How to tune NAV1 to ILS and still use COM1 to communicate on VATSIM

[Byrna 0]

Hi,This may be an obvious question, but after searching this forum for VATSIM-related radio communication, I'm still confused as to why I had no ILS signal whatsoever today when approaching my landing runway at LLBG (Tel-Aviv, Ben Gurion) using the PSS AIRBUS A320.Communication with ATC were fine. I believe I even managed once to switch to VHF 2 and use that instead of VHF 1 (COM2 instead of COM1). But even after confirming ILS frequency with ATC, I got no localizer nor glidescope. I had to do a manual / visual approach and landed successfully (the second time...) What I don't understand is I used ILS once on Tuesday to land at the exact same runway (12 ILS with frequency of 110.30 as per the charts and confirmed with ATC. In fact, the VOR frequency for the BGN VOR at 113.50 was set at VOR 2 nav radio and it too was not showing active. I only saw "VOR2" displayed on my navigation display with no ID and no distance/DME.What is going on here? It is really frustrating to have all these "touchy" issues with the AB PRO. They are really annoying and extremely depressing to experience particularly with VATSIM live flights. Ben Gurion today was busy and I had to do a holding pattern so I have no time for unexpected issues as real-time goes real fast! I have flown the A320 many times with ILS OFFLINE (with FS2004 default ATC) and did not have issues.Any help would be appreciated.Can (John) Agbaba

[Guest vrandar]

This has nothing to do with flying online.When doing your preparation for the landing did you:a) make sure the correct landing runway was setup in the F-PLAN page of the MCDU?:( check that the correct VOR was showing on the RAD NAV page of the MCDU at LSK3R? c) press the ILS button on the FCU so that the ILS freq was showing in the bottom left of the PFD? If so it should have been showing the ILS and the distance.d) make sure your approach had been activated below 7800 feet?Rob Elliott, EGPE InvernessPSS Airbus Support andAirbus Fleet Training Captain, British Airways Virtual airbus@speedbirdonline.co.ukhttp://www.speedbirdonline.co.uk/airbus.htmlhttp://www.bavirtual.co.uk

[Byrna 0]

Hello Rob,Well... last week, after a whole 12 months had gone by since my purchase of the Airbuses, I finally tried the full tutorials for both the A330 and the A340 to make sure I get used to the complex FMC programming. No problems at all capturing the ILS at either Chicago nor at Hong Kong. I had not done a full FMC programming before as in the tutorials as I always manually tuned the radios with the ILS frequencies and captured the localizer and glidescope myself by manual navigation or manual MCP navigation. This leads me to another question though: Are you saying that it is not possible to simply tune the NAV radios to the ILS frequencies manually without entering the required runway no. etc... in the FMC and have the plane turn automatically to capture the ILS localizer? Does automatic capturing of the ILS (i.e. plane navigating itself without any pilot intervention) occur ONLY when FMC is fully programmed? I'm curious because in the 772LR, I did not enter any runways into the MCDU and the plane DID navigate automatically to capture the ILS all by itself.Is this a difference in real life between the Airbuses and the Boeings by any chance?John

[Guest vrandar]

The Airbus is designed to be flown using the automation available which means you should be entering the correct Airport/Runway info into the MCDU. This will then make sure that the correct ILD frequency info is enterd into the computers and, most importantly, into the RAD NAV page of the MCDU. IF the ILS info isn't there you haven't got much chance of capturing the localiser and glideslope. So don't try to cut corners or fly it like a Boeing as this will lead to the sort of problems you experienced. Enter all the information the computers are expecting.Rob Elliott, EGPE InvernessPSS Airbus Support andAirbus Fleet Training Captain, British Airways Virtual airbus@speedbirdonline.co.ukhttp://www.speedbirdonline.co.uk/airbus.htmlhttp://www.bavirtual.co.uk

[tcorken 0]

Hi,I had a similar problem that only mainfested itself a couple of days ago. I had a big night on vatsim tonight and it was very frustrating not to be able to use the ILS. All seemed OK but the aircraft just would not track down the GS although the ND showed it was active when APPR was pushed however the centre purple bar of the ILS was missing with no vertical bug !Afterwards I thought much about it and wondered what I'd done differently recently that had made it stop working. It then dawned on me that I had changed the default situation aircraft from the MS Cessna172 to the Baron. I reset it back to the Cessna and all seems well now. I don't know why and I don't care either, as long as it works ! Hope this helps someone in their quest for ILS landings :)BTW you shouldn't have to mess with the radnav page at all as the bus will auto tune the frequencies to the ILS runway you're landing at, as long as you input the chosen runway in the MCDU as part of your flightplan. In fact, when I first flew the bus I couldn't get the autoland to work for that very reason, because I had manually input the frequencies and course. Maybe this has been fixed in a patch since then.regards, Tony

[tcorken 0]

BTW,Vrander, love your Airbus support page at BAV. When I first started flying the bus seriously I printed off a ton of stuff from there - extremely helpful. Particularly useful was the page about inputting fixes for procedural airports, was a godsend for approaches such as EGAA. Many thanks for taking the hocus pocus of it :)regards, Tony

[Guest NormanB]

>Was a>godsend for approaches such as EGAA. Many thanks for taking>the hocus pocus of it :)Settle Tony, you will be giving Rob ideas above his station - and as for the DME arc into Aldergrove - thats wee buns :D

[tcorken 0]

Yea Norman, would be even easier if ATC were online more often :)