User Guide

Flight Simulator
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Microsoft
airplane is tracking the runway centerline. Under no-wind conditions, you just need to fly the runway
heading to keep the localizer needle centered. If there’s wind, you need to make small corrections to
compensate for wind drift. Sounds easy, but it does take practice to perfect this skill.
The glideslope is an electronic beam that’s tilted upward at approximately a 3-degree angle (Figure
3). By centering the glideslope needle, shown in Figure 1 (position B), you’re flying an obstruction-
free path down towards the runway, like going down a nice, shallow slide at a playground. How do
you keep the glideslope needle centered? Fly towards it just like a localizer needle. If the needle
swings upward, then fly upward; if it swings downward, then fly downward. The objective is to
maintain the specific rate of descent which allows the airplane to track the glideslope down to DH.
Radial Scanning Primary Instruments
How do you maintain that descent rate? You must use the vertical speed indicator (VSI). In addition,
flying an ILS approach requires that you maintain a specific airspeed and heading. Therefore, you
must also scan the airspeed indicator
and heading indicator. As you can see,
this isn’t the place to catch a little
shuteye. Following the ILS needles to
decision height is a demanding task.
That’s why you never leave Step two of
the three-step instrument scan. In
other words, you spend almost all of
your time radial scanning these three
important primary instruments. Figure
4 shows the primary instruments for
an ILS approach.
The VSI is primary for pitch; the HI is
primary for bank and the airspeed
indicator (ASI) is primary for power.
These instruments are radial scanned
along with the ILS display (you don’t,
however, need to radial scan the
airspeed indicator that often). Therefore, three instruments are continuously radial scanned when
flying an ILS, with other instruments occasionally included. Things are far too busy to perform the
monitor scan found in the final step of the three-step scan. Now that you know what to look at, what
descent rate and airspeed do you fly to stay on the glideslope?
Figure 4
POWER
BANK PITCH
ILS