Arlington Municipal Airport Development Plan Arlington Airport Development Plan | Page 129

NAVIGATIONAL AND APPROACH AIDS
Navigational aids are devices that provide pilots with guidance and position information when utilizing
the runway system. Electronic and visual guidance to arriving aircraft enhance the safety and capacity
of the airfield. Such facilities are vital to the success of an airport and provide additional safety to pas-
sengers using the air transportation system. While instrument approach aids are especially helpful
during poor weather, they are often used by pilots conducting flight training and operating larger air-
craft when visibility is good. Arlington Municipal Airport employs the following navigational and ap-
proach aids.
Instrument Approaches
Instrument approaches are categorized as either precision or non-precision. Precision instrument ap-
proach aids provide an exact course alignment and vertical descent path for an aircraft on final ap-
proach to a runway, while non-precision instrument approach aids provide only course alignment in-
formation. In the past, most existing precision instrument approaches in the United States have been
the ILS; however, with advances in GPS technology, it is now used to provide both vertical and lateral
navigation for pilots. In fact, the area navigation (RNAV) GPS approach serving Runway 34 provides
LPV minimums.
The Airport currently has straight-in instrument approach capability to Runway 34, including the ILS or
localizer (LOC) approach, RNAV (GPS) approach, and very high omnidirectional range (VOR) with dis-
tance measuring equipment (DME) approach. The ILS and RNAV (GPS) approaches provide for the
lowest minimums with ½-mile visibility and 200-foot cloud ceilings. A straight-in instrument approach
procedure is not offered on Runway 16. It is unlikely that Runway 16 will be served by a straight-in in-
strument approach procedure due to the proximity and airspace associated with Dallas/Fort Worth In-
ternational Airport to the north. It should be noted that the approaches serving Runway 34 also pro-
vide circling minimums to Runway 16.
Visual Approach Aids
In most instances, the landing phase of any flight must be conducted in visual conditions. To provide
pilots with visual guidance information during landings to the runway, electronic visual approach aids
are commonly provided at airports. Currently, each end of Runway 16-34 is served by a four-box preci-
sion approach path indicator (PAPI-4) system.
Runway end identification lights (REILs) are flashing lights located at the runway threshold end that fa-
cilitate rapid identification of the runway end at night and during poor visibility conditions. REILs pro-
vide pilots with the ability to identify the runway thresholds and distinguish the runway end lighting
from other lighting on the airport and in the approach areas. The FAA indicates that REILs should be
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