Donny AKA ShalomarFly 2 ROCKS!!!Intercepting an ILS from 20 plus miles out seems excessive for any type. It's one of the biggest reasons I don't use the default ATC much. C4TO could be customised, and I was very comfortable with 10. Is there a .CFG entry to change it for FS9?Best Regards, Donny:-wave

Hi, You can download the AFCAD2 program (you can find it, freeware, on many sites). With this program you can "custom" any airport. You can also update or change ILS frequencies, range, descent gradient or add an ILS (LSZH new ILS 34 since this sommer, for example), and build your own airport. I don't know other method to expend range of an ILS, and you can only change them airport by airport. But, you know, in real world, ILS cannot be captured longer than around 20 miles... If you use real charts for your approaches, default ATC will not recognise lots of STARS. You can ignore some erratic instructions and follow your flight plan and real approches. In final turn approach, you will be close enougth to intercept any ILS. If you know a method to "update" default ATC, please tell me !

according to a real world friend of mine, by 20-15 miles out, the aircraft is setup for landing, gear down, flaps down, trim set, etc. So many thats why the ATC clears you, at around that distance?

I'd say for a vectored approach the localizer intercept for 2000 ft AGL (based on threshold altitude) is about 15 nm out with GS at about 8 nm out for a three degree slope.At dense airports final flaps and final approach speed with gear coming down at about 5 to 8 miles from the threshold to expedite landing traffic for larger aircraft.Terrain may require a greater degree of slope and possibly a further out GS intercept at greater AGL (based on threshold altitude). Other variances may be due to traffic.

Donny AKA ShalomarFly 2 ROCKS!!!I wasn't referring to the range of recieving the signal but how radically ATC vectors to intercept. It's not that bad for a heavy, but a little annoying in puddlejumpers. Especially when in IMC and the ILS is reciprocal to your direction of flight. I wind up so far from KABE they tell me to contact KPHL aproach!Life is full of compromises I guess. Even when general direction of flight and active are close and my track would intercept centerline well before the outer markers, I often get sent on a course about 90 degrees perpendicular to the runway. C4TO for FLY II has settings you could adjust for distance from runway ATC vectors would have you on centerline and the descent profile you wished which would affect when ATC commenced letdown. But then again, it doesn't have multiple runway support.Life is full of compromises.Best Regards, Donny:-wave

I do not use FS ATC but Radar Contact. I think FS ATC also gives you the option to request a published approach so you can navigate to and from the IAF on your own providing you have the plates.Either way, if you are mixing with heavies you may have to merge with their approach track.By the way, in my reply I was referring to the actual intercepts, not recep[tion distance. I was looking at the last plates I used - ILS 30 at Bermuda and ILS 3L at Gran Canariawhich happened to be at the top of the pile. As I recall the plates for KMSP are similar.You might want to look at Radar Contact as soon as they release version 4. Their forum is here on AVSIM.