Nanaimo airport first with GPS

[Widow]

Nanaimo airport first with GPS
By Darrell Bellaart - Nanaimo News Bulletin - January 24, 2008

Nanaimo Airport will be one of the first in Canada to use a new space-based guidance system for landing aircraft more reliably.

GPS-WAAS is already used in U.S. airports, but so far none in Canada use the technology.

“You’re one of the first few, because WAAS capability just came on line a couple of months ago,” said Ron Singer, Nav Canada spokesman.

Nav Canada, the federal agency responsible for safe air travel, made a flight into Nanaimo Airport Jan. 9 to test global positioning satellite technology to assist aircraft in landings and takeoffs.

GPS-WAAS is an enhanced version of GPS systems hikers, boaters and vacationers use to track their location; WAAS (wide area augmentation system) adds the elevation dimension to GPS.

“It gives your vertical position,” Singer said.

The tests will determine how well GPS-WAAS works at YCD, given local topographical obstacles such as nearby hills and mountains.

“The procedure is still being verified by Nav Canada – that means a lot of mathematics and things are being checked,” Singer said.

Once verified, the information is sent to Transport Canada, the regulatory authority, for approval.

If YCD is approved, properly equipped aircraft could safely land and take off at Nanaimo Airport even in cloud as low as 75 metres – about the same as a 25-storey building.

That should happen soon, depending on how long Transport Canada spends on the approval process.

Meanwhile, airport personnel aren’t worried about a recent Transportation Safety Board recommendation to include 300-metre safety areas at the end of runways at many Canadian airports, following the August 2005 crash of an Air France plane at Toronto’s Lester B. Pearson Airport.

“We should meet and beat all those standards they would identify,” said Mike Hooper, Nanaimo Airport CEO.

The TSB recommendation came in December. Transport Canada is expected to respond sometime this year.

Nanaimo News Bulletin

[Cat Driver]

“You’re one of the first few, because WAAS capability just came on line a couple of months ago,” said Ron Singer, Nav Canada spokesman.

A couple of months ago???

[lilfssister]

From December 2005 Navcanada Customer Newsletter:

NAV CANADA has teamed up with the FAA to
expand WAAS coverage into Canada. This past
summer we installed WAAS ground stations in Goose
Bay and Gander and we will install stations in
Winnipeg and Iqaluit next year. Mexico is also
installing stations, so by 2006 WAAS will cover North
America.
Transport Canada approved the use of WAAS on
October 27, 2005. WAAS provides the same lateral
and vertical guidance as ILS, and WAAS approach
design is similar to ILS, although at this point the
lowest available decision altitude is 250 ft, versus 200
ft for Cat I ILS.
Off-the-shelf GPS and WAAS avionics meet
international technical standards and can therefore
be used to fly public approaches designed using
international design standards. This off-the-shelf
solution suits all aircraft types.

[55+]

AIRAC 01/2008 effective February 14/2008 cycle has a Boundry Bay RNAV(GNSS) RWY 07 - new procedure with published LVP DA down to 260 (255) 1 and LNAV MDA 320(315) 1. Procedure is restricted to Category A - C

[skycoupe]

From December 2005 Navcanada Customer Newsletter:

NAV CANADA has teamed up with the FAA to
expand WAAS coverage into Canada. This past
summer we installed WAAS ground stations in Goose
Bay and Gander and we will install stations in
Winnipeg and Iqaluit next year. Mexico is also
installing stations, so by 2006 WAAS will cover North
America.
Transport Canada approved the use of WAAS on
October 27, 2005. WAAS provides the same lateral
and vertical guidance as ILS, and WAAS approach
design is similar to ILS, although at this point the
lowest available decision altitude is 250 ft, versus 200
ft for Cat I ILS.
Off-the-shelf GPS and WAAS avionics meet
international technical standards and can therefore
be used to fly public approaches designed using
international design standards. This off-the-shelf
solution suits all aircraft types.

Flame me if this is a dumb question .. but why would they go to the expense to install this system at an airport that has at least 1 if not more ILS's, and radar coverage? (Read YWG, since I know not what the others mentioned have for approaches)

[planett]

Not dumb, but astute, given the history of installing approaches where they're not needed, and not installing them where they are.

As I understand it, the station in YWG will cover a "wide area" for approaches up north, and the same logic applies to the others. 3 or 4 stations will cover most of the country.

[CID]

You don't need to "install" WAAS approaches at airports. It just has to been within the coverage area. Then you just need to develop the approach.

Nanaimo Airport will be one of the first in Canada to use a new space-based guidance system for landing aircraft more reliably.

GPS-WAAS is already used in U.S. airports, but so far none in Canada use the technology.

That's going to be a big surprise to the folks in Kitchener.

http://www.tc.gc.ca/CivilAviation/publi ... flight.htm

(From the link above)
The first chart with LPV minima was published on October 27, 2005, for the Kitchener/Waterloo airport.

“You’re one of the first few, because WAAS capability just came on line a couple of months ago,” said Ron Singer, Nav Canada spokesman.

Huh??

GPS WAAS doesn't give you anything really if the airport is already serviced by ILS. Of course in the grand scheme they want to eventually decommision ILS and GPS approaches still have a long way to go to provide a similar level of accuracy and safety.

[Cat Driver]

“You’re one of the first few, because WAAS capability just came on line a couple of months ago,” said Ron Singer, Nav Canada spokesman.

It all depends on your view of what "" a couple of months ago "" means.

Isn't 27 a couple?

[JigglyBus]

Only when you're answering the question 'how many drinks have you had?"

[wtf_over]

[quikfixxx]

Anyone know if other airports will follow suit.... YYF, YCG, YKA, YWL ...

Seems all should gain in reliability related to weather...

[CID]

They should really concentrate on airports with no existing precision approach. (IMHO)

[bbb]

Kitchener was the 1st in Canada, helpful since Kitchener Aero Avionics (as does Brant Aero in Brantford) does tonnes of GPS installations, and has been swamped since last January doing the WAAS upgrade. Test flights are done right here, including Transport Canada's and Nav Canada's.
These approaches are great, vertical guidance now, where before we had off-set non-precision approach. Now all we need is for Nav Canada to spend more and make some more approaches to runways that have no approaches at all. Drawbacks? fairly expensive equipment, and expensive currency subscriptions for the databases. Plus, who controls the GPS signals/satellites? don't think we should be in a rush to drop all "traditional" approaches.

[goldeneagle]

They should really concentrate on airports with no existing precision approach. (IMHO)

When did nanaimo get a precision approach ???

[CID]

When did nanaimo get a precision approach ???

My statement was made notwithstanding Nanaimo's lack of an ILS. Sorry for the confusion.

[SeptRepair]

Hey just resurrecting this thread and asking if anyone has a good link to a Transport Canada site or any Canadian site that actually has a list of current airports that have this WAAS installed or a guide on how an airport can be put on a list to get one. Our local airport lacks in nav aids and being that it is fogged in at least 6 months out of the year, I think we would be a good candidate for this sytem. Any help would be appreciated.

PS I cannot beleive how crappy Transport Canada's website is in comparison to the FAA's.

[x-wind]

YCD isn't getting a WAAS-based approach. They'd have to clear too much stuff out of the way, and there's a protected place where they can't hack the trees down. Apparently, the LOC is going ahead shortly followed by the Glide Slope next fall. That's what I heard. Oh, and a bigger runway... big enough for the 737's I imagine.

[Captain X]

In one of the aircraft I flew if you went to somewhere there was a stand alone RNAV approach the gps had the choice of a GPS RWY## or RNAV RWY## if you picked GPS it would give you a 3.5 ish degree glide slope on the HSI after the Intermediate fix. Obviously the approaches are not authorized but it still worked none the less. It was great and will be nice to have to use legally in the future. This was using a waas upgraded 430.

[x-wind]

It is legal, as long as you respect the published step down minimums. There are two kinds of GPS approaches with VNAV (vertical navigation)

1) BARO VNAV - this has barometric inputs, based of the altimeter and thus the errors that go w/ it. 2) WAAS-based VNAV.

AIM, COM 3.16 Vertical Guidance on RNAV approaches.

[55+]

Actually it's easy to figure out an altitude that will give you a VPA of 3.0 deg. Multiply the distance(nm) back from the rwy threshold by 318(this is the descent gradient for a 3.0 deg VPA), add the TDZE elevation + 50 ft(threshold crossing height).

If the distance of the FAWP is 5 nm from thld, TDZE is 500ft - 5.0 x 318 + 500 + 50 = 2140ft. If your approach speed is 130 kts divide by 60 then mulitply by 318ft. 130/60 x 318= 689 FPM.

at 2140ft fly the approach at 130 kts and 689 FPM and you are on a 3.0deg VPA and you will touch down 954 ft beyond the runway threshold.

Then again, who wants to do all that math shit, right.........