subtle differences in how you fly them. Usually there is both a racetrack and a hold at the same place.

From PANS-OPS:

Normally a racetrack procedure is used when aircraft arrive overhead the fix from various directions. In these cases, aircraft are expected to enter the procedure in a manner similar to that prescribed for a holding procedure entry with the following considerations:
a) offset entry from Sector 2 shall limit the time on the 30° offset track to 1 min 30 s, after which the pilot is expected to turn to a heading parallel to the outbound track for the remainder of the outbound time. If the outbound time is only 1 min, the time on the 30° offset track shall be 1 min also;
b) parallel entry shall not return directly to the facility without first intercepting the inbound track when proceeding to the final segment of the approach procedure; and
c) all manoeuvring shall be done in so far as possible on the manoeuvring side of the inbound track.

AFAIK that mag is purchase-only, or maybe an online sub. @ncyankee might know more.

Indeed, Europe tends to not use procedure turns. In “classical IFR” here, you fly to some navaid which defines the holding pattern and you sort yourself out in the hold, and then fly the procedure to land. If any descent is required (e.g. from a high MSA enroute) then this is done in the hold, going round and round.

chflyer wrote:

A hold-in-lieu-of-PT (racetrack) is one type of course reversal. The others are traditional procedure turn and teardrop turn. Not sure what you mean by standard terminology, nor what you have in mind with a base turn.

I mean the terminology used in PANS-OPS, which is the document used by most countries (certainly all of Europe, but not the US) to define how to fly and construct approach (and departure) procedures.

A “base turn” is a kind of course reversal where you fly outbound from a beacon (typically an NDB) at an offset to the reciprocal of the final approach course and then after some defined time or DME distance turn back onto the final approach course. Before racetracks came into widespread use, base turns were ubiquitous in Europe and there are still some procedures around that use them.

A hold-in-lieu-of-PT (racetrack) is one type of course reversal. The others are traditional procedure turn and teardrop turn. Not sure what you mean by standard terminology, nor what you have in mind with a base turn.

Sorry for nitpicking, but the discussion becomes clearer if everyone tries to use standard terminology.

An approach procedure can use two kinds of manoeuvres when a straight-in is not possible: A racetrack or a course reversal. A course reversal can be either a procedure turn (of which there are two kinds) or a base turn.