Simviation Forums

hi everyone,
yesterday i did my first official ILS landing in Malta, after a flight from Thessaloniki, Greece, in a 737-200  ;D.

I have 2 questions regarding the ILS:

1) How can I identify runways which have the ILS?

2) How should ILS landings be done in crosswinds? Coz yesterday i nearly ended up with half of my main landing gear off the runway!  :o

hope to get some help soon,

Claude  8)

I think I can answer the first question. You can identify an ILS runway if you see a green localizer or "arrow" next to the airport. I am new to ILS approaches too and I might be wrong.

thats what i thought too, but i have never managed to intercept the glideslope of rwy14 LMML, and on the GPS this runway has the green arrow marked on it. the instruments didnt even detect a glideslope either.

maybe a defect in the game i had downloaded the scenery for this airport so that's what may be wrong. but i had managed to do an ILS landing on the oppisite end of the runway, that is rwy32.

The bect way to get all of your frequencies (VOR's, DME's, NDB's ILS etc...) is with FS Navigator... www.fsnavigator.com. It makes finding freq.s headings etc a breeze. As for the crosswind thing... i'm not sure but I would try the wing-down approach, keeping accuratly on the localizer...
Happy flying Dan

I would try the wing-down approach, keeping accuratly on the localizer...
Happy flying Dan

whats that supposed to mean? keep it simple please lol  :P

i just added u on msn, Dan, but u arent logged in  ::) u can answer me there...

thanks  ;D

Okay, so by ILS landings I mean landings done with the autopilot, that is the approach hold switch...

I thought they meant the same thing  ::) lol

I answered question 3 in a post I made some months ago

"Well, when conducting an approach in crosswinds, there are 2 techniques which are good to know when landing heavy jets.

The crab crosswind technique  
 
The objective is to maintain wings level thorughout the approach, touchdown and landing roll  
On final approach a crab angle is established with wings level to hold the aircraft on the desired course. Application of downwind rudder is started prior to touchdown to eliminate the crab and align the aircraft with the runway centreline.  
 
As rudder is applied, the upwind wing will sweep forward, developing roll. Hold the wings level by application of lateral control into the wind. Touchdown is made with cross control    
Note: On very slippery runways, it is wise to maintain the crab angle until you touchdown, this will reduce drift toward downwind side of the runway.
 
There is also the sideslip technique

The sideslip technique aligns the aircraft with the extended runway centreline. The initial phase of the approach is flown in the crab config to correct the winddrift. Prior to the flare, the AIRCRAFT centreline is aligned on - or parallel to the RUNWAY centreline. Downwind rudder is used to align the longitudinal axis to the desired track as aileron is applied into the wind to prevent drift.  A sideslip is established - opposite rudder and low wing into the wind to hold desired course.  

You touchdown with the upwind wheels first, shortly followed by the upwind wheels"

hope it helps.

Nexus, thanks a lot for your info, but what i want to know exactly is how to land properly centred on the runway in a crosswind landing while using the approach hold switch (that is, landing the aircraft with the autopilot) Because apparently the autopilot doesnt know what a crosswind landing is hehehe

I knew the Crab Crosswind technique already but not the Slideslip Technique. Infact i use it when landing an aircraft manually in tough winds... thanks again  ;)

Okay, i'll ask the question again.. .. is there a way to correct the approach while landing in a crosswind with the autopilot. As i said before... i think the autopilot doesn't know what a crosswind landing is.

Real world 737 AP's will correct winddrift for crosswinds up to 15kts (compared to 25kts for the heavier 777!)
But the standard FS autopilot is dumber than a plank, so nothing new really.

OK thanks a lot, that's all i wanted to know  ;D

Regarding the ILS availability and frequency, I generally go to the "Map View" under the "world" pull down menu.  There you will see a GPS type map click exactly on the airport you are desiring to find the ILS for.  An airport information screen will pop up, go to the bottom using the slide bar and you will see the runways and their associated ILS frequencies.  If no frequency is listed that runway is not an ILS approach runway.

You may need to zoom in a bit to properly get the airport and not one of the inner or middle markers.

Roger

thanks, but i just discovered that myself yesterday actually, along with the ADF (I never knew there were morse codes in fs2002 hehehe) and the DME.  ;)

I can't seem to understand how the DME works tho... can anyone help me?  ???

DME  just measures the distance from you and the tuned in beacon (VOR, localizer). Not all VORs are installed with DME capaibilty though. Same goes for localizers, that's when you'll use the marker beacons.