Maintain glide path without VASI or PAPI using a fixed aiming point, 3-degree height checks, descent-rate maths and clear go-around limits.
Without VASI or PAPI lights, maintain the correct glide path by holding a chosen runway aiming point stationary in the windscreen, cross-checking height against distance, and making small, coordinated pitch-and-power corrections. In our Aviation & Real-World Flying guidance, published approach information takes priority because visual geometry alone does not guarantee obstacle clearance.
What should replace VASI or PAPI guidance?
The best substitute depends on what vertical guidance the approach provides.
- Electronic vertical guidance: Fly the ILS glide slope or approved GNSS vertical path when one is available and appropriate. VASI and PAPI lights are visual aids, not replacements for published instrument guidance.
- A published approach path: Use its stated angle, altitude restrictions and minima. Do not assume every runway has a standard 3-degree path.
- No published vertical guidance: Combine a fixed visual aiming point with target airspeed, height-versus-distance checks and a calculated descent rate.
Check runway information and operational notices before relying on a purely visual descent. Terrain, obstacles, displaced thresholds or runway slope may require a path that differs from the usual picture.
How does the runway aiming-point method work?
A correctly selected aiming point remains almost stationary in the windscreen while the runway expands around it.
Choose a distinct point in the intended landing area, beyond the threshold and consistent with the aircraft's procedures. If that point moves up the windscreen, the present path will undershoot it; if it moves down, the aircraft will pass over it and land long. The aiming point is not normally the touchdown point because the flare carries the aircraft farther along the runway.
Keep your seat position, simulator eyepoint and zoom fixed while judging this movement. Changing the camera angle can make a good path appear to change. Our guidance on judging a visual approach from runway movement and altitude checks covers these cues in more detail.
How can you cross-check a 3-degree glide path?
A nominal 3-degree path loses about 318 feet per nautical mile and needs a vertical speed of roughly 5.3 times groundspeed in knots.
| Cross-check | Calculation | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Height versus distance | distance in NM × 318 ft | At 3 NM: about 955 ft above the path's runway intercept |
| Vertical speed | groundspeed × 5.3 | At 90 kt: about 480 ft/min |
| Quick cockpit estimate | 300 ft/NM and groundspeed × 5 | At 120 kt: approximately 600 ft/min |
For a threshold-based calculation, add the planned or published threshold-crossing height. Convert height to indicated altitude by adding runway threshold elevation, and verify the altimeter setting. Also confirm where the distance comes from: DME or GPS distance may reference a navaid or airport point rather than the runway threshold.
Use groundspeed, not indicated airspeed, for descent-rate calculations. A headwind that strengthens on final reduces the required vertical speed; a tailwind increases it.
How should you correct a high or low approach?
Correct the path early with small power changes while protecting target airspeed and configuration.
- Stabilise first. Establish the landing configuration, target airspeed and trim before chasing the glide path. A repeatable circuit makes this much easier; see our method for arriving on final from a controlled traffic pattern.
- If high, reduce power modestly and use pitch to retain the correct airspeed. Add drag only when permitted by the aircraft procedure and when enough distance remains. Do not point the nose down and allow speed to build.
- If low, add power and prevent airspeed decay while returning gradually to the path. Pulling up without sufficient power produces a slow, unstable approach and may worsen the sink rate.
- Once corrected, reset the power needed for the new groundspeed and trim out sustained control pressure. Avoid alternating large high-and-low corrections.
“Pitch for speed, power for path” is a useful light-aircraft rule, but pitch and power always interact. Aircraft type, automation and operating procedure determine the exact technique.
Which visual illusions can produce a false glide path?
Runway geometry and poor external references can make a safe path look wrong.
- A narrow or upsloping runway can make the aircraft appear higher than it is, tempting the pilot to descend too low.
- A wide or downsloping runway can create the opposite impression and encourage a high approach.
- A featureless night approach, haze or dark terrain can remove useful depth cues and lead to a dangerously low path.
Cross-check instruments rather than correcting solely by appearance. If the runway environment, terrain clearance or required flight path cannot be identified reliably, discontinue the approach.
When should you go around?
Go around when the aiming point will not stabilise, the aircraft is outside its approved speed or configuration limits, or recovering the path would require a large or late correction.
Use the stabilised-approach criteria specified by the aircraft manual, instructor or operator; there is no single universal gate for every aircraft. In simulator practice, choose a fixed decision point before the approach and enforce it consistently.
The glide path ends as the flare begins. Do not keep chasing the aiming point into the runway; transition your view farther along the runway and reduce the descent rate. Our runway-perspective and flare guidance explains that transition without confusing it with glide-path control.