Simviation Forums

In real life, if you start a VFR flight with a small GA plane and then suddenly the weather goes all bad and you have to choose an alternate and land but you are not cleared because "airport is currently IFR", is it possible (like it is in FS) to create an IFR flight plan "on the fly" so to be cleared for landing? And if this is the case, can this be done on any type of aircraft regardless of the onboard equipment (provided the pilot is IFR certified)? I'm asking this because it actually happened to me in FS, and I was able to land by providing an instant IFR plan "from where I am now to the airstrip". The plane was equipped with the standard radio stack and no autopilot, so I actually landed manually (I just used the ILS beacon as a reference).

Yes..

I mean I set my NAV equipment on the ILS frequency so to have a reference on the HSI, but the aircraft had no ILS equipment.

I'm not sure what you mean..

I've yet to see an HSI that didn't have both glidescope and localizer indicators (ILS)..

What plane/panel was it ?

Or maybe the a runway was localizer only ?

Maybe it's not correct to call it HSI. Bear with me, I've got a problem with acronyms (see signature)

Maybe it's not correct to call it HSI. Bear with me, I've got a problem with acronyms (see signature)  :D
How is the VOR gauge called?
Anyway, the plane was Piper 180 Cherokee with stock gauges.

The VOR indicator is just called a VOR indicator, or VOR... normally it consists of the compass ring, called the Omni Bearing Selector or
OBS, plus the single vertical needle, called the Course Deviation Indicator or CDI.

An HSI or Horizontal Situation Indicator is basically a directional gyro combined with two needles to indicate the ILS glideslope: one vertical for left/right orientation (relative to the runway centerline), and one horizontal for up/down orientation (relative to the glideslope). The vary in the way they're set up, and some (I think) also include a VOR indication function, but "HSI" always indicates that it has the glideslope needles.

Generally any aiport with an ILS will also have a VOR station on the field, so it's probably better to use the VOR rather than the ILS to "home in" on the runway.

I'd bet it's about 50/50.

I'd bet it's about 50/50.  Or maybe even less than half of ILS equipped airports have a VOR at the field too. Either way, you can use a plain VOR  head(no glidescope indicator)to track just the localizer. I guess it would be just like a localizer only approach and better than the VOR, as your track would BE on runway center-line. Even if there is a VOR at the field, it's usually quite bit away from the runway anyway, and unless you're trying a published VOR approach, you'd have no way of gauging your descent. I suppose a DME would work in a pinch, but if you're just homing in on a runway by VOR.. you could easily come in way too high, or way too low.

I should have said "home in on the airport" rather than the runway (more range with a VOR)...but I guess that's not really what he was doing to begin with.

I'm surprised that the ratio of ILS-to-VORs is that low... shows you how often I use the ILS.

I didn't notice this topic... interesting...

I just took inventory of the airspace I fly most (central Ohio, out of KOSU).

There are six airports with a total of ten ILS or LOC equipped runways (8 ILS) and just one VOR in there (APE) and it's not AT any of the airports..  

I just took inventory of the airspace I fly most (central Ohio, out of KOSU).

There are six airports with a total of ten ILS or LOC equipped runways (8 ILS) and just one VOR in there (APE) and it's not AT any of the airports..  

Huh.
So what sort of published IFR approaches do they have? Fly to (nearby) VOR, or...?

The two BIG airports , KCMH

gosh this discussion makes me miss instrument flying.

 Never thought I'd say that. lol

" . . . can this be done on any type of aircraft regardless of the onboard equipment"

Negative.

Once the pilot contacts ATC to air-file an IFR clearance to destination, the first question ATC will ask is:"Are you IFR equiped?"  This means is there equipment fitted to the aircraft to complete the IFR procedure(s).

The question can be answered with Affirmative or Negative -- no Ifs, Ands or Buts -- the life of the pilot and anyone onboard depend upon this answer -- this is no time to get-it-wrong!

I always found it strange in all the time a I flew or filed -- land or air --no one ever asked me to produce any licenses nor asked me if I had the requisite rating(s) to complete (or accept) any procedure. Strange.


Youtube video-to-prove-it:Mooney flying into IFR conditions 00:03:27 Youtube video

The two BIG airports , KCMH  (port Columbus) and KLCK ,(Rickenbacker AFB) have outer-marker NDBs as initial-approach-fixes for all their ILS approaches. So do my home port, KOSU and the other class D airport, KTZR.

Gasp..! NDB approaches!!  :o How primitive...
'Course, those are not really old-school NDB approaches, like you might find at some uncontrolled fields, especially overseas...
But somehow it's comforting to know they're still in use. I like NDBs.