Hi there guys, I wanted to know how pilots land civil aircraft in real life.Can anyone tell me the proper way of approach and landing i.e is it done manually or autopilot all the way down or turn off autopilot and autothrottle at certain point?Kind RegardsGavin Moss

Airbus SOPS are generally : autothrust on throughout the flight, autopilot on until about 4DME then manual. But at least one autoland must be done every 30 days to maintain currency. Rob Elliott, EGPE InvernessPSS Airbus Support andAirbus Fleet Training Captain, British Airways Virtual [email protected]http://www.speedbirdonline.co.uk/airbus.htmlhttp://www.bavirtual.co.uk

There are still a significant number of airports with commercial jet traffic world wide where ILS systems are not present.In some cases like KPSP, SPZO, PAJN or KASE, ILS systems would be incredibly dangerous - putting approaching aircraft into mountains or ridges.Every pilot flying to Honolulu has to be prepared to make a manual offset LDA landing on Rwy 24L - due to terrain and noise restrictions.