First, I want to say I'm stunned by the fact that I haven't made an account in the past 4 years I've been using FSX. Now, on to the help I need (it involves ILS landing in CLS's MD-82).

 

First, let me tell you the situation. I'm holding out at 2,000 ft. (oh, the autopilot is on), I'm set to whatever heading, and I'm 30 miles from the apt. I know that for the ILS I have to set the correct NAV1 frequency, take off the hdg. hold, turn on the app. hold, and that should basically be it. In the MD-82, though, I can't find where the NAV1 in the radiostack is. None of the different radio "settings" (NAV1 etc.) are labelled. Does anyone know where it is or how I can go about identifying it? Also, next to the app. hold button is a button that says "Autoland". Is this for bringing the plane all the way to the runway, or is it something that needs to be combined with the App. hold for the ILS to work? I'm a bit of a beginner at this (yet I've been doing pretty good with it) as I just went from strictly GA to jet flying. Thanks for the help!

Hi there....I have flown the Maddog a lot in FSX (although not for a little while, been busy with the MD11)....but from memory the NAV radios are below the COM radio on the pedestal.

 

Autoland is for bringing the plane all the way to the runway, but some parameters must be met....the ILS must be capable of autoland, and I think you need dual autoland active on the aircraft as well.

It's a while since I've used that add-on, so some of this may not be exactly the procedure, but it should be close enough.

 

To make an automatic approach, you need the Nav radio tuned to the ILS frequency of the runway (preferably both nav radios actually), and the Course set to the magnetic heading of the runway (click on the airport in the FS map and it will tell you what that is). You will also need altitude hold to be set on. If you look on the map, you need to fly your aircraft into the green 'ILS feathers' which extend out from the runway you are set up for, typically at no more than about 30 degrees off the runway heading, in order to give the autopilot a good shot at capturing the ILS signal and lining you up, and preferably about ten miles out from the airport at about 3,000 feet or so.

 

The ILS consists of two signals: The Localiser, and the Glideslope, the localiser signal is what the autopilot will lock onto to line you up with the runway's magnetic heading (which is why you put that on your Course setting), it will do that even if you are in heading hold mode so long as you have LOC selected on the autopilot control panel, since the moment you fly into the ILS feathers, the heading hold mode will be overridden by the localiser mode of the autopilot.

 

Similarly, coming into the path of the glideslope will override altitude hold and fly you down the slope to the runway so long as you have selected 'Approach' on the autopilot, which may be labeled in several ways depending on aircraft type (such as APP), but should be apparent enough. You will want to come at the glideslope from 'underneath it' i.e. if you are holding at 2,000 to 3,000 feet as you fly along the ILS feathers toward the runway, you will eventually fly into the glideslope signal, and it is at this point that you should turn on the Approach mode, so that the altitude hold mode is changed to one which then flies you down the glideslope. Most of the time on an airliner, you will need to engage both autopilots in order to have the approach mode work properly, since autolands generally require two or more autopilot systems to ensure that, if one fails, you will still be okay, so you will probably have to engage CMD A and CMD B.

 

Note that on several FMS-equipped aircraft, some of those functions you set up to do an autoland are actually found in the FMS on its approach pages rather than in the cockpit elsewhere, although it is fair to say that they are normally via the radios and the MCP on most aeroplanes. You can monitor the glideslope and localiser signals on the main instruments, where little flags on the instruments will tell you when you are on them or to the left, and right or above and below them.

 

Unless your aircraft has full autoland capablility, you will normally disengage the automatic approach stuff by turning off the autopilot as you come over the runway lights and then chop the throttles to zero and flare the aircraft manually yourself. So you effectively let the autopilot do all the work until just before touchdown, and then do that last bit yourself.D

 

Don't forget to arm the spoiler when on your approach, press shift+/ to do that and you will see the autobrake move into the armed latched position, it will then automatically deploy the spoilers when you touch down since they are triggered by a switch on the undercarriage which detects when there is weight on the wheels. On short runways, you may also need to use reverse thrust and braking to slow you down, pull the reverse thrust in and then brake at below 50 knots, unless the runway is slippery, in which case, use the reverse thrust to brake it all the way.

 

Al

Thank you both for the info! Great stuff. Got it all working, and now my daily Nice -> Venice airline run seems professional :)

I dont know about the CLS MD82, but on the real MD82 the nav radios are on the glareshield control panel.

I dont know about the CLS MD82, but on the real MD82 the nav radios are on the glareshield control panel.

 

Oh my god... I'm so dumb.... it's right there *facepalm*. Thanks for the help though :D