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Old May 11th 08, 03:55 PM posted to rec.aviation.ifr
Bob Gardner
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Posts: 315
Default Marker beacons

"SUMMARY: The FAA is amending its regulations to reflect technological
advances that support area navigation (RNAV); include provisions on the use
of suitable RNAV systems for navigation; amend certain terms for consistency
with those of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO); remove
reference to the middle marker in certain sections because a middle marker
is no longer operationally required; clarify airspace terminology; and
incorporate by reference obstacle departure procedures into Federal
regulations. The changes will facilitate the use of new navigation reference
sources, enable advancements in technology, and increase efficiency of the
National Airspace System."

The bottom line answer to your question is that the test writers in Oklahoma
City have always been several years behind the times. Take a knowledge test
today and you will be faced with black-and-white weather maps that require
diligent searching to find on the ADDS page...the color graphics that we use
every day have not yet been recognized by the test writers.

Bob Gardner


"Christopher Brian Colohan" wrote in message
.. .
I am currently working through the King Schools IFR DVDs in
preparation for my US IFR written. Something is really bugging me,
and I figured someone here might know the answer.... (And I am too
impatient to wait for my next lesson.)

In one section of this course, we learn that the outer merker and
middle marker used to matter. It used to be the case that if they
were broken you had to increase your approach minimums by some amount.
But the King's don't think we have to know why your minimums used to
change, how the rule about minimums changed (other than getting
abolished), or why the rule changed -- simply that it no longer
matters any more, and you must know that since some FAA questions will
try to "trick" you by giving you the old rules (which I don't know
anyways) as potential answers.

They then go and devote a whole section of the course to suitable
substitutions for the broken devices. So now I know that if I want to
ignore the outer marker on an ILS, and it happens to be broken, it is
legal for me to substitute an NDB and ignore that instead.

So my question is twofold:

a) are marker beacons used for any real (regulatory) purpose any more,
or are they simply for positional awareness?

b) if the answer to (a) is "no, they are no longer used", why do we
have to memorize a set of rules about what we can legally substitute
for these unused beacons?

Chris