We had 800 ceilings the other day, so I went to practice and stay current. Vis was good, so it seemed like a perfect day for practice. I didn't think about the cold front moving through, however. By the third Rnav approach, I couldn't see the runway lights at DH (250'). It was a smaller airport and the opposite of the runway from the ILS and they weren't strong lights. I shot three more, going missed each time. It was good practice, as this was the first time that I was doing approaches in actually conditions with turbulence. By the 6th approach, I had a vicious headache from being kicked around the sky and really wanted to be on the ground. I went to a nearby airport with an ILS that was in lighter rain. By this time visibility was down to about a 1 - 1 1/4 miles, but ceilings still called out at 700'. What was surprising to me was the inability to see the ground at 400', supposedly under the ceiling.
So I am on ILS 09 (all that approach would offer me) and the winds are 300 @ 15G22. The controller tells me I am cleared for ILS 09 with a circle to 27. I was able to see the lights a bit before 200' and felt comfortable making the runway. However, I became very uncomfortable with the thought of doing a 180* turn at 200 AGL with the crappy visibility. I honestly didn't think that I would be able to maintain visual contact with the runway during the 180. The runway was almost 7000', so I decided to land on 09. It was uneventful and landed with plenty of buffer. However, it really got me think what if the runway was shorter, winds worse, etc.
To you guys with lots of experience, how do you handle this? Clearly I need more practice with Circling at low altitudes, but how do you judge whether you can maintain visual contact. With all of the turbulence, I imagine it would be hard to hold my altitude if all of my attention is out the window trying to keep the field in sight. The RV6 does not hold altitude well without constant attention and 200' is not a lot of buffer. I clearly didn't appreciate exactly how hard it is to see the runway with 1 mile visibility and rain. I can now truly appreciate why the lights are so important to the approach.
Thanks for sharing your expertise.
EDIT: As I think about this, I am sure the circling minimums are well above 200 and would have had to climb up to 500' or so to legally/safely circle. Also, at DA I was probably well over a 1000' from the runway and I may not have had a problem seeing the runway from 500 AGL. However, the 180 could easily take me 1000' away again.
Larry
So I am on ILS 09 (all that approach would offer me) and the winds are 300 @ 15G22. The controller tells me I am cleared for ILS 09 with a circle to 27. I was able to see the lights a bit before 200' and felt comfortable making the runway. However, I became very uncomfortable with the thought of doing a 180* turn at 200 AGL with the crappy visibility. I honestly didn't think that I would be able to maintain visual contact with the runway during the 180. The runway was almost 7000', so I decided to land on 09. It was uneventful and landed with plenty of buffer. However, it really got me think what if the runway was shorter, winds worse, etc.
To you guys with lots of experience, how do you handle this? Clearly I need more practice with Circling at low altitudes, but how do you judge whether you can maintain visual contact. With all of the turbulence, I imagine it would be hard to hold my altitude if all of my attention is out the window trying to keep the field in sight. The RV6 does not hold altitude well without constant attention and 200' is not a lot of buffer. I clearly didn't appreciate exactly how hard it is to see the runway with 1 mile visibility and rain. I can now truly appreciate why the lights are so important to the approach.
Thanks for sharing your expertise.
EDIT: As I think about this, I am sure the circling minimums are well above 200 and would have had to climb up to 500' or so to legally/safely circle. Also, at DA I was probably well over a 1000' from the runway and I may not have had a problem seeing the runway from 500 AGL. However, the 180 could easily take me 1000' away again.
Larry
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