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5 Answers

IFR Half-Standard Rate Turns

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FAA Regulations, Instrument Rating

When should a pilot on an IFR flight plan in IMC use a half-standard rate turn vs a standard rate turn?

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5 Answers



  1. John D. Collins on Mar 19, 2012

    I would use half standard rate when flying with partial panel.

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  2. Nathan Parker on Mar 19, 2012

    According to the AIM, when conducting a No-Gyro surveillance or PAR approach and having been turned onto final approach.

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  3. Wes Beard on Mar 19, 2012

    Other times would include turning at a slower rate and coming close to the increased stall speed.  I can’t think of any reason why in a small aircraft you would be flying so slow but it can happen in the bigger jet aircraft.  
     
    Two specific scenarios come right to mind, single engine work where a turn is required by ATC or high altitude turns where the KIAS is quite low due to mach limitations at the higher altitudes.  A precautionary call to ATC advising of the half standard turn is good CRM for the single engine work.
     
    I would like to clarify the single engine work.  If the jet aircraft loses an engine after decision speed (V1) and is cleared on a departure (SID, ODP) it is best to fly at standard rateand not half standard rate as the procedure is built to use the standard rate turn at specific maximum groundspeeds.  If the aircraft is being radar vectored, ATC has a good idea where the aircraft will be after the turn and they will want to know if their plan isn’t going to work due to flying half standard.

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  4. Bill Trussell on Mar 20, 2012

    I would suggest it would be a good idea to use half standard rate for any turn of less than 20 degrees while IMC such as small vectors for traffic or course corrections.  Otherwise the official stance is as indicated by Nathan.

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  5. Earl Kessler on Mar 21, 2012

    And on any ILS especially when you are getting close to DH

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