Big changes coming to your favorite Gillespie instrument approach procedure --- the LOC-D. The GRIGG fan marker is going away and will be replaced by a new waypoint, YAGSU. Also, the step down at SAMOS will change from 4,500' to 4,000'. However the next step down, at YAGSU, will be 120' lower than GRIGG now is (2,580 vs. the current 2,700'), and the leg is .3nm shorter. So, you'll have 380 fewer feet to descend, in 1/3 of a mile less distance. 

Trying to figure out how that's going to change my descent rate makes my head hurt. But I will miss the beep-beep-beep and blinking Marker Beacon light when I come across GRIGG. Like many, I would always flip the Marker Beacon on when I'm flying VFR and Tower asks me to "Report a 3-mile final..."  GRIGG was 3.1nm from the threshold and was a nice way to remind you to call the tower, if you weren't  cleared to land. 

If you're not yet totally confused, there's more:

1. •MDA drops 120’; down to 1,460’;
   

2. •New LOYCE Intermediate fix/step down (descend from 4,800' to 4,000);
   

3. •MAP now includes a hold at Mission Bay VOR;
   

4. •New alternate MAP: Hold at CARIF intersection;
   

5. 

   
   

   
   

   New alternate missed approach fix!

    

   
   

6. •MSA goes from 5,300 to 5,400';
   

7. •WIVKO waypoint is added as part of the Procedure Turn at BARET;
   

8. •Dual VOR receivers are required. (See below)
   

9. •If PAPI (VGSI) is out at night, you're basically shutout as the Circle-To-Land is NA!
   

POGGI; IT'S NOT JUST FOR BARET ANYMORE

The PGY VOR is being used at five different points in Amendment 11 of this approach. This contrasts with its only previous purpose --- to identify BARET. As POGGI is 20% closer and not offset at

the same perpendicular angle to the Initial Approach Course as the JULIAN VOR, you'll note the radials from POGGI are slightly more tightly spaced. Example: From WIVKO to BARET is 8 radials apart using JLI, but only 6 radials apart when using PGY. If your VOR is near the 4-degree allowable error limit, that needle is going to swing at an unknown rate as you fly between those 6 radials. 

GETTING THE KINKS OUT

The new procedure is scheduled to be published about a year from now (2/6/14). The wheels of government turn slowly, and when

creating significant changes to an approach we're going to fly --- in the clouds and close to terrain --- that's a good thing!

I'm probably not the best proofreader but I did note the profile view indicates the distance from SAMOS (FAF) to the MAP is 7.9nm, while the time box indicates it's 7.7nm. The time itself

seems to be predicated on 7.7nm, as at 60-knots, the clock would tick-tick-tick to 7:42 over a distance of 7.7 miles (it would take 7:54 to traverse 7.9 miles).

They also didn’t update the AGL altitudes for the Circling MDA without YAGSU. They show it as 2,312’, which reflects the ‘old’ MSL MDA of 2,700’; not the new MSL MDA of 2,580’. Hopefully they'll catch these discrepancies before the plate gets sent off to the Government Printing Office. 

FOLLOW ALONG AT HOME

The FAA makes it somewhat easy to anticipate when changes are coming to one of your favorite approaches. Click here; the link will take you to a page where you can search by City, State or Airport and even preview pending changes. That's exactly 

how I was able to view the changes that are coming to the Localizer-Delta approach at Gillespie. You can even tag your favorite airports and they'll email you when changes are brewing! If you’d like to simply review the “NOT FOR NAVIGATION” version of the pending new LOC-D plate, click here.

SUGGESTION

What’s the best way to transition to this revised LOC-D approach, once it goes live? Simple; treat it as an all-new approach, at an airport you’ve never been to! First, try to forget what you know about the ‘old’ approach, and be sure to fully brief the approach each time before you fly it (you probably already do that, right?). If you adopt that attitude toward flying it, you should have little trouble transitioning. You’re still thinking about GRIGG, aren’t you? Stop it!

© 2012-2013 Garry Wing