I have been practicing the back course localizer approach to runway 2L in Santa Ana (SNA) using my PC simulator. I switch the CDI from GPS to VLOC on the simulated Garmin 430 just before getting to MINOE (IAF/IF). I get reverse needle indications on the separate VOR/LOC gauge and normal heading indications on the Garmin 430 screen (Page 1 of NAV). My understanding is that the heading indications on the Garmin 430 screen are GPS based (instead of ‘corrected’ BC localizer indications). Consequently, in order to be legal I am supposed to disregard these indications and fly the approach using the separate VOR/LOC gauge.
Could somebody please answer the following questions:
- Is my PC simulator representing correctly BC approaches using the Garmin 430 and the separate VOR/LOC gauge?
- Are my above statements about the heading indications in the G 430 correct?
- Could I use the GPS to fly to NEWPO (the final fix) and switch the CDI to VLOC there?
- Should I have a DME in the plane to fly this approach, assuming that I don’t want to time the approach, since the Garmin distance information is based on GPS and GPS is not considered legal to fly a localizer approach?
Thanks
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