When you fly GA VFR but would still like a RNAV or ILS landing, how do you do it? Dial in the necessary frequency and/or RNAV info after receiving clearance input expected approach before takeoff…etc,?
From what i understand, ATC can only clear you for a visual approach when VFR, but you can certainly tune an instrument approach and use that as secondary guidance, as long as you’re following any specific ATC instructions which may differ than the procedure.
RW pilots, am I correct?
I don’t have a PPL, but… If the airport doesn’t have much traffic, I don’t see why you couldn’t request clearance for just about any landing procedure for practice, especially if you’re cleared straight in on a runway with a working ILS beacon.
ChatGPT says:
If a pilot holds only a Private Pilot Certificate (PPL) without an Instrument Rating and is flying under Visual Flight Rules (VFR), ATC will typically not direct them to fly an instrument approach. ATC’s primary role during VFR operations is to provide traffic advisories, separation services, and clearances for visual approaches. Instrument approaches are typically reserved for pilots who are instrument-rated and operating under Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) or in emergencies when safety requires it.
In general, if a pilot with a PPL wishes to conduct an instrument approach, they should communicate this to ATC and request it. However, ATC may advise against it if the pilot is not instrument-rated or if the weather conditions do not meet the requirements for conducting an instrument approach safely.
You can fly simulated instrument approaches for training purposes in VFR. You would request e.g. a simulated ILS approach from ATC.
You will continue your flight under VFR, ATC will continue to treat you as VFR traffic so you need to comply with this flight rule and stay VMC at all times during the approach.
In the sim what you’d want to do is program a flight plan into your FMS, then call in on the radio to “request IFR clearance from flight plan” or labeled similar to that. This will request clearance from AI ATC for your flight plan as IFR, at which point you can continue to fly to your destination airfield under direction from ATC, including being given suitable landing clearance you can use with the instruments.
AFAIK this only works with the various glass panel systems like the Garmins, and I’ve heard it’s unreliable in that sometimes the option isn’t available in the ATC/comms window.