Originally Posted by
sonicbum
Hi Hans,
that's how the procedure is built, so this is accounted by the legislation. Worldwide, like many others here, I have seen VOR or NDB approaches with the landing runway placed 90º or so from the final approach track requiring a circle to land, sometimes with prescribed tracks due to terrain.
We are talking the general case here which the OP has been at pains to reiterate, not some specific restriction on the individual plate such as 'Circling Not Authorised South and East' or procedures with prescribed tracks. In general, the plate
does not specify the pattern you will fly during the circling manoeuvre, the generic legality of which is the one and only question posed by the OP. You say:
You can't fly a VOR APP for runway 16 and then circle for... runway 16 ! There is no legal provision to back up such a decision.
The TC AIM says:
An air traffic controller may specify manoeuvring in a certain direction or area due to traffic considerations; however, the selection of the procedure required to remain within the protected area and to accomplish a safe landing rests with the pilot.
They give this example:
They are a member state. Their recommended practice is therefore ICAO compliant. Why then do you think that TC and ICAO have allowed the publication of a recommended manoeuvre for which you maintain
"there is no legal provision"?
...or at what point do you think - as we move to the precise manoeuvre recommended by B2N2 early in the thread - the difference between C, D, and E makes the manoeuvre illegal?