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Difference between DP, SID, and ODP

Asked by: 21826 views Instrument Rating

I heard SID's were technically replaced by DPs, but I also heard references as if SID's were a part of DPs. And ODPs is also a part of DPs or only when it has a graphical chart component. Do the obstacle notes, in of itself, not count as a DP?

What are the differences between the three? Thank you.

1 Answers

  1. Best Answer


    Russ Roslewski on Sep 03, 2016

    It’s no wonder you’re confused, the FAA changed the terminology several years ago, then a few years later went back to the original terminology. So depending on when texts were written you can see different things.

    Basically, “Departure Procedures”, DP, is the generic term for any kind of departure procedure. Then you have two basic types, with two subtypes.

    The two basic types are Obstacle Departure Procedures, which are purely for obstacle clearance, and Standard Instrument Departures, which exist predominantly for ATC reasons, though of course they provide obstacle clearance as well.

    SIDs are always graphically depicted, and given a name, such as the BLUE MESA DEPARTURE out of Montrose, CO MTJ. The design is based primarily on what is convenient for ATC traffic flow, not whether all airplanes can perform the procedure or not. Note they can have some pretty steep climb gradients as well as certain equipment requirements too.

    ODPs are generally designed to be available to the largest number of aircraft possible, so they might assume only a VOR receiver and low aircraft performance. Of these, you have two subtypes, textual ODPs and graphic ODPs.

    Textual ODPs are those listed in text format in the Takeoff Minimums and Obstacle Departure Procedures section of the IAP book. They are usually fairly simple – turn to a heading, intercept a radial, etc.

    Graphic ODPs are charted when it would be too complicated to describe them textually. They include the word (OBSTACLE) in the name, such as the MONTROSE DEPARTURE (OBSTACLE). If you look at this one, note the rather tortured routing designed so that low performance airplanes can hopefully still meet the obstacle clearance requirements.

    I hope this answers a lot of your questions!

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