Cuban B. said:
First, thanks to all for the advice. Now to open can o' worms. But perhaps not. Takeoff mins depend on the Ops Specs of the carrier and an alternate is required within an hour if conditions are below mins for an approach at the takeoff airport? Perhaps someone could explain that a little bit more for someone coming from the underworld of part 91? I have read in the gouges that that is something I will be required to know. Much obliged.
CY
looking at two DIFFERENT things. think of it like this.
the a/c needs to be DISPATCHED (ie signed off, a paper shuffle). in order for this the PAPERWORK needs to be in order, ie:
- alternates must be listed: T/O if at the forecasted take off time the clg/vis are below the approach minimums for the APPLICABLE runway. Ldg due to the usual 1-2-3 rule at the forcasted landing time. Second alternates, etc will be company ops spec specific and you shouldn't need to know this for the interview (you will learn about FAA Exemption 3585 in ground school). what makes an alternate legal to be listed (ie correct PAPERWORK)? this is the ole 91 600-2 and 800-2. the carriers do not use this but instead usually use the big/small airport rule (aka one nav/two nav etc) which will be taught in ground school (a favorite indoc question or two will be these derived alternate minimums).
just think of the ATP question regarding what is needed on a release to make it legal. due to this the alternate listing requirements are strictly for a PAPERWORK purpose.
then the a/c needs to be legal to ACTUALLY takeoff and land. these are the minimums listed on the jepps. the takeoff mins are what is needed for you to actually lift off the ground. read them simply off of the jepp airport diagram page. these mins are affected by lights, terrain, weather. basically start with standard mins and work backwards. the more lights and fancy items the runway has (RVR, RCLM, etc etc) the lower these t/o mins can go. 6-6-6 is bottom of the line. just read the plate for any "tricks" (ie what if the rollout RVR is missing) they might throw at you.
landing mins are no different. straight from the plate and are affected by lights, terrain, weather, etc. just remember the FAF on an ILS on a Jepp is the tip of the arrow feather on GS. visibility is the controlling factor (another favorite interview question). if you're legal before tip, but after vis goes down you are still legal.
hope this helps.