ILS Runway Selection in X-Plane 11.20

Question

Version 11.20 user.

I prefer to fly without any ATC involvement but I often need to know what the weather and landing runway is at my destination. Recently I flew from EKCH to EGLL and the LL ATIS (128.075) was given the wind calm and the landing runway as 27L.

After starting my intermediate approach, I noted that the ILS indications were all wrong. I wasn't sure whether it was just set for the other end of the runway (09R) or there was a program fault. Not fully understanding what was going on during this flight, and why the ILS wouldn't properly show for 27L, I spent several hours of trying to understand what was going on, disabling plugins and flying experimental sessions, I eventually came across the 'check box' in SETTINGS - GENERAL - FLIGHT MODEL- Disable downwind ILSes.

Unchecking this has finally solved my problem but, as far as I can see, there is no reference to this 'checkable' option in the X-Plane 11 manual (see Flying an ILS and other parts).

From an operational point, if anyone is trying to fly into an airport without ATC, and the ATIS is giving one direction and X-Plane is using the other, how am I going to know which correct landing runway and ILS? If anyone is going to just take to the sky and do an ILS at their choice of airport, how are they going to know which end of the runway is the ILS radiating if there's no ATIS? Better to leave this box 'unchecked', I would suggest.

Personally, I think that the wording on the 'Disable' check box is not clear and should just read 'Disable downwind ILS', as the addition of the letters 'es' are superfluous, and do not make the option absolutely clear,

Regards.

TERRY GALE

X-Plane 11.20, SkyMaxx Pro, X-Life (ATC disabled), X-Camera, Ground Handling Deluxe and others.

Ex-ATCO EGLL TMA (35 years), ex-PPL and many hours of FSX flying. Recently migrated to X-Plane.

Comments

From what I have done in the military, an ILS approach (as well as when using other navigational aids, such as VORs, ADFs, etc., for instrument approaches to airfields) is usually carried out for landing at controlled airfields (with manned - towers).  That is when low visibility prevail requiring IFR flight plans filed under an ATC clearance.  ATC informs/instructs on the landing runway for the approach.  Coordination takes place within the controlling agencies, including the tower, which, prior to landing, will clear (give permission) the aircraft for the landing (and/or to a specific landing strip if the airport is serviced by multiple runways.  That permission requires to be acknowledged by the pilot of the aircraft. The approaches are depicted on 'approach plates' approved and maintained in currency by the National Imagery and Mapping Agency of the USG at St Louis, Missouri, issued every four weeks. I have no knowledge of published IFR approaches for landing at non-controlled airfields (without towers).  One can practice instrument approaches at controlled airfields under VFR conditions, but one still has to have an ATC IFR clearance to the tower-controlled airfield. Besides approach plates, there are Low and High level aeronautical charts and world-wide (Enroute) Supplement booklets published for regional areas, such as for Europe, North Africa and Middle East depicting much and critical information used when planning and carrying-out IFR and VFR flights.

Answer 1

Thank you for taking the time to reply to this post but I can't find anywhere in your reply that specifically answers the points I raised about the relationship between the ATIS that's being produced via X-Plane 11.2, and the ILS that's actually radiating.

Having spent 40 years as a UK ATCO, had a PPL for many years, many hours of Flightsim flying and also main line cockpit flying, I have a pretty good understanding of ATIS, ILS and both civil and military flying. There is something that's happening in X-Plane that I want to understand.

Regards from

TERRY GALE