CAT II’s tomorrow

Indulge me in some simple math for a moment and I promise this esoteric crap will be over in about 2 more weeks when I finish sims at which time I’ll return to mostly pictures of neat things.

A CRJ200 at a max landing weight of 47,000lbs flies a Vref (approach speed) of 142 knots (nautical miles per hour a.k.a., 163 mph).  That means you’re covering 2.36 nautical miles per minute. There are 6076 feet in a nautical mile which means 2.36 nautical miles equals 14,379 feet. A Category 2 Instrument Landing System (CATII ILS) approach is typically good down to a runway visual range (RVR) of 1200, meaning a horizontal visibility of 1200 feet, and a decision height (DH) of 100 feet. That means you can follow the electronic glideslope all the way down to 100 feet above the ground without seeing a thing, and only then do you need to be able to see at least 1200 feet in front of you. It takes exactly 5 seconds to go 1200 feet at 142 knots.

So basically what all that means is you’re traveling 163 mph, 100 feet off the ground, and can only see 5 seconds or less ahead of you.

In a completely unrelated but awesome note, I shot a visual approach to a landing with a 30 knot crosswind (well, several, because the first couple were…a struggle). Fun fact, 27 knots is the maximum demonstrated crosswind component for the CRJ200, but that’s not considered a limitation. Though I don’t know if I feel particularly like starting my career as a test pilot with 50 paying customers in the back.