Quote:
Originally Posted by USNSRCaseySmith
Okay so I just had an awesome experience.
Decided I wanted to fly in crappy weather so I flew from KLAX to KNTD (I think, it is actually Point Mugu, California) in fogged in weather. Wow, quite a pea soup at ground level. Quite interesting to take off in and fly above. And then I got to Pt Mugu, they directed me inland and to descend. . . riiiiight into a mountain. 
That was more my fault though, I had it on autopilot to descend and hold 2,400 and should have known better but started messing with my GPS. 
But they talked about the localizers and holding onto them. I know what they are from a quick google search, but how do I really use them with the ILS? Better yet, can either of you give me a quick run down on using ILS to land?? Usually I just use my GPS and look at the instrument feathers for the runways and try to get as close as possible to center.
The way they made it sound though, it seems like you should be able to use it with something in the cockpit?? 
And I looked in the FSX learning center and found nothing on the ILS and how to use it to land.  |
First: the radio and traffic control are really - messy in FSX. They can get you killed if you trust them blindly in a region with mountains. I fly a lot in the Alpes, so take my word for it. It's an AI - never forget that. However, when manually demanding a descend for lower flight level over mountains while dropping an IFR, they usually will reject any altitude you demand that puts you in reach of the mountain peaks. I do many approaches to Zurich, and often they call me for approaching from the SE to the NW. There are high mountain in the descent path.
The AP itself does not check for obstacles in your flightpath. If you tell it to descend and there is a mountain in the way, then the AP will get you diving right into it.
The only way is what the real guys do in real life, too: check a printed map before takeoff. Form a mental image of the destination's vicinity and what it looks like in elevations. Do not trust AP or TraCon blindly.
Some addon planes have a functional terrain radar. That'S nice. Others have a functional digital terrain map on their glass displays. You have the map option in the FSX menus. Adn then there are final approach charts, often by Jeppesen.
ILS approach: in brief. Tune in ILS frequency to NAV1 radio, and make it the active frequency. On your HSI tune in the precise (!) landing course of the runway. Then fly by the needles exclusively. If you want a full autoland, bring plane to intercept course for the landing course, and make sure it gets intercepted before you intercept the glideslope. Then hit the APR (Approach) button on the AP.
If it is an airliner, it might be different with the default ones, but I do not remember the default airliners, so keep that in mind. You usually have CMD-A activated, and do final approach via HDG mode. When ILS data has been entered, you set HDG course for loaliser intercept, hit the LOC button and LOC gets armed. The plane intercepts, and lines up with the runway, LOC message no longer armed but active. Once LOC has been intercepted you wait until you get signal for Glideslope being received (marker shows up), it should be ABOVE you (always intercept glideslope from below, never from above!), you are then ready to engage the APP mode and add the second autopilot for better redundancy (you cannot engage both autopilots outside the approach phase of the flight). Once the plane has intercepted the GS, it will start to sink to stay on the glideslope, and the APP mode changes from armed to active. You then only handle flaps and speed and gear yourself, also manually arm spoiler and chose an autobrake setting, the latter and flaps are choosen according to the tables (that you do not have
) - landing the plane does all by itself. Normally, autopilots get disengaged however, somewhere after sinking below decision height and beginning of flare. Autobrakes will be engaged by themselves if you armed them, but I'm not sure right now about the reversers. Switch off reverser when having reached 70 knots or so.
Switch off autopilot, flight director and or autothrottle once you are on the ground. I do not remember which of these the default airliners have. You will have problems taxiing when you leave them on.
If you use the GPS, as I know it from my addons the AP must be told - via a switch - that it should use the GPS as signal source, not the radio. Don't know how that is with default airplanes. Look for a switch on the panel reading something like "NAV/GPS". In airliners in FSX that by default have no functional FMC I think , it might be different - check the learning centre, I know that ILS and GPS get explained in there.
Localiser refers to the lateral orientation of the plane. The vertical orientation is called the Glideslope. For security reasons it is standard procedure that the localiser must be intercepted BEFORE you intercept the glideslope. If you are on glideslope before properly aligned to the runway, you may go into a descend while still doing heavy manouverings, and slam into the ground beside the runway. So: localiser first, glideslope second.
A proper FMC will take care of that by itself usually.
FSX -> Learning Centre -> Flight Planner
FSX -> Learning Centre -> Navigation -> several of the according sub chapters
FSX -> Learning Centre -> Autopilot