ILS Landings. Wow.

[BTilson]

I finally figured out how to do ILS landings. Those were the most beautiful and smooth landings I've done so far. ILS makes landing SO much easier than just trying to do it visually. The locator beacon on the runway plus the glideslope needle just makes it a breeze. I see now why you always hear about flight simmers only being able to land on ILS equipped airports.

[ashaman]

I might just get offended by such insolence.



Only joking here. Once upon a time I felt the same way. Landing a liner, if done without ILS, was a nightmare in the making. I just went out of my way to have a ILS approach. Then a funny thing happened, I got myself pedals to control the rudder to work together to my previous joystick with throttle.

Believe me, I myself could not believe the difference it made. Landing any kind of planes, from the ultralights to the AN225, completely in manual suddenly became a breeze and a great moment to wait for all the simulated flight.

I, in fact, I've since then always suggested everyone who wants to simulfly at the best to "take the leap of faith" and get themselves a mean to control the rudder, even a simple twist handle joystick, and use THAT, instead of the sim's autocoordination. It's just another thing altogether.

Landing, control, take off, cross control, crabbing... some maneuvers that a simple joy with autocoordination make seem impossible are a source of fun with pedals (and I guess with a twist handle joystick as well).

[Falcon500]

I can say that flying has been much easier with a twist stick, also i commonly used the ILS bugs to track straight for a manual landing. Quite hairy when doing it in bad weather  :o

[TSC.]

If you really want to make ILS fun then try it with airport fogged in, it's really cool when the airport appears out of nowhere - & your heartbeat goes down a fair bit

TSC.

[garymbuska]

If you learn to use the VASI lights at just about all runways with the exception of grass fields it works about the same exceot you have to relay on your vission to keep it centered. But they tell you when you are to high or to low and when you are right on track.
You have to rember not all aircraft are ILS equipped and you are not allways given a ils runway to land on, so you need to practice landing without ILS. Lets face it if the runway is fogged in you will not want to land without ILS for sure. 8-)

[DizZa]

Pfft.
I handfly most of the approach and landing.  ;) My landings are so much smoother and better if done manually too, plus it requires skill......

Anyway, try HAND flying a ILS approach, at night, with no Flight Director, with zero visibility, AND a 36 knot crosswind.  ;)

[ashaman]

36 knots crosswind is quite over the maximum allowed by a lot of planes. What were you landing, a fighter jet? :-?

[DizZa]

36 knots crosswind is quite over the maximum allowed by a lot of planes. What were you landing, a fighter jet? :-?

737NG without winglets.  ;) As far as I know that's the max certified, 33 knots with winglets.

[garymbuska]

OK getting a little technical here but what matters on any cross wind is what is called the tail wind factor.
If there is any tail wind then you should not land but there is a limit on the speed of the cross wind allowed even if there is no tail wind factor at all and it will very from plane to plane and other weight factors as well are considered

[francsal]

After finding out how that ILS thng worked, something nice happened. After seeing how the autpilot handled the approachs, it helped me to enhance my abilities. Now, I barely use the ILS (Except hen weather makes it really necesary and on airports Im not familiar).

you

[alrot]

Try to learn to use though the Aproach option ,Once the plane is alling in horizontal to the runway(at least 10 miles away) center the decend neddle in the middle then hit aproach buttom ,...after that you don't need to use the elevators it will decend in the apropiate course to land 8-)

[beaky]

OK getting a little technical here but what matters on any cross wind is what is called the tail wind factor.
If there is any tail wind then you should not land but there is a limit on the speed of the cross wind allowed even if there is no tail wind factor at all and it will very from plane to plane and other weight factors as well are considered

I always thought what matters was the plane's ability to move more forward than sideways relative to the runway... ;d

[Brett_Henderson]

Using the ILS is good... you don't HAVE to use the approach function on the autopilot... Flying a good, minimum ILS by hand is quite a chore...

I think some people get confused that ILS means letting the autopilot handle the approach..  You can chase ILS needles by hand, too  ;)

[gottoflynow]

If you really want to make ILS fun then try it with airport fogged in, it's really cool when the airport appears out of nowhere - & your heartbeat goes down a fair bit

TSC.

Or when the airport shows up and you realize you are 90 feet from the terminal at 184mph with your heading a full 90 degrees from the course on NAV1 your heartbeat goes up a bit  :P

True story

-GTFN

[ashaman]

Using the ILS is good... you don't HAVE to use the approach function on the autopilot... Flying a good, minimum ILS by hand is quite a chore...

I think some people get confused that ILS means letting the autopilot handle the approach..  You can chase ILS needles by hand, too  ;)

Actually, and speaking for myself, one of the most beautiful, unforgettable landings I ever did was in manual following the beams in CAT III conditions. I confess readily to have used a HUD gauge, but then again, in CAT III you simply can't alternate your attention between the normal gauges and the outside.

Or when the airport shows up and you realize you are 90 feet from the terminal at 184mph with your heading a full 90 degrees from the course on NAV1 your heartbeat goes up a bit  :P

True story

Or when there's a CAT III visibility and default ATC assigns you on a runway with no illumination at all (but with ILS... mysteries of FS) and you find yourself unable to gauge when to flare, in a plane with no autoland nor HUD gauge, and without a radioaltimeter either. And in the and you find yourself on the ground without having flared, still not knowing it, and end up rolling on almost all the runway at landing speed before wising up to the fact that your asset "is just too flat for that plane in flight at slow speed" and close the throttle and begin desperately braking hoping not to go yourself and your passengers in a country outing inside your Bae146.

A cold sweat landing, that flight. [smiley=evil.gif]

True story as well.