Comments for the United Arab Emirates

we use lido (lufthansa nav charts) o/b instd of jepps , so this mosque ( Sheikh Zayed) is NOT mentioned or drawn somehow in our app and facility charts . On a night apprch with good visibility to rw31 OMAD I was not expecting to see the minaret above the level of our wingtip (A321) to my left at a distance of approx 250meters which was not incld in our briefing naturally in this case .We were on the glidepath 0.80nm to the rw31 tdz which we were approx. 250agl or some higher maybe ,and the top of the minaret is declared as 350ft or so by wikipedia . So that 's why the MDA is declared as more than 500agl and vis of 2000m for CAT1 ils , I came to the point that even for good visibility needs more outside scan and localizer or other navigation accuracy has to be judged MORE carefully before and during the approach.

Take off weight for catC a/c is well regulated down to 70ies ( tons) for a a/c with normal max 89tons for rw13 and also for rw31 down to 80ies .

Now I am looking for the UAE aips , I hope that they are easily reachable thru the net. DO YOU HAVE ANY INFO OR EXPERIENCE ABOUT THIS ISSUE ?

The runway is near to E11 road,the longest road in U.A.E.

The runways here are in upgrading process

Runway 12R-30L is closed for construction so my flight MH 156 arrivong from Kuala Lumpur lands at 12L...we taxi for over 10 mins.

It is a nice airport with a lot of traffic.

The only way to get there was by dhow from Das Island.

email: steveharleyfan (at) yahoo (dot) ca

This base is also the location of Canadian Forces Camp Mirage, a 200 pers logistics center supporting Cndn forces in Afghanistan.