ILS Landing Tutorial with Screenshots

[TNHunter]

WOW, Nav, I want to say thank you so much.

I am self taught flight simmer, I only paid enough attention in the "flying lessons" on FS to learn how to do basic controls. I practiced in the small craft, and worked my way up to the "big dawgs" by trial and error.

I learned to land the biggest stock plane manually, and I taught myself how, it was ugly and awkward, but I could get it on the ground in the center of the runway. About 6 months ago, I got serious and started trying to learn to really fly like a professional.

I went back to the Cessnas, and started learning basic skills again. However, once you can put a huge aircraft down without slamming it, a little Cessna is an easy task.

This tutorial gave me confident enough to step up to the large Commercial jets, and leave the small private jets for a few minutes.

I fired up FS, got in the 747-400, set a course between Nashville and Memphis and started my flight.

I made it a point to forget what I knew, and try it your way.

I must say, that for every awful landing I have ever made, the one properly completed landing made me feel like I actually knew what I was doing.

I am going to try and use this technique for as many planes as I can, as I am sure it will step up my game 10X.

Thanks so much, and I hope that you will write many more tutorials, so that those of us who are not the best yet can become great.

TNH.  

[Nav]

Thanks for the kind comments, simonnd, TNHUnter, much appreciated. I originally hit on the idea of using screenshots mainly because they made it a lot easier to explain how to set the various instruments. But it's clear that, happily, the pictures also give newer flyers a mind's eye picture of what an orthodox landing approach should 'look like'; which is probably half the battle.  

Glad you considered going back to the lessons, TNHunter. Personally I would never recommend ploughing through all of them (IMO the earlier ones are well done, the later ones less so) but they are still a useful resource. Worth trying 'Airline Transport Pilot, Lesson 1 - Jet Checkout', for instance, to learn more about orthodox takeoff and landing procedures.

I still find the 'ready-made' FS9 scenarios and historical flights fun for a change, too. 'Aerial Chauffeur' starts easy and builds up to quite difficult situations; 'European Airline Pilot' does much the same; and 'Reeve Aleutian Airlines' will stretch your flying and navigation skills to the limit, even if you substitute a more modern aeroplane for the DC3 Dakota, which you're allowed to do.

[webbyboy]

Hello,

Your guide is great but i still have some problem aligning with the glideslope, the plane will just go left and right, even i start from 15nm away, it just can't get aligned properly and it turning left and right, until 3nm away i set to manual and i have to align myself

[Nav]

Hi webbyboy, welcome to Simviation!

The most probable solution is that you don't need one! Radio beams are narrow at source but widen at distance, and the air is a fluid medium; so any aeroplane will take its time lining up, particularly when it's a long way out (like 15 miles). If you look at the first few screenshots in the tute, you'll see that my 737 was by no means completely lined up at first. So first of all be patient, let the aeroplane get closer, and you'll probably find that it lines up perfectly closer in when the beam has narrowed down.

If that doesn't solve the problem, chances are that you're getting one or other of the settings wrong - too much flap, not enough power, not enough speed, or whatever - and the aeroplane is 'toppling' because it is getting close to stalling speed. Whichever aircraft you're flying, look it up in the Learning Centre Index (under its name, e.g. 'Boeing 737' is under 'B'), read the Flight Notes, and make sure that you are getting all the settings right.

If none of that works, glad to help further - but please say which aeroplane you're flying, whether there's any wind, what approach speeds and flap settings you're using, etc.; it'll make a 'diagnosis' easier.  

[SysFail]

GREAT tutorial!!!

Thanks for all that hard work...keeps us newbies informed  ;D

If anybody can tell me how you get those visual flight path boxes to show your glidepath I would REALLY appreciate it.  I read the tutorial about 5 times and I think it has something to do with the nav1 setting maybe?  

I just want to be able to take off from KIND and not have a destination in mind, but then dial one up and land anywhere I want with the help of those boxes.  I can take off in any plane out there it seems, but I cannot for the life of me figure out how to find the runway and get lined up to land.

THanks!
SysFail


P. S. I know how to physically turn on the visual flight path by hitting alt and selecting it...

[TSC.]

Hi SysFail,

That glidepath will only show up on the GPS if the runway has ILS.

You don't need the glidepath on the GPS to know which way the runway is heading. You just need to know the runway numbers (You can find that out by contacting ATC or looking on your map).

The runway numbers are a rough guide to runway direction - you just add a '0' to the runway number E.G: Runway 1 = approx 10 degree's, Runway 18 = 180 approx 180 degree's.

Although if you want to get specific, the heading of the runway may not exactly match it's number.

E.G:
Runway 27 (for 270 degree's) can have a heading anywhere between 265 degree's & 275 degree's.

The heading for each runway number can be off by as much as 5 degrees either way.

If you want to know the heading or the runways available at any airport in FS9, just go into the map (zoom in) & click on the airport required:


Cheers,

TSC.

[SysFail]

That was the missing link....

So I tune to the ILS freq found on the map and I will get my "little red hoops" I so desperately need at this point in my flying career LOL
Cant wait to get out of work here and go home and try it out...

Thanks again!!!

[TSC.]

Hi SysFail,

Tuning the ILS freq into the Nav1 radio will not give you the 'little red hoops'. But to be honest, if you know how to use the VASI lights, you may find it just as easy to rely on them. Once you know the runway heading in advance (from the map), you will find it much easier to plan & execute your landings without the help of the 'hoops'.

Cheers,

TSC.

[SysFail]

well crap...
so how DO i get the red hooops??

I think I will be ok now that I know where the runways are ( I found a cool website with airport diagrams so I can have them all printed out ahead of time now), but I still wonder where the hoops come from??

[TSC.]

well crap...
so how DO i get the red hooops??

Just like you said:

P. S. I know how to physically turn on the visual flight path by hitting alt and selecting it...

I think your getting the 'hoops' & 'ILS' a bit mixed up - the 'hoops' have absolutely nothing to do with ILS approaches - they are just a learning aid put into FS9 by Microsoft. Nav only used them in his tutorial to let people see where the glideslope was in relation to the plane.

You can use the 'hoops' at any airport, but ILS can only be used at airports that have ILS systems.

Cheers,

TSC.

[commoner]

...
so how DO i get the red hooops??

...from the sim.........click the Aircraft menu and then choose Visual Flight path. Check the Show Visual Flight Path box and set up the other parameters....altitude etc.....

Tune the Nav 1 Radio to the ILS frequency of the runway and you should see the "Highway in the Sky" in line with the runway at the altitude you set..............commoner

[TSC.]

Ahh - confusion sorted, thanks Commoner. I've never used the 'hoops' as an aid so I just assumed that M$ had plonked them in for all airports.

Cheers,

TSC.

[eudoniga]

Does anyone of you know about tutorials regarding the so called "non precision" approaches, those performed with the aid of simple VORs and NDBs ?

Happy flying,

Eugenio.

[vololiberista]

I'll post a tutorial in the next few days regarding non precision approaches and also one for noise abatement techniques.
Vololiberista

[TSC.]

and also one for noise abatement techniques.

Excellent - i'll post it on a lampost at the Mcdonalds Drive-Thru for the local boy racers to decipher.



TSC.