LEH AIRPORT GUIDE

This document is based on real world charts.

It intended for flight simulation use only. Do not use for real navigation!

Table of Contents

Airport Brief

General Information

Runway Information

Communication Information

Introduction

Airfield Information

Alternate table

Special notes

Waypoints

Arrival

Approach and landing quick reference (A320 & B737)

Departure

Missed approach

Ground movement

Creating Waypoints

Airbus A318/A319/A320

Boeing 737-700/800

Conclusion

Sceneries

YOUR GUIDE TO LEH KUSHOK BAKULA RIMPOCHE AIRPORT

General Information

Location : LEH IND ICAO/IATA : VILH/IXL Lat/Long : N34o 08.2', E077o 32.8'

Sunrise: 0135 Z Sunset : 1141 Z

Runway Information Runway : 07 Length X Width : 9555 ft X 150 ft Surface Type : asphalt TDZ-Elev : 10859 ft

Communication Information Leh Tower : 127.300

1. Introduction Leh airfield marks the most difficult approach in India. We have adapted the real-life procedures with necessary changes and omissions in this chart. Aircrafts flying to and from LEH are specially equipped for high altitude operations, in particular the HIGH ALTITUDE LANDING switch. Depending on your sim and aircraft vendor, you might not have this mode. You can still fly to LEH on IVAO with its absence, but it will call for manually controlling pressurization and cancelling cabin altitude warnings. Radar vectoring during approach and departure will not available below FL200 due to terrain restrictions.

ENSURE YOU HAVE READ AND FOLLOW THE PROCEDURES IN THIS CHART DURING EVENTS, ELSE YOU MIGHT BE ASKED TO DISCONNECT .

2. Airfield Information The airfield lies North of River Indus. The Indo‐Pakistan Line of Actual Control runs around 50 NM Northwest of Leh airfield. Due to mountainous terrain, operations to / from Leh terminal area and part of route segment are permitted only for VFR operations. You must file your Flight Rules as Y ( IFR - VFR) for arrivals and Z (VFR - IFR) for departures on IVA P. Due to the high altitude and terrain, there will be severe performance limitations, be sure to fly with an appropriately loaded aircraft.

3. Alternate Table

Airport ICAO IATA Initial HDG (deg) GCD (NM) Chandigarh VICG IXC 191 211 Dehradun VIDN DED 172 238

Delhi VIDP DEL 184 334

Srinagar VISR SXR 267 138

4. Special notes

Being a performance limited runway, flight crew must be careful in correct line‐up point for takeoff and also not to lose runway while setting take‐off thrust due negative runway slope.

When conditions are below ISA, i.e. when Leh runway temperature is

less than ‐6o C, the pressure altimeter shall be over‐reading. Exercise caution.

We are publishing only one approach and departure procedure each. The routing ensures you can depart onto or arrive from the W39 airway.

Due to the high altitude expect to use more thrust to taxi.

Only taxiway A and B are allowed for civil ops. Do not vacate/enter onto any other taxiway unless operating as military traffic.

Only Flaps 1 (Both A320 and 737) is to be used for departure, with full thrust and no reduced thrust. Engine bleeds must be off with APU running for takeoff. (APU bleed available till approx. 17000 ft)

Take-off thrust rating is available for 10 minutes, if required. Fire-walling of engines is permitted.

Pilots must create the waypoints given in next page and follow the appropriate route at all times.

Keep a keen lookout to ensure terrain clearance and correct altitude at check points

5. Waypoints

6. Arrival

Routing: Aircrafts arriving into Leh must follow the route below to land at

runway 07.

LELAX -> LH01 -> LH02 -> LLH -> LH03 -> LH04 -> LH05 -> LH06

Point Latitude Longitude LH01 N 33 19.0 E 078 02.0

LH02 N 34 00.0 E 077 39.9

LH03 N 34 08.4 E 077 33.6

LH04 N 34 11.0 E 077 29.3

LH05 N 34 08.5 E 077 27.6

LH06 N 34 07.2 E 077 29.7

LH07 N 34 11.1 E 077 23.8

LH08 N 34 11.6 E 077 17.0

LH09 N 34 12.4 E 077 13.5

LH10 N 34 11.5 E 077 20.1

It is advised to keep autopilot on to at least waypoint LH05. Pilots should

ensure proper energy management by getting into landing config. a bit

early than late. Max bank of 25o can be used. You might get cabin

altitude warnings and "descend profile too steep" warnings, ensure to

ignore the former and to make the latter null and void by staying

within flight envelope. You will have to disable GPWS warnings.

Page has the essential supplementary items to normal checklist for both

A320 and B737 family.

TRANSITION ALTITUDE : 24000 ft Visual approach TRANSITION LEVEL (QNH<=1013hpa) : FL 225 TRANSITION LEVEL (QNH<=1013hpa) : FL 250 Airport Elevation 10859'

Point Altitude Speed LH01 +/at FL230 Minimum clean speed

LH02 16000ft 150kts

LLH Fmc profile Vapp

LH03 14500ft Vapp

LH04 13000ft Vapp

LH05 12000ft Vapp

LH06 11200ft Vapp

Gear down, landing flaps and Vapp by LLH

7 Leh Approach & Landing Quick Reference

Airbus A318/A319/A320 At TOD: o HIGH ALT LANDING switch - ON o ANTI ICE - As required o MCDU Landing Flaps - Conf 3, ensure no CF for RW07

If No Engine Bleed Landing is required, start APU o GPWS: TERR & SYS - OFF o LDG FLAP 3 - ON

At Transition Level or as advised by ATC:

o Set LEH QNH and carry out/complete Normal Approach checklist At 16000 ft

o Auto/BRK - MED o Approach mode - Activate o If no engine bleed landing - verify APU bleed on and cabin pressure stabilized

By LLH carryout normal landing checklist, flaps 3 and gear down.

Boeing 737 / 738

At TOD: o Select HIGH ALT LAND switch ‐ ON o Set LAND ALT indicator ‐ 10900 ft. o ANTI ICE - As required

If No Engine Bleed Landing is required, start APU o Select TERRAIN Switch – ON o Carry out Normal Descent Check List

At Transition Level or as advised by ATC:

o Set LEH QNH and carry out/complete Normal Approach checklist At 20000 ft

o Flap Inhibit Switch ‐ Inhibit

At 16000 ft

o Auto brake - 3 o If no engine bleed landing - verify APU bleed on and cabin pressure stabilized

By LLH carryout normal landing checklist, flaps 3 and gear down.

8. Departure

Routing: Aircrafts departing from Leh must follow the route out of runway 25.

LH06 -> LH05 -> LH07 -> Lh08 -> LH09 -> LH10 -> LH05 -> LLH

Turn right immediately after reaching South bank of river Indus. Climb to 18000 ft with TO/GA thrust, start inbound turn to LH10 only after reaching 21000 ft at 180 kts or below, flaps 1. Use max bank 30o for inbound turn. Cleanup by LLH. Report to assigned controller when overhead LLH to establish and proceed on W39 airway.

9. Missed approach If not stabilised by 10900 ft (Leh QNH) on finals, it is mandatory to go- around. Go-around flaps setting shall be Flaps 1. Turn RIGHT climbing to on track 100(M). Continue climbing to point LH01, select flaps 5, turn LEFT and continue climbing to report over LLH. On clearance from ATC, while approaching point LH02, select gear down, landing config flaps and follow the normal approach and landing procedure.

Ground movements o Pushback is unavailable, all stands are taxi-in and taxi-out. Pilots

must confirm apron along with stand.

o Apron 2: Aircrafts must taxi straight into B and turn left at the end of B to park in their respective stands facing South.

o Departing aircrafts are only allowed via A, ensure to backtrack 07

and lineup at the beginning of 25.

o Runway 25 is used for departures only and 07 for arrivals only.

o Single engine taxi is not allowed.

o De-icing facilities unavailable, pilots must be cautious about ice buildup.

10. Creating Waypoints

It is mandatory to create and follow custom waypoints to avoid high terrain

areas, also atc will use these points are reference. If you are unaware about

how to do so, this we will be your perfect opportunity to learn. We are using

A320, B737 for example as they are most commonly flown types to this

airfield.

Airbus A319/320/321

Select DATA on the MCDU.

Navigate to the next page using Right Arrow key.

Press R1 LSK -

"PILOT WAYPOINTS" Enables creation, review and

deletion of pilot-defined WPTs.

Press R5 LSK - "NEW WAYPOINT" Pressing R5 LSK will take you to New Waypoint page.

IDENT Type in the name of the waypoint you want to create, for example LH01 in our

case.

Press the L1 LSK

LAT/LONG Here you need to enter Latitude/Longitude in the format- xxxx.xN/xxxxx.xE we used 3319.0N/07802.0E for LH01

Press L2 LSK

Press on R6 LSK "STORE" Now, you have successfully entered your waypoint you have to select STORE to save it. You can enter the waypoint in your flight plan like any other waypoint.

Now you can use this new waypoint in your F-PLN page

Note: If you have duplicate waypoints with the same names, check the coordinates when they

appear as options in the fmc/mcdu while entering them in flight plan. Wait for the IRS to align

so the closest waypoints with similar names appear first.

Boeing B737-700/800

Press INDEX (L6 LSK) Press on NAV DATA (R1 LSK)

Type the name of the waypoint

Press R6 LSK

to get it in the box

On ce the waypoint is in the box

Press on LH01(R6 LSK) again to confirm it

Enter Latitude LAT Format- Nxxxx.x

Press L3 LSK

Enter Longitude

LONG Format- Exxxx.x

Press R3 LSK

Recheck LAT/LONG

Press EXEC to store it

Just like Airbus you can enter the custom

waypoints in your flight plan just like any

other waypoint

Conclusion You should be ready to fly in and out of Leh now. The key here is to stay calm and embrace the challenge with proper preparation. Again in real world aircrafts flying into high altitude airfields are specially equipped to do so. From what we have seen so far, none of the sims have aircrafts with High Altitude Landing switches. They are located on the overhead panel for both A320 and B737, in-case you find them, you are most welcome to use this mode.

Airbus A320 family Boeing 737 family

Sceneries FSX/P3D : https://flyawaysimulation.com/downloads/files/15513/fsx-vilh- scenery-v13/ X-Plane 11: https://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?/files/file/51287-vilh- leh-kushok-bakula-rimpochee-airport/