FS ATC gave me a GPS approach? What exactly is this? I assume using the internal GPS system that comes with FS.Also the weather was IFR. I was flying Flight 1 ATR and am using it's FMC. I didn't have a GPS approach programmed into the ATR FMC.At this point, should I request a runway with an ILS?Thanks!Barry

Check with the ATR FMC manual.Unless there is specific procedure how to shoot a GPS approach - you can't really shoot one. In such case VOR or NDBs are your only possible non-precision approaches.Michael J.WinXP-Home SP2,AMD64 3500+,Abit AV8,Radeon X800Pro,36GB Raptor,1GB PC3200,Audigy 2

Thanks Micheal,Yea, I'm just not sure what to do in this case. My hunch is to just request a runway with a ILS approach if one is available.I just wondering why FS ATC issued a GPS approach. What is the ruling for this?Barry

>to just request a runway with a ILS approach if one is>available.probably the best idea.>>I just wondering why FS ATC issued a GPS approach. What is>the ruling for this?FS9 should really give you a choice. I don't know what happened. In real world controllers would never ask you to fly an approach you are not equipped for.Michael J.WinXP-Home SP2,AMD64 3500+,Abit AV8,Radeon X800Pro,36GB Raptor,1GB PC3200,Audigy 2

My guess would be that it was the only published approach into that particular airport. Not all airports have approaches, and some of them only have a GPS approach if they're a small field. Even fewer have ILS systems. What airport was it?----------------------------------------------------------------John S. MorganReal World: KGEG, UND Aerospace Spokane Satillite, Private 130+ hrs.Virtual: MSFS 2004"There is a feeling about an airport that no other piece of ground can have. No matter what the name of the country on whose land it lies, an airport is a place you can see and touch that leads to a reality that can only be thought and felt." - The Bridge Across Forever: A Love Story by Richard Bach

I had this problem landing at the airport in Eagle, Colorado, using FS2004. The controller gave me a GPS approach, and did not have a clue what to do. In FS2002, I was able to get an ILS approach to the same airport.Andy

The airport was KFNT.If you have IFR conditions and no ILS at the airport, then you have to follow the published approach, correct? Could it be a NDB or VOR type of approach? Or a STAR? (Doubt it because of it being a smaller airport??)Thanks!Barry

kFnt is a class C airport (one of my home airports). It is a "big" airport with lots of approaches.Notice that the approach plate for ils 27 states in big print "ADF REQUIRED".What would you do as PIC if atc requested you to do the ils 27 approach(the one usually done at kfnt the majority of time)-and you had no adf or ability to identify the adf? The atc in FS isn't perfect but either is real life atc. I just flew a 2500 mile real trip and as usual had several burbles with real life atc. One was when landing in Anderson, South Carolina for fuel. I kept asking atc to start my descent from 6000 ft. starting 40 miles out at repeated intervals and was told-expect lower -soon. I never got it. In reality the atlanta controller didn't want to mess with a lower altitude till he handed me off to the next controller who's airspace started very close to my destination. The next controller finally allowed me to descend to 2700 for a visual approach-but not till right over the airport! I had to fly past the airport and make several circles to get to pattern altitude-wasting quite a bit of fuel (on a Baron). Talk about atc not getting me down in time (a common fs complaint)!Again-it could be a bug in fs's atc-but I would treat it like a real life bug in atc-which from my experience is about as common as the fs ones! :-) If atc assigns an approach you don't want or are unable to legally do-request a different one.I would expect you were probably assigned the gps approch (perhaps 18 or 36?) due to wind conditions. If atc sees a /g on your flight plan meaning you are gps equipped (of fs knows you have a gps), then it would not be unreasonable for them to assign you a gps approach. Fs probably assumes you have the built in gps and will assign approaches in order of precision. If it doesn't assign the ils's due to wind, it probably selects the gps approaches next before a vor or adf. If you don't want that-as Pic-request a different one-even if it doesn't favor the wind. Perhaps an ils with a circle to land if conditions warrent it. http://mywebpages.comcast.net/geofa/pages/rxp-pilot.jpg

Thanks Geofa!Interesting, I just did the 27 ILS approach at KFNT and didn't use the ADF. What is the ADF's role in this approach? I don't have the chart.So I will assume that the GPS approach is for the FS 2004 built in only! I am not sure whether the FMC/GPS on the ATR 72 has the same approach as built in GPS. Or maybe it is a publsihed approach? Thanks again!Barry

The gps published approaches at fnt are:Rnav (gps) 9Rnav (gps) 18Rnav gps 36Rnav (gps) Y 27Rnav (gps) Z 27...along with a couple vor and 1 ndb approach.The adf is required for the fnt ils 27 because the missed approach requires you to go to the Fn lom and hold. (petli-269).http://mywebpages.comcast.net/geofa/pages/rxp-pilot.jpg

I've not run into this in real life, but since the regs do allow you to substitute an IFR GPS for ADF (or DME), I would think that you could legally fly that KFNT approach if you had an IFR GPS with a current database. I'll have to try this in FS9 and see if the ADF location is properly loaded as the MAP fix.Dan