This has been happening with both the fslabs A321neo and the ifly max 8. The plain isn't intercepting the localizer.

https://www.imagebam.com/view/ME18WC9Z

This photo is of the ILS 35R approach at CYYC, same thing happened (heading is crossed out). I literally tried doing the same kind of approach at PANC and it worked. But I can't get it to work at any other airport so far.

What's going on?

Edited December 20, 2025Dec 20 by simsuper80

In this photo, you're not receiving a localizer.  Can't intercept what you aren't receiving 😉.

In the upper left where you see the frequency and course (the course is crossed out because the captain's and FOs courses are not set to the same value), the frequency will change to a 4 character identifier when you're receiving a valid localizer signal.  You'll also see a diamond indicator on the localizer scale at the bottom of the PFD (it could be white or magenta, depending on flight guidance mode selections).

The absence of an ID or diamond indicator tells you the nav radio is not receiving a valid signal.

Few reasons this could be: you have it tuned wrong, it doesn't exist in the sim for some reason, or you're just too far out.  MSFS 2020/2024 is better with navaid reception distances than earlier sims, but only marginally.  ILS signals still have a less-than-realistic range.

A good work around for the range issue if you're trying to join more than about 10nm out is to load the approach in the FMC and join in LNAV.  When you get close enough to receive the radio signals, arm approach and you'll be all set.

 

 

1 hour ago, Stearmandriver said:

In this photo, you're not receiving a localizer.  Can't intercept what you aren't receiving 😉.

In the upper left where you see the frequency and course (the course is crossed out because the captain's and FOs courses are not set to the same value), the frequency will change to a 4 character identifier when you're receiving a valid localizer signal.  You'll also see a diamond indicator on the localizer scale at the bottom of the PFD (it could be white or magenta, depending on flight guidance mode selections).

The absence of an ID or diamond indicator tells you the nav radio is not receiving a valid signal.

Few reasons this could be: you have it tuned wrong, it doesn't exist in the sim for some reason, or you're just too far out.  MSFS 2020/2024 is better with navaid reception distances than earlier sims, but only marginally.  ILS signals still have a less-than-realistic range.

A good work around for the range issue if you're trying to join more than about 10nm out is to load the approach in the FMC and join in LNAV.  When you get close enough to receive the radio signals, arm approach and you'll be all set.

 

 

But both courses 𝘢𝘳𝘦 set to the same value (I should have put that in the photo). So are the frequencies. The flight before that about 30 minutes prior to that photo, I was trying the same thing at PANC (aerosoft) and it worked.

 

Here is a photo of the A321 landing at BIKF. no signal even all the way up to short final. And again, this works at PANC (aerosoft), but no other airport so far.

 

https://www.imagebam.com/view/ME18WLYJ

Edited December 20, 2025Dec 20 by simsuper80

That second image link seems to be broken.  No matter for me as I don't speak Airbus anyway, but might help someone else help you. 

The two courses are not set identically in your first pic, that's why it's crossed out.  I've torture-tested that feature in the iFly and I can confidently say it works correctly.  It's easy to mis-spin the FO's course knob across the virtual cockpit, I'm sure we've all done it.  Doesn't really matter though, as this wouldn't affect your ability to capture the localizer as long as your side is set correctly and your flight director is the master.  There's just no localizer being received.

The sim does occasionally have a bad ILS at an airport... Missing, mis-aligned etc.  I remember when the ILS to the south at KTIW took you about a half mile west of the runway in default scenery.  Think they've fixed that lol.  Third party devs are susceptible to errors as well.  Try PANC again and see if you can repeat success there?

 

18 minutes ago, Stearmandriver said:

That second image link seems to be broken.  No matter for me as I don't speak Airbus anyway, but might help someone else help you. 

The two courses are not set identically in your first pic, that's why it's crossed out.  I've torture-tested that feature in the iFly and I can confidently say it works correctly.  It's easy to mis-spin the FO's course knob across the virtual cockpit, I'm sure we've all done it.  Doesn't really matter though, as this wouldn't affect your ability to capture the localizer as long as your side is set correctly and your flight director is the master.  There's just no localizer being received.

The sim does occasionally have a bad ILS at an airport... Missing, mis-aligned etc.  I remember when the ILS to the south at KTIW took you about a half mile west of the runway in default scenery.  Think they've fixed that lol.  Third party devs are susceptible to errors as well.  Try PANC again and see if you can repeat success there?

 

The link should be fixed now. Im about to try it again soon, but I can 100% guarantee that both courses are absolutely set. I know this because this is happening every single time, and I didn't do anything different while landing at PANC and that was a successful ILS approach.

They weren't, but again it doesn't matter - it didn't have any affect on your ability to capture a localizer that you weren't receiving.  

How many airports have you had the problem at?

Looking at that first pic, you don't seem to have any performance initialization done, no v speeds etc.  None of that would affect radio navaids, but I feel like it points to some unfamiliarity with this aircraft or these procedures.  If that's the case, it's easy to do something different from one try to the next without realizing that you have.  It just seems that's the more likely explanation, as if there were really a missing ILS in somewhere like Calgary, others would have long since noticed it.  

I wonder if your in-sim nav database got corrupted somehow?  Not the database in your aircraft FMC, but the one that actually places navaids in the sim world.  If you're using navigraph, might be worth trying a reinstall of the sim navdata.  If you're not using navigraph, I don't know how to do this but I'll bet there's a way and someone here probably knows, hopefully they can chime in.

I have uninstalled and reinstalled the nav data and navhub and it seems to be working now. The reason I didn't have any vspeeds or landing data was because I simply spawned at the airport just to test and see if the ILS approach was working at all.

Could you also post a photo in the Airbus where your FCU is visible?

2 hours ago, TuomasV said:

Could you also post a photo in the Airbus where your FCU is visible?

Sure. If it happens again in the Airbus I can do that.

 Sitting outside of the Westjet hangar at YYC (FS Studios) in the iFly Max in 2024 with both radios tuned to 110.75 and both courses set to 345 and I'm showing a good ident and DME. Looking good so far.

 I also loaded up a quick flight starting on final for 35R and the ILS was solid, no issues on the iFly Max.

Edited December 20, 2025Dec 20 by Dave_YVR

2 hours ago, Dave_YVR said:

 Sitting outside of the Westjet hangar at YYC (FS Studios) in the iFly Max in 2024 with both radios tuned to 110.75 and both courses set to 345 and I'm showing a good ident and DME. Looking good so far.

 I also loaded up a quick flight starting on final for 35R and the ILS was solid, no issues on the iFly Max.

CYYC worked for me after re installing navigraph (and all other airports)

I have just completed a quick circuit of IniBuilds EGSS London Stansted in the PMDG 737-800, and I failed to capture the ILS signal to runway 04. I have being conducting the same test flights at all of my addon airports literally thousands of times over the years, so I know what I am doing. I will need to check to see if it can be repeated. I have never seen this happen in MSFS 2020, or any other airports that I have tested to date in MSFS 2024.

To be fair, MSFS 2024 seems to do strange things at times. I have noticed a complete lack of approach lighting (or the 3D models) at several airports to date, and yet when I checked those airports again yesterday, the approach lighting and 3D models were visible 

Edited December 28, 2025Dec 28 by Christopher Low

Flew 3 ILS attempts yesterday at KBOS Rwy 33L in the MD-82.

33L is my ILS test Rwy & in each case over flew.

Thought it was a fault in the MD-82, not so sure now🤔

T45

In the default Max8 with FT KBOS, the ILS 33L was solid. Same with inib EGSS the ILS 04. No issues when I tried them.

15 hours ago, Dave_YVR said:

In the default Max8 with FT KBOS, the ILS 33L was solid. Same with inib EGSS the ILS 04. No issues when I tried them.

What was your approach height coming into the KBOS 33L feathers?

T45