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Gloucestershire EGBJ now has an ILS

A very GA-friendly airport... so this is very good news.

I don't know when the plates will be published.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

Why bother? They have a GPS approach (LNAV). Just a way to pretend they are a corporate airport.

EGTK Oxford

Why bother? They have a GPS approach (LNAV). Just a way to pretend they are a corporate airport.

Can you describe the circumstances in which an LNAV GPS approach is better than an ILS?

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

Just a way to pretend they are a corporate airport.

What does that mean?

EGKB Biggin Hill

handy for flight training which i suspect represents a far amount of their business

Just a way to pretend they are a corporate airport

It's a lot of money to spend on a pretence. Do you have inside information about Gloucestershire, or are you speculating?

EGBJ / Gloucestershire

Current MDAs at EGBJ are

RNAV 09 490 RNAV 27 600 NDB/DME 09 480 NDB/DME 27 600

Even if their ILS is very generous e.g. 300-ish that represents a dramatic improvement in typical UK warm frontal conditions (OVC005 or so).

So it's not just flight training. They do have light commercial (paying passenger) traffic going in, which is lucrative - obviously provided it doesn't result in a dramatic hike in your fixed costs (as happened with e.g. Plymouth). But the manager at Gloucestershire is pretty smart.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

Does the UK participate in the LPV (localizer performance with vertical guidance) evaluation? Once that becomes available, no aerodrome will ever again invest in an expensive ILS.

There is just one published AFAIK (EGJA RNAV 08/26) and some others operating unofficially (I vaguely recall something at Gatwick or Heathrow?).

I agree re ILS costs but the reality is that basically any half usable IFR plane can fly an ILS now and fly it on autopilot. Whereas LPV costs a lot of money. The absolute cheapest route is a GNS430W and some paperwork. In most non-Garmin planes (like mine) LPV triggers a 5 figure bill to get a decent inter-compatible GPS+MFD kit, and the cost rockets as you go to bigger planes, with 6 figures on bizjets.

Presumably, as always, the desire to spend money on the upgrade is driven by operational need. If you fly to EGJA all the time then you will spend the money, but otherwise I think very few people will, unless they have to for some other reason.

My own fit is 100% good for European IFR, unless they mandate PRNAV-only enroute airspace.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

Well, the cost for an ILS are beyond what is possible for 90% of the GA airfields so it's not an option. I am convinced that just like in the US, LPV approaches will quickly become the standard for GA airfields -- once they are approved. Even in the US most pilots had to invest money to enable LPV, in the simplest case swap their GNS430 for a GNS430W.

Peter, you're going to install an Aspen and a GTN soon or have you made a downpayment on the IFD440?

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