Landing without ILS?

[YodaNYC]

Have been using FS2002 for a few weeks and have no problem taking off manually and navigating and landing using autopilot for ILS.

For airports without ILS runways, such as the famous Princess Julianna, can I use the autopilot to get established on the localizer and then fly the glideslope manually from there?

Any landing assistance from you seasoned veterans would be much appreciated.

[Nexus]

Well, real world aircrafts could, by using the waypoints available, so no need for radio navaids here =)
They simply create a pseudo glideslope and fly the approach with LNAV and VNAV to get aligned.
You'll see a vertical deviation on the navigation display, which works kind of like a glideslope indicator

But the navaids available for TNCM

[YodaNYC]

Thanks so much.  I am going to give this a try.  Will make sure to save as I'm sure will take multiple attempts before I get comfortable with the landing sequence.

[Nexus]

You're welcome, and that approach is a little tricky, especially when flying the larger jets.

I wish you the best of luck!

[YodaNYC]

Gave it a try.  ATC took me in at 2,000 ft and put me on course at 095.  Came in a bit high but managed to land just to the left of the runway.  Glad I was able to land the 737 but now need to get aligned with the center of the runway.

Needed the spoilers and reverse thrust to stop the jet.  You're right, very tricky airport to land with a jet.

[Poseidon]

Actually I believe it is much easier to land manually if an ILS is not available. It will just take some practice to be familiar.

Here is how I land a 737 manually when ILS is not available. There are 3 major topics to take care and these are (a) speed, (b) position, (c) altitude.

Speed
--------
Your speed below 10000ft may not exceed 250KT. This is a mandatory globally for real aviation but it is a good tactic to maintain it in simulation as well.
When you are at about 25 miles from the airport reduce your speed to 210KT and extend flaps to 1 degree. At this point you have to ARM the spoilers and select a configuration for autobrakes.
At 17 miles from the airport reduce your speed more to 170 and extend flaps to 5.
As you get closer the airport keep reducing speed and extend more flaps. Your target should be to maintain a 140KT at about 8-10 miles from the runway which will require flaps of 25 degrees. Although not really important I try to keep a speed of 135-138KT just when I start the final descend for landing. All the above speeds are expressed in KIAS (airspeed and not ground speed).

Altitude
---------
You altitude should be about 2000-3000ft when you are aligned to the runway given that you are at least 10-12 miles from the runway. Lower does not matter, higher would be a problem. The 3000 is a bit high but it is a manageable altitude. It can be corrected be changing the rate of descent on final.

Position
----------
You should be whithin 30 degrees deviated course from the runways direction. A higher deviation does not imply you will not be able to land but it is not ideal. Since you are at a speed of about 140KT (see speed above) and as soon as you see the runway's "localiser" moving on your HSI (you do not have a localiser in arunway without ILS but you can use a very close navaid liek a VOR) start turning to thh runway's direction. Given the above speed you should start with a bank of 20 (if the deviation is 30 degrees) and you will see if it necessary to open or close the rate of the turn.

Final descend
-----------------
Now that you are aligned to the runway (with wheels down) try to maintain this alignment with small corrections to the left and right. Remember the 737 will not respond well to sudden controls so move the joystick lever in a gentle way. If you try 5-10 landings you will get used to the airplanes "personality". At the same time watch the VASI. If you see 2 red and 2 whote lights or a red light above a white light you in the correct glidepath. In order to maintain this your rate of descend should be about 700 fpm (given that your airspeed is now about 130KT). To do this keeps flaps at 25 (real 737 required 30 but not FS2002), N1 at about 50% (ranging from 45% to 52%) and a nose pitch up to 2-3 degrees. Approaching the runway you may need to reduce power a little. Just 50ft above the runway reduce power to idle and increase the nose pitch for another 2-3 degrees in addition. Keep in mind that you correct deviations from the correct glidepath (if you see 3 reds or 3 whites) only changing the power. You must always maintain 2-3 degrees pitchup. Of course channging the power will tend to change your pitch as well. Resist this and trim.

And remember: practice is the key. Just because I like 737 too much I have flown a lot of hours with this (much more than anything else). The result is that I find a lot easier to land a 737 than a Baron. So, just save situations on final and fly again until you are happy with the result.

That's it. I hope it helps.

P.S. I am asking your understanding for the typing errors I am sure I have made.

[Nexus]

To add to the post above, I'll attach some visual references, this is the recomended B737 non precision approach schedule.




And Poseidon, it IS easier to land bigger airplanes, ask any real world pilot.

[Poseidon]

And Poseidon, it IS easier to land bigger airplanes, ask any real world pilot.

Glad to hear that. So, I am not as insane as I thought.

[YodaNYC]

Lots of snow in NYC today so had some free time to try again.  Happy to say that I was successful although came in a bit fast.  Didn't have a problem getting the plane onto the runway.

Thanks again for all the assistance.  I'll post a couple of screenshots on the other board.

[Nexus]

Speaking of screenshots, Yoda

http://www.simviation.com/cgi-bin/yabb/ ... 1075296348
Hope you like them!  :)

[YodaNYC]

Great Screenshots!!  Glad to have been an inspiration.

How do you zoom in so close to the fuselage?