45/180 Procedure Turns....... headings? tracks?
 

hi ppl. this is a pretty basic one but has caused quite a debate....ok... so on a 45/180 degree procedure turn, when going outbound are you flying a heading or a track? if a track, how do the guys in, say a C152, manage without knowing the winds? flying a track from a DR point aint no cake .. or is it?

Hi,
ICAO DOC 868 PANS-OPS Criteria states an outbound TRACK. It is up to the pilot to make allowances for wind on that leg in terms of timing and heading. It's all part of what makes flying light aircraft so much harder!! Get an accurate wind at your level before taking off.
Hope that helps

and anyway, who on Earth does fly IFR in a C-150???

Years ago in central QLD, Oz, there used to be a C152 that was operated IFR delivering pathology specimens from outlying towns.

When you're going that slowly and your turns are so small, you don't have to fly the 45 degree PT exactly along a line. You just have to stay in the protected airspace.

You probably have the winds at the field. You checked the upper winds before departure (you can't GET that far from your point of departure on one load of fuel in a C152). You know what the wind was doing to you tracking outbound (you don't do a racetrack if you have strong winds and are uncertain of the required correction). So you make the 45 degree turn (or maybe you make a greater or lesser turn in a strong wind. You fly for a minute (or a bit more or less, depending on the wind).

You calculate to yourself, "The winds are not greater than the speed difference between me and the other aircraft that fly this PT, so I must be good for a minute on this heading." You use DME, a known radial or other local knowledge to watch your boundaries.

I don't know anyone who flies IFR in C152, but I watched two C172s in a row appear out of the overcast on the ILS at KBLI the other day. It's a LOT cheaper to keep your IFR current in an ubiquitous single than by renting a twin.

I fly IFR in a C-150 at times. All depends on the panel fit.

thanx a bunch everyone.... yup invalid wot u said seems pretty good to me.. i initially got my IR in a C152.... only that on a 45/180 procedure turn u'd correct for wind for flying the TRACK out..... but the timing would be 1 mt 15 secs from the start of the turn without variation for a head or tailwind, except when the procedure turn has to be completed winthin a certain distance from the radio fix, in which case the time correction would be done on the outbound leg from the radio fix PRIOR to commencing the procedure turn ? what do u think?