RADAR REQUIRED

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Wayne Pierce
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RADAR REQUIRED

Post by Wayne Pierce »

FROM: TRAINING
TO; ALL PILOTS
FYI

On a SID, STAR or approach plate sometimes you see in the notes "RADAR REQUIRED".

What does this mean for a SID .... STAR .... Approach Plate?

It means that ATC radar is required to execute the procedure. Normally, it means that there is some sort of radar vector involved with the procedure.

You'll sometimes see "radar or DME required" or "radar or ADF required" on approach charts because those navigation aids are needed to identify fixes on the approach. In those cases ATC radar could substitute for ADF or DME.
To expand on this point, radar required procedures do not contain a way for a pilot to self-navigate to the final approach course. Either that, or the some fixes significant to the pilot along the approach course are only identified on the controller's scope and aren't identifiable directly by a pilot in an aircraft.

From the Pilot/Controller Glossary:
RADAR REQUIRED- A term displayed on charts and approach plates and included in FDC NOTAMs to alert pilots that segments of either an instrument approach procedure or a route are not navigable because of either the absence or unusability of a NAVAID. The pilot can expect to be provided radar navigational guidance while transiting segments labeled with this term.
A vast majority of IAPs include inital approach fixes or transition fixes that either lie along airways, STARs, or are navaids themselves. Pilots can get themselves to the final approach course and down to the runway environment simply by the navigational aids available via flight checked radials, procedure turns, and whatnot.
Reference the ILS RWY 26 Approach at PHX:
http://www.airnav.com/airport/KPHX 22IL26.PDF
ils26.jpg
ils26.jpg (137.54 KiB) Viewed 7020 times
This approach is DME or Radar Required. Most of the fixes (TODRE to DELSE) can only be identified as DME Fixes. Without DME, only the controller (with radar) can verify your location. With DME, the pilot can navigate himself from IWA or ZERLO to CERUN (the IAF) and execute the approach, knowing exactly where they are the entire time.


NDB A non-directional (radio) beacon is a radio transmitter at a known location. NDB navigation consists of two parts — the automatic direction finder (or ADF) equipment on the aircraft that detects an NDB's signal, and the NDB transmitter.
DME- Distance measuring equipment Aircraft use DME to determine their distance from a land-based transponder
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Re: RADAR REQUIRED

Post by Rey Ramon »

Great post!
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Re: RADAR REQUIRED

Post by Theodore Martin »

Good information Wayne, thanks for posting. I've always had a general idea of it's meaning but this is the first time I've seen a written definition.
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