You were just cleared on an instrument approach and you have to fly a procedure turn. Do you know what fix you're supposed to "remain within 10NM" of?
Flying The Procedure Turn
When you read an instrument approach chart, you'll often find a published procedure turn. It's a course reversal to help you line yourself up on the final approach course of an instrument approach. These procedure turns are flown in the direction indicated by the graphically depicted barbed arrow.
Headings are provided for course reversals using the 45 degree type procedure turn, but you do have more options, including the teardrop procedure turn, and the 80 degree/260 degree course reversal. We'll dive into those specifics in another article.
The point which you begin turning, the type of turn, and the rate of turn are left up to you.
You must, however, fly no farther away than the published "Remain within __NM" distance during your turn.
This is a note on the chart's profile view. If you exceed the maximum distance, you're no longer guaranteed terrain or obstacle clearance based on the procedure turn's minimum altitude.
This is where the confusion starts. What point/fix/navaid is this maximum distance based on?
The Answer? It's In The FAA's Aeronautical Chart User's Guide.
While not explicitly stated in the Aeronautical Information Manual (AIM) or the Instrument Flying Handbook (IFH), the answer is subtly found in the Aeronautical Chart User's Guide under the title "Instrument Approach Procedures (Charts)."
If you take a look at the profile view for instrument approaches, there is a label called "Procedure Turn (PT) Fix." The maximum distance for the procedure turn is based upon this fix.
It may be the navaid for the approach, the final approach fix, or any other designated fix.
Reading the wrong DME could leave you flying in unprotected airspace. Let's run through a few examples.
First, let's look at the ILS or LOC to RWY 16 at Newport Municipal (KONP) below. The PT fix is designated as BUHRS, which is 6.6 DME from the Newport VOR (ONP).
The chart says you must "remain within 10NM" for this procedure turn. This means you can fly a maximum of 16.6 DME from the ONP VOR during your procedure turn, which is the equivalent of flying 10NM away from BUHRS.
Next, let's take a look at the VOR RWY 35L in Grand Forks, ND (KGFK) below.
The PT fix is now the GFK VOR itself. Notice how there's no FAF published on the approach? You must remain within 10NM of the VOR itself during the procedure turn, or 10DME from GFK on your avionics. There's one step-down fix for aircraft that can identify ELVAW. When using this fix as a step-down, you can descend an additional 140 feet to an MDA of 1220 feet MSL.
This approach in particular is a little tricky because of the 10NM limitation. Most approaches give you more distance to get established, since the PT fix corresponds with the FAF. Because the VOR is the PT fix, the procedure turn must be completed several miles closer to the airport than usual.
According to the AIM, "pilots should begin the outbound turn immediately after passing the procedure turn fix. The procedure turn maneuver must be executed within the distance specified in the profile view. The normal procedure turn distance is 10 miles. This may be reduced to a minimum of 5 miles where only Category A or helicopter aircraft are to be operated, or increased to as much as 15 miles to accommodate high performance aircraft."
While rare, pay special attention to the published maximum distance for your procedure turn in case it falls under one of these exceptions.
Make Sure You're Using The Right Distance
When you're flying a procedure turn, you need to make sure you're getting your distance information from the right source.
In rare cases, an amendment or NOTAM could change the procedure turn maximum distance. If that's the case, you need to make sure you're following the NOTAM distance, not the distance on the chart. Until a new, updated chart database is available, it's your responsibility to ensure you don't fly beyond the maximum published distance.
Colin is a Boldmethod co-founder and lifelong pilot. He's been a flight instructor at the University of North Dakota, an airline pilot on the CRJ-200, and has directed the development of numerous commercial and military training systems. You can reach him at colin@boldmethod.com.
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