ISL and IFR's

[kiel94]

any help please.......Alright i am wondering if anyone can give me a crash course (bad joke) on the ISL and how to use it and make it work.....i consider myself a very good VFR pilot i can stick the 744 and the trip 7 100% of the time...Only thing if theres bad weather I have to turn around because I dont have a clue what to do with all that IFR and ISL...iam sick of doing long hops and being diverted because of alittle rain or fog...Please help

[Skittles]

I'm a little out of practice so someone please correct any errors.

You will need to determine the ILS frequency. This can be done by opening the Flight Map and clicking on the airport to land at.

For my example, I'll use KSEA. Runway 34R is 110.3. Dial this in to NAV1.

The Cessna172 has two lines on OBS 1. These will guide you onto the runway.

That's about a "crash" as I can make it.

Joe

[Nav]

Couple of things to add to Skittles' advice, kiel.

1. If you're using FS2004 you can create and file an IFR flightplan in flight.

[commoner]

Hi Kiel...assuming you want to start from scratch...try this which works for me even in total "fogout"'''Sure to be something I didn't explain too well so just ask again...

.......Try it with the c172 first as this to me is simple to fly so you can concentrate on the approach...

1. Determine the ILS frequency of the runway you will land on.From Map or whatever.

2.Open the radio stack then change the Nav1 frequency to the one you want by first changing the right hand (standby) frequency

[Reap]

Good post commoner, this gets asked so regularly there should be a sticky or a tutorial on the subject.

By 'lock on to the glideslope' I suppose that depends what you mean, but as long as you approach from below then the ALT hold will deselect and the A/C will indeed descend automatically with the glideslope.

Some manual adjustment may be desirable but I have never found it essential.

[kiel94]

Thanks all....So much help cant wait to try it out...

[commoner]

Good post commoner, this gets asked so regularly there should be a sticky or a tutorial on the subject.

By 'lock on to the glideslope' I suppose that depends what you mean, but as long as you approach from below then the ALT hold will deselect and the A/C will indeed descend automatically with the glideslope.

Some manual adjustment may be desirable but I have never found it essential.

[VOHY_VO0I]

Sorry (because this is off topic).

Commoner, where did you get that cessna panel from? Looks perfect. Everything you need is there in one screen. Can you please specify the site or the link. Thanks mate.  

[Nav]

kiel, you may still be a little confused about the glideslope.

On an airliner (like the ones you say you are flying) the autothrottle will maintain the set speed for you, therefore the aeroplane will automatically follow both the runway line and the glideslope.

On lighter aeroplanes there is no auto-throttle - so you have to make manual adjustments to make sure that the aeroplane has the right amount of power to follow the glideslope down.

Simply done by keeping an eye on the the glideslope indicator on the NAV1 dial.

[commoner]

[quote]Sorry (because this is off topic).

Commoner, where did you get that cessna panel from? Looks perfect. Everything you need is there in one screen. Can you please specify the site or the link. Thanks mate.

[commoner]

...mmm....sorry Nav but I can't agree that the the glideslope is as precise as the localiser. I have been flying 747s (FSx) since they were introduced and there has always been a certain amount of adjustment required.......it isn't supposed to be

[Nav]

Hmmm...you're an 'old hand', commoner, not sure there's anything I can teach you.  Maybe one thing  I learned about flying, though, in my youth.  At a guess, you find that you have to 'fiddle around' because she keeps sagging below the glidepath, not the other way around?

I started off flying gliders.  You probably know that they are the opposite of powered aeroplanes in many ways.  They are designed to stay UP; so, instead of being worried that they may drop like a stone, you spend a lot of your time trying to persuade the things to go down at all........  

This rubbed off on my flying when I tried powered aircraft.  I tended to cut the power too early and too much, and the aeroplane used to 'sag'.  I still recall my instructor saying, "BLOODY glider pilots.  Give her some oomph to work with!  I'm not going to charge you any less because you save me half-a-pint of fuel - especially if we stall in......."

Finally I 'saw the light'.  An aeroplane can 'absorb' a little too much power on approach - you or the A/P trim the nose a bit lower, and it turns the power into speed.  But too LITTLE power, and the nose pitches higher and higher up, you start losing airspeed, and the rate of descent increases.......

Tried landing both the Skylane and the 747 in your honour.  Both of them had a fair amount of fuel on board - so they were heavier than they would have been after a long trip.  For the Cessna, I kept the speed above 75 knots, for the 747 at about 155 knots, to compensate for the weight.

Hey presto - both of them stayed on the glidepath.  Here's a picture of the Skylane, with the A/P engaged, holding exactly to the glidepath, 'hands off'.  With the speed up towards 80 knots.



You can always lose the extra few knots as you flare.  So the moral is, if in doubt, give her a little MORE power than she needs - and a little more than the 'book' says.  Never a little less.

[commoner]

...mmm....Good post Nav...sounds like sense to me....and yes I've done my share of gliding starting on the Dragline with the Air Training Corps a long time ago and also for many years with RC Soarers which I still indulge in and agree with what you say, maybe that is my problem.........just going to test out your recommendations ...see you shortly...if I don't break my neck landing too fast

[commoner]

Well.... tried 5 landing at different speeds from 65 to 85 in the c172 and all hit the tarmac hands off BUT not with the GS dead on the line...guess I'll just have to carry on fiddling  ;D........thanks for the input...very interesting....commoner  ;)

[Nav]

Huh - pity.