LOWI BC LOC is only for missed & departure, as you said likely no BC LOC has ever been designed in Europe (probably as it’s TERPS only thingy)
Ibra wrote:
Innsbruck LOWI seems to have BC LOC SID/MAP and Special Localiser (no idea what this is about but it uses two localisers? and authorised crew only) and Visual and Special Circling (sort of VPT with prescribed LOC/DME track and missed)
LOWI has “interesting” approaches, but no BC approach. The Special Localiser approach you mention uses a second localiser solely for the purpose of missed approach guidance. That localiser antenna is located some 11 NM from the airport. The missed approach procedure does indeed use both the front and the back course of that localiser.
Innsbruck LOWI seems to have BC LOC SID/MAP and Special Localiser (no idea what this is about but it uses two localisers? and authorised crew only) and Visual and Special Circling (sort of VPT with prescribed LOC/DME track and missed)
BC approaches are not NDB based.
Ibra wrote:
That is a hardcore one: from behind with offset but badly flown it may work how do you fly the missed on OU NDB or switch to NB NDB at MAPT/MDH? do you ident both before starting the approach? at what height over the runway you would start receiving OU/NB given that neither is based in the airport?The minima for straight-in is no different from circling: it’s unlikely that one would find runway straight ahead and “you have to travel”, only possible if you have 2×ADF in the cockpit !
You can argue whether 2 NDB means that you need two ADFs or that you need both NAK and OU NDBs. In any case, we always flew it with one NDB.
We would change to, and ident, OU immediately after passing NAK. We would switch to NB when going missed.
As NDBs don’t work on line-of-sight frequencies, you would receive them all the way down to the ground,
Even though it was only a 17° turn over OU, intercepting final after the turn was a challenge. Fortunately for new pilots, the procedure was removed a few years ago when ESSB got its RNP procedures.
That is a hardcore one: from behind with offset but badly flown it may work 
how do you fly the missed on OU NDB or switch to NB NDB at MAPT/MDH? do you ident both before starting the approach? at what height over the runway you would start receiving OU/NB given that neither is based in the airport?
The minima for straight-in is no different from circling: it’s unlikely that one would find runway straight ahead and “you have to travel”, only possible if you have 2×ADF in the cockpit !
Mooney_Driver wrote:
Am I totally wrong in my memory that at one point there WERE BC approaches in Europe?
I believe some american airbases in Europe had BC approaches – they were of course designed according to TERPS and not PANS-OPS.
Am I totally wrong in my memory that at one point there WERE BC approaches in Europe? Somehow I appear to remember seeing European ones in different instruction books I had as well as learning about them when I did my IR back in the 80ties, in France I believe then.
gallois wrote:
For my IR I trained on the NDBs at LFBH and LFRI going back and fore between them. I hated them, which didn’t help me to fly them well.
When I trained for the IR in 1987, we had to fly this gem. Even though it was only a 17° turn over OU, intercepting final after the turn was a challenge. Fortunately for new pilots, the procedure was removed a few years ago when ESSB got its RNP procedures.
Airborne_Again wrote:
I’d be willing to be it’s because BC is not in PANS-OPS so not an ICAO standard approach procedure.
I mean willing to BET, of course!
