General Considerations in Instrument Approach to a Hover Set Up

Every operational scenario is different, however, I generally have two objectives in my PATCH/MATCH set up, both of which aim to simplify what can be a complex, demanding, high consequence flight profile on instruments, low to the water, in the vicinity of obstacles. The first objective is to sort the vertical before the horizontal. Because closing in on an obstacle while descending is far more complex and demanding, I prefer a lead distance that allows me to focus primarily on descending and decelerating on instruments with ample horizontal separation from the target and/or obstacles. After the helicopter is stable at the appropriate groundspeed and altitude, then the crew can shift focus to closing the distance horizontally with a good radar picture. As such, I view the PATCH gate described in the flight manual as a minimum, since I prefer to increase it. Similarly, I regularly use the maximum MATCH lead distance (2000’). 

The second objective is to offset the target. There is a tendency for inexperienced operators to put the target off the nose and fly directly at it (if errors were made in the gate or approach set up, the target will soon become an obstacle). Offsetting the target a few degrees to the front right or left, provides a clear path for a go around/escape and avoids descending on top of, or immediately in front of, the obstacle if the approach ends long. If pilots are flying an instrument approach to a shoreline with rising terrain or other obstacles, ideally, pilots would like to be parallel or near parallel to the terrain, so that they have an obstacle free escape straight ahead or with a relatively easy right or left turn. Often in the MH-60T helicopter, an approach near parallel to a shoreline with a pedal turn and an air taxi to the location is advantageous in very low visibility situations. In large “U” shaped bays, instead of flying the approach to the middle of the bay, pilots can favor one side to allow space for climbing right or left turn if an escape is necessary. If my crew needs to work in a tight bay in low visibility conditions, I prefer to fly the approach to the mouth of the bay and air taxi amid obstacles after we have slowed down and descended.