DIY Instrument Approaches

[fireflybob]

Thanks for the replies.

Here is my take on this. The Minimum Height Rule IFR is 1,000 ft above highest within 5 nm. An exception to this is on a "notified route". I presume (have yet to check) that published (ie in the AIP) approaches are notified for this purpose. Ergo anything else is not published and therefore not "legal" in IMC.

Another issue are the general provisions of Articles 63 and 64 of the ANO:-

Endangering safety of an aircraft

63 A person shall not recklessly or negligently act in a manner likely to endanger an aircraft, or any person therein

Endangering safety of any person or property

64 A person shall not recklessly or negligently cause or permit an aircraft to endanger any person or property.

Its not just a question of the obstacle clearance criteria etc but also the ramifications of not being in receipt of a licensed ATC service etc. Separation also has to be "DIY" ! Lets say two aircraft collide in this situation and wreckage falling to the ground causes injury or loss of life. IMHO this would clearly be in breach of Art 64.

We all know that this goes on but surely we should be discouraging pilots from inventing their own approaches and that such approaches are strictly for practice VFR. If the weather precludes a visual descent beyond the provisions of the Min Ht Rule then pilots should divert and/or fly to a place where there is a published approach, descend on this procedure and, if feasible, proceed VFR to the chosen destination.

Finally another aspect is there is no published weather minima for such an approach and also its highly unlikely that there are trained met observers on the ground at the aerodrome in question.