Final Lesson      

  Approach Descent and Landing 

We left the last lecture routing down through Spain on the West Side of Madrid. We are now going to work out our descent point for Malaga. Malaga Airport has mountains and hills around it . Safety Height  is the first consideration. We then look at the Standard Arrival Chart and Route Charts for guidance. From this height we need to start descending about 150 miles away from Malaga, Desend at 2000ft per minute at 300 knots indicated air speed until Flight Level 100 (10000ft)then the restriction of 250 Knots applies remember. This is where the direct to command comes in useful. What we can do is type in LEMG and monitor it . Do not press the enter button ( You could press the enter button and use the VOR and NDB to Navigate the rest of the route.) I will explain now the Standard Arrival procedure for Malaga for this route. We note from the charts the safety height between here and Malaga is 8500ft.  If Air Traffic Controllers try to descend us below it we challenge them . We listen into the ATIS  radio broadcast  for Malaga . We find that aircraft are landing on runway 32. From our Standard Arrival Chart , we can see 2 procedures in use for Malaga Runway 32.  Both starting from Martin VOR. Our Autopilot is set up from the flight planner for an approach to runway 14. So we now are going to have to use the NDB and VOR initially.  Then onto the ILS. To make matters harder we have to fly over the the airfield and commence a reverse turn known as a tear drop procedure. 

Normally  the approach controller would  radar steer the aircraft onto final approach at busy airports as Malaga is very busy. At quieter times in good weather the pilot may be told to report the airfield in site and join the circuit flying downwind, base and final parts of the circuit .From this direction I am going to show you the method of reversing on an instrument approach. The procedure starts at Martin VOR flying inbound to the Locator NDB  RMA frequency 350 this is on the Martin VOR 141 radial outbound a distance of 33 miles from the chart the safety height between Martin and RMA is 5000 ft so you can descend to that if ATC clear you to it . The Transition altitude is 6000ft in this area so once you cross the VOR press the B key to reset your altimeter the the airfield QNH setting QNH (Height above sea level). This is right down a valley so do not get low or off track. We then go onto the final approach stage on arriving over RMA we should track outbound on the ILS beam from runway32  to 6 DME on a heading of 136. You therefore have to retune your radio box 1 to the ILS frequency as you pass over the Martin VOR and get on track to RMA Set box 2 to MARTIN VOR and use the RMI indicator you will note that the NDB instrument is working now. Switch your GPS over to Nav and the ADF needle appears on your compass. You can monitor your heading back to the NDB on that you want to get it to fly inbound on the ILS on a heading of 316.

The inbound approach course to land is 316,set that up on the OBS course indicator, As you cross over the RMA the yellow light illuminates and a beeper is heard. (Remember this for shortly I will explain its significance.) As we get to 6 DME the procedure requires us to turn left onto a heading of 091 degrees and  fly outbound for 1 minute at a speed of 21O knots We can now descend to 2000ft as we are over the sea so start descending at 1000ft per minute put 2 degrees of flap out. Remember 25 degrees of bank in the turn only. Use your stop watch on the left of the panel by clicking the button on the top left of the clock to reset it. After one minute you need to do a 25 degree bank turn all the way round  ready to intercept the Instrument Landing System 316 track in to the runway. You do the same as you do for VOR navigation this time the dots either side are only one degree deviation. As the ADF indicates 316 the ILS needle should also swing in to the centre turn and you should  fly 316 to the runway. 

This centre line track is called the Localizer Air Traffic  Approach Control normally request pilots to report established on the localizer so they can then hand you off to the tower for landing. (Established means when you are flying 316 with the  needle centred.) Once this has been done you call the tower they normally request you to report passing the marker which is the beep and the yellow light and the ADF needle swinging 180 degrees. The ILS track normally has 2 markers the Outer marker and the Middle marker the inner marker is white light and beeps faster it is on the end of the runway normally they are being phased out. the middle marker is normally about 2 miles out the middle marker is 4 miles out normally. Also on an ILS is a glidescope indicator that moves up or down on the right hand side of the instrument just like the left and right of track indicator this tells you whether you are above below or on the glide path. You will be below the glide path here so once established go to flaps 10 and 180 knots speed as the glide path needle drop slow down to 160 knots and put flaps 25 or 30 out and lower the landing gear the aircraft will pitch up this will obscure your view of the runway use the shift and enter key together and press twice this will pan your view down so you can see over the flight panel to line up on the runway. Watch your pitch angle here if you use the pan view it can get you into a false sense of security the best way is to select a side view quickly and then let it centre and then pan down twice. that way you have reset it. 

If you have have wind on the approach check your groundspeed and then you have to work out your rate of descent. From the charts your rate of descent  for a grounds speed of 160 is about 860ft per minute for GS of 140 knots it is 750 ft per minute. Once the glide scope  needle centres you set you autopilot to 0 ft and your VS1 to -850 and this will help you fly the glide scope. 

I disconnect the autopilot at 800 ft above the field be ready to add power as you need your joystick to take over again as it is not synchronized to the engines like a real airliner is. You will also have to retrim   the aircraft as this will also not be synchronized I find it pitches up in FS2000.

Decision Height and Runway Visual Range

Very important here you should not even attempt an approach if it is below the minimum  either hold or divert.
Assuming then it is borderline you will fly the approach down to decision height if you cannot see the runway then GO Around and try again never go below decision height as you might be parking in some ones front room in a skyscraper or hit a mountain.

On approach charts it will have the decision height and visibility published.

On Aerad charts it will give the pilot elapsed time to fly at decision height from the outer marker before the GO Around is executed (overshoot and try again bringing the wheels up and climbing back to a safety height for another go) So as the pilot crosses the outer marker he starts the stop watch and flies for the elapsed time not below decision height . If the runway is not visible he flies the published Go around procedure advising the Tower who will put him back to Approach Control for another try or diversion.

Back to the Approach we cross the marker we can see the runway this time I am hand flying the landing I notice I an high on the glide scope so I ease the throttle back slightly to increase my rate of descent I then drop below the glide scope  now so I have to add a bit of power to get to the correct setting.  If I was flying to slow I would push the stick forward and retrim if I was to  fast I would bring the stick back and retrim.

You can watch the approach lights on the left hand side of the runway 

3 or 4 red lights too  Low
3 or4  white light too High
YOU WANT 2 REDS 2 WHITES 

As you get to 20ft above the runway close the throttles and flare the aircraft . The aircraft in a pitch up of about 5 degrees maximum.  Wait for the aircraft to touchdown then use the / key to deploy the speed brakes and spoilers . Apply reverse thrust and brakes until the aircraft slows to taxi speed. Clear the runway and get your flaps and spoilers back up. Reverse thrust is normally turned off after 80 knots The brake switch is normally set to 2 for landing. Switch that back to off at this point.

If it was night follow the green taxiway centre line lights to your gate. Most gates have docking systems for you to position for the jetty to go to the door.


Below are some photos to help you understand what we have just done.

The picture above shows the first stage of the standard arrival into Malaga we have just crossed the Martin VOR desending to 5000 ft  airspeed 250 knots I am steering the aircraft to the NDB using the heading bug. You will see why I said do not deviate off track or altitiude below  mountains and hills to left right and below centre. Imagine doing this on a cloudy day without  radio beacons.

On a cloudy day all you would see is your instruments anyway.  I have tuned the ILS and set the inbound course for landing . The ILS is also going to be used to track outbound to 6 DME , before we commence the first part of the tear drop procedure. We are 12.3 miles to the runway note the glidescope needle, and the moving beam bar for the localiser is on both instruments.

The  above picture shows us overhead the Outer marker going outbound. Notice the ADF needle is swinging and the outer marker light illuminated.

The above picture shows us after we have flown to 6 DME  from the ILS and completed a 25 degree bank left turn flown out on the stopwatch for a minute. We then commenced a 25 degree bank right turn all the way round and got ourselves established back  onto the localiser. We are below the glidepath and just 1 degree off track heading back to the NDB Outer Marker. You can now see the teardrop forming. on the GPS map. This procedure can also be used for joining a holding pattern.

All we are waiting for now is the Glide scope needle to centre then start your descent at 850 fpm when it centres at a speed of 160 knots. Now you can see  why its called the teardrop procedure.

Fully established on the localiser and glidepath, inform tower reduce speed to 160 flaps 25 drop the landing gear.  Set your autobrakes to 2

At 20ft off the runway, close the throttles  and flare the aircraft to this pitch , let the aircrafts sink onto the runway deploy speedbrakes with the / key apply  brakes and reverse thrust on touchdown.

The correct touchdown point . In a crosswind you may have to crab the aircraft in slightly to hold the centre line.

The speeds for easy reference are contained in an easy reference guide in the flight school

You still have holding patterns to learn and the Circuit procedures these will appear later . I hope you have enjoyed the series your comments in the guest book would be appreciated. I must say there is no substitute for proper training. Flying a real aircraft on instruments is very trying at first. You lose all your balance in cloud and you start to think the aircraft is doing something different.  It takes some getting used to to ignore your senses and watch instruments . Many aviation accidents in clouds have been caused by new pilots flying beyond their level of training. I have kept this as simple as I can . There is a lot more to instrument flying and the procedures illustrated here these are only the tip of the iceberg to give you some basic knowledge so that you masy enjoy Flight Simulators that much more.

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