B757-200 FO BELIEVES THE VOR/GPS 13L/R (ROUTINELY REFERRED TO AS THE 'CANARSIE VISUAL') APPROACH FAILS TO COMPLY WITH HIS COMPANY'S OWN OPERATIONAL LIMITATIONS; IN PARTICULAR THOSE ASSOCIATED WITH MDAS FOR CIRCLING APPROACHES.

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I REGULARLY FLY THE JFK VOR 13L APCH; AND DID SO ON MY LAST TRIP. FORTUNATELY; THIS LATEST APCH WAS CONDUCTED IN VMC. I HAVE DONE THIS APCH TO MINIMUMS IN IMC; AND THAT IS WHEN I REALIZED THE DEFICIENCIES IN NOT JUST THE FMC PROGRAMMING; BUT IN THE UNDERSTANDING OF HOW THIS APCH IS TO BE CONDUCTED; AND WHETHER OR NOT PROPER AUTH FOR DEV FROM APPROVED FLT PROCS EXISTS. APPARENTLY; OUR COMPANY HAS SPECIAL DISPENSATION TO FLY THE APCH AS CHARTER. PLTS ARE USUALLY PROVIDED WRITTEN AUTH WHEN ALLOWED TO DEVIATE FROM NORMAL PROC. I CANNOT FIND ANY SUCH AUTH IN OUR MANUALS. MY FIRST CONCERN WITH THIS PROC HAS TO DO WITH THE CHART. THE FMC HAS A XING ALT AT DMYHL AT 1220 FT. THIS IS 420 FT HIGHER THAN THE PUBLISHED MDA OF 800 FT. SECONDLY; THE FMC HAS A CONDITIONAL WAYPOINT FOLLOWING DMYHL THAT CONSISTS OF A LEVEL FLY-OFF FOR 1 NM WITH AN ALT RESTRAINT AT OR ABOVE 1220 FT. I UNDERSTAND THE LOGIC BEHIND THE APCH PLATE INSTRUCTIONS RECOMMENDING A 1 NM FLY-OFF PAST DMYHL PRIOR TO DSCNT BELOW MDA. IF YOU CROSS DMYHL AT 800 FT; YOU ARE BELOW A DESIRED CONSTANT DSCNT APCH (CDAP) GLIDE PATH TO THE RWY. WHAT I DON'T UNDERSTAND IS WHY THE FMC WOULD HAVE THE PLT LEVEL OFF AT 1220 FT; WHICH IS 370 FT ABOVE THE CDAP MINIMUM (OF 800 FT PLUS 50 FT). NO FLY-OFF IS NECESSARY IF THE ACFT CROSSES DMYHL AT 1220 FT. BECAUSE THIS FLY-OFF ALT OF 1220 FT IS BASED ON A CONDITIONAL WAYPOINT; IT CANNOT BE MODIFIED BY THE PLT. I WOULD SUGGEST THAT THIS PARTICULAR APCH WOULD BE ENHANCED IF IT GAVE THE PLT AT LEAST SOME ACCURATE VERT GUIDANCE. AS IT STANDS; IT GIVES THE PLT NONE. IN ADDITION; BECAUSE VOR APCHS DO NOT USUALLY HAVE THE RWY END PROGRAMMED IN THE FMC AS PART OF THE APCH; PLTS CANNOT ACCESS PROGRESS PAGE 2 TO VERIFY VERT TRACK ERROR. IN MOST VOR APCHS; THIS DOESN'T REPRESENT A REAL ISSUE; AS THE APCH QUALIFIES AS A STRAIGHT-IN. BUT; IN THE CASE OF THE VOR 13L; THE PLT DOES NOT ACQUIRE THE VASI'S OR VERT GUIDANCE UNTIL WELL THROUGH THE 094 DEG TURN TO FINAL. AND; EXACERBATING THE PLT'S VERT TRACK CHALLENGE IS THE FACT THAT; MUCH OF THE TIME THIS APCH IS PERFORMED; THE PLT HAS A QUARTERING TAILWIND (OVERSHOOTING XWIND) ON THE TURN TO FINAL. IT CAN BE QUITE A CHALLENGE TO GET DOWN WHEN THE PLT TURNS FINAL AND SEES HE IS HIGH ON THE VASI'S. THIS BRINGS ME TO A QUIBBLE I HAVE WITH THE DESIGNATION OF THIS APCH. EVERY APCH IN OUR FOM IDENTS ITSELF AS EITHER A STRAIGHT-IN OR A CIRCLING APCH; WITH COMMENSURATE APCH CATEGORIES AND MINIMUMS. THE JFK VOR 13L IS ONE WHICH IDENTS ITSELF AS NEITHER. IT IDENTS ITSELF AS A LEAD-IN LIGHT (LDIN) APCH. THE FOM NARROWLY DEFINES ONLY 2 TYPES OF NON-PRECISION INST APCHS. IT SAYS 'STRAIGHT-IN MINIMUMS ARE SHOWN ON THE INST APCH CHART IF THE FOLLOWING CRITERIA ARE MET: 1) THE INST APCH FINAL APCH COURSES IS WITHIN 30 DEGS OF LNDG RWY ALIGNMENT. 2) A NORMAL DSCNT CAN BE MADE FROM THE PUBLISHED MINIMUM IFR ALT TO THE LNDG RWY. 3) IF EITHER OF THESE REQUIREMENTS IS NOT MET; STRAIGHT-IN MINIMUMS ARE USUALLY NOT SHOWN AND CIRCLE TO LAND MINIMUMS APPLY.' SINCE THE VOR 13L MEETS NONE OF THE ABOVE CRITERIA; (WITH ITS 094 DEG TURN TO FINAL FROM VOR COURSE GUIDANCE; AND ITS RECOMMENDED 1 MI LEVEL FLY-OFF AT THE MDA); I CAN SEE WHY STRAIGHT-IN MINIMUMS ARE NOT PUBLISHED. BUT; NEITHER ARE COMPANY CIRCLING MINIMUMS PUBLISHED; OF 1000 AND 3. INSTEAD; WE HAVE THE 800 FT MDA. THE FOM UNDER CIRCLE-TO-LAND MINIMUMS SAYS; 'IF THE INST APCH FINAL APCH COURSE DIFFERS BY MORE THAN 30 DEGS FROM THE LNDG RWY ALIGNMENT; A CIRCLE-TO-LAND MANEUVER IS REQUIRED UNLESS STRAIGHT-IN MINIMUMS ARE PUBLISHED FOR THE LNDG RWY (E.G.; DCA; HNL; VMMC).' IF A CIRCLE-TO-LAND MANEUVER IS REQUIRED; BOTH CEILING AND VISIBILITY MINIMUMS MUST BE MET TO INITIATE THE APCH. RPTED CEILING MUST BE AT OR ABOVE PUBLISHED CIRCLE-TO-LAND MDA; BUT NOT LESS THAN 1000 FT HAA. 4) RPTED VISIBILITY MUST BE AT OR ABOVE THE PUBLISHED VISIBILITY MINIMUM; BUT NOT LESS THAN 3 MI. AS A PLT WITH VMC CIRCLING ONLY RESTRS ON MY B757/767 TYPE RATING; I HAVE TO BELIEVE OUR COMPANY HAS A SPECIAL DISPENSATION TO CONDUCT WHAT IS ESSENTIALLY A CIRCLING APCH WHEN BELOW CIRCLING MINIMUMS.