How To...Fly An Airliner, Including ILS Approach, In FSX

An article that was most helpful for me was this piece written ten or twelve years ago by Geert Rolf.

Well, that tutorial was flown with FS2002 and we are now several years and a couple of sim versions beyond that! This article today aims to UPDATE and REPLACE both of those former articles. My goal here is to get you flying successfully, I'm not trying to make commercial pilots out of you and we are NOT necessarily following any documented or "proper" procedures. If you know very well what you are doing than this may be of little interest to you.

First of all you'll need to have a grasp of some basics:

• You'll need to have an understanding of using VORs and NDBs to navigate the world. See: http://www.flightsim.com/main/howto/fsnav101.htm and http://www.flightsim.com/main/howto/fsnav102.htm
• You'll need to know how to set your radio stack to change frequencies.
• You'll need to have a basic understanding of using your autopilot including NAV versus GPS settings, using HDG, CRS, SPD and ALT hold, etc. Maybe some working knowledge about the default flight planner would be good too.

If you are NOT up to speed on these three points you are really not ready to try this so you'll need to go do some study and check back with this article later.

I will be flying two Boeings and a Douglas for this demonstration but the principles learned can be applied to most any aircraft with an autopilot - not to offend anyone but I've even gone so far as to install a "Dash 8-type" of panel in my DC-3 and this technique for flying the ILS works for that aircraft too!

Starting Easy: Los Angeles To Ontario In The 738

First let's talk about what we are going to do. We are going to depart LAX to the east and fly "straight" to Ontario. As you can see in PHOTO-01, if we follow the grey line and fly the runway heading we'll be too close to get lined up for landing. So we are going to tweak our route along the pink line towards Pomona. As we cross the ILS beam for Ontario runway 8L we'll make a little course correction to the right and come right on in for landing.

Photo-01

Choose your aircraft and go to KLAX runway 6L. Let's look at PHOTO-02 in depth (click any image for a larger view):

Photo-02

• On the left side is the radio with NAV1 set to the ILS at Ontario, 109.7.
• NAV2 is set to the VOR at Pomona, 110.4.
• The NDB/ADF really isn't needed but I put in 397 which is beyond Ontario but may help us with our geography in the air.
• Across the top you'll see that CRS is at 076° which is the runway at Ontario. Course is where we want to go.
• Next panel is for airspeed, 250 knots max under 10,000 feet.
• Heading is 069° which is our current position on runway 6L. If course is where we want to go, heading is where we are currently going. You'll see a difference here of 10° which isn't much but if we turn just a bit north, toward Pomona, that'll give us a little leeway.
• In fact, if you look at the middle bottom you'll see the NAV2 arrow pointing toward Pomona, slightly left of our current heading.
• Back to the top right, we'll be cruising at 3,000 for this flight - not very realistic but it's just practice.
• Under the ALT settings you'll see 3-4 notches of flaps are in. All that's left to do is set the RTO knob and depart.
• PHOTO-03. Rule number one is always to "fly the plane first" so I always keep all autopilot functions off until safely airborne.

Photo-03

Photo-04

In PHOTO-04 you can see that we are now airborne and stable so the autopilot has been engaged. Gear and flaps are up, the RTO has been turned off and we are flying runway heading with Pomona ahead-left. Compare that to PHOTO-05 where we have turned our HDG indicator to 058° and we are heading toward Pomona.

Photo-05

Photo-06

We next shift our attention to the main display (circled in PHOTO-06) where we are watching for the pink line (which is Ontario's runway) to center up. Again, let's dissect the screen shot:

• Course is 076 which is where we want to go, Ontario's runway 8L.
• Speed is 200, we are slowing down in prep for landing.
• Heading is 076 because we are turning right to MATCH the runway heading - we now aim to keep that pink line centered up. If the line moves right we turn the HDG knob right - if the line moves left we turn the HDG knob left.
• Altitude is still 3,000 feet.
• Below that we see some flaps coming down in prep for landing. No gear yet and no autobraking.
• On the lower middle we see that we are still pointing toward Pomona (open arrow) but that San Bernardino NDB is to the right.
• On the left display we can see KONT is also to our right and the pink dotted line is our heading.

Photo-07

Now that we are aligned with the runway we can learn about glideslopes (PHOTO-07). The approach to the runway goes up forever as we see number 1 on the green line. We are flying along happily at 3,000 feet which is the pink line. As we get closer to the glideslope the green line gets lower as shown in position number 2. At some point we will cross the glideslope as noted by position number 3. If we continue along the pink line we'll be too high so at that point we need to fly down the green line (number 4) until we land (number 5). We can see this happening in PHOTO-08:

Photo-08

• The circled part shows two little pink blips which is the runway and glideslope. The bottom blip shows that we are aligned with the runway (also shown by the pink line in the next display screen to the right) The other little blip on the side shows the glideslope coming down lower to cross our path.
• Along the autopilot we see that our intended course is still 076°
• Our speed is lower, 165.
• Heading is now 077° basically matching the runway.
• Altitude is still 3,000 feet because we haven't cross the glideslope yet (see position 2 in PHOTO-07)
• More flaps in prep for landing
• Gear coming down

Now we start the really tricky part. You are going to use your mouse to click your Heading and Altitude settings all the way to the runway. "Hey!" you may ask, "Why not use your autoland or APP function?" Well, you can certainly do that! I prefer to FLY the airplane and as Gary is finding out, this technique can be more accurate than autoland (see the end of this article for an example). Now, doing this does not take the place of a hand-flown, fully-manual approach but remember, this is for those of you who struggle with that and want to have some success.

Photo-09

PHOTO-09 shows that we have now intercepted the glideslope as well and we are heading down to the runway.

• On the left, the two pink blips are lined up in the middle. This means that we are aligned with the runway and on the glideslope.
• Notice the altitude setting on the right of autopilot - it's 0000 which is sea level!
• You'll now use small tweaks of heading and rate of descent to fly to the runway.
• If the glideslope goes low we need to descend faster than -800 fpm. If it goes high we'll need to click that UP to maybe -300 fpm.
• Same thing with heading, if it moves left or right we'll click the autopilot heading to match.
• Gear and flaps are down, no autobraking needed, speed maybe a bit high but ...

As I came down on this approach my heading setting varied between 074 and 079 and my rate of descent varied -700 to -1,100 fpm. Please notice the settings in PHOTO-10:

Photo-10

Photo-11

PHOTO-11 is very similar except that speed is set to 13!

PHOTO-12 shows the speed and altitude coming down but now only -200 fpm. Basically we have used the autopilot to retard the throttles and flare. Notice too that because we were high in photo 10, we have lost the ILS and are landing half-way down the runway! ("Not to worry folks, your captain is experienced and has everything under control ...")

Photo-12

Photo-13

PHOTO-13 shows the final flare. Autopilot is still on, speed even lower, heading up to 078 because I'm on the left side of the runway. I'm just a few feet off the ground, nose is up and actual speed is about 150. Not bad!

Photo-14

Photo-15

PHOTOS-14 and 15 show us on the ground, spoilers up but autopilot still on. At this point I disconnect all autopilot functions, reverse thrust and use differential braking to keep centered. I stopped up easily before the end of the runway and can use my joystick/yoke to now taxi to the gate.

More Challenging: Addis To Kigali In The 788

From the FSX main screen I select aircraft, Ethiopian 787-800. I click on Flight Planner. Departure airport > Ethiopia > Addis > Bole International > one of the medium gates. Arrival airport > Rwanda > Kigali International. For now we'll choose GPS direct but then from the map view I'll drag the flight plan over Entebbe for a mid-way point. Save. Local time set to mid afternoon. Real-Weather download. Load game.

In the last scenario we knew the headings we needed to fly because the airports were close together but now we have to cover some distance so our set-up is a bit different. Also this time our approach is about 90° off from the runway so we'll have to execute some turning. Follow the steps noted below:

• Get paper
• Get pencil
• Open Map View
• Write down Addis VOR as 112.9
• Write down Addis runway as 072 / 252 (if we have to return to the airport we'll know where to head. If you'd like to write down the ILS frequencies that might be smart but really, I don't do that.
• Just mentally note that you are departing from >7,000 feet ASL.
• Now, scroll down the map, follow your line down to Kigali.
• Write down the VOR as 114.9
• Write down the runway and ILS as 109.9 heading 283° (we have determined already to land to the west but in reality you won't always know so you may want to print the airport info so you will have all of the options at hand - you don't want to write down all of the info for someplace like O'Hare!)
• Note the airport altitude as about 4,900 feet ASL.
• Close Map View and enter the cockpit.
• Set NAV1 to the Addis VOR, 112.9.
• Set CRS to the departure runway, 072°.
• Set HDG to the departure runway, 072°.
• Be sure that your NAV/GPS is set to Navigation.
• Set altitude about 3,000 feet above ground so, 10,500 feet or so.
• That's all shown in PHOTO-16
• If you want ATC ...

Photo-16

Photo-17

Okay, we are now on the departure runway (07R) holding short, ready to go (PHOTO-17). Again, I always keep full manual control until we are safely climbing and the flaps and gear are stowed away. If something breaks I want to be able to react quickly to keep things flying - autopilot does a poor job of climbing and turning to course when you suck a bird at V2!

Photo-18

PHOTO-18 shows the autopilot all turned on and we are flying eastward. Speed 250 knots, runway heading, climbing for 10,000 feet, airport 4.4 miles behind us. But Kigali and our route take us south so our next steps are noted below:

• Set ALT for a reasonable cruise altitude, like 35,000 feet.
• Turn CRS to roughly match our route, 230°
• Switch the NAV/GPS setting to GPS - we want to follow a prescribed route, we are no longer navigating.
• Disconnect HDG hold and select CRS hold or as I think of it, "follow your course". Some cockpits have a "track to waypoint" or "VOR LOCK" or "LNAV" that all do basically the same stuff.
• See PHOTO-19 as we are all locked into tracking our flight plan.

Photo-19

Photo-20

From here I like to hop outside and enjoy the views (PHOTO-20), maybe get a snack or take a real-world nature break. For really long flights I admit to using time acceleration for this portion. While we are cruising along we need to find that paper and set the radios. (Radios don't affect our navigation because we aren't in NAV mode, we are tracking the GPS plan - remember switching the NAV/GPS knob over the GPS?)

• NAV1 to the Kigali ILS 109.9
• NAV2 to the Kigali VOR 114.9
• ADF to the Kigali NDB 285
• HDG to match the flight plan, about 234° or so

Photo-21

One hundred miles or so before we start our descent we cross Entebbe and Lake Victoria, PHOTO 21.

Here's the mathematics: Kigali is around 5,000 feet. We want, initially, about a 5,000-foot cushion which means 10,000 feet ASL is our initial height to set-up to land. 35,000 minus 10,000 leaves us with 25,000 feet to descend. 25 divided by three equals 8.3. (250 / 3 = 83) So, we'll start our descent about 85 miles out from the Kigali VOR. The VOR and NDB should both be active by this point.

Once the VOR shows up then I know where my airport is and I no longer need the GPS flight plan. So, I turn the NAV/GPS knob back to NAV and I turn off the CRS hold and turn on the HDG hold on autopilot (remember earlier we set that to match our flight plan). At 85 miles I set ALT to 10,000 feet, rate of descent maybe -1,800 or -2,000 fpm. At this point our focus is the airport, no longer about the flight plan, so I turn the CRS to match the runway in Kigali which is 283° - we want to have a visual on the runway direction long before we can actually see the runway. Double-check the NAV/GPS knob, should be on NAV now.

Photo-22

Let's pick apart PHOTO 22 - Just look at the main display screen:

• Top left shows that the Kigali NDB is dialed up - notice the blue arrow pointing ahead.
• Current heading is 229°
• The CRS or big arrow across the middle is the Kigali runway - notice the runway orientation compared with our current route.
• On the lower right we see that the Kigali VOR is about 36 miles away - notice the big green arrow pointing ahead.
• Bottom left shows that the ILS frequency is 109.9 but it's not showing up as yet.
• Basically the two arrows at the top show that we are heading toward the airport which is 36 miles away and the runway is crossing our current path.

About twelve or fifteen miles before the Kigali VOR, turn heading to 090° which turns us downwind for landing or away from the airport. See our plan in PHOTO-23. I don't know how much of a long final you want to fly but with time you can make them shorter and shorter.

Photo-23

At this point I descended to 7,500 feet ASL and I saw the glideslope indicator rise up and past us so I knew at this altitude I could pick up the ILS beam. Also, having been to Rwanda before, I knew that the terrain east of Kigali is lower so 7,500 would be a safe altitude to stay at. In time, with everything set, I made a big right-hand turn to intercept our path to the runway. We'll look closely at PHOTO 24:

Photo-24

• CRS is still set to 283 which is the runway heading.
• NAV1 is set to the ILS and we can see that pink line starting to center up on the main display.
• As we learned in the last part, if the line is to the right, I need to turn my heading knob to the right. Therefore my heading is set to 305 (about 20° off from runway centerline.)
• Also on the main display we see along the right side that the glideslope is still above us so as we continue at this altitude it will come down to meet us. At this point the ALT on autopilot is holding 7,500 feet.
• The airport is still 20 miles away.
• Some flaps are down.
• Speed is coming down through 220 knots.
• No landing gear yet (and we won't use autobraking).

Photo-25

PHOTO-25 - left to right:

• Speed coming down through 175 knots
• Altitude coming down through 6,800 feet ASL, descending
• Heading 278 vs runway at 283, might be a bit breezy - certainly can't see anything outside
• Glideslope has come down so we are descending to match the pink diamond
• VOR and NDB still dead-ahead
• Airport 8 miles ahead
• Gear and flaps down

You should see clearly what's going on in PHOTO-26. Can you see the runway now? I should have been making a big correction to the right at this point!

Photo-26

Photo-27

PHOTO-27 shows that I have landed early, one arrow before the threshold, and again to the left. But, on pavement and so smoothly that there wasn't even any smoke on replay. As we did in Ontario, we deploy the spoilers, engage reverse thrust, disconnect Otto and use differential braking to keep centered until I go to the joystick/yoke below 50 knots. Kigali has only one turn-off and we did rollout beyond that so had to go to the end and turn around but still what I'd call a successful flight.

Finally, Adding Challenging Weather: Athens DC-10

Here's what I did:

• I departed from the old (closed) Athens airport heading north. PHOTO-28

Photo-28

Photo-29

• I turned left until heading south. PHOTO-29
• Eventually I turned left again to align with runway 03L at the new/current Athens airport. PHOTO-30

Photo-30

• I caught the ILS at 4,000 feet and set weather to that default FSX setting called "Major Thunderstorm".
• Then, for pass one, I simply clicked APPR LAND and let the plane fly itself (PHOTOS-31 and 32). You'll see that we landed nose-first and crashed just off-runway. I had crash mode turned off but just after the screen shot I somersaulted over the number three engine!

Photo-31

Photo-32

• For pass number two I did the techniques we've been learning here. The problem is that this autopilot only changes heading by 10° at once so our passengers were rocked back and forth. I felt like I had a lot more control with this method and I could keep the needles more centered - I had a stabilized approach. In reality, visibility was good and in this weather I certainly would have preferred to hand-fly this approach but just to show you what we can do ... (PHOTOS-33, 34 and 35). I landed two-thirds off the runway (left again, hmmmmmmm) just past the touchdown marks. I was so confident that I had crash mode turned back on again with all reality settings to high so it must not have been too bad!

Photo-33	Photo-34
Photo-35

Good luck to each one who sets out to better fly jetliners in FSX. I hope this has helped.

Ron Blehm
cubflounder@gmail.com
www.toomuchfs.com

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