circle to land protected airspace

[baobab72]

hi everyone
does anybody know from the top of his head how large is the protected airspace around an airport in western and eastern europe for a circle to land procedure for a cat a, b, c and d aircraft, if it is centered on the runway served by the ifr approach and in which section of the AIP this info will be posted? cos i was told that in the US is always 2.3 nm Also where do you normally get access to an AIP -fbo, net?-
Thanks in advance
Boabab72

[+TSRA]

Funny that - that this came up the other day during cruise.

I can't speak for western Europe, but hopefully it jogs someones memory on where to find it or what the figures are - I imagine they are identical world wide though, considering the aircraft categories are, from my poor memory on the subject, an ICAO requirement and not a "by state" one.

Here in Canada the information is located in our Aeronautical Information Manual by going to the Instrument Flight Rules- Arrival Procedures - Circling section; and I quote:


The visual manoeuvring area for a circling approach is determined by drawing arcs centred on each runway threshold, and joining those arcs with tangent lines. The radius (R) of the arcs are related to the aircraft category as follows: A, 1.3 NM; B, 1.5 NM; C, 1.7 NM; D, 2.3 NM; E, 4.5 NM. (Category E circling minima are published at DND aerodromes only.)
The circling MDA provides a minimum of 300 feet above all obstacles within the visual manoeuvring area for each category.

If it is necessary to manoeuvre an aircraft at a speed in excess of the upper limit of the speed range for its approach category, the circling minima for the next higher category should be used in order to ensure appropriate protection from obstacles. Circling restrictions are published at some locations to prevent circling manoeuvres in certain sectors or directions where higher terrain or prominent obstacles exist. This practice allows the publication of lower minima than would otherwise be possible. In such cases, the circling MDA DOES NOT PROVIDE OBSTACLE CLEARANCE WITHIN THE RESTRICTED SECTOR.


I would imagine the speeds for the categories are the same, being:

Cat A: up to 90
Cat B: 91 to 120
Cat C: 121 to 140
Cat D: 141 to 165 and
Cat E: 165+

I hope this is the same answer you're looking for, but if not hopefully it jogs someones memory! :)

[hollingworthp]

This is pasted from the small folder I always have stuffed down the side of my seat:

Some countries adopt the US standards for approaches (TERPS) rather than PANS-OPS and some use a mix (there is an airfield in Germany that uses TERPS - check the lower left corner of the Jepp plate for the designation used in the procedure. Radius from theshold for Cat B/C are 1.5nm/1.7nm (TERPS) and 2.7nm/4.2nm (PANS-OPS). The primary difference for us is circling MDA & radii of OCA. For us, always add 100' to the circling MDA. If you need to fly outside TERPS radii then be aware of all obstacles within intended circling area and maintain 5km+ vis & ceiling of MDA+1000'

[baobab72]

ok, that makes sense, however in the 604 we fly the circle to land at 160kts, flps 30° gear down configuration, therefore i believe that minima for cat D apply (141 to 165kts). while for the Vref approach we normally belong to the cat C, in our case what would be the radius of the safe factor?
tks
baobab

[redsnail]

You cannot change the category of aircraft by simply reducing it's weight. You are free to increase the category, but not to reduce. If you want to reduce it then it has to be done "permanently", that is the manuals etc changed and approved by the authority and the weight reduction ie new MTOM will be a permanent one.

Therefore, if your aircraft is a Cat D, there it stays.

[MCL30]

Hello everyone,
does anybody know if the PANS OPS circle to land protected area is still 4.2NM for CAT C and 2.66 NM for CAT B (radius from threshold), please? There is a lot information on internet about it, but mostly very old and I have not found anything about this radius in current offical resources.
Thank you.