On our way back from LDLO, we flew the approach into Cannes LFMD. Almost invariably the runway in service is 17, pointing out to sea, but the approaches are all from the sea. To make that work there is a “VPT” (Visual Approach with Prescribed Track) for 17, which breaks off from the 35 approaches and does a sort of giant circle to land via LUXUS and PIBON (picture below).
It has to be flown precisely, because there are three communes of nimbies which must not be overflown. Hence the direction to overfly precisely Points A and B. BUT… you will notice that there is no information about where they are – coordinates, radial/DME, whatever. Nothing.
Yesterday I couldn’t get my GTN750 to fly LUXUS-PIBON-LFMD. No matter what I did it omitted PIBON – probably because it couldn’t figure out how to do the nearly 180 degree turn required. In the past I have just set up LUXUS-PIBON, which works fine. So, I had no proper guidance to get me to PIBON. I figured it out but I’d deviated slightly from the track and ended up taking the turn a bit too tight. As a result I overflew a nimby collection at La Roquette, who filed a complaint.
Tower told me off, very nicely and gently, after I landed. Then this morning I had an email, again very pleasantly worded, from someone at the airport telling me I’d messed up and reminding me of the procedure.
I wrote back, apologising, but also suggesting it would be easier if these Points A and B were given names, or failing that at least locations you could program. The reply:
this approach is considered to be a visual prescribed track so french civil aviation does not authorised to publish the coordinates for the time being.
In other words, you are required to overfly these points precisely, but the DGAC will not allow you to be told where they are!
The best solution is to switch to SDVFR at PIBON and fly “visually” using the iPad – which is what I shall do in the future, as well as reverse-engineering the coordinates (PLEASE don’t tell the DGAC!) and creating user-defined waypoints.
And watch white tent 
But is it an ICAO-approved big white tent? Or indeed an ICAO approved traffic circle?
So easy with Skydemon. In fact, they do have waypoints there, so they obviously do have the coordinates.
Any satnav app should have this data, surely?
EasyVFR / FF ?
PIBON and LUXUS, yes. Points A and B – which must be precisely overflown but whose exact location is a state secret – no.
I don’t see the problem. Its a VPT. Its not the VFR circuit and its pretty easy. A is a motorway junction from which if you continue a rate 1 turn you will end up pretty much over B in the gap between the hills. Luxus and Pibon are self explanatory. In an VPT you should be looking outside except for the odd look at your DI.
It might be old fashioned but that’s the way I learnt.
@gallois – ah but you haven’t cross-checked it with the VAC. You only have to be off the prescribed track by a few tens of metres to overfly the nimby forbidden zones, where teams of elderly nimbies spend 24 hrs a day closely watching monitors in darkened rooms in the hope of catching someone who strays – worse even than the UK CAA.
Seriously, it has to be flown VERY precisely in order not to overfly the nimbies. The only safe way to do it is with SDVFR, which conveniently overlays your flight path on the VAC and the nimby zones.
In an VPT you should be looking outside except for the odd look at your DI.
It’s ridiculous I know, but the blue ellipses that mark the nimby zones aren’t painted on the ground, so looking out of the window doesn’t help much.
gallois wrote:
A is a motorway junction from which if you continue a rate 1 turn you will end up pretty much over B in the gap between the hills.
Hu? A rate 1 turn will have a radius that is proportional to the speed of the aircraft. So your assertion is true only in the vicinity of one specific speed. Slower than that, and a rate 1 turn is too tight. Faster than that, and it is too big.
gallois wrote:
I don’t see the problem. Its a VPT. Its not the VFR circuit and its pretty easy.
@gallois, the problem is that flying visually does not give the precision that one is expected to maintain…
Yes you have to fly it quite accurately. I have done it many times. The VFR circuits both cuts inside the noise sensitive zones ie to the left whilst the VPT is to the right. The textual information for the IAP explains the VPT in detail and the co -ordinates can ne found in enr 4.3 and 4.4 although there are guidelines in the textual info. I think you’ll find that Cannes ATS are pretty relaxed about it whilst paying the appropriate lip service as long as you do your best. At 2000ft unless your aircraft is pretty noisy it will only be the usual suspects that would complain about the noise of a glider.🙂
Its a bit more serious overflying the blue circles at Toussus le Noble.
I should say that once you have flown the VPT a few times it becomes second nature to spot the turning points and you will realise they are quite obvious.
