Hey flight simmers,

I know this is a blog, and this isn't really a blog entry, but it's a tutorial! So please, read on. This is a tutorial on how to fly an ILS (Instrument Landing System) approach in FSX, for this example, in the default FSX Boeing 737-800. So let's get started!

Hit "Alt", go to "World", and click on "Map". You'll see a, well, map of your plane and your surroundings. Using the little +- zoom in/out buttons, you can zoom in and out on the map, and to go around the map, just point the mouse to one of the edges until it turns into an arrow, and click as many times as you need to. Now go to the airport you'll be landing at, and MAKE SURE, before proceeding, that it has an ILS approach, by going to the airport, zooming in, and if there's a green triangular arrow-shaped thingy aligned to one of the runways (the ILS approach) click on that thingy. You'll see a list of info. People say to only note the course and ILS frequency, but you should also note the morse code it says. I'll explain why later. Oh, by the way, make sure you clicked on the runway you'll be landing on. For this example, we'll fly an ILS approach to runway 4 at KLGA. (LaGuardia Airport, in New York City) Let's say the ILS frequency is 110.5. Note it. Say the course is 44 degrees. Note it. Let's say the morse code is -.- .-.. --. .- NOTE THAT TOO!!! Okay, now you can click out of Map and hold Alt for a second to close the menu bar. Now, before doing anything else, put in the course you just noted down into the "course" autopilot selection. OPTIONAL: What you may wanna do to line up with the runway early is go into the GPS, click the Direct-to-waypoint button, type in the dest. airport's ICAO code (ex: KLGA) click ENT, click again, and click ENT again to Activate. Now go to PROC. Select "Select Approach". Choose ILS and rwy number, (ex: ILS 04) click VECTORS, and click "Activate", select PROC again, and click "Activate vectors to final." Assuming you have autopilot on, NAV/GPS is on GPS, and VOR LOC is on, it'll automatically start to align. Okay, now the rest is not optional. Press Shift+2 or whatever the radio stack is mapped to to open the radio stack. Input the ILS frequency into STBY, switch the STBY to the active frequency, and turn on "NAV 1" on the radio stack. Wait. If it says "ID" on the little button in between the active and stby frequencies, then it's tuned to AN ILS frequency and is on the localizer. Now listen to the morse code it plays out. MAKE SURE the morse code it plays is the same as the morse code you noted earlier. If it's not, wait til' it is. If/once it IS, then switch NAV/GPS to NAV, and the airplane will start to fly the ILS approach. Now, open the PFD. (Primary Flight Display) You might see a little diamond on the right of the PFD, to the left of the altitude. You might not, if you don't, wait til' you do. Remember all this time, continue to decrease your altitude and speed. (as you would on a normal approach) Anyway, once you do see the little diamond, pay close attention to it. Soon, you'll start to see it drop. That means you're higher and higher above the glideslope. Keep watching. Once it gets halfway down the PFD, click the Approach Hold (APP) switch. If the altitude hold switch doesn't automatically disable (it should) disable that too. You'll notice the plane starting to descend toward the runway. Assuming you're lined up, you are now on final approach. Make sure you get clearance to land by ATC. Decrease speed to landing speed. (on a Boeing 737-800, that's around 135-145 knots) Your plane will continue to descend toward the runway. Now, right before the plane crosses the runway threshold, disable the autopilot and autothrottle. You now have control of the plane. Put the engines to idle (move the throttle back to 0%) and flare. (pitch your nose up about 3-5 degrees) Your plane will hopefully touchdown on its back wheels. Pitch the nose down, and then engage reverse thrust, (hold F2) press and hold the period key to brake, (UNLESS YOU HAVE AUTOBRAKE ON!!!) and engage the spoilers by pressing the slash (/) key. Do all of this as quickly as possible. The plane will come to a stop. Now GET OFF THE RUNWAY!!! :-D JK, but for real, taxi off the runway as soon as possible to allow other planes to use the runway.

There you go! You have successfully flown an ILS approach and performed and ILS landing! Give yourself a pat on the back, get a drink, sit back and *inhaling* relaaaaax.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial on how to fly an ILS approach in FSX! Please give this blog entry five stars, comment below, and have a nice, flying day!

Yours truly,

TheAviationEnthusiast