Hi, have printed off information so far.

 

Had some success before I went away with the original suggested flight plan in that I was able to find my way to the airport. Modified the plan to give myself short plan from with just the last leg from Clacton VOR to Southend to try approach flight but despite, as i thought having set up the ILS correctly, I didn't get the Visual Flight Path but need to check latest info to see what i did wrong.

 

During the flight I switched Autopilot OFF so I could get the feel of flying along the flight path in GPS.

 

Whilst I was thinking about it I wondered if it is possible to setup a flight so that I start in the air rather than on the ground. I know that missions do this but not sure about a flight plan. Doing that would make it simpler to practice approaches.

 

More later when i have read and practiced what I have been given so far.

 

Chris

Hi, just started to look in detail at your flight plan info and hit a snag.

 

According to your flight plan I should be starting off from London City Airport Runway 27 with a bearing set on NAV 1 to 236.

 

However, I don't have an option for runway 27 only 10/28 plus various Gate numbers so if I set the NAV 1 bearing to 236 my heading is completely wrong, the head of the yellow arrow is pointing downward.

 

I have looked at the info for London City and it says it only has one runway 10/28 no mention of 27.

 

I have also checked this with Plan-G and this has same runway info, as I would expect seeing that it is using the FSX database.

According to your flight plan I should be starting off from London City Airport Runway 27 with a bearing set on NAV 1 to 236.

 

Hi Chris

 

The above is correct .

 

1. To start the sim flight session , to load the aircraft  , 

- open free flight menu

- select Cessna 414A

- select location , scroll down London City EGLC (airport) , you will have a runway start position , open that , click on 27 , it is you runway

 

by selecting the above the aircraft will be loaded  at that airport on the correct runway (27) .

 

then ,

 

2. you set up the instruments in preparation for the  Southend ILS -111.35 in NAV 1 radio and - 236 degrees on the HSI yellow arrow ,

you are doing all this preparation to reduce the workload during the  CLN to EGMC leg , it simply is a matter of thinking ahead because

you will get busy on the last leg and might forget to enter the 111.35 and 236.

 

You will find that when flying the CLN - EGMC leg , ie; approaching Southend airport the HSI needle will be pointing in the correct sense (towards the runway) .

 

If you look at forums you will find lots of people have trouble flying the ILS.

What I am trying to do is provide a step by step method that will guarantee  success .

You will need to remain focused , and strictly follow the steps that I will detail in the next post.

 

Please do not try to modify the procedure , or take short cuts , after several repeats it will start to make sense.

 

You must repeat the flight several times to learn what is happening , once you have the hang of it you will be able to adapt it to other aircraft at

other locations or airports.

 

Cheers

Karol

PS ; my next post will cover the lot , loading the sim , pre take off actions , take off , all the flight plan flight including the ILS and landing .

 the post will be quite long . 

young wringly

 

how far do you want to stray from your departure ....dead reckoning is the ultimate tool !!

 

of course you need "planning" if you are off cross country.. but firstly do a few circuits, remember the basic pattern about any runway & forget the scenery / landmarks (after you turn to a left downwind, the runway should be in your 10oclock, then etc.)

 

that said, it is easier in the real (visuals are easier) but is still okay in a sim if you plot where you should be !

 

when you start instrument flying, you'll realise it's about the runway, not the lakes nearby !!

COMPLETE PROCEDURES.

 

LOADING AIRCRAFT.

Open free flight menu ,

1. 'Current Aircraft' = Cessna 414A.

2. 'Current Location' = London City - EGLC.

     down lower on this page,

      'Choose runway/Starting position' = click arrow

                                                           = click  27

 

Then click 'Fly Now'

 

PRE TAKE OFF ACTIONS.

1. You are now sitting  on runway at London City airport on runway 27.

2. Check FS Map , get Southend-EGMC   ILS frequency 111.35 , and

                                                                  Runway heading 236 degrees.

3. Set ILS  111.35 to NAV 1 radio in Active window.

4. Set HSI NAV 1 needle to 236 degrees (Southend runway hdg)

5.Set 2,500' in Altitude window.

6. Ensure GPS unit is displayed for whole flight (click dish Icon).

7. Set Autopilot "mode" to "GPS" ( top right button in autopilot cluster)

8. Set Elevator Trim for Take Off (nose UP) , that is half way down from neutral.

9. Set Flaps to 30 degrees.

..........

10. Open FS Flight Planner .

11. Create Flight Plan as follows : EGLC - EGLD - EGSU - CLN - EGMC , SAVE and LOAD.

12. Confirm that Flight plan lines are showing up in the GPS display.

 

NOW CONDUCT THE FLIGHT.

 

( TAKE OFF & EGLC -> EGLD LEG )

1. Apply FULL Power.

2. Maintain runway heading.

3. At about 90 kts pull back into Take Off climb , maintain 10 degrees pitch in Attitude instrument.

4. Gear UP after Take Off.

5. Flaps up to 15 degrees , then fully up.

............

6. Engage Autopilot by quickly clicking ,

     - AP

     - ALT

     - NAV  buttons.

     release joystick , and allow Autopilot to fly aircraft for the rest of the flight.

7. Leave the power at full on unless advised otherwise later in the flight.

8. Monitor and observe GPS display.

 

( EGLD -> EGSU LEG )

1. Hit the "PAUSE" whenever required to allow time to observe and understand what the instruments are telling you.

2. GPS display , note the text data , and zoom level , usually 15 - 35 zoom.

    Zoom out to 350 nm  note map of England , try to get an understanding of the geographical situation.

    Try to determine a rough heading to firstly Lossiemouth AB in Scotland , also to Manchester.

     Get used to doing that as a part of your ball park navigation , or Situational  Awareness.

    Return zoom to normal levels ie; 15 nm.

3. SPEED exercises.

    At full power your speed will be just over 200 kts. 

    - pull power back to get 160 kts and allow it to stabilise at 160 , be precise.

    - then set power to get 170 , 180 , 190 kts.

      be precise in each instance , after power adjustment it takes a moment or two for the airspeed to settle at a stabilised value.

      be concientious  with these speed settings , it is important practise that will be used later during the approach phase.

      Return power to full.

 

( EGSU -> CLN  LEG ) 

1. Maintain full power speed .

2. Observe flight progress in GPS display.

3. At about 4 nm before CLN ( Clacton VOR) according to GPS distance text readout , reduce power to precisely 160 kts.

 

( CLN -> EGMC  LEG , AND ILS APPROACH )

1. Initially maintain cruise speed of 160 kts.

2 Regularly observe distance to go in the GPS display.

.......

( ILS APPROACH )

3.  *  At 15 nm to go in the GPS.

     *  Do the following in the Autopilot ,

     *  - Set mode from GPS to NAV button

        - Set APR button (Approach/ILS) .

4. Observe , the aircraft will now do a 'S' turn to align itself with the exact  EGMC runway heading (236).

5. When the aircraft has completed this little 'S' turn , bring power back to get 140 kts exactly.

    You might have noticed that the Autopilot ALT hold is still On , it will automatically go Off upon Glideslope capture.

6. At about 7 -8 nm to go in the GPS , the Autopilot will automatically "CAPTURE THE ILS GLIDESLOPE" , and

    start the descent to the runway.

    A good indication of this ILS descent is in the VSI , it will indicate a downwards rate of descent in FPM ( Feet Per Minute) .

7. Reduce power to get exactly  140 kts.

8. When the speed falls below 152 kts ,

     - Set Flaps to 15 degrees , and

     - Lower the GEAR.

 

9. Then reduce power to get exactly 120 kts ,

     When speed is below 122 kts ,

      - Set flaps to 30 degrees .

     (Very carefully observe the speed during Flap and Gear operation)

10. At about 1 -2 nm to go in GPS , reduce power to get exactly  110 kts ,

      ( UNSURE airspeed remains above 100 kts )

11. When over the Runway at about 10 -20 foot above the runway pull power completely OFF .

      The Autopilot will land and roll the aircraft to a full stop.

 

The End.

 

Cheers

Karol

 

PS ; During the ILS phase observe the HSI instrument , specifically  both the cental portion of the yellow arrow , and

       the small yellow triangles .

       When you fly the ILS manually by hand you have to keep both centered .

       Then you will start sweating !

Hi Karol thanks for the latest very detailed reply.

 

With regard to

 

LOADING AIRCRAFT.

Open free flight menu ,

1. 'Current Aircraft' = Cessna 414A.

2. 'Current Location' = London City - EGLC.

     down lower on this page,

      'Choose runway/Starting position' = click arrow

                                                           = click  27

 

I still don't get any option for runway 27 only 10/28

 

Have gone through everything else and think I am setup correctly but will have to leave the flight until another day. 

 

I had hoped to include a screen shot of my FSX window from Dropbox but getting error that the file extension (jpg) can't be used so have, hopefully, sent it in a private message. 

 

You will hopefully see that HSI is correctly set to 236 degrees.

Chris

ivatt asked about starting a flight in the air. It's not something I've ever done so I did a little digging. From what I can figure out, when you create a flight plan and save it one of the files in the folder is an .FLT file. This is a text file that can be edited and if you scroll down that file you will come to a section headed [simVars.0]

 

This is the one for the Siska Approach flight:

 

[simVars.0]

Latitude=N56° 58' 51.69"

Longitude=W135° 5' 22.12"

Altitude=+004794.46

Pitch=-0.69584974752226136

Bank=0.4717823880402528

Heading=-59.446912965895905

PVelBodyAxis=0.0012079635943079174

BVelBodyAxis=0.00013124058182044533

HVelBodyAxis=-0.0014430447390568332

XVelBodyAxis=-5.0489005724763718

YVelBodyAxis=-1.156168802970005

ZVelBodyAxis=171.47668232607569

SimOnGround=False

OnPlatformHeight=-9999999999

 

The lines that pertain to want you want I believe are the Latitude, Longitude, Altitude and SimOnGround=False. This should tell FSX where in the world you want to start, at what altitude and not on the ground but in the air. Also, maybe pitch to give an angle if on a decent approach.

 

More information can be found here:

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc707071.aspx#[sim.n]

 

Again, I haven't tried this but play with it and see what happens. And remember, backup you original first.

Hi Chris

 

The difference is due to different scenery that you and I have loaded on our computer.

It's not a problem .

 

Just load your aircraft at Runway 28 .

 

Then proceed to do the flight as described above in long  " COMPLETE PROCEDURES " post .

 

If you are able to print that  " COMPLETE PROCEDURES " out , it would be handy to have it next to you as you go through the flight .

 

The only changes to the " COMPLETE PROCEDURES "  are ;

1. change Runway from 27 to 28 , to suit your scenery in FSX .

2. In the approach leg ( CLN -> EGMC ) you will see that I have mentioned change of speed to "140 kts" twice , the first mention of

140 kts should have read  150 kts , ( my mistake , finger trouble during typing - sorry )

 

I have tested the " COMPLETE PROCEDURES " flight countless times and it works flawlessly .

If you fly that several times you will begin to see the learning benefit of it .

 

Please ask any questions that might arise during that procedure flight .

 

Also let me know when you have successfully completed at least one of those flights.

 

You will have noticed the zoom out to 350 nm in the GPS , that partly covers the navigational awareness aspect ,

the other aspect to notice is the runway perspective during the approach , slowly that will help you judge your

future approaches to landing .

In another post I will send a "PAPI  screenshot that might clarify what the runway perspective/picture should look like 

during your approaches .

 

Cheers

Karol

Hi Karol

 

Thanks for the update, I was assuming it was something like that. What scenery do you have installled?

 

I did try to post an image of my FSX screen on the forum but it failed despite following the latest instructions. Perhaps you could tell me how you did yours??

 

I then sent you a PM with the image so hopefully you have that.

 

I will try a test flight as soon as I can but I am away for the next few days, well from Monday, so it may be a time till I post back with a successful flight.

 

Regards

 

Chris

Hi Chris

 

I mentioned PAPI  , below is a screenshot of it .

You will notice that the longer sealed runways often have the PAPI   lights next to the runway , it consists of a row of

4 lights as shown in the shot , it will indicate to you if you are too high , too low or just right during your approach.

 

This system is totally separate of the ILS , if you are flying the ILS , then ignore the PAPI lights and concentrate

solely on the ILS indications.

 

The REASON I attached here is because of the runway perspective images on the right hand side.

You can see that the runway vertical aspect changes in each image while the width remains constant.

The center one "on glide path" is what you need to get used to.

When flying an approach manually , the runway must have that proportion , by examining those 

5 images you can tell if you are high , on the money , or low and adjust your approach accordingly ,

those perspective images help developing your approach judgement  , always be aware of how the

runway looks during your approaches.

 

 

 

 

Cheers

Karol

jlong

 

Thanks for the info, apologies for the delay but couldn't access the site earlier.

 

Will take a look at your suggestion. The reason for my question is that as you will gather from my posts I am trying to get my head around navigation and landing and I was thinking that if I could have a flight plan or mission where i start in the air I could then concentrate on the approach and landing.

 

 

I realise that you are using the example from your book , however 2 things standout that will make your exercises very difficult to conduct .

They are ;
(1) Aircraft type .
The Piper J-3 Cub is a bad choice for learning in .
Recommend that you use a tricycle gear aircraft , not a taildragger , you will have a better view of the runway .
Also use an aircraft that has a complete set of aviation instruments , the Cub panel is hopeless for learning purposes .

Possible aircraft are Piper or Cessna .

(2) Choose a Better airport .
Post Mills is not good for learning Take off and Landing for the following reasons , runway is too short , trees close to both ends ,

 

I cannot disagree with this sentiment more, with the exception of perhaps the taildragger aspect. That being said...

 

The Cub is perfect for learning in. It's slow, it's stable, but it's also very responsive. The lack of instrumentation is a good thing. If you want to learn to fly visually, then the best way to do that is to use your eyes...and the Cub has excellent visibility. I saw the recommendation of the Cessna 414, and to me that's like teaching your kid to drive in a Ferrari, rather than an old Celica. Too much power, too fast, too easy to get yourself stuffed.

 

Regarding the airport location, the advantage of being "boxed in" is that it helps you fly the pattern (in the simulator, of course). There's not very far you can go before you run into anything.

 

Anyway, my $0.02. If you want to learn to fly VFR, this is an excellent way to do it.

Chris: You can also pause a flight in the air and "SAVE" it to your saved flights and then "LOAD" it when you want to "FLY NOW" and it'll start where ever you paused it in flight. I recommend you pause & save in straight and level flight and then PAUSE immediately after reloading so that you can properly set the controls to where they should be and set the avionics up.

Karol: I've been following this thread since the beginning, you are doing a great job of preparation and explanation. If I can be of any help in preparing a flight let me know, otherwise, one instructor at a time is quite enough.

Hi  bbuckley

 

Thank you .

 

What I have been trying to do here is to get ONE standard  "saved flight plan" that is specifically shaped as shown by the 

waypoints that I have nominated above .

 

There are reasons for that ,

1. Turns are not too acute.

2. first leg and last leg are in rough alignment with start and end airport runways.

3. By using the Autopilot throughout the flight , the pilot has plenty of time to observe and learn , and that is critical to the

    whole of the exercise , when the pilot flies that flight plan manually by hand he is going to be very busy and probably

    overloaded . In that situation he will be saturated and the learning will suffer.

4. The first leg and second leg are specifically set up or structured for 2 subsequent exercises that use variations off this

     flight plan , and have important learning ramifications.

 

The primary objective of my procedure are to learn both , (A) Approaches , and ( B) basic navigation.

As an add on benefit the procedural method covers , creation of saved flt Plns , Autopilot use/function , and

Map navigation aspects using , FS Map , FS Flight Planner , GPS display.

 

I have tried to stress the need to remain focused , and to avoid ad hoc short cuts , at the very least for the several flights ,

for the simple reason , if you are after instruction , then you must observe and follow those instructions.

 

I am not trying to do a full Pilot's flying course  , just the approach and navigation aspects.

 

My credentials are ,

1. Real life : I have been a Pilot all my adult life.

2. Flight Simulation : For several years I have created a variety of instruments for my F-111 panel , some of the

    instruments are complex and advanced.

    Surprisingly some of the instruments that I have created address the very issues that are the subject of this thread ,

    Multi mode radar with high resolution terrain contours with Nav data , flight plan info including full text flight plan list ,

    my own variation on the autopilot , a flight plan editor that allows flight plans to be created or modified in the instrument ,

    it enables entries in either ICAO or 3 Lat/Long formats , A synthetic ILS instrument that enables precision ILS approaches 

    at any of the 24,000 airports in the sim database , select any runway at any airport then select which end you want to use ,

    you get the ILS plus a massive amount of airport data , it allows you to enter any airport anywhere in the world , and it gives

    the full airport name , distance and bearing .

    In that panel you are never lost .

 

While the following link might be a little technical , it does have in the second page some shots of my panel if you are interested ,

http://www.fsdeveloper.com/forum/threads/storage-of-gps-variables.433868/

 

So it would be reasonable to say that I have a little knowledge that I can pass on.

 

Cheers

Karol

 

 

Hi, thanks for the latest posts all of which are proving very instructive.

 

bbuckley Thanks for that piece of information I will give it a try.

 

Skiff, I take on board what you have said and expect as I get more proficient to go back to Cub & Piper Mills from time to time.I also intend to read through my book more intently as there is a lot of information contained within it's pages.

 

As for now, the very detailed information that COBS has provided will, hopefully, enable me to take in the approach and navigation aspects I require in order to be able to do more than just "fly" an aircraft aimlessly around the skies which is of course the easy bit.

 

Having recently had to dispose of all my model railway equipment due to physically not being able to work on my layout, I now need another leisure activity that is less stressful physically hence my rekindled interest in flight simulation, The downside of flight simulation is that unless, as I have said, you just want to fly aimlessly around there is a significant amount of information that's needed to be taken on board to be able to "fly" properly and with purpose.

 

I am now in my mid 70's and find that absorbing new information is a slow process and also that the presentation of that information is all important. There are copious amounts of information on the various forums etc. but it is time consuming finding the right piece and finding it presented in a way that "makes sense" doubly difficult.

 

I am hoping that the very detailed information that Karol has provided (to whom I am truly en-debited for his time and patience) will after a couple of reads and flights get through to my old brain and make flight simulation an enjoyable experience.

 

Karol, will the plan etc. you have devised show me the visual flight path on approach?