If negative RVSM can you fly RNAV/RNP routes or not
If negative RVSM can you fly RNAV/RNP routes or not
I am an Air Traffic Controller. While doing a study for my Area Control rating I am curious about a question. If negative RVSM can you fly RNAV/RNP routes or not?
Great to hear that we are aviation colleagues and that you have found your way to our website.
For those not so familiar with RVSM and RNAV/ RNP
RVSM
Reduced vertical separation minima (RVSM) is the reduction, from 2,000 feet to 1,000 feet, of the standard vertical separation required between aircraft flying between flight level 290 (29,000 ft) and flight level 410 (41,000 ft).
RNAV and RNP
RNAV stands for Area Navigation. And to explain RNAV it is an ability to fly any desired flight path, defined by waypoints such as geographic fixes. (LAT/LONG) and not necessarily by ground navaids.
Required Navigation Performance (RNP). RNP: refers to the level of performance required for a specific procedure or a specific airspace block. An RNP of 0.3 means the aircraft navigation system must be able to calculate its position to within a circle with a radius of 3 tenths of an NM.
In regards to answering your question
Short answer: We believe that RVSM is a separate issue to RNAV/ RNP.
Longer answer and some justification:
Under FAA there are already some exceptions for non-RVSM aircraft to fly in RVSM airspace but we imagine that these exceptions could differ from state to state. Some generally recognized exceptions would be:
- Military operations
- Manufacturer aircraft being flown for development/ certification
- Foreign state aircraft
- Medivac flights
But if we look at aircraft that are non-RVSM and who don’t fly in RVSM airspace – can they fly RNAV/ RNP approaches and routes? We think yes.
From a practical point of view, RVSM is (to our knowledge) between FL290 and FL410. Turboprops generally do not fly in these FL and are unlikely to be RVSM approved. Still, they may be approved to fly RNAV and RNP approaches and routes, so we would be inclined to think that RVSM and RNAV/ RNP are two separate things.
If anyone comes to another conclusion please let us know as we would always be interested in updating our knowledge.
We hope this answered your question about if negative RVSM can you fly RNAV/RNP routes or not.
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Happy landings,
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