Welcome Guest. Sign in or Signup

2 Answers

Precision Approach Radar

Asked by: 5029 views Commercial Pilot, FAA Regulations, Flight Instructor, Instrument Rating

Hi! According to the AIM, "a radar approach may be given to any A/C upon request and may be offered to pilots in distress or to expedite traffic". Now the question: If your destination airport is equipped with an ILS, but also with a PAR, what would a pilot choose? Are there any advantages with a PAR compared to an ILS, or (in reality) would it rather be used in a distress situation, where you might have lost a navigation instrument? Thanks!  

Ace Any FAA Written Test!
Actual FAA Questions / Free Lifetime Updates
The best explanations in the business
Fast, efficient study.
Pass Your Checkride With Confidence!
FAA Practical Test prep that reflects actual checkrides.
Any checkride: Airplane, Helicopter, Glider, etc.
Written and maintained by actual pilot examiners and master CFIs.
The World's Most Trusted eLogbook
Be Organized, Current, Professional, and Safe.
Highly customizable - for student pilots through pros.
Free Transition Service for users of other eLogs.
Our sincere thanks to pilots such as yourself who support AskACFI while helping themselves by using the awesome PC, Mac, iPhone/iPad, and Android aviation apps of our sponsors.

2 Answers



  1. John D. Collins on Jul 03, 2013

    There are very few PAR approaches left in the US today, mostly if not all at military fields. I haven’t flown one in the last 45 years of my GA career. Some pilots have sought out airports that still have PAR procedures and flown them for practice, It is probably good practice, for both you and the controller, if you can find it and it would especially make flying one in an emergency more likely to have a satisfactory outcome.

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  2. Jonathan Seitz on Jul 05, 2013

    I have had the opportunity to fly a PAR approach several times. While many will tell you that a PAR is a great option if you lose your attitude instruments, I will disagree. I believe that the best and most helpful approach is the ILS. The PAR is nice to have in a pinch, but the ILS will almost always have lower minimums and is therefore better in an emergency involving actual IFR.

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes


The following terms have been auto-detected the question above and any answers or discussion provided. Click on a term to see its definition from the Dauntless Aviation JargonBuster Glossary.

Answer Question

Our sincere thanks to all who contribute constructively to this forum in answering flight training questions. If you are a flight instructor or represent a flight school / FBO offering flight instruction, you are welcome to include links to your site and related contact information as it pertains to offering local flight instruction in a specific geographic area. Additionally, direct links to FAA and related official government sources of information are welcome. However we thank you for your understanding that links to other sites or text that may be construed as explicit or implicit advertising of other business, sites, or goods/services are not permitted even if such links nominally are relevant to the question asked.