Approach Hold

[willg]

could somebody please explain how i actually use this, thanks.

[Rocket_Bird]

In an aerodrome with ILS (You have to tune in the ILS frequency on your NAV1 before this works), theres two elements: The localizer (for left right information), and the glideslope (for up down information... which is like a beam deflected at an angle upwards).

[willg]

thanks a lot for your help, this forums far more useful than the in game help  :)

[Nav]

willg, I put some screenshots together which cover setting and following the ILS, among other things.  See 'Landing Tutorial with Screenshots'.

[willg]

okay thanks for the help, by the way Nav, your guide was really helpful  ;D (helped me fly landings in windy conditions as well, which I hadnt been able to do all that well before)

with the approach hold, i was wondering, as the aircraft's descending and staying in line with the runway, surely it just lands itself as long as the trim's right?

[Nav]

Really glad it helped, willg.  Let me know any ways I can improve it.

The snag about just letting it land is the rate of descent - 600 feet per minute. Maybe an aeroplane in FS will just about get down, but in a real one you'd kill yourself.....

Persevere with switching off auto, 'flaring', and letting her down lightly if you can.  It comes right quite quickly with practice. And it's very satisfying to pull off the odd genuinely 'smokeless' landing! Like this one  :)

[willg]

will approach hold get me bang on the centre line (sorry to keep harping on about this but i just get so annoyed if im out of line)so all i have to do is press z when the planes at about a hundred foot over the threshold, then just do the final phase myself?

[willg]

lolz, Approach Hold, my new best friend  ;D

i can now land perfectly every single time after , all those years of being all over the place on landings, swaying around then missing the centre line, now all i need to do is disengage autothrottles and hit z, flare, and all done, no more worry and frustration, im inspired to go do a long haul from Heathrow to JFK now  :)

thanks for enlightening me people  :)

[Rocket_Bird]

Ya approach hold doesnt always get you on the centerline.  Sometimes the localizer is not perfectly aligned, and i think wind messes you up a small bit too.  But it should get you on the runway in most cases, or you can fly the aircraft yourself if it doesnt

[commoner]

[quote]lolz, Approach Hold, my new best friend

[willg]

hmm, interesting some people have said that approach hold doesnt always get the plane on the centre line  ???

once ive tuned in the ILS frequency and got the plane a few miles out at 300 feet or so, then turn on the IAS and APP hold, i find the plane will make a perfect approach, ready for me to take over and flare at the last minute (100ft or so)

anyway this might be because i never ever fly in windy conditions.

if i do, i could probably make up for it with rudder trim or by flying at a faster speed.

and @commoner, haha i know what you mean, once after flying from Moscow to Heathrow i landed absolutely terribly (after a perfect flight), miles off the centre line, so annoying, nearly threw fs out the window lol. anyway APP hold (in fairly windless conditions) has solved my problem.

[Nav]

One of these days, willg, you'll call up ATC, the wind will be in the wrong direction, and they'll tell you to land on the back course (i.e. without a glideslope).

Or you'll hear those dreaded words, "Landmark 424, expect vectors for visual approach to Runway Fifteen Left, turn to course one-eight-zero, maintain 2,500, report runway in sight........"

[willg]

to be honest i very rarely use the ATC, i always have an active flight plan with Nav Hold On, if i need to descend or change course the AP can do it, so I dont think ill ever have that problem.

my landing method is to set Nav hold on to follow the line to the airport (i use waypoints so the line goes right into the path of the runway and not just towards the airport in a random direction, then set the airspeed to 175, and turn on the approach hold (after finding the desired landing runways ILS frequency and putting it into NAV1) then at 100 foot ill hit backspace to turn off/disarm the autothrottles, then z to turn off the autopilot, and just do the final part manually.

i appreciate the importance of ATC when im just flying around in bad weather or at an unfamiliar aircraft, but ill always have the GPS open, or maintain my own navigation (ADF & VOR's), and use autopilot as often as possible.

even when i have used the atc it seems to work pretty smoothly, ive never had that message anyway.