Ron Garret wrote:
/snip/

When I asked why they departed runway 8 instead of 26 (whose departure
minimums require only a 3500 foot ceiling) I was told that the Honeywell
Primus 1000 FMS could not be programmed to properly fly the Squat 1
departure (http://204.108.4.16/d-tpp/0801/06741SQUAT.PDF). In
particular, the procedure requires that the plane fly to YIRDU
intersection before turning towards SQUAT, but the Primus 1000 always
interpolates its turns (i.e. it would start turning towards SQUAT
slightly before reaching YIRDU), and this cannot be overridden.

This all sounded a little farfetched to me. Leaving aside the fact that
it's only a 15 degree turn, I don't understand how any IFR-certified GPS
(let alone one that they would install on a freakin' jet) could not
properly fly a published GPS departure procedure.

Can anyone here shed any additional light on this situation? Is this
really true, or did I get told a tale?

Thanks,
rg
Ron,

I'm not sure what they were trying to tell you, but there are no "fly
over" waypoints on this procedure, they are all "fly past", i.e. it's
perfectly acceptable (and expected) to anticipate any turns. Yes, any
competent FMS can handle this easily (though, I'm not familiar with the
Primus 1000 specifically).

Which direction was your destination? If it was eastbound, this
particular procedure takes you quite a bit out of your way. Perhaps the
crew wanted to save gas/flight time by departing 8. That doesn't make
much sense, though, if it meant a real possibility of getting stuck
there, instead of actually departing. Not only that, but both of the
Rwy 8 DP's allow a 400-1 takeoff minimum, assuming you can maintain 320'
per NM on the climb out, something I would think a Citation could handle.

Happy Flying!
Scott Skylane