LPV vs LNAV/VNAV: Pilot-Focused Differences That Matter on Every RNAV Approach
- wifiCFI
- Dec 28, 2025
- 5 min read
On many RNAV (GPS) approach plates you’ll see multiple lines of minima—often LNAV/VNAV and LPV sitting right next to each other. Both provide approved vertical guidance and are flown to a Decision Altitude (DA), so it’s easy to assume they’re basically the same thing.
They’re not.
From a pilot’s perspective, the differences show up in how sensitive the needles feel, how the vertical path is generated, what limitations apply (especially temperature), and what minima you’re actually allowed to use based on the annunciation your avionics provides.
This post breaks it down in practical terms you can use in briefings and in the cockpit.
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The quick pilot cheat sheet
LPV
SBAS (WAAS in the U.S.)-based lateral + vertical guidance designed to be ILS-like.
Angular lateral guidance: becomes more sensitive as you get closer to the runway.
Often provides the lowest DA on the RNAV approach when the airport/obstacle environment supports it.
If you brief LPV, you must see “LPV” annunciated before you use LPV minima.
LNAV/VNAV
Lateral + approved vertical guidance flown to a DA, but the vertical guidance may be SBAS-based or baro-VNAV-based depending on the aircraft/equipment and the procedure.
Can have temperature limitations (often noted on the chart) that you must respect unless you have an approved method to compensate.
Usually not as “localizer-like” laterally as LPV.
1) What you’re flying: “localizer-like” LPV vs “RNAV-like” LNAV/VNAV
LPV: built to feel like an ILS
LPV is designed so the lateral guidance behaves more like a localizer: the closer you get to the runway, the more sensitive the CDI becomes. That “tightening up” is why many pilots say LPV feels like an ILS.
Pilot takeaway: LPV tends to demand smoother control inputs on short final. Small deviations close-in can move the needles quickly—great for precision, but it can feel “twitchier,” especially in turbulence.
LNAV/VNAV: approved vertical guidance, but not necessarily ILS-like
LNAV/VNAV also gives you a stabilized descent path and DA-based decision making, but the lateral scaling generally behaves more like standard RNAV guidance rather than localizer-like angular sensitivity.
Pilot takeaway: LNAV/VNAV often feels slightly less sensitive laterally close to the runway than LPV, but it comes with its own set of operational considerations (especially temperature and altimetry discipline).
2) The biggest operational difference: where the vertical path comes from
LPV vertical guidance: SBAS geometric guidance
LPV vertical guidance is driven by SBAS (WAAS in the U.S.). In simple terms, your system is using an augmented satellite-based position solution with integrity monitoring to generate a precise lateral path and a glidepath-like vertical path.
Why you care: You’re not relying on barometric calculations to create the vertical guidance the way baro-VNAV does, so LPV typically avoids certain temperature-driven vertical path errors that can affect baro-VNAV operations.
LNAV/VNAV vertical guidance: SBAS or baro-VNAV
LNAV/VNAV vertical guidance can come from:
SBAS (in some avionics implementations), or
Baro-VNAV (using the aircraft’s air data/altimetry to compute the descent path)
Why you care: If your LNAV/VNAV is baro-VNAV-driven, it’s more sensitive to temperature effects and altimetry accuracy. That’s why LNAV/VNAV procedures commonly publish temperature restrictions.
3) Temperature limitations: where LNAV/VNAV can become “not available”
This is one of the most practical differences you’ll encounter in day-to-day IFR.
On many LNAV/VNAV lines you’ll see notes like:
“VNAV NA below −XX°C”
Or other temperature-related restrictions
Why it matters: In very cold (or sometimes very hot) conditions, barometric altitude can deviate from true altitude enough that the computed VNAV path may not guarantee obstacle clearance as designed—so the procedure restricts VNAV use.
Pilot takeaway:
If the chart restricts VNAV at your temperature, treat LNAV/VNAV as unavailable (unless you’re using an approved temperature compensation method per your ops/specs/equipment approval).
Plan to use LPV (if available) or fall back to LNAV minima.
Does LPV have temperature limits? LPV isn’t typically restricted in the same way as baro-VNAV because the glidepath is SBAS-based. That said, you still must comply with published altitude constraints and you still use your barometric altimeter for altitude verification—so cold temperature operations still require good discipline and awareness.
4) Minima differences: why LPV is often lower
It’s common to see:
LPV DA lower than LNAV/VNAV DA, and
LNAV/VNAV DA lower than LNAV MDA
Why LPV is often best: LPV supports tighter performance and more precision-like scaling, which can allow lower minimums when the runway environment and obstacles permit.
Pilot takeaway: If you have an LPV-capable system and it annunciates LPV, LPV is often the “best” line of minima to brief as your primary plan—while still being a stabilized, DA-based approach.
5) Annunciations: what you brief vs what you actually get
This is where pilots get caught: the chart can publish LPV, but your avionics may only provide LNAV/VNAV or even LNAV on that particular day.
Reasons include:
SBAS service availability/integrity at the moment
Receiver limitations or configuration
Geometry or signal conditions that prevent LPV-level service
Hard rule to fly by:
You may only use the minima that matches the mode you actually have annunciated.
So:
Brief LPV, but if the box only gives you LNAV/VNAV, you must use LNAV/VNAV minima.
If it drops to LNAV, you must use LNAV minima (typically an MDA procedure).
6) Don’t confuse LNAV/VNAV with “LNAV+V” (advisory glidepath)
Many WAAS navigators can display an advisory glidepath on approaches that do not have approved vertical guidance (often presented as “+V” or similar symbology).
Key point: Advisory glidepath is a descent aid to help you fly a constant descent to an MDA. It does not change the legality of the minima, and it is not the same as LNAV/VNAV or LPV.
Pilot takeaway: If you’re flying LNAV (MDA) and you see “+V,” treat it as helpful guidance—but you still fly the LNAV altitude rules and step-downs exactly as required.
7) How they “fly” differently in workload and technique
LPV: more sensitive close-in, very precision-like
Because LPV lateral scaling tightens near the runway, pilots often notice:
More immediate lateral needle movement on short final
A need to avoid “chasing” the needle
Autopilot coupling (if installed/approved) can significantly reduce workload
LNAV/VNAV: stable path, but mind the source and restrictions
LNAV/VNAV often flies smoothly and supports stabilized approaches, but:
Temperature restrictions can remove it from your toolbox on certain days
If baro-VNAV is involved, disciplined altimetry setup and cross-checking matters even more
8) A briefing flow that prevents the most common LPV/LNAV-VNAV mistakes
When both LPV and LNAV/VNAV minima exist:
Brief a primary and a backup
“Primary: LPV DA ___.”
“Backup: LNAV/VNAV DA ___.”
“If downgraded: LNAV MDA ___.”
Check temperature notes
If VNAV is restricted at the current temperature, brief LNAV/VNAV as not available.
Verify annunciation before committing to the lowest minima
Confirm the navigator shows LPV if you intend to use LPV minima.
Fly it like a precision approach
Stabilized configuration early
Smooth corrections
Stay ahead of power changes and speed control
Bottom line
LPV is typically the most ILS-like RNAV option: tighter lateral sensitivity near the runway, stable vertical guidance, and often the lowest DA.LNAV/VNAV also provides approved vertical guidance to a DA, but it may be SBAS-based or baro-VNAV-based—and temperature limitations can be a deciding factor.
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