Marker Beacons

aerospacepilot

aerospacepilot

New Member
How can you tell if an airport has a middle marker beacon?
My assumption is that any airport with an ILS approach will have a middle marker beacon, but i'm not sure that is true. How can you tell what marker beacons are at a given airport for a given runway?
 
aerospacepilot said:
How can you tell if an airport has a middle marker beacon?
My assumption is that any airport with an ILS approach will have a middle marker beacon, but i'm not sure that is true. How can you tell what marker beacons are at a given airport for a given runway?
Click to expand...

Not every ILS has marker beacons (outer or middle). I can think of a few that have other means of identification (DME, approach radar) for the final approach fix, and a bunch that don't have middle marker beacons. Read The (Fine) Approach Plate if you want to know - that's the easiest and quickest way.

Oxnard's ILS, runway 25, has had its middle marker decommissioned for a while. It still has the outer marker, though.

Van Nuys, runway 16R, doesn't have a middle marker either.

Both of the above approaches are category I, and arrival at DH is the missed approach point, so not having a marker beacon isn't a problem. It's just handy to have.
 
This is from the Instrument Flying Handbook, Chapter 7:


Marker Beacons
"Two VHF marker beacons, outer and middle, are normally
used in the ILS system. [Figure 7-36] A third beacon, the
inner, is used where Category II operations are certified. A
marker beacon may also be installed to indicate the FAF on
the ILS back course"
 
z987k said:
I don't think I've ever flown an ILS with a middle marker.
Click to expand...

Most around here have one. Kind of a moot point these days, with most airplanes having DME or GPS the need for marker beacons for positional awareness isn't so important.


Edit: I can't spell.
 
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