Microsoft Flight Simulator X - ILS Approach

[Ed]

Synopsis
On many of the other flight sim forums and particularly the official FSX thread here at OcUK I see a lot of people ask about how to locate an airport and land the plane correctly. At first this can seem quite daunting and when ATC [air traffic control] give you headings to follow they often give you just enough information to pick up the localizer. Now what? Visually you can see two airports and each airport has more than one runway. Great. Which way now? What's the localizer? How do I use it?

Below is a quick guide to understanding what's what and how to use the localizer to give you the perfect landing on the right runway at the correct airport.

This tutorial is based on a single engine prop, the Piper Warrior PA28 that I downloaded from somewhere on the web. The reason? I'm learning to fly in one and I love the plane. The instruments are common to all the props with analogue dials. I would recommend you learn this way first as props are slower and give you more time to correct settings and read instruments. Once mastered, you can apply what you know to the digital instrument planes and the big, fast jets.

OK, let's go!

First plan your flight
Below shows that I have used the flight planner to plan a very short flight from Rochester to Manston using IFR. Choosing IFR means ATC will vector me in to the localizer by giving me headings along the way. This simplifies navigation and is preferred for this exercise. I'm not routing the journey so I've selected Direct - GPS. If you wish to route your flight for some sight seeing then choose VOR to VOR. This will allow you to choose where you wish to route your journey to and ATC will give you the appropriate headings at the appropriate times.

Set flight conditions
You can see below that I've made sure the weather is good so visibility should be too. Also, it's a summer day. This means we can visually track what the instruments tell us which should aid learning. Once you gain confidence in the instruments you can start to deteriorate light and weather so you don't rely on the visual approach.

Let's fly
Once cleared, we can now take off. As stated below in the ATC menu, ATC have given us instructions to take off and climb to 3000ft. The frequency [130.775] and squawk [4244] is automatically taken care of by our comms radio so no need to fiddle with those. Just let the ATC menu instruct us with radio calls and headings.

 

[Ed]

Prepare to gather localizer settings required
As you can see in the picture below, we've taken off, we're climbing to 3000ft and ATC has given us instructions relating to where we're heading, such as 'turn right heading 110' and 'climb and maintain 3000'. Notice it says 'Expect vectors ILS runway 28 approach'. The last notice is important to us as it tells us we're heading for runway 28.

Now we need to load the map. I've set this to hotkey 'm' so it's easier to call up.

Once in the map, select the airport as shown above.

The image above is the important one as it gives us the ILS settings we need to configure our navigation system and track the localizer. We know it's runway 28 so the two figures we need are:

1. ILS Freq which is 111.750
2. ILS Hdg which is 283

The frequency is the frequency of the localizer and the heading is the runway direction so we don't end up heading towards the runway side on. That would be a bit stoopid wouldn't it?

 

[Ed]

Setting controls and gauges
The image below covers what we need to do with the information we've just gathered from the map window after being instructed we're being sent to runway 28 at Manston.

There are two important areas here. The first is the nav control. If you look at the centre console and see the digital displays, the first row contains a bank of switches. Below this is a bank of buttons. You can see that COM1 and NAV1 are enabled. If yours aren't please switch them on.

[Start - Read carefully]
Below this is the comms1 and nav1 radio. The comms is already set to 128.30 which is the ATC. We leave this alone as we manage this via the ATC window. The second number 127.90 is the standby comms1 number which we can ignore. The next number is the important one as this is the number we need to point to the localizer as this relates to our nav1 radio. I've already set mine to 111.750 which is the correct ILS frequency as stated by the map. To set this you'll need to amend the frequency in the nav1 standby section next to it and then press the standby button directly underneath it. If you don't know how to do this then hover the mouse over the controls to let the popup information help you out a bit. Once the nav1 radio is set to the ILS frequency, and NAV1 button is highlighted, we're tuned in to receive the localizer.

Next up we need to adjust the VOR1 control. This is the gauge that is directly below and slightly to the right of the letters OMI on the dashboard. Again, hover the mouse above to indicate the right control. It will have what appears to be crosshairs in them. Some gauges will vary from plane to plane but they all serve the same purpose and are just as easy to read. On the bottom left of this gauge is a button that allows us to adjust the gauge. It's this gauge that we need to set to the ILS heading of 283 as previously stated by our map. Fiddle with the gauge until you set the correct course. If you hover over the button it should say something like 'omnibearing selector [nav1]'.
[End - Read carefully]

[Start Note]
If you get stuck at this point then press 'P' and pause the sim. This gives you the time to play with the settings as all controls and menus still operate. It just means you don't crash to the ground while fiddling about and should take the pressure off a bit.
[End Note]

Now you've set the NAV1 radio and the VOR1 gauge to the correct settings, we just need to fly the plane in accordance to the ATC's commands.

Further commands from ATC are sending us out into the English Channel off the coast of Kent.

Notice above when we view the VOR1 gauge the cross hairs have begun to move around a bit. We ignore this for now as ATC are still vectoring us but it means that the NAV1 radio is starting to get within a sniff of the localizer and is affecting the gauges.


Quick note [morse code beeping]
As soon as the localizer is picked up you'll start to hear a morse code beep noise. It will probably drive you mad at first. If you don't need to track the localizer just yet due to ATC still giving you instructions then set the NAV1 to standby. This gives you a bit of peace and quiet. Once ATC suggest a heading and altitude until established on the localizer, you'll need to switch NAV1 back to 111.750 by pressing the standby button again.

 

[Ed]

If we view the external shot below, we can see Manston airport in the distance. Only just though.

Check out the image below. We're now being instructed to turn towards the airport and lower our altitude slightly.

Now, check the picture below. Because visibility is good we can make out the runway but this may not always be the case depending on the weather settings you have. Also, check the VOR1 gauge. If we read the cross hairs we can deduce that we're too far right and also too low for the glideslope. The glideslope is an imaginary line that links your plane to the beginning of the runway. We need to track the glideslope by trying to centralise the lines in VOR1.

So, at this point, according to VOR1, the horizontal line indicates that we need to maintain our altitude until the horizontal VOR1 line sits in the middle and we need to head left slightly to get the vertical VOR1 line to sit in the middle too. Once we can centralise the lines, we're in the glideslope of the localizer.

 

[Ed]

I've now managed to maintain altitude and intercept the horizontal VOR1 line of the glideslope. Great! I still need to head slightly to the right though and the visual approach would back this up.

I've now hit turbulence and it's thrown the plane off a bit. You can see in the picture below that I need to lose height and nudge to the left. Remember to always fly towards the lines of the VOR1 gauge.

Check the image below. Perfect! I'm now aligned in the glideslope correctly both horizontally and vertically.

 

[Ed]

Set flaps, adjust speed and touch down on runway 28 at Manston Airport.

Perfect landing as usual.

 

[Ed]

Using the navigation radio and the VOR gauge takes some practice. Some controls don't even give you the detail so you don't know if you've correctly set the gauge to 283. Just get it as near as you can read it to be. Also some airports won't have ILS so then you're really stuffed however most of these are very small airfields.

As soon as you have done a few successful ILS landings, try taking what you've learnt and apply it to some of the bigger stuff. Because of the extra speeds of the jets, there's less room for error.

Great!

Good luck and have fun learning.

 

[Ed]

Cheers guys. Don't forget to rate the thread as it may mean it's kept in the archives as a reference. If I get time I'll see if I can run a tutorial using the jets as well. Principly, it's exactly the same except the gauges and controls are digitised and the buttons are in different places.

 

[Ed]

747 would be good seeing as I'm having a right mare landing them at the moment

Since you've asked! The 747 is the original beast of the sky so I've setup the following short guide.

Landing the 747 using ILS

Check the screens below. I've setup a flight from Charles De Gaulle in Paris to London Heathrow. It's early afternoon so we have light but I'm running Active Sky so the weather isn't too good and visibility has suffered.

As before, it's an IFR route direct.

 

[Ed]

So we're cleared for takeoff and on our way. I've been instructed to fly runway heading and climb to 4000ft.

After reaching height and heading for Heathrow London, we're now leaving France and into the English Channel.

Now we're within distance of Heathrow, ATC has contacted me and told me to 'Expect vectors ILS runway 27L approach'.

Now I know the runway, I can load the map and gather the two important pieces of information we require, the ILS frequency for the localizer and the ILS heading which is the runway heading.

 

[Ed]

Check out the image below.

You'll need to press SHIFT+2 to load up the radio panel as shown above. If you look for NAV1, this needs setting to the ILS frequency for 27L Heathrow which is 109.50. Also, in the radio panel, check the bottom to see if the NAV1 button is highlighted. Once activated and tuned, we're fixed for the localizer.

Look below. We also need to set the runway heading. On the 747 it's within the Primary Flight Display as shown. Hover the mouse over the CRS figure and you'll get the + and - operators to allow you to set this. In our case, runway 27L is heading 273.

Now we're tuned in to the localizer and we're near Heathrow, we need to follow ATC instructions until we're established on the localizer. The image below shows we've picked it up and we're vectored in the right direction.

 

[Ed]

Now I've intercepted the vertical line of the glideslope I'm inline with the runway but the altitude bug suggests I'm still too low.

Still slightly low and slightly too left but much more in the glideslope now. We can also see the red/white PAPI lights [Precision Approach Path Indicator], runway and the airport so it looks like we're in for another smooth landing.

Touchdown runway 27L London Heathrow.

Note

If you use autopilot to fly the plane and then you wish to track the localizer you can also use the autopilots 'Approach Hold' option which will override the altitude and atitude to guide you in. It won't manage your speed so you'll still need to know landing speeds and use flaps manually but it will get you within feet of the runway in the most severe of conditions.

Auto approach however is for wimps and we like to fly our planes, particularly monsters such as 747's.