Bizjet driver: So you would have still 1 minute to go towards LMM.In a prop this is no problem,
but with a jetliner it seems hard to do, since passsing LMM at MDA would leave you about 1700ft above the airfield at a distance of 0.5NM from the threshold.
Well, that's the problem at RNO even today unless one is doing the Silver ILS with lower mins, which is not normally published for the general public. A circle is your only option. Back then, circling was an option. Today, many carriers don't allow circling unless the weather is 1000-3 (the NDB mins were 1700-3). I say "were", because an NDB app no longer exists at RNO. Also, most type ratings these days exclude being able to circle. I once flew with a sim instructor who had never seen a circle in a large aircraft (his DC-8 type had the circling exclusion), so he wanted to see one demonstrated in the sim. Some would say not circling is safe, and I would agree, but I would also agree that we are dumbing-down the capabilities of the pilot's. Some poor "pilots", who I generally call "drivers" are very reluctant to do a visual approach, even when that is the only option (like the 25's at PANC). I saw a foreign carrier try it three times and then land at Elmendorf next door. Personally, I miss the IGS13 at Hong Kong's old Kai Tak. Don't get me wrong, automation is a good thing, but so is a capable pilot who can do his job should the automation fail or be deferred.
RNO is a different animal with usually higher ceilings and visibility, with vis going down in snow showers during the winter. The current ILS 16R has Category A-D mins at 2100-7 with no circling. The GS is 3.1 degrees, so the DA on the GS is seven miles from the runway.
The VOR-D has Category D circling mins at 1600-3...VFR.
Don't allow yourself to be a dog watching television. Fly the damn airplane once in awhile. The human still has to interface. What a concept.