COBS

Hi mjahn Unfortunately the Autopilot that comes with the Flt Sim is sluggish in it's response rate . In an attempt to speed up it's turns I have the Max Bank in the aircraft cfg set at 60 degrees , it does speed it up but it's still sluggish . In the following shot there is an example . The Radar Zoom is 1 nm ( Dist from A/C wings to horizontal tick under Hdg 038 ) . The aircraft was on autopilot , you can see it's displacement from the bright green Flt PLn line. This was moment of bomb release in the BNS below you can see the Diff 14.30 degree Track Error, as can be seen that resulted in the bomb impacting 854' left of Target (index 03) . This is the sort of problem that you are dealing with when precise steering is required such as flying an ILS . Cheers Karol

Hi mjahn 1. Thank you for the error log , it makes sense , and it provides another avenue to investigate . 2. Regards ; Yes , I think so . In my last post I mentioned " .... then generate several spots that would prescribe a curved path from the intercept to the aircraft's current location . .... " That series of spots (Wpts) represents a custom made STAR (Standard Terminal Arrival Route) which is usually the Transition phase that takes the aircraft from the En route segment progressively around to the Approach Axis . What you suggest could be done in two ways , either (1) using AP Heading Hold , or (2) generate a short flight plan and use AP NAV Hold . Following is for a straight in Approach to a selected runway with eventual 3.00 degree glideslope , 1. automatically set Intercept at 7.8 nm that will give you a Target S-Ht of 2,500' , then Target S-Ht plus Runway elevation = Approach cruise altitude , set this to AP Altitude Hold . From Runway Heading subtract the Bearing to obtain a correction value to keep the aircraft laterally on the Runway Heading Axis , feed this to AP Heading Hold . This will maintain the aircraft on track in level flight up to the Intercept point . 2. At the intercept position the aircraft reaches the 3.00 degree glideslope line . At the moment glideslope 3.00 is detected ,it resets AP Altitude Hold to the Value of the Runway elevation . It calculates a Target VSI to maintain the 3.00 degree glideslope pathway , it sets the calculated Target VSI to the AP VSI . That's it in simple terms . Regards the Controller instructions , I presume you would create a Visibility type boundaries based on distance range and Circuit Width range , then within that Visibility use specific Variable parameter values to trigger each sound statement , sounds simple , but probably isn't . I hope that some of the above makes a little sense . Cheers Karol PS ; if you are after code to subtract Bearing/Heading to get left and right corrections that is covered at reply #17 to # 21 at this link , https://www.fsdeveloper.com/forum/threads/k-variable-in-element-section-single-switching.441580/ although that is for the BNS (Bomb Nav System) it applies equally to the above situation .

Hi mjahn Regards your reply # 33 . 1. Thanks for the tip about pixel size , ( pixel_size=297,270 ) . That's interesting will try it . 2. Regards what you are doing as detailed in your shot , it's so cool , I love it . Several years ago I contemplated an ' Autoland ' idea which was basically along the lines what is now in Page 4 of this instrument with added features . The idea being to tag a landing location , capture it's , Lat/Long , synthetic runway heading , and Elevation , generate a glideslope leading back to a Intercept spot , then generate several spots that would prescribe a curved path from the intercept to the aircraft's current location . All these spots ( Lat/Longs ) generated by a flexible GEOCALC . The spots would be entered as a series of waypoints in a flight plan terminating at the touchdown spot on the synthetic runway , and could be flown on autopilot to an autoland . A complex project but it could be done . At that time I was creating my ' Mission Adaptive Flight Plan ' editor which ended up being 8 pages in the other MFD , so I was side tracked and went no further with the autoland . Latter on , purely by coincidence I tried to replicate the AILA that existed in the real world F-111 , that became what is now Page 4 of this instrument , and naturally that led to the creation of what is now Page 3 . The actual F-111 aircraft had "AILA" - ( Airborne Instrument Landing Approach) system . The logic in the real F-111 was that in a war after it returned from it's mission it's airbase of departure would no longer exist due to battle damage. The AILA system enabled it to generate a runway anywhere ie; road or other flat and firm surface and then conduct an ILS style landing. The aircraft had high floatation landing gear that could tolerate a less than perfect landing surface , it also had high lift wings that enabled it to land slow on short runways , it can land on most short GA runways , that's rather good for a M2.5 aircraft. So your project sparks a lot of interest in potential and possibilities . Awesome stuff . Cheers Karol

Hi mjahn Yes please , I would like to have that list , thank you for the offer . ******************* Hi navinr79 and flytv1 Thank you for the responses . I was wrong , this instrument does not work in FS2004 . That puzzles me , it will take some considerable time to investigate why it is not working , hopefully in future I can get it to work in FS2004 . My apologies to FS2004 users . Cheers Karol

navirn79 You are doing everything correctly . In FSX I entered KORD Chicago O'Hare , then selected Runway 09R-27L , just as in your shot , I toggled the "RWY" button and it worked fine . BUT what I noticed was that the top line of the display differed , In your shot ; - next to "RWY" button you have 095-275 , and to the right Rwy Hdg 95.0 In my display ; - next to "RWY" button I have 090-270 , and to the right Rwy Hdg 89.9 That difference has me baffled ? ? .... very odd . Could you please try at some other Airports to see if it works at them , and please report your findings here . Important ; Could any others who have tried this instrument in FS2004 please advise if it is working for them , any response would be appreciated . Cheers Karol PS; At reply #17 it was stated that it works in FS2004 .

navirn79 It does work , I presume you have read the included PDF notes . The following are the steps , 1. click the lower " NRST " button , Page 1 will appear . 2. Page 1 , you MUST select or enter an airport , Page 1 shows a list of the 16 Nearest airports , click on one of those lines , the selected airport will show up at the bottom of that page . OR click on the top Right " ICAO " button , then type on your keyboard any 4 character ICAO using only small case alphabet letters , it will then automatically progress to Page 2 . 3. Page 2 shows a list of all Runways that exist for your previously selected airport , you MUST make a runway selection by clicking on a line , the selected runway MUST appear in orange coloured text , proceed to Page 3 . 4. Page 3 , the display will be for one of the Runway ends , the other end can be toggled simply by clicking the top Right " RWY " button . This display will provide all relevant data and graphics about the , Airport , Runway , where your aircraft is relative to the Runway , and Approach guidance . To get it to work you Must as stated above select , firstly the Airport , then a Runway . Please carefully try the above , it will work . Cheers Karol

Flying the ILS manually using the white ILS deviation bars can be difficult , and intimidating to some pilots . Fortunately this instrument provides an alternative method whereby both the Approach , and the Glideslope letdown can be accurately conducted without the ILS deviation bars . The attached shot describes such a scenario . * It starts at the bottom of the sheet at ' Position 1 ' which is over 40 nm from the runway , you cannot see the runway , but the instrument can . * Initially the aircraft is flown towards the ' Extended Runway Heading Axis ' with the Circuit Width decreasing . * When the Circuit Width reaches 0.00 nm you are on the Axis , you maintain the 0.00 nm value all the way to the Runway . * During this flight the GS ( Glideslope ) readout value will steadily increase , observe it , then when it reaches 3.00 degrees pitch the nose down and maintain exactly the 3.00 degree descent profile all the way to the Runway . It's quite a simple method to use . If you wish to copy the attached shot , click on shot , the view that appears will have a dialogue indicating size 1600 x 900 , ' Right click ' on it , then select ' save image as ' , it will be downloaded to your downloads folder , and you can copy it to the screenshots folder that came with the instrument package . I hope it is instructive . Cheers Karol

Hi Loyd You are correct , the search entry only accepts 4 character codes , If a 3 character ICAO appears on the Nearest listing it can then be selected . There is no reference to this in the the PDF . Just over 3 years ago when I created this instrument I created the PDF in a rushed manner to send to one individual , so the notes could have been better . I had no intention of releasing this instrument , however just over a week ago during a discussion with a gent I mentioned the instrument , he requested that I upload it , and I agreed to upload it in an as is condition . Due to the complexity of the coding within this instrument I have no wish to attempt to change it at this stage . I'm sorry if it has caused you any inconvenience . Cheers Karol

No , definitely not . While you can fly this instrument side by side with a Radio NAVAID tuned ILS , it is primarily created to be used alone . You can use it in a Helicopter where you need full guidance all the way down to the Touchdown spot. It works and can be used at any runway length , regardless of what that length is , your chosen runway might be for example , 200' long , or 1,025' , or 6137' , or 16,236' . It always creates an ILS aimpoint ( touchdown spot ) by automatically calculating a position at 6% of the actual Runway length . It is totally flexible . Now if you use Page 4 ( Mark Position ) , and you have a Helicopter sitting on a tiny ' hardened rooftop ' on top of a high rise building , and you then click the top left " MK " button , you have Captured or Tagged that spot , it then becomes an ILS aimpoint ( touchdown spot ) . You can then go and fly away to any distance to conduct whatever task you wish to , then you have full guidance to return to your rooftop and conduct a full precision ILS approach and landing at either a glideslope of 3.00 degrees or any glideslope angle that you enter and set , you can even do a precision absolute vertical Hover letdown to that rooftop even though you cannot see it because it is out of sight directly underneath your Helicopter . I did a lot of thought and testing during the creation of this instrument to give it potent capabilities. Cheers Karol

Hi Manfred Regards, Right, #2 is possible via the clickable intercept bearing. If it were also possible via the airport bearing one wouldn't have to define the intercept parameter first ... yeah, I have made more relevant suggestions. Take it as my way of saying thanks. You don't have to make a distance entry . When you call up the ' Intercept pane ' the default distance will read 0 nm , it is at the ILS aimpoint on the runway at that airport , " Just click the Bearing , and you will have entered the Heading to the airport " . In other words the starting point of the Intercept is on the runway at 0 nm , then any distance that you input thereafter moves the Intercept point back along the Approach axis . With this approach you end up having choices , whichever you require , 1. Intercept distance 0 nm = airport . 2. A set Intercept distance XX.X nm = your desired distance out along the approach axis at which you choose to intercept and align with the Approach . Whichever of these options you choose , you can then click Bearing to set it to AP Heading Hold . What I do is enter 0 nm for the long distance en route phase , then as I get closer to the airport I set the Intercept distance to for example 12 nm , that has the AP initially tracking to the Airport , then turns to my approach axis , generally I line up at 10 to 12 nm out level at 2,500' ( S-Ht ) , then at 7.8 nm out I hit the 3.00 degree Glideslope line and commence my ILS descent . It keeps everything tidy and makes approaches very , very easy to conduct . Cheers Karol

Hi Manfred # 1 . Re setting intercept height in the AP, which requires Altitude Indicated, I understand you have to add S-Ht and Airport Elevation. The values are listed in the gauge, so I add up, say 987 to 4899 and dial that in to the AP. Fair enough, but doing that via a single click might help a busy pilot! That can be easily done , however , caution needs to be applied due to Terrain obstacles , the temptation would exist to set that altitude figure to autopilot Altitude hold . If you are en route with a large distance to go , and you set that altitude the autopilot will command the aircraft down and possibly conflict ( hit ) mountain terrain . Basically if you add that capability you can count on users making the entry too early and hitting terrain . # 2 . Still thinking about an AP interface one could perhaps also post the bearing to selected airport directly to the heading hold button of the AP? I could see uses for this but won't labor the point. It should be doing that . If I click on the ' Bearing to Intercept " value it sets that bearing value to the autopilot Heading Hold in my aircraft . The caution here is that for very large en route distances you must click it several times as you progress . Reason ; as you progress along a Great Circle the Heading ( Bearing ) will change along the way . So for large distances you need to update the Heading Hold with the current Bearing value periodically . Great Circle navigation is covered in the usual navigation textbooks . Cheers Karol

mjahn Q. - Could the intercept height be given in plain feet above sea level so that the value can be posted directly to the autopilot when approaching the intercept point, just like you can post the bearing? A. Yes , by adding the , Elevation to the S-Ht , I chose to use S-Ht (Height above Runway surface), because Altitude is irrelevant for Approach aspects. An example , you are flying towards your Airport/Runway , you are at a nice comfortable altitude of 4,000' amsl , however you might be approaching KDEN (Denver USA) , it's elevation is about 5,300' , so effectively you are 1,300' lower than the Runway . Your height above the runway ( S-HT ) is the critical aspect for this instrument . Q. - Would there be a way of reading/calculating an airport's glide slope angle so that it sets itself automatically, rather than having to enter 5.5 for London manually? A. No , there are no Variables covering the ILS glideslope or location in the SDK's . As far as I'm aware this instrument is the only way you can measure what a Radio NAVAID ILS glideslope angle is , by running them side by side as in that screenshot, and noting what the GS readout value is . Q. - Would it be nice to use the highlighting text facility to see which functions are already turned ON (eg ILS and INT)? And perhaps for greying out the buttons that are currently non-functional? A. That could be done , I'm not sure why though as it is all self evident by looking at the instrument. The extreme accuracy of this instrument far exceeds the red rectangles , once you get used to it and learn how to assimilate the data that it presents, you will find that it provides a full 3D image of your scenario at all times relative to , your aircraft , the Approach and the chosen runway . Cheers Karol

This instrument can be used as a flexible training aid to practice flying the ILS . It can also be used side by side with an actual Tuned Radio NAVAID ILS . Most ILS are at a GS (glideslope) angle of 3.00 degrees . For GS 3 degrees the height above runway elevation for various distances to run are , 1 nm = 318' , 2 nm = 636' , 3 nm = 954' , 4 nm = 1271' , 5 nm = 1589' , 6 nm =1907' , 7 nm = 2225' , 8 nm = 2543' . Further distances can easily be charted by simply inputting increasing distances in the Intercept facility . While most ILS use a 3.00 degree glideslope angle , or very close to 3 degrees , however there are exceptions , ILS Glideslopes greater than 3.0°, London City (EGLC) is 5.5°, Chambéry (LFLB) is 4.46°, Innsbruck (LOWI) 4.0°, Lugano (LSZA) 6.65°. one example is London City airport ( EGLC ) UK , the glideslope at EGLC is 5.50 degrees . The attached shot shows an autopilot coupled ILS approach to London City , the ILS is centered in the Right MFD , The Left MFD is showing a "Synthetic ILS" also centered , the synthetic ILS GS has been set at 5.5 degrees . You can see that with 4 nm to run the height above the runway elevation (S-HT) is 2368' , whereas if a 3 degree GS was used that height would be 1271' . This Synthetic ILS instrument has a settable Intercept distance , in this case the intercept of the ILS approach path was set at 7 nm displaying a height above runway of 4070' for the intercept position , again if a 3 degree GS was used it would be 2225' . Note , 1. this Glideslope is virtually twice as steep as the usual, it'S quite noticeable. 2. due to steep GS approach angle the airbrake has been deployed to keep approach speeds in check . Have repeated an enlarged Left MFD to make detail more readable . click X 3 to enlarge. Cheers Karol

There used to be a TV series called MASH , at that field hospital they had a sign post that had pointers with the distance to various place names around the world . One thing that I have done with this instrument is to fly until I'm in the area of my home , then hit Pause ( P ) , then enter various places around the world , such as , EGCC Manchester , EGLL London , EDDF Frankfurt , LFPG Paris , LIRF Rome , WSSS Singapore , KJFK New York , KLAX Los Angeles . All of these places are listed in the included Airports PDF . I effectively create that signpost at my home with the Distances and Direction to all those places. I know it's a trivial thing to do , but it's fun , and it's another use that the instrument can be put to . Cheers Karol

Try the following during a flight , 1. Click " Alt " on your keyboard , a menu bar should appear on screen. 2. Click " Options " . 3. Click " Settings " . 4. Click " Display " . 5. Select and Click " Aircraft " . ..... on this page you will see a small ' box ' followed by ....... High resolution 3-D Virtual cockpit . ensure that a Tick appears in the small box . Then check if your instruments are now clearer . Cheers Karol

This one may seem strange , but in addition those mentioned by Mark I have , " Pause " assigned to a controller button . So I can Pause the Sim and at leisure examine instrument displays , or go out to spot , or Camera views , surprisingly I use it fairly often , apart from being fun it has serious uses . I create instruments , so with Pause I can freeze the Sim to give me time to examine , and analyse the instruments , for understanding , check accuracy , and to help calibrate them . The Pause might be handy to someone new to Flt Sim , it can give him time to understand , and absorb what is happening at various stages if his flight . Cheers Karol

Hi Terry Thank you for your comments . With this instrument you can choose a nearby airport from the list , or enter any 4 character airport ICAO anywhere in the world , it can be on the other side of the planet and you still get Distance and Bearing to it . Once you become familiar with it you will find that it gives you full 3D Situation Awareness , you will know the aircraft's disposition relative to the chosen Airport/Runway even in zero visibility , such as at night . I included 3 diagram shots , 2 are Standard rectangular circuits , and 1 is an orientation diagram , they are there as an aid to develop an understanding of what the instrument is telling you , it provides all the information to build a clear image of the aircraft relative to the runway that you want to use for landing . Hi Pat Thank you for your comments. My own view is that the instrument is neat , it provides a huge amount of information , it's accuracy or precision is stunning , when I originally created it I was surprised at it's accuracy , so I ran a series of tests that confirmed it's absolute precision . If you do get around to using it , please check out the " Intercept " capability , it's a gem of a feature, it makes your approaches much easier to conduct. Actually this instrument's capabilities was used to conduct measurements of bomb fall distances for all heights from 300' to 37,500' to calculate correction factors to ensure bombing precision in my F-111 automated BNS (Bomb Navigation System) instrument . Cheers Karol

I have just Uploaded an instrument here at Flightsim that might be of interest to some . FSX - FSX Utilities FSX Synthetic ILS - For Every Runway At Every Airport [ Download | View ] Name: aila_ils.zip Size: 2,829,541 Date: 08-31-2018 Downloads: 240 FSX Synthetic ILS - For Every Runway At Every Airport in the Flight Simulator database. Also for FS2004 and P3D. AILA - Airborne Instrument Landing Approach System. Instrument enables selection of any of the 24,491 airports that exist in the database, then selection of any runway at that airport, then selection of either runway end. Airports can be selected at any global distance from aircraft. Distance bearing and steering arrow are displayed, the ILS aim point is computed at 6% of relevant runway length and the ILS is full precision with usual ILS deviation bars. Text data includes current, glideslope, height above runway, distance to touchdown aimpoint, offset (circuit width) from runway centerline, full airport name and details, enables precise rectangular standard circuits to be flown, also enables an intercept position to be set at any desired distance prior to ILS aimpoint to easily align aircraft with the runway. Also includes mark position capture of any location on earth and generation of a synthetic runway, i.e., a paddock, a beach, a river, lake, sea, hardened rooftop or bridge, and subsequent ILS approach at that location. The default ILS glideslope is the usual 3.00 degrees but any angle can be set. Can be used in any aircraft, helicopter, cropduster, float plane, or fire fighting aircraft. 16 page notes PDF, an Airports ICAO PDF, and several descriptive screenshots. By Karol Chlebowski. Its a Pop Up window instrument , I created in a military fast jet ( F-111 ) , but it can be used in any air vehicle , including helicopters , or even an ultralight . Some time ago someone opened a thread here at Flightsim with the following line ; " I'm new to here. I was wondering if anyone knows of a gauge that could help me line up my designated runway, say from about 10 or so miles out. I fly mainly VFR and I have trouble lining up the runway as I only see it at the last moment. " Well , with the 'Intercept" capability in this instrument you can enter any Distance and it will guide you to a location on the Approach pathway , he quoted 10 miles , but you can input any distance , for example 7.2 nm . Also this instrument can be used at the same time as a Radio NAVAID ILS , and it will help you to find your Approach prior to engaging Approach hold . Cheers Karol