First let me say how happy I am with this truly marvelous product. This is my initial sortie into Radar Contact land and am really enjoying it.That being said I seem to be having a problem with near side ILS approaches. As an example my most recent flight was from KEWR to KBOS. Approaching from the southwest I was vectored to Rwy 4R and turned to an initial heading of 305 which put me at approx right angles to the 4R centerline. I was then put on an intercept course of 005 degrees. When stable on this course I hit the APP button on the AP and immediately was turned away from the centerline and headed for the deck. Repeating the approach I noted that all the vectoring took place about 30 miles from the end of the runway and apparently no where near a point to capture the localiser. Flying a manual approach to about 15 miles from the runway worked just fine. I had something similar happen at KPDX. Am I doing something wrong or is the controller asleep at the switch.RegardsRoger

don't hit the APP button until you have acquired the localizeri watch the two nav lines on the advdisp. when the bearing to the airport and the runway heading start converging, i start changing heading towards the runway heading. about 22 miles from the airport the localizer should come active, and then you can line it up, and press the APP buttoni've trained otto not to hit the APP button until he sees the localizer, for the exact reason you describedjd

I guess my point was that with the vectors given for localizer intercept there was no way I could intercept it. I was too far out and by the time the intercept vector was given I was way past the centerline and capture area. Under the circumstances my only choice was to turn back towards the runway and make a manual intercept. On far side approaches RC brings me right in to the proper intercept point without manual intervention regarding the proper angles.Thanks and regardsRoger

Roger,Once you've descended to 11,000ft (for a near-side app) you will be handed over to APP who will initially give you vectors directly towards the airport.Some time after that you will get vectors for a downwind leg, a base leg and eventually a heading that will give you a 30 degree intercept for an ILS approach. During this time you will be cleared to lower altitudes. During this time you should not engage APP mode but be flying headings given by APP.If you are engaging APP mode around 30 miles out or even more that just won't work. Forget your flight plan once you're under APP control if you have requested a vectored approach. If you want an Instrument Approach then request it when contacting APP and you will be left to fly your own headings. You will be cleared down to your final approach altitude - around 2000-3000ft.Please try your flight again using the above as a guidline and see how you get on. Post your flightplan if you continue to have problems.Cheers,

Hi RayThanks for your reply. The only time I press the APP button is after I am stabilized on the final intercept vector provided by the controller. In the instant case to KBOS I am at 2000 ft. The final course given by the controller would never capture the localizer because it was issued too far from the runway threshold and at a point past the rwy centerline. For what its worth, my inital vector was not TO the airport but 90 degress to the centerline.RegardsRoger

Hi Roger,The distance from the airport at which you are turned towards the localizer depends on a few things. However it should be given when you are on base about a minute before you actually cross the rwy centreline.Can you remember if there was a lot of chatter going on, that might delay it.The only time I've had such a problem occur consistently at an airport is when there was a fault with the AF2 file for that airport.All the best,John

Hi JohnThere was no chatter. I flew the approach three times and the result was always the same. Not familiar with the file you mentioned but will take a look if it will help.RegardsRoger

Hi Roger,By the result being the same I take it you mean you had flown past the runway centreline before being asked to turn. That's what is unusual here.One thing that would help me check is if you could find the file called r4.csv in the C:progrm filesrcv4data folder.Open it with wordpad and find the entries for KBOS.If you could copy and paste them here I could check if the runway info has been read correctly. You'll probably find 8 lines looking something like:KBOS,0041,42.359035,-71.013824,19,35.500,7861,0,150,-15.800,42.368130,-71.009430,0Have you had any problems at other airports?All the best,John

Hi Roger,I'm not ignoring you but as John is helping you I don't think I can add anything at this point.Cheers,

Hi JohnWill look up the info for you and reply shortly.Yes. I had a similar problem at KPHX from KSEA. Did not pursue it in any detail however.The geometry of the approach caters to another question. Since I was coming from the southwest on a heading of 095 before crossing the rwy centerline, what factors would mitigate against a simple turn to the runway heading of 040 when I neared the localizer envelope?RegardsRoger

Hi JohnSorry for the delay. My FS is not connected to the internet so I had some local copy and paste footwork. The entry looks like this:KBOS,0041,42.358429,-71.014130,19,35.500,7861,0,150,-15.800,42.368130,-71.009430,0

Hi RayNo problem. As long as my question is getting 'stroked' I'm not fussy.:)RegardsRoger

Hi Roger,You were probably too far from the runway centreline when RC was deciding how to vector you to be sent in the way you suggest. RC decided to turn you onto a base leg first.Could you check something else for me. I once saw approach problems caused by a corrupt .bgl file messing up the magnetic variations in FS. Probably not the case here but go to runway 4R at KBOS. Make sure you are pointing straight down the runway. Press 'shift Z' and some text comes up at the top of the FS window. What is the reading for HDG?It should be somewhere around 035 I think.All the best,John

Hi Roger,That looks okay. Just let me make sure I have the problem straight here.You are being vectored to rwy 4R.RC issues a vector of 305. This is the base leg and flies you towards the extended runway centreline about 30 miles from the airport.You should then expect the 005 vector about a minute before you reach the extended centreline. After that it's up to you to turn onto the 035 heading at the correct point without further intervention from atc.You are saying that the 005 heading was given too late, after you had already crossed the centreline.All the best,John

Hi JohnSitting at the end of runway 4R at KBOS the Shift-Z heading reads 035.RegardsRoger