KDCA Runway 6 ILS Misalignment

[Guest]

While sitting dead center on runway 6, the ILS instrument shows the runway to be the left. Shouldn't this line be perfectly lined up in the middle? If I had been keeping the line dead center on the approach, I would have surely missed the runway.Is there a known problem with the KDCA ILS settings in FS2K2? More importantly, is there a way to correct it somewhere within a FS2K2 config file?Keith

[Guest jase439]

??? There is no runway 6 at KDCA.Anyway, whatever airport you're really at - you need to check the approach plate for that ILS approach. Not all localizers are parallel with the runway. There are many such localizers that, for any number of reasons, are "offset" localizers and not aligned with the runway heading. Many times these are qualified as "LDA approaches".You cannot blindly assume that if you follow a localizer, it will drop you squarely over the numbers. You have to read the chart.http://edj.net/cgi-bin/echoplate.pl ...is a good place to start!That said, there are a few ILS's in FS which have misplaced equipment. You need a scenery editor like Airport or A&SD to fix these.Happy Landings,JPS. The other common misconception is that by following a glideslope, you will track all the way down to the runway. Often, this is true, however a glideslope is typically certified to take you down safely to an MDA (Minimum Descent Altitude) or DH (Decision Height) at which point you must make a go/no-go decision to land the aircraft. Usually this ~200 feet above the field elevation. If you don't have the runway in sight, you cannot assume it safe to descend lower than the MDA. There are what are called Cat III certified ILS equipment which have precision guidance systems and with the right equipment on board the aircraft, will facilitate an a full autoland. THESE will take you all the way down to the numbers.PPS. I am really curious as to what airport you're at. KDCA has an ILS to runway 1 and an "offset" LDA/DME approach to runway 19 (this is one such example of a localizer approach that has no correlation with the runway heading...the localizer is 145 degrees, runway heading is 186). If you followed this localizer all the way down, you'd be herding cattle (see picture below). Anyway, no runway 6 that I can see - so my first advice is: figure out where you really are ;-)

[Guest]

Thanks for the very informative reply. I acquired the ILS frequency and runway number by clicking on the DCA runway in the map view. I scrolled down the various frequency listings until I saw an ILS entry. I probably read it wrong, but I thought it said runway 6, with an ILS frequency of 108.92. I did this at 5:30 am this morning, so I might have been have asleep. I will try again tonight and see what happens.By the way, DCA was really souped in with fog this morning. I go by it every day on the Metro train. When I was on FS2K2 at DCA this morning, Active Sky was displaying the fog situation at the airport. I love that software program! Can't wait for the upgraded payware release.Keith

[Guest jase439]

>...so I might have been have asleep...I will try again tonight and see what happens. Next time, Danielson, try landing with eyes open :-eek