You press LOC then APP

 

If you press LOC and then intercept localizer at 4 miles from the runway at 3000ft, that APP button won't help much.

Ahhhhh, one of the many situationally-dependent questions that pops up and people always give it in black and white.  Gotta love these.

 

Is it required to hit LOC before APP?

-No.

 

Is the autopilot more stable because you hit LOC first, let it intercept the LOC, and then hit APP?

-Not necessarily.  If you hit APP right at the point where it would intercept both LOC and GS, probably, but if you hit it farther out, in the normal scheme of things, no.

 

Is it improper to hit APP right off the bat?

-Depends on who you ask.  I'd say no, but those who have experienced a false glideslope before would likely disagree with me.  For what it's worth, you can't really get a false glideslope from below the normal glideslope anyway, just based on the mechanics of it all (it's one of the reasons why ATC brings you in below the GS for the approach).

 

 

 

TL;DR:

It's up to you.  You can press LOC until you capture the LOC and then APP, or you can just press APP right off the bat.

I'm only a novice but on an ILS approach I think you just need to press APP to pickup the glideslope. I am not pressing the LOC button at all. APP seems to capture both the localiser and glideslope.

 

The thing is, an ILS approach doesn't begin with gs capture, once you are cleared, your vectors are to the ils by default. Always engage LOC first as the approach is precisely stabilized a lot further out and really there's no reason not to use it, unless you're flying a visual obviously.

Ahhhhh, one of the many situationally-dependent questions that pops up and people always give it in black and white.  Gotta love these.

 

Is it required to hit LOC before APP?

-No.

 

Is the autopilot more stable because you hit LOC first, let it intercept the LOC, and then hit APP?

-Not necessarily.  If you hit APP right at the point where it would intercept both LOC and GS, probably, but if you hit it farther out, in the normal scheme of things, no.

 

Is it improper to hit APP right off the bat?

-Depends on who you ask.  I'd say no, but those who have experienced a false glideslope before would likely disagree with me.  For what it's worth, you can't really get a false glideslope from below the normal glideslope anyway, just based on the mechanics of it all (it's one of the reasons why ATC brings you in below the GS for the approach).

 

 

 

TL;DR:

It's up to you.  You can press LOC until you capture the LOC and then APP, or you can just press APP right off the bat.

thank for that man.. let me see how it works.. i am trying to connect the stars with the approach but my route doesnt give me that option to connect to the star i dont see that star under the apporach section so i clicked on one star and i clicked 28R and it was coming from the south the star but i am coming from the north so it got messed up.. How do you know how to connect with the star when your flying.

 

 

How do you know how to connect with the star when your flying.

 

Don't.

 

When you select your approach, if it does not have an option for a transition that matches the last fix of the STAR, do not connect them.  It will likely have a vectors leg.  Leave that in there.  In the United States, many of the STARs are like this, and controllers sequence and descend aircraft on these vectors legs.  If you try to connect all of this stuff, you're going to end up high and fast in most situations.

thank for that man.. let me see how it works.. i am trying to connect the stars with the approach but my route doesnt give me that option to connect to the star i dont see that star under the apporach section so i clicked on one star and i clicked 28R and it was coming from the south the star but i am coming from the north so it got messed up.. How do you know how to connect with the star when your flying.

 

Make sure everything is up to date. But atc will give you vectors to the runway, if that includes a star, you'll find out from them.

 

 

TL;DR:

It's up to you.  You can press LOC until you capture the LOC and then APP, or you can just press APP right off the bat.

 

TL:DR - another Reddit fan !!!

TL:DR - another Reddit fan !!!

 

What??? ME??? No...

 

haha - yep.

Don't.

 

When you select your approach, if it does not have an option for a transition that matches the last fix of the STAR, do not connect them.  It will likely have a vectors leg.  Leave that in there.  In the United States, many of the STARs are like this, and controllers sequence and descend aircraft on these vectors legs.  If you try to connect all of this stuff, you're going to end up high and fast in most situations.

So what your trying to say is that just click the ils 28R and let the plane fly o that loc and it will do all the work? In fsx atc it doesnt tell you if you should connect to the star. Just clarify with me on this. Thanks.

So what your trying to say is that just click the ils 28R and let the plane fly o that loc and it will do all the work?

 

What I'm saying is that unless there is a prompt in the FMC to use the last waypoint of the STAR, do not attempt to connect the end of the STAR to the first fix of the approach.

 

As an example:

Flying into IAD on the BARIN1 arrival, it ends at MIXNN.  None of the approaches for IAD show a transition for MIXNN.  As such, you would never delete the discontinuity/vectors leg between the two.  A controller would give you vectors from this fix to the approach.  If you're not using a human controller, you will have to just use your best judgment to descend to the altitude listed on the LEGS page for the first fix of the approach, and use the heading selector to turn you toward the approach.

 

EDIT:

As an example of what you're looking for:

If you were to fly into CHO, your route would likely be CSN V140 WITTO.  While there is no STAR for this field, the concept is the same as having a STAR that dumps onto one of the arrivals.  If you look at the RNAV (GPS) Y Runway 21 approach, it has a transition off of WITTO.

 

This is the only time you connect the legs.

You only connect legs when the approach lists a transition off of your route, or off of the STAR.

 

 

In fsx atc it doesnt tell you if you should connect to the star.

 

It won't, and it never will.  FSX ATC can't handle this kind of thing, really.  Additionally, it's using nav data that's now almost a decade old.  The fixes won't have the right names.

 

If you're not going to use a human controller (VATSIM/IVAO/etc), I wouldn't use ATC at all, but that's just me.

Try the RIVRR2 star to KLAX which has direct connect to ils 25L. If You come in to hot you Will miss the GS.

One note that may be be obvious but I thought given the discussion its worth mentioning, you don't want to enable APP mode unless you have been cleared for the approach. :-)

The long and the short of it is, approach procedures vary a great deal from airport to airport in the U.S and internationally and are highly dependent on local factors like terrain clearance, traffic congestion, airspace restrictions, weather conditions, and a host of other factors. In a "classic" approach ,notwithstanding any other factors,it is customary to capture the localizer and then arm the APP mode once receiving a valid glideslope signal. The glideslope signal is always captured from below so if the carrot is displayed at the bottom of the ADI you're too high to capture it. As I don't use Vatsim or the default FSX ATC, I'll use real world routings , including the SIDS and STARS and fly to the appropriate transition for that STAR. At around 10,000 ft, I'll switch to VS/HDG mode to manage the rest of the approach and set up to capture the localizer. Programming and then attempting to fly the entire vector leg for a particular STAR will often place you high and fast for whatever runway you're trying to land at. Regards

Try the RIVRR2 star to KLAX which has direct connect to ils 25L. If You come in to hot you Will miss the GS.

 

Yeah - flew similar last week and ended up keeping the speed up and speedbrakes out to help me get in.  It's something crews have noted requires a decent amount of attention to ensure everything goes okay later in the descent.

If you press LOC and then intercept localizer at 4 miles from the runway at 3000ft, that APP button won't help much.

When you intercept the LOC , you press APP

 

It's correct?