CE550 FLT CREW BECOME DISORIENTED DURING APCH TO JAC; LOSE SITUATIONAL AWARENESS AND CONTINUE VFR TO A LNDG.

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WHEN WE BEGAN OUR DSCNT ABOUT 15 MINS OUT; THE CONVERSATION AND DUTIES SWITCHED TO SOMETHING OTHER THAN THE APCH. THEN ABOUT 50 MI OUT; BECAUSE OF AN EFIS THAT BOTH OF US WERE UNFAMILIAR WITH AND PRIOR EXPERIENCE WITH THE VOR/DME-1 JAC; I SUGGESTED THIS APCH. PF AGREED -- WE WERE ON A GPS DIRECT TO JAC. DUE TO PRIOR EXPERIENCE; WHICH I MISINTERPED; I FIGURED WE WERE ALMOST ON A DIRECT COURSE TO ORDEE AND WOULD PRECLUDE THE DME ARC. DID NOT DOUBLECHK THIS. I BRIEFED THE APCH BASED ON THIS; WE SET UP OUR RADIOS AND WERE CONTENT. THIS WAS NOT A VERY THOROUGH BRIEF AS WE KNEW WE WOULD PROBABLY BREAK OUT EVEN BEFORE WE REACHED ORDEE. CTLR THEN ASKED WHICH APCH WE WANTED; AND I ASKED FOR THIS APCH. WE WERE THEN INSTRUCTED TO INTERCEPT THE 16 DME ARC AND CLRED FOR THAT APCH. HERE ARE THE PROBS: 1) I WAS SURPRISED BY THE NECESSITY OF THE ARC AND WE WERE GETTING VERY CLOSE -- WITHIN 23 MI OF THE VOR. THEN I CHKED AND FOUND THAT WE WERE ACTUALLY CLOSER TO DIRECT ECUNA WHICH IS THE BEGINNING OF THE W SIDE OF THE ARC. 2) THEN PF THEN ASKED HOW TO DO A DME ARC AND TO REFRESH HIM ON IT. 3) THIS WAS THE KILLER: I TOLD HIM TO TURN SO THAT THE INBOUND COURSE IN HIS 90 DEG INDEX ON THE HSI TO START -- THIS WOULD HAVE BROUGHT HIM WITHIN 10 DEGS OF A GOOD HDG AND I WOULD HELP HIM FROM THERE. BUT HE WANTED AN EXACT HDG. THIS MEANT A DIRECTION TO TURN (L/R). I THOUGHT THAT WAS OBVIOUS TO HIM. IT MAY NOT HAVE BEEN OBVIOUS TO ME THOUGH BUT I MADE IT OBVIOUS BY CHKING. I TOLD HIM TO TURN R AND PUT THE FINAL APCH COURSE IN HIS 90 DEG INDEX. HE STILL WANTED A HDG SO I ADDED 90 DEGS TO 008 DEGS AND GAVE HIM 098 DEGS. BECAUSE OF THE STILL STRONG TAILWIND AND A HIGH AIRSPD AND MY LAST SECOND DUTIES WE HAD BLOWN THROUGH AND WERE AT 14.8 MI WHEN I CALLED ATC; CONFESSED AND ASKED FOR A HDG FOR VECTORS BACK TO THE APCH. THIS WOULD ALSO KEEP US AWAY FROM THE TETONS. HE GAVE US A 110 DEG HDG (THAT WAS GOING TO BRING US CLOSE TO ORDEE) AND TOLD US HE WOULD VECTOR US THROUGH FINAL AND BRING US AROUND AGAIN FOR THE APCH. I BELIEVE THAT WE WERE BEGINNING THE R TURN FOR THE ARC AT THE TIME OF THE VECTOR. AT LEAST 4 MI A MIN; THAT EXTRA MIN OF FOOLING AROUND MADE THE DIFFERENCE BTWN A GOOD ARC AND APCH AND OUR PREDICAMENT -- I COULD HAVE EASILY TALKED THE PF THROUGH THE ARC AS I KNOW THEM PRETTY WELL. NOT LONG AFTERWARDS THE PF ASKED ABOUT THE ARPT LOCATION. I LOOKED AT THE VOR NEEDLE AND SAID IT SHOULD BE JUST BEHIND THE WINGTIP. HE SPOTTED THE ARPT AT THE SAME TIME I SPOKE (CLOUDS WERE BROKEN). I FORGET IF I CANCELED RIGHT AWAY OR WE GOT THE VISUAL AFTER DECLARING THE ARPT IN SIGHT. IF I CANCELED RIGHT AWAY IT WAS ABOUT 20 SECONDS TOO SOON BECAUSE OF CLOUD CLRNCS. IN ANY CASE THERE WAS NO OTHER ACFT EVEN REMOTELY CLOSE TO US; AND THE APCH AND LNDG WENT VERY WELL.