I was flying A320neo into Cape Town (FACT) with an IFR flight plan configured to come in on RNAV 01. When I got close I saw I had a localizer/glidescope fix visible after clicking on the “LS” button to show the landing system state, so figured it must be picking up the RNAV route, or it included ILS as a final phase?
But I was wrong – it had picked up ILS for runway 19, so dutifully turned me 180 degrees and sent me out to sea when I pushed the “APPR” button to activate approach mode.
This is my fault for not reading carefully – it was clearly marked on the PFD as picking up ILS for rwy 19, the opposite direction from my approach.
However it seems weird that it was already tuned to the exact opposite runway from the one I was coming in, on 109.1.
Is 109.1 the default or something? Or does it automatically pick up frequencies for some reason I don’t understand?
Same as what? The runways have different frequencies. There was nothing else before approach to tune to. I have no manually tuned ILS (and don’t even know how on this plane).
How so? That doesn’t explain how a tuning happened without my doing anything that I know of, and I would like to understand better how it’s working and what’s going on so I can operate it properly. Do you actually have further information you can share? If so, thanks!
Oh, and THANK YOU for confirming that LS is not relevant to RNAV or VOR approaches. That’s useful information that is not covered by the complete 100% lack of manuals or tutorials in this simulator.
I pushed it because I knew I needed it for ILS approaches, and wasn’t sure if I needed it elsewhere.
So either it never automatically tunes, but it defaults to 109.1, or it automatically tunes but it’s tuning to the wrong runway. I can think of no other explanation?
ATC is giving the orders. No matter what you file with your flightplan - weather conditions and traffic can make it necessary to change runways and approaches. At least in the real world. In the sim, ATC is currently a bit wonky at times but nevertheless you should listen carefully.
The LS button can be used for ILS and LOC approaches.
Besides, I wouldn’t blame it on the sim that there’s no manual for the A320 integrated. Luckily you can look all that up on the internet. There are tons of websites, forums and YouTube channels dedicated to aviation in general and flightsims specifically.
A good site for what every switch in the cockpit of the A320 does is this site, for example.
In Flight Simulator 2020, to the best of my knowledge, if I select an approach it will be passed through by ATC. I haven’t yet encountered an opposite case to this. Have you? Do you know the rules for what it selects? Thanks!
