PA-60 602 Aerostar
Flight Crew Multiengine; Flight Crew Flight Instructor; Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 100; Flight Crew Total 20000; Flight Crew Type 2000
Confusion; Workload; Distraction; Human-Machine Interface; Situational Awareness
Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe; Deviation - Altitude Overshoot; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Clearance; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Inflight Event / Encounter CFTT / CFIT; Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence
Air Traffic Control Issued Advisory / Alert; Flight Crew Returned To Clearance; Flight Crew Became Reoriented
Aircraft; Chart Or Publication; Human Factors; Procedure
After being vectored to the final; the approach course for RNAV 34 approach was intercepted; after some zig-zagging from the autopilot. After passing what was assumed to be the FAF; the descent was started. This was to LNAV minimums as the KLN 90B GPS is a non WAAS unit and not user friendly as far as I am concerned. Upon approaching the MDA approach advised that there was a low altitude alert. Upon hearing this I made corrections. This is the first time in [many] years anything like this has ever happened to me. I have been doing recurrent training at least yearly at simulator based training centers. We did break out of the overcast at about 1;200 AGL and good visibility underneath. The problem as I see it was prompted by not looking closely enough at the approach plate. However; when traveling at 150 knots and dealing with a sluggish autopilot along with passengers not understanding the 10;000 feet rule this is often times difficult. I have often complained that approaches are not simple to read and understand anymore. They name fixes with all sorts of hard to read and pronounce names. This and being a non-precision approach made for more room for errors. I had originally wanted to request the ILS to the opposite runway since the wind and traffic made it an option. My point is approaches should be simple to read and interpret like they used to be. Glidepath info can be a life saver along with alert controllers. It would also be helpful if the FAF were made more obvious in the overhead view of the approach and not just on the profile. The modern environment makes single pilot operations increasingly more difficult.
Piper Aerostar pilot reported receiving a low altitude alert from ATC while on the RNAV 34 Approach to HKS.