Saturday, December 6, 2008

Simultaneous Close Parallel

I just finished watching the FAA training videos for Precision Runway Monitor (PRM) approaches, also known as simultaneous close parallel approaches. There are two versions of the video, one for GA pilots, and one for air carrier pilots. I couldn't see any difference between the two apart from some of the visuals (PFDs for the big iron, simple AIs for the GA pilots). The videos were interesting and will come in handy if I ever encounter enough traffic to justify simultaneous approaches. I answered all the questions in the questionnaire correctly.

There were a couple of weird things. For example, although the video discusses how to handle a simultaneous RA and breakout instruction, the illustration with a PFD shows only the breakout, not the RA (which would normally be annunciated visually with an overlay on the attitude display). Stranger still, both videos were available with closed captioning, which seems a bit odd for something intended for pilots who have to understand ATC on the radio. Maybe it's just one of those bizarre government things. I'm sure it comes in handy to deaf simmers, however, so it's not a bad thing.

Now I just have to find an airport with simultaneous approaches in use, which isn't easy in the virtual world. Not that I'm chomping at the bit to try them out, as they look quite tedious, especially the verbose written documentation that accompanies these types of approaches (and may vary from one airport to another).

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