hi all!i read on the net about the working of an ils, but nowhere could i find in detail the explaination of what makes CAT I, CAT II, CAT IIIA, CAT IIIB and CAT IIIC different other than the operatable runway visibility. can someone please explain what exactly is the advancement in each of these. does the cat iiic make the plane have a nice flare too, and apply reversers automatically without involvement of pilot? will be a really cool thing if it does so

It's with the capabilities of the pilots and the aircraft. Me just being a regular instrument rated pilot with a standard IFR aircraft I am only capable of CAT I ILS approaches but if I had a different aircraft, training and an FAA checkride I could be CAT II for the lower minimums.

In the US, I think the equipment is the same, but I think FAA flight standards might have tighter monitoring of performance. There might be some differences in the field monitoring equipment, which isn't modeled in FS at all. All ILSs in FS work the same. There might be an inner marker beacon placed at approximately the CAT II decision height (100 ft) location, though I think inner markers are falling out of fashion.IRL there might also be some larger ground areas where movement of aircraft is restricted to avoid interference with the ILS signals.I don't know (maybe some one else does) if there is any special approach lighting configuration required for Cat II/III systems?scott s..

www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instrument_Landing_System gives a pretty good explanation of the different ILS catagories.You can also search www.faa.gov for informationJohn M