It was mentioned in another thread that the GA AI will now fly to nontowered airports. What do they do when in IFR conditions? Do they fly the non precision approaches (VOR, GPS, NDB)?If they do fly the approaches, will ATC make you hold if another aircraft is on the approach?

I can't say for sure-the only way to find out would to be to go to an uncontrolled field and wait around for aircraft to show up-then lower the weather and wait-and that could take quite a while! :-)I would expect that in ifr weather-all the aircraft landing will be on an ifr flight plan and therefore would be flying the non precision approaches handled by atc.As for holds-I don't think that would happen . I would think atc will just vector everyone around to make it work out.The above not based on hard facts but the way I have seen atc react....http://mywebpages.comcast.net/geofa/pages/Geofdog2.jpg

AI pilots flying VFR will request an IFR clearance enroute if the weather conditions deteriorate. Then they will be vectored to final for an instrument approach at the destination airport.

There are quite a few non-towered fields that have ILS approaches.

I intepreted the question to be if uncontrolled fields with only non precision approaches would be used by ai traffic in ifr conditions . I would assume if an ils is available it will be used.http://mywebpages.comcast.net/geofa/pages/Geofdog2.jpg

>There are quite a few non-towered fields that have ILS>approaches. This is a big surprise to me if in fact it is true. Forgive me being a non-believer - could you give me at least one example. I know of non-tower airports having LOC approach but of no single such airport having ILS.Michael J.http://www.reality-xp.com/community/nr/rsc/rxp-higher.jpg

Looking at my local approach plates for the state of Michigan I can find :Kbeh , kesc, kglr,kcmx,kbiv,kimt,kiwd,kmbl,kmnm,kosc,kpln,kphn,.http://mywebpages.comcast.net/geofa/pages/Geofdog2.jpg

Hmmm.... I can think of a few off the top of my head. KCDC - Cedar City Regional, UtahKPVU - Provo Municipal, UtahKCVN - Clovis Municipal, New MexicoAnd my own home airport, KLGU, will be getting an ILS in the next 2 years. And it doesn't have a tower. And I'm sure that there are many more. These are only the ones I glanced at in the past few minutes in my approach plate binder.

Thanks. KBEH is a controlled airport but the other two fit the bill. I definitely learned something today.Michael J.http://www.reality-xp.com/community/nr/rsc/rxp-higher.jpg

Interesting-I show beh to not have a control tower. My Michigan airport directory, and afd, states class E airspace 0600-1130 other times class g and lists the Ctaf as 123.0. My approach plates confirm.Oddly aeroplanner.com shows a control tower. Perhaps it was recently closed? I have never flown there so don't know....http://mywebpages.comcast.net/geofa/pages/Geofdog2.jpg

Isn't it something ? (-:Michael J.

Hey, you're pretty close to my neck of the woods. I fly out of KOGD. Ogden has a part-time tower, and after 8:00 pm it becomes uncontrolled. There's not much difference in operating procedures since Salt Lake Approach controls the airspace night and day. When the tower closes, instead of contacting the tower Salt Lake Approach instructs you to "change to advisory frequency, report landing or cancellation this frequency." That's a pretty standard handoff instruction at a non-towered airport if the airspace owner has VHF comm capability on the ground.Dan

Ahhhh.... Ogden...... I've become VERY familiar with the approaches there. That's where I did all of my instrument training. Well, almost all of it. Logan only has a GPS approach, so when it came to ILS and VOR Approaches, it was off to Ogden. Of course, we can't do the ILS there anymore, because of the demoltion and reconstruction of 3/21, which means that we either call Salt Lake Approach by phone before we leave and ask if we can get an ILS into Salt Lake, or we fly to either Provo or Pocatello. Sucks really, since OGD is only 20-25 minutes away, compared to 40-45 for PVU or PIH.

Hi allUsed to be based out of C91 (Dowagiac-181/8.1DME ELX)) flying King Airs and did a few pops into BEH- when I was flying in SW Mich KBEH lost their VFR FAA tower controllers right after the PATCO strike, then I left for bigger things....they may have gotten a contract non-FAA controllers in but I doubt it (unless Whirlpool Corp paid for it...chuckle).Since most of the ILS/approach work was done by approach control (KSBN) the existance of a local controller in a tower in MSFS is kinda moot since its TRACON etc that clears you for the approach anyway. And from what I can read about the next release we can request approaches etc.Instrument approaches into "uncontrolled fields" is not all that unusual-just have to remember to cancel the IFR with the controlling authority via remoted radio or telephone. Failure to do so will bring the local authorities out to the hanger to check on your well-being and mooch doughnuts. If you miss the approach you'd just switch back and report the miss-approached. TRACON will protect the airspace for the approach and miss until you cancel the IFR clearence...no biggee.Tim_757

I completed my instrument rating at KOGD in 1998. We did very little with GPS approaches back then, so we flew more NDB approaches into Brigham City than I care to remember.I still remember "practicing" an IFR cross-country from OGD to CDC in MSFS 98 before doing the real thing. As I was flying the transition from Milford to the CDC localizer, following the approach plate to the letter, I bored into a mountain in solid IMC. The terrain system in FS 98 was a real joke in mountainous areas.Dan