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Who can land in 'fog'



 
 
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  #1  
Old November 23rd 05, 09:58 PM posted to rec.aviation.piloting
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Default Who can land in 'fog'

I read a report about a local airport with this statement:

"With existing Instrument Landing System (ILS) technology, inclement
weather, such as fog, is not a material obstacle to commercial service
operations."

I was under the impression that the FAA says fog is 1/4 mile
visibility. Can anyone legally land in fog?

  #2  
Old November 23rd 05, 10:05 PM posted to rec.aviation.piloting
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Default Who can land in 'fog'

Most Cat II and Cat III approaches can land in fog.

Mike
MU-2


wrote in message
oups.com...
I read a report about a local airport with this statement:

"With existing Instrument Landing System (ILS) technology, inclement
weather, such as fog, is not a material obstacle to commercial service
operations."

I was under the impression that the FAA says fog is 1/4 mile
visibility. Can anyone legally land in fog?



  #3  
Old November 23rd 05, 10:12 PM posted to rec.aviation.piloting
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Default Who can land in 'fog'

Is there somewhere I can find out if this airport (KORH) has an
appropriate Cat II or Cat III Approach?

I thought I heard it was a Cat I.

  #7  
Old November 23rd 05, 10:29 PM posted to rec.aviation.piloting
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Default Who can land in 'fog'

ORH does not have a Cat II or III approach. Keep in mind that he visibility
that controls the approach is "flight visibility" not "ground visibility"
and when there is fog, flight visibility is usually greater than ground
visibility.

Most Cat II and III approaches are at major airports. One of the
requirements is that the runway must have centerline lighting which is
generally only found at the largest airports.

Mike
MU-2


wrote in message
oups.com...
Is there somewhere I can find out if this airport (KORH) has an
appropriate Cat II or Cat III Approach?

I thought I heard it was a Cat I.



  #8  
Old November 23rd 05, 10:53 PM posted to rec.aviation.piloting
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Default Who can land in 'fog'

wrote in message
oups.com...
Is there somewhere I can find out if this airport (KORH) has an
appropriate Cat II or Cat III Approach?


Generally speaking, you can look at the A/FD information which is usually
up-to-date at www.airnav.com. If a Cat II or Cat III ILS approach is not
listed, then the airport isn't equipped for Cat II or Cat III approaches (I
think lighting and airport markings is the primary criteria).

Compare entries for major commercial airports, like KSEA, KLAX, or KLGA, to
see what an airport that does have Cat II and Cat III approaches looks like.

As far as your original question goes:

It is theoretically possible for an airplane to land using a Cat I approach
in fog. I don't know the exact cut-off to differentiate between "fog" and
"mist", but I doubt the article you're concerned about is actually using an
official definition. So, in the colloquial definition of "fog", visibility
could be anywhere from as much as a mile, maybe even more, to as low as 0
feet. A Cat I approach isn't sufficient for 0 visibility, but it's plenty
for 1 mile (and visibilities lower than that).

So...the answer to "can anyone legally land in fog" is "yes", even if the
airport has only a Cat I approach.

Pete


  #10  
Old November 24th 05, 02:42 AM posted to rec.aviation.piloting
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Default Who can land in 'fog'

Mike Rapoport wrote:

Most Cat II and III approaches are at major airports. One of the
requirements is that the runway must have centerline lighting which is
generally only found at the largest airports.


Could the presence of a CAT II or III approach also be a function of a
greater occurrence of low visibility? My home airport, Syracuse (KSYR),
has a CAT II ILS, yet it is only a class C airport. During the winter we
experience heavy lake effect snow bands off Lake Ontario and I had
suspected that this was the reason for a CAT II ILS rather than its size.

--
Peter
 




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