Twin over BHX every day...why?

[Hard-Drive]

More or less every day there's a small twin that flies an approach to BHX, then flies straight over the runway at about 500'. Sometimes it keeps flying straight and sometimes it peels off hard and dissapears.

It never does a touch and go, or even get into a landing configuration. What is it doing? The best theory the office avgeeks can come up with is that it's testing radar or ILS or something similar. I can't see that BHX would be letting it fly in their Cat A airspace without good reason…what's it doing?

Any ideas?

[Eric Mc]

Sounds like calibration or ILS training.

[eharding]

Sounds like some form of approach aid calibration run, but if it's happening on a daily basis it might be a for calibrating the calibration gear against a known calibrated system. If you see what I mean.

Or it could just be a twin driver who's really, really bad at his pre-landing checks.

The only Class A at Birmingham is the Daventry CTA, and that starts above FL45 - the Birmingham CTA is Class D.

[Flintstone]

Surely a calibration flight would continue down to the minima? Five hundred feet is too high for the ILS, sure you're right about that?.

I just spoke to the Tower and they've no idea which aircraft it is. They did say they had new ILS equipment fitted recently so maybe something to do with that.

[eccles]

We get a dark blue King Air in twice a year to calibration. When it does approaches it doesn't get below around the 500' mark.
In the old days we used to have an Andover doing the flight checking.

[eharding]

Flintstone said:

Surely a calibration flight would continue down to the minima? Five hundred feet is too high for the ILS, sure you're right about that?.

With respect to the OP, height estimations from general members of the public invariably need a healthy margin for error dialled into them. Even respected international aerobatic competition judges have a problem with that sometimes (I wasn't low, I've just got a fat aeroplane.....dammit)

[mattviatura]

eccles said:

We get a dark blue King Air in twice a year to calibration. When it does approaches it doesn't get below around the 500' mark.
In the old days we used to have an Andover doing the flight checking.

We have that twice a year, all hours of the day and night at very low level indeed.

[Hard-Drive]

eharding said:

With respect to the OP, height estimations from general members of the public invariably need a healthy margin for error dialled into them.

me said:

More or less every day there's a small twin that flies an approach to BHX, then flies straight over the runway at about 500'.

eccles said:

We get a dark blue King Air in twice a year to calibration. When it does approaches it doesn't get below around the 500' mark.

Looks like my estimation was about right then! In fact, the only time I did get 500' a bit wrong was flying down Mission Beach in a PA28 over Viper's house out of Top Gun at about....oooo...500' (ish...)

[pushthebutton]

BHX is often used for Instrument Rating training by the two major UK flying schools.

The profile sounds about right for a low approach and go-around.

[Occam's Razor]

pushthebutton said:

BHX is often used for Instrument Rating training by the two major UK flying schools.

The profile sounds about right for a low approach and go-around.

Bingo.

[FuzzyLogic]

Although the OP did say that it wasn't in landing config.. If that means no wheels down, then I doubt its a low approach & go around (even with students flying

[Flintstone]

FuzzyLogic said:

Although the OP did say that it wasn't in landing config.. If that means no wheels down, then I doubt its a low approach & go around (even with students flying

My thoughts too. Single engine go-around maybe? Buggered if I'd let a student take me through one at 200' agl. Feck that!

[mrloudly]

eccles said:

We get a dark blue King Air in twice a year to calibration. When it does approaches it doesn't get below around the 500' mark.
In the old days we used to have an Andover doing the flight checking.

I went on a HS748 with the cadets calibrating the ILS into St Mawgan many moons ago (Out of Brize). It was great fun! I was in the last row of rear facing seats
and for the last two approaches we had the rear door down, bet they wouldn't let them do that now!