Originally Posted by blackmail
hello founder,
the problem of the ndb rwy 01 at gse, (gothenburg save), is not, to like or not to like this approach. it is an operational matter. non precision approaches in general increase pilot workloads, needs a so called double briefing, on top of the normal brief. has higher minimas than ils approach etc... .
in this particular case for ndb rwy 01, the approach is not very users friendly.
the faf is at 4nm at 1550ft only, is not co-located with the ndb & has steeper than normal descent gradient, 5.8% if i am correct. couple that with a heavy landing weight, higher minimas, 600ft mda(rounded of from 550ft) & a rather short rwy for a b738 ng.
in fact, a lot of parameters come into play, as stated in other posts, not the least to mention the weather conditions, wind, vis/rvr, cloudbase,rwy dry/wet etc... . i agree, if wx & wind & all the rest is ok, then a npa or visual app(day only as per ryr sop) should not pose a problem.
a last remark, if a late rwy change(from rwy 19 to rwy 01), is proposed by atc to accommodate, then all the ingredients for a rushed app are in place, ā la cali (b757 amercan airlines). in that case it would be better to stick to the original plan & fly the ils rwy 19, even with a slight tw.
so founder, don't jump to conclusions to soon & by the way, ryr crews are, by definition, flying a lot of npa's(non precision approches).
the problem would be solved by installing an ils on rwy 01.
bm.
I'm not jumping to any conclusions and I do know that a late shift of rwy does create a lot of extra work which I think no pilot would like so close to the airport.
You're right about the steep approach and that the FAF is located about 2 nm south of the NDB but does that really cause a problem? I've flown that approach several times, not with such a heavy plane as a 737-800 but still...
I totally agree with you that an ILS on RWY01 would be a very good thing but I dont think it'll happen anytime soon sadly. NPA's in general are dangerous if the weather is poor but on a bright an sunny day with severe CAVOK I don't really see the problem except for the extra workload and of course like you said have a very heavy aircraft...
The same thing is with Trollhättan Airport (ESGT) which has the same equipment as ESGP, NDB on on rwy and an ILS on the other... however the largest aircraft operating to and from that airport right now is a SAAB 2000...
Do you by any chanse know the max x-wind and tailwind ryanair pilots are allowed to land in?
Kind Regards
Tim