The 'Official' Screenshot & Tips thread 4 FSX enthusiasts & flight simmers.

Jason2 said:
Thanks for the info, I greatly appreciate it.

I was using V/S to start with, so pressed V-NAV and the plane followed the complete flight plan at the right altitudes and speeds that the FMC showed, so great! However, landing was another thing. To get the descent started I had to press V/S and then switch back to V-NAV to get the plane to descend to the altitude the FMC was saying I should be at, at that particular waypoint. This worked well but then turning on final and the plane really wasn't lined up straight, so I had to manually turn the plane myself. I was landing at Schiphol btw. Am I missing anything about landing? Forgetting switch something on? I don't know.
Click to expand...

So when it comes to descending, you put your altitude down to say 6000 ft before the T.O.D (Top Of Descent) and VNAV should then follow the alt constraints on the descent.

If you're online, as Ringo says, ATC will better vector you in and around if you don't establish on the localizer. So you'd be out of VNAV and LNAV and be using HDG, ALT and V/S.

You shouldn't have to manually line the plane up. Try slowing down to 180 kts about 15 miles out. As you improve you can slow down later and later.
 
Thanks Ringo and Blue.

Sorry, as usual, I didn't make myself clear. I do usual use App mode with both CMD A and B enabled for a full autoland. However, in this case, it wasn't time for landing, it just so happens that the flight path intersected the glide slope before turning away from the runway.

Anyway, it is not really important. Had a good flight from Heathrow to Leeds yesterday that made it all better :)

Although that flight did bring up another little issue. SimSRD didn't seem to have a STAR listed for Leeds? Neither did the FMC, so how would you program the approach?

Thanks.
 
!bluetonic! said:
So when it comes to descending, you put your altitude down to say 6000 ft before the T.O.D (Top Of Descent) and VNAV should then follow the alt constraints on the descent.

If you're online, as Ringo says, ATC will better vector you in and around if you don't establish on the localizer. So you'd be out of VNAV and LNAV and be using HDG, ALT and V/S.

You shouldn't have to manually line the plane up. Try slowing down to 180 kts about 15 miles out. As you improve you can slow down later and later.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the help. I tried again with Schiphol ILS18C and it didn't line up with the runway again. It makes the final turn but for some reason isn't lined up.

In regards to setting altitude, where about do you mean? In the FMC? And where about is T.O.D? I usually just keep V-NAV on and it follows the altitudes and speeds for that particular waypoint.
 
I think it's because I wasn't engaging the "LOC" and "APP" buttons. Do any of you know how to find the ILS frequency of a runway at a specific airport?

Lot of information to take in but I'm getting there!!

EDIT: Never-mind. I see the 'Approach' page on the FMC shows me the ILS frequency.
 
Last edited:
shahpor said:
Although that flight did bring up another little issue. SimSRD didn't seem to have a STAR listed for Leeds? Neither did the FMC, so how would you program the approach?
Click to expand...

Leeds doesn't seem to have any published STARs so you would expect ATC to vector you towards the approach. My local airport has no STARs published so what you will hear ATC say is "vectoring for an ILS RWY 22 approach". If you are flying offline you can simply connect up your route to go from your final route waypoint to the ILS approach.

Jason2 said:
Thanks for the help. I tried again with Schiphol ILS18C and it didn't line up with the runway again. It makes the final turn but for some reason isn't lined up.

In regards to setting altitude, where about do you mean? In the FMC? And where about is T.O.D? I usually just keep V-NAV on and it follows the altitudes and speeds for that particular waypoint.
Click to expand...

Jason, are you setting your course properly on the FMC? Tuning your nav radios alone isn't enough. If the runway is 270 and your course doesn't match then you could well be flying a dodgy route.

Regarding altitude your FMC will calculate the TOC/TOD points. The MCP altitude will always take preference though. For example, after your SID if you wind your MCP alt window up to cruising altitude then there is nothing stopping it. If ATC say "Stop climb FL100" then you would set this in the MCP and the a/c would climb only to 10000ft despite the FMC expecting a higher cruise level. Once ATC clear you higher again you simply wind up the MCP window and hit "ALT INTV". You can stay in VNAV the whole time.

I rarely use other modes unless I need to do step climbs/descents. One tip is to switch to V/S mode before starting the descent and set it to about 1000ft/min. Let this run until the profile catches up with the VNAV profile, then re-enable VNAV. This will make the start of descent much less noticable for your passengers!

Jason2 said:
I think it's because I wasn't engaging the "LOC" and "APP" buttons. Do any of you know how to find the ILS frequency of a runway at a specific airport?

Lot of information to take in but I'm getting there!!

EDIT: Never-mind. I see the 'Approach' page on the FMC shows me the ILS frequency.
Click to expand...

Exactly, on this page you will find the proper course(CRS) that you need to set in your MCP course window too. Practice makes perfect!
 
ringo747 said:
Leeds doesn't seem to have any published STARs so you would expect ATC to vector you towards the approach. My local airport has no STARs published so what you will hear ATC say is "vectoring for an ILS RWY 22 approach". If you are flying offline you can simply connect up your route to go from your final route waypoint to the ILS approach.



Jason, are you setting your course properly on the FMC? Tuning your nav radios alone isn't enough. If the runway is 270 and your course doesn't match then you could well be flying a dodgy route.

Regarding altitude your FMC will calculate the TOC/TOD points. The MCP altitude will always take preference though. For example, after your SID if you wind your MCP alt window up to cruising altitude then there is nothing stopping it. If ATC say "Stop climb FL100" then you would set this in the MCP and the a/c would climb only to 10000ft despite the FMC expecting a higher cruise level. Once ATC clear you higher again you simply wind up the MCP window and hit "ALT INTV". You can stay in VNAV the whole time.

I rarely use other modes unless I need to do step climbs/descents. One tip is to switch to V/S mode before starting the descent and set it to about 1000ft/min. Let this run until the profile catches up with the VNAV profile, then re-enable VNAV. This will make the start of descent much less noticable for your passengers!



Exactly, on this page you will find the proper course(CRS) that you need to set in your MCP course window too. Practice makes perfect!
Click to expand...

Yeah the course is set but it doesn't align. I need to read up more on approach because I'm not sure exactly what I should be looking for when intercepting the localizer. I mean, I press the "LOC" button and activate nav 1 and hear the beeps but nothing seems to happen. The heading selector changes but isn't highlighted, and when I do click it, it doesn't go towards that heading. Then I press the "APP" button and nothing happens there. I got the following error when coming in to land:

EFIS MODE/NAV FREQ DISAGREE.

No idea what that means. :confused:
 
Jason2 said:
Yeah the course is set but it doesn't align. I need to read up more on approach because I'm not sure exactly what I should be looking for when intercepting the localizer. I mean, I press the "LOC" button and activate nav 1 and hear the beeps but nothing seems to happen. The heading selector changes but isn't highlighted, and when I do click it, it doesn't go towards that heading. Then I press the "APP" button and nothing happens there. I got the following error when coming in to land:

EFIS MODE/NAV FREQ DISAGREE.

No idea what that means. :confused:
Click to expand...

Have you flicked your MCP selector to approach mode? Is the ILS frequency definitely correct?
 
Yup, definitely correct. I was also flicking between map and app as I wasn't too sure what it was meant to be on. What exactly am I supposed to look for on the display when intercepting the localizer? How far out do I need to press the "LOC" and "APP" buttons respectively?
 
It's hard to explain without seeing it infront of me but say for example you are flying onto a runway which has a heading of 250degrees (runway 25), ATC will normally give you a heading of 285 (assuming coming from the south) in order to establish on the localiser.

So you will be flying in HDG select mode pointing 285. Your NAV radios will both have the correct ILS frequency active. You will have 250 set on the MCP CRS window. You can keep heading hold selected but also press VOR LOC. This will arm the localiser capture mode until it becomes live.

When you are coming close to the localiser then the aircraft should leave heading select mode and now attempt to establish on the localiser. This should put you onto a heading of 250 and pointing directly down the runway track. If this doesn't happen then you need to check your frequency/course.

My FSX PC is broke at the moment so I can't even take screenshots but keep posting back and we will get you sorted!

There are so many possible approaches that it is impossible to determine exactly what is wrong but I've tried to keep it as simple as possible. Even without the FMC programmed you should be able to simply enter the ILS frequency and course and fly the approach.

If you give me some more info on what runway you are trying to land on etc I'll look up the charts and get back to you.
 
Well just tried again at ILS18c Schiphol and same thing happened. It seems to turn way too early. G/S showed up when I had the "LOC" button pressed but when I tried to press "APP" it wouldn't switch on. Frustrating stuff!!!

I did manage to take some pictures to see if that helps.





 
Hi Jason, everything in the first screenshot looks ok. I'm wondering are you confusing the localiser with the glideslope. In the approach1 screenshot you are pretty much crossing the glideslope as shown by the pink diamond on the right. It would appear that you are still not in line with the localiser though. Normally you would expect to be established on the localiser before descending on the glideslope. Certainly the ATC at my local airport would do that.

They will ask you to fly a heading to intercept the localiser, then when established descend on the glideslope.

Screenshot1: Everything looks fine, heading select with vor loc.

Screenshot2: This looks a bit odd. When the localiser is captured you should expect the pink bar to become solid, rather than simply the outline. Are you sure you haven't set the frequency for one of the parallel runways at Schiphol? Perhaps you have input the ILS frequency for runway 18R?

Screenshot3: The vor/loc and g/s indications on the FMA look ok (i think).

The most likely thing is the wrong ILS frequency! Let us know what frequency you are using.

Edit: from looking at your route on the magenta line it looks like you have selected the approach correctly in the FMC so therefore I'd expect that the freq/course on the approach ref page would be correct! Give us some more info after your suspension expires!

From the charts it looks like 109.5 is the ILS freq you want.
 
Last edited:
Are you sure you are putting the frequency into both NAV radios and pressing the transfer button?

Also, once you have hit the approach button, you need to press AP ENGAGE CMD B as well to activate the whole shebang.

I see your suspended, when you are able, post a pic of your FMC legs pages. I think you may have a problem with the route. Sure you haven't got any discontinuities in your route?
 
Last edited:
Hi Rob, I could be wrong but I think you only need the two APs if you are doing a full autoland. You should be able to select APP mode with the APs off and just follow the flight director manually. Having one AP enabled should at least capture the loc without issue.

I don't think it would matter if there was any route discos as he is already out of LNAV and VNAV modes. It certainly is strange but I'd expect the wrong frequency or else like you say maybe the freq is set as the standby instead of active.

I'd have expected to see the ILS identifier IZWA in the PFD but not sure if I am correct in that or not.
 
When I fly into Schiphol, as soon as I have crossed SUGOL, I don't follow my route on my FMC (It almost wants to take you over the airport and then back again to the start off the LOC :confused:)

I just use heading mode and VS. Once I'm about 20NM from the LOC I switch it on. Once I get my solid diamond I engage the APP.

As Blue said open up Plan-G and just fly towards the green ILS arrows, once you close to it switch on your LOC and as soon as you hit the green the plane should start turning towards the runway.
 
Please excuse my ignorance as I am certainly a novice myself, but shouldn't the DME be showing a range by the time the screenshots have taken place?

As far as I am aware, whenever I fly into Schiphol 18R, the heading is 184 and the ILS frequency is 110.10.

Although I use LNAV and VNAV modes with VOR LOC enabled until the localiser and then use APP, so it is slightly different from what Jason is doing.

Perhaps a picture of the centre pedestal can also be posted to see how the NAV frequencies are set up?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom