I’ve just been flying around and landing blind up to now, but I think it’s time I learned how to make a good ILS approach to an airport. I’ve googled and tried to watch a dozen videos, but they all tend to be a little different and put their own spin on the instructions. What’s the best video OR online text instruction you’ve seen? I’d love to learn it the right way the first time and not find out a year from now that I’ve been doing it the wrong way. Basically, I need to know what I need to enter into the Garmin and Autopilot to get the plane to land properly.
I don’t fly the Longitude so can’t help with that , but just wanted to commend your attitude towards learning the correct way right at the beginning before misconceptions become habits.
What I would say about the ILS is that it would better be described as an Instrument Approach System as it is designed to very accurately guide the pilot to a point on the approach at which you make the decision to continue to the runway for a landing, or carry out the missed approach procedure. Only in the case of suitably qualified pilots and autoland equipped aircraft can it actually land the aircraft with use of the autopilot.
I do think some users are confused as to thinking they must use the autopilot, and that it will automatically land the aircraft if they do.
Thanks for the info. The first time I tried, I entered the values and clicked ‘Load & Execute’, and my plane responded by turning around and heading back to my origin! The second time I tried, it at least lined me up for the approach, but I don’t know why it worked. I’ll keep looking around. Thanks for answering.
That’s nothing you did wrong. That’s a bug Asobo introduced into the nav system back in early November, I believe, when they “fixed” other AP issues, and haven’t been ■■■■■ to fix it yet. It creates this USER waypoint, sometimes up to tens of miles behind you and the AP turns you around to go to that USER waypoint. It’s a major annoyance, and it affects all the nav systems in all the planes that have them. And it seems rather random. Sometimes it works fine, other times, it does this stupidity. But rest assured it’s a bug, and not something you did wrong.
Using the G3000/5000, there’s a really easy workaround to this. It’s annoying, but works well.
Before activating an approach:
Synch your heading bug to current heading
switch AP to HDG mode
activate the approach and see if it creates that USER waypoint that will turn you around.
if no, then just switch back to NAV mode and continue as planned.
if yes, open your flight plan, select the transition that you were assigned as your entry into the approach, and hit the -D> Direct To button and switch back to NAV mode. Once you arrive at that waypoint, it will revert to continuing the approach plan as it is in your Garmin.
Technically, this workaround should also work with the stock G1000 and GNS530, but the -D> function doesn’t work right in those units. It won’t resume your flight plan when you hit your Direct To waypoint, and will try to resume the flight plan when you reach it, including taking you back to that USER waypoint.
This issue isn’t present in the GNS530 mod, as he rebuilt the whole nav system rather than using Asobo’s. Ditto for the nav system on the Working Title CJ4 mod, which is custom built for the plane. At some point, that much improved nav system is going to makes its way into the Working Title G1000/G3000 and G3X units as well.
know the proper altitude for intercepting the glide slope,
know the proper heading to intercept the glidelope at the specific frequency of the ILS/DME.
being level at the proper altitude you need to be on autopilot on HDG hold (a 30° intercept towards the intercept heading)
switch on the general LOC (localizer intercept) mode and the LOC/ILS heading will be intercepted by the AP,
the LOC mode which in the Longitude is the NAV mode, which is the same as GPS mode but now switched from default “FMC” to NAV1 (and the input freq.) in the left input tablet, LOC will show in the upper ribbon or the PFD.
When LOC has been intercepted and you’re heading towards the ILS beam, you switch on APP (approach mode) this will show a white “GS” on the PFD top ribbon (all AP modes are shown there), your ILS ‘diamond’ should have been showing in range from the ILS transmitter + the LOC directional and offset output on the PFD (green) switched from the GPS output (pinkish).
Your speeds should now be towards approach speeds, flaps scheduled, gears down, spoilers armed.
Heading closer towards the ILS beam (you’re 15-7nm from the airport and locked 1500-2500 above the airport), the ILS GS diamond should drop from the upper vertical position slowly to the PDF horizon after it turned green (within vertical range), and (with GS in white on the top ribbon) the Longitude will catch and descend the GS when the beam crosses the PDF horizon. Decrease your speed to the approach speed (~135 knots when heavy, or started ~ the default 50% weight and fuel in a short MSFS hop, lowest be around ~128 knots, when light).
When callout “500” you will estimate your offset of the touch down spot, and now or sometimes later (prob 300’-200" at the very latest in blind circumstances when you should hit TOGA if no runway in sight) you disconnect AP, disconnect Autothrottle and hand fly the Longitude to touch down. Reverse throttle, brake at 80kts, head for the exit, flaps up, spoilers down, landing lights off, request taxi.
No MSFS aircraft can do - proper - autolands CAT (at the moment, like the PMDG jets can in FSX/P3D).
Thanks Magick, sometimes this old brain needs step-by-step instructions from someone other than my wife. Very well done, I appreciate the work that went into that.
Very well done, I appreciate the work that went into that.