INDECISION AS TO WHICH APCH TO FLY OVER MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN INTO MFR RESULTS IN LOSS OF SITUATIONAL AWARENESS AND A DESCENT BELOW CLRED ALT.

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WE WERE NAVING DIRECT TO THE OED VOR FROM LAX ON A NIGHT WHERE THERE WAS JUST THE THINNEST OF MAYBE A 9000 FT OVCST. WE WERE GOING TO HAVE TO EITHER GET VECTORED TO THE E FOR LOWER TO ALLOW A VISUAL; OR START OUT ON AN APCH FROM THE S TO LAND STRAIGHT-IN TO THE N. THE S APCH TO MEDFORD; OR; IS ONE OF THE LOUSIEST; BECAUSE IT GOES DIRECTLY OVER THE HIGHEST TERRAIN IN THE AREA; INCLUDING 7532 FT MOUNT ASHLAND. IT MAKES FOR A USUALLY RAUCOUS DSCNT NO MATTER HOW WELL THE PLANNING. MY FO WAS FLYING AND TOLD ME HE'D LIKE TO INITIALLY START ON THE RNAV 'GPS-D' TO GET BELOW THE UNDERCAST. THE OTHER MAIN IFR APCH FROM THE S IS THE LOC DME 'BACK COURSE-B.' I'VE FLOWN THE BACK COURSE MANY TIMES; BUT HAVE NEVER DONE THE RNAV APCH FROM THE S. I DON'T KNOW EXACTLY WHY. IF THE WX IS REALLY YUCKY; YOU NEED TO HEAD N AND SHOOT THE ILS TO THE S. FROM THE S ON ANY APCH; THE MINIMUMS ARE SO HIGH THAT I USUALLY USE RADAR VECTORS TO THE BACK COURSE TO LET DOWN BELOW A MID-LEVEL CLOUD DECK. THERE'S ALSO THIS NAGGING THOUGHT THAT YOU THEN DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT LOSING GPS SIGNAL OR INTEGRITY; WHICH FORCES YOU TO ABANDON THE APCH. WITH THE BACK COURSE; IT'S PRETTY STRAIGHTFORWARD. I'M OLD SCHOOL IN CERTAIN WAYS; NOT FULLY TRUSTING GPS BECAUSE IT STILL SEEMS AT TIMES TO LACK RELIABILITY. A LOT OF IT CAN PROBABLY BE TRACED TO PLTS NOT PROGRAMMING THE BOX PROPERLY; BUT WHEN YOU'RE MOVING ALONG FAST AND DSNDING; YOU SURE LIKE TO THINK THERE ARE SOME NO-BRAINER THINGS YOU CAN RELY ON TO KEEP YOU SAFELY ABOVE TERRAIN. USING LAND-BASED VOR; ILS AND BACK COURSE DOESN'T REQUIRE A WHOLE LOT OF PREPARATION. YOU PULL OUT YOUR APCH PLATE; DIAL IN THE FREQ -- AND YOU'RE IN BUSINESS! SURE; A GPS GLIDE PATH IS NICE; BUT GARBAGE IN; POTENTIALLY GARBAGE APCH SLOPE OUT. THE FO HAD EVERYTHING LOADED INTO HIS FMS; SO I 'CROSSFILLED' TO MINE. AT MFR; DOING THE RNAV APCH ENTAILS NAVING TO THE IAF ROMAE; WHICH IS ALMOST 27 MI S OF THE ARPT. BEING ESTABLISHED THERE NEGATES THE REQUIREMENT FOR A HOLDING PATTERN COURSE REVERSAL AT BRKET; WHICH IS 19.8 MI OUT. TROUBLE IS; ZSE WORKS IFR TFC UP TO CASCADE APCH'S AIRSPACE; WHICH STARTS AROUND 30 MI; SO THAT IF YOU DON'T PROPERLY COORD; YOU'LL BE PAST THE IAF BY THE TIME YOU GET HANDED OFF TO APCH -- WHICH IS EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED. WHEN WE GOT HANDED OFF; CASCADE APCH OFFERED THE BACK COURSE (ATC STILL SEEMS TO DEFAULT TO ANY LAND-BASED APCH AND NOT RNAV); BUT I INSTEAD ASKED FOR DIRECT TO ROMAE FOR THE GPS. CASCADE APCH APPROVED; AND ALSO CLRED US FOR THE GPS APCH. IT WAS AT THAT POINT IN TIME WE REALIZED ROMAE WAS NOW BEHIND US TO OUR L. SINCE IT SEEMED RIDICULOUS TO TURN AROUND JUST IN ORDER TO BE ON A PROPER COURSE TO DSND BELOW A LAYER MAYBE A COUPLE OF HUNDRED FT THICK; WE INSTINCTIVELY CONCLUDED WE'D CHANGE PLANS AND SHOOT THE BACK COURSE. WE ADVISED APCH; BUT INSTEAD OF OFFERING A VECTOR; THE CTLR INSTRUCTED US TO PROCEED DIRECT TO ASHIE AT OR ABOVE 9300 FT; AND CLRED US FOR THE APCH. SEVERAL PROBS IMMEDIATELY BEGAN TO CROP UP. FOR STARTERS; THE BACK COURSE AT MFR IS NOT IN OUR GPS DATABASE; WHICH WE FOUND OUT ONLY AFTER WASTING PRECIOUS MOMENTS TYPING INTO THE BOX. SO WE COULD NOT NAV DIRECT TO ASHIE; BECAUSE ALL WE HAD WAS THE RAW BACK COURSE AND DME SIGNALS. WHILE WE WERE GETTING OUT THE PROPER APCH CHART; TUNING NAVS AND FIGURING OUT HOW TO IDENT ASHIE (WHICH CAN BE DONE EITHER BY THE 24 DME ARC FROM THE OED VOR OR AT 16 DME ON THE IMFR LOC); WE DSNDED BELOW 9300 FT BY ABOUT 500 FT. THE CTLR ALERTED OUR ERROR BY SAYING HE SHOWED US S OF ASHIE AND BELOW OUR ASSIGNED XING ALT. I TOLD HIM WE WERE CORRECTING; AND INSTRUCTED MY FO TO IMMEDIATELY CLB BACK TO 9300 FT. THE CTLR THEN ASKED US IF WE HAD THE ARPT IN SIGHT; WHICH WE NOW DID. HE THEN CLRED US FOR THE VISUAL APCH AND WE COMPLETED THE REMAINDER OF THE DSCNT AND LNDG WITHOUT FURTHER INCIDENT. COUPLE OF OBSERVATIONS AND LESSONS THAT MIGHT BE LEARNED: WHY IS IT WHEN WE LOSE OUR GPS MAP THAT MANY PLTS GO BRAIN DEAD? OF COURSE; IN THE OLD DAYS THERE WAS NO NICE GRAPHIC DEPICTION GLOWING IN FRONT OF YOU; AND YOU DREW THE MAP IN YOUR HEAD. I THINK THE FIRST PROPER ACTION FOR ANY PLT WHO REALIZES HE'S LOST SITUATIONAL AWARENESS IS TO LEVEL OFF AND START SLOWING UNTIL CATCHING UP. MY COPLT DID NEITHER; AND I LET HIM DO IT BY NOT MONITORING PROPERLY. IT APPEARS TO ME THAT INSTINCTS OF A LOT OF YOUNGER PLTS TRAINED ON ALL THIS WHIZ-BANGER AVIONICS IS SOMEHOW MUTED WHEN THE GEE-WHIZ STUFF UNEXPECTEDLY DISAPPEARS. WHEN THE BIG PICTURE VANISHES; THE MAP IN THEIR IMAGINATION GOES BLANK; TOO. THERE'S NO 'I'M E OF THE BACK COURSE; SOMEWHERE S; OVER HIGH TERRAIN; APPROX SO MANY MI FROM MY LNDG. I NEED TO TURN W TOWARD THE BACK COURSE; LEVEL OFF AND SLOW DOWN UNTIL I BETTER GATHER MY BEARINGS AND GET BACK ON COURSE.' WHAT I SEE IN OUR RECURRENT/PROFICIENCY TRAINING IS GPS; GPS; AND GPS. INSTEAD; EVERY TRAINING EPISODE SHOULD INCLUDE SOMETIMES TURNING OFF EVERY AUTOMATIC GIZMO WE CAN REACH IN THE COCKPIT; AND FLYING RAW DATA BY THE SEAT OF OUR TROUSERS. I'M SURE MANY OF OUR ALL-IN-A-ROW CHK AIRMEN WOULD SAY THAT'S NUTS! AND WOULD INTERFERE WITH EVERYTHING FLT OPS TRAINING IS DOING PROMOTING THE INDUSTRY'S AUTOMATION PHILOSOPHY. I SAY IT'S GOOD COMMON SENSE AIRMANSHIP. AT SEVERAL TIMES IN A FLYING CAREER (ESPECIALLY WHEN YOUNGER AND LESS EXPERIENCED); YOU'RE GOING TO BE NAKED: THERE'S GOING TO BE YOU; AIR; THE CTL YOKE AND THE DIRT. TO HOLD THESE PHYSICAL REALITIES IN PROPER CONSTELLATION REQUIRES AN INTUITIVE RELATIONSHIP THAT WILL THEN ENSURE AN ARR WHERE EVERYONE IS AGAIN EQUAL -- SAFELY ON THE GND.