ILS critical area when the tower is closed?

On 11/20/2005 6:38 PM, Jose wrote:

the weather is below 800/2, in which case only IFR departures
will be of concern

People may be taxiing around the airport with no intention of taking
off, for example, to fuel up, to do maintanance, or to more the aircraft.

I suppose such an aircraft could call departure first, to ensure that
such operation will not interfere with anybody on approach.

Jose

With weather below 800/2, the only people in the vicinity of the
ILS critical area would be IFR departures, right? I can't think
of any reason to be taxiing to the departure end of a runway unless
you're taking off (or just landed). In either case, the flight would
be IFR due to the weather.

I was really thinking more of the case during VFR conditions where
the ILS system is being used more for practice. I think the bottom
line is, if you're using an ILS during VFR conditions, you should
expect some interference in the signal whether or not the tower is
in operation - since even if it is in operation, it doesn't have to
keep the ILS critical area clear unless weather is below 800/2.

Thanks,


--
Mark Hansen, PP-ASEL, Instrument Airplane
Sacramento, CA