Hi JohnWhen I get the turn to 305 I am past the centerline to the East. After the turn I am headed at roughtly right angles to the centerline coming in from east to west. When I get the call for 005 and complete it, I am past and to the west of the centerline. As such I cannot capture the localizer without manually turning back to and easterly heading. RegardsRoger

Hi Roger,Good, all the scenery seems okay!So the call for 005 is given before you reach the centreline but doesn't give you time to complete the turn to final? Maybe you need to start the turn as soon as the heading is given, before you have ack'd the call. In theory from the start of the message telling you to turn 005 you should have about 60 secs to make the 90 degree turn onto the final approach course. It sounds like the call is being given a bit late here. What size plane are you flying?I suspect in a case like this you blame a distracted controller and remember why we have pilots on board planes ;-)All the best,John

Hi JohnI'm flying the Eaglesoft Citation X. Normally I would not be aware of the possible problem since I depend on the controllers. I do have FS Nav running though so I do have a plot to look at which is how the trouble was discovered. Guess I'll just stay more awake in future when the controller takes a holiday. Many thanks for your help.RegardsRoger

Your welcome Roger.I might suggest to jd that we pilots should have an option to report the controllers to FSDO at the end of a flight if they go to sleep on the job but I don't think Doug would agree ;-)All the best,John

Hi JohnNot to beat a dead horse but to close the loop a bit. I shot a couple more approaches to KBOS 4R and observed that after the turn to 005, the localizer pip came up on the MFD and was moving, yet I couldn't capture it. So part of the problem may be with the sensitivity of the APP code in the Citation X. The better approach would have been to turn me to 050 not 005 which would have brought the aircraft almost down the centerline allowing a capture closer in.Again thanks and regardsRoger

>So the call for 005 is given before you reach the centreline>but doesn't give you time to complete the turn to final? Maybe>you need to start the turn as soon as the heading is given,>before you have ack'd the call. Good advice. When I was training for my IFR ticket, my instructor always said, "Aviate, then communicate." i.e. it's always best when given a vector and/or climb descent clearance to immediately begin making any necessary heading or altitude change, THEN go ahead and read back. Always fly the plane, first and foremost...Jim Barrett

Roger,I've had a read through all this discussion but the one thing I didn't see was your approach speed. Although I fly a larger aircraft - PMDG737-700 - I keep my localiser intercept speed to around 190kts. Was your speed comparable? If faster it might explain why you didn't make the turn in time.Cheers,

One general thing to check is on the MFD/ND you have the correct localizer ID. The 4R/22L share the same loc frequency of 110.3. In FS as you are going around the pattern until you are within a couple of degrees very close to the correct localizer you may be capturing the wrong one. I've seen this until within a very close range of the runway extended centerline.The fixes posted to correct this FS problem (you would not have shared frequency opposing localizers on simultaneously real-world) is to go into the AFCAD for the airport and in the navaid or runway properties shut off the back course for each.If you are inadvertently flying the back course of the opposing localizer you get reverse sensing on the localizer indicator giving you the impression you have missed the intersect since the indicator would be on the wrong side.This has been a frequent complaint of FS users.A bit off topic but might be a contributing factor and it is sensitive to your arrival direction.I always use either an ND waypoint display with the ILS points displayed or if not equipped a GPS display keeping an eye on the bearing to the airport.

Hi RayI had the same thought that speed may have been a factor so I shot the approach several times from 200 Kts all the way to 170 Kts. Made no difference. I did approaches to all the other major runways at Boston including 22L and they all went well sharing the common factor that I was vectored in to between 10 and 15 miles of the threshold. On 4R I was vectored to a 30 mile intercept.RegardsRoger

Hi Roger,Okay, that's fine. I just wanted to mention it in case it was a factor. Out of curiosity could you post your flight plan here and I'll fly it. Are you using the freeware Boston scenery or the default?Cheers,

funny thing.... runway 4.i had the same problem yesterday on a flight from KDAL to KHOU.the flight was done in a Carenado Beechcraft F33M.downwind leg took me 41(!) miles out and then turned me in, overshooting the LOC then having to turn back after when vectored in for final out of my base leg.just thought you would want to know.

yeah, that sounds like an interesting one. i'll fly it, if you send me the .plnor just post it herejd

Hi Ray and Roger,Speed should not be an issue if things are working right. It's taken into account when deciding how far from the runway centre line we turn you.All the best,John

Hi Matthew,That's strange. I've never seen a downwind leg that long in all the testing we've done. Certainly there's no reason for it at KHOU.You didn't alter the MSA for KHOU on the controllers page by any chance did you.That's the only thing that immediately springs to mind as a cause.All the best,John

Hi RayThe plan is as follows:KEWR-JFK-NEWES-RAALF-PVD-INNDY-HOPTU-KBOSThe first approach vector was received about half way between PVD and INNDY. Cruise altitude was 14000 Ft.RegardsRoger