KMSO \HTTI/ KMSO      
 

Tid Bits 1 
Posted 1/23/06

• 1/23/06,  RWY  landing aids :  What are those red and or white lights on the left hand side of some RWY's??  They are landing aids. VASI ( Visual approach slope indicator ) If all you see is white lights, then you are above the glide slope. Increase your rate of descent. If all you see is red lights, you are below the glide slope. Decrease your rate of descent. If you see red and white lights, you are on the proper glide slope. Maintain your present descent rate. On most approaches, once you are within 10 NM of the RWY and have established your approach altitude, a descent rate of 500FPM should keep you on the glide slope. Make sure that you are at a descent rate of 500FPM when touching down. Any faster then that a lot of FS aircraft will crash land. You can land at a fast rate of speed, if you have enough RWY to stop, but 500FPM descent rate or lower is a must in FS. Also watch your speed. Most aircraft in FS will sink like a rock if you slow down to stall speed. Better to be a little fast then a little to slow. Check the kneepad ( F10 ) for aircraft information. Have fun. MTN520 Don
   
• 1/23/06, Everyone has a different way of flying. I prefer maunal flying, VOR to VOR, prop aircraft as low as possible. Other pilots prefer Jets on Auto pilot, GPS/Nav at high altitudes. I say to each, what ever works for you. I have been using FS since FS98. After the first 5 yrs I had tons of printed charts and flight plans. I no longer use charts, except for MTNAIR events. And frequently I don't print out my FltPln. Instead I use the kneepad to view the FltPLN to get from VOR to VOR. But what about approach and landing????  If your flying on-line with ATC, most of the time the ATC will enjoy vectoring you to Approach. You will still need info, RWY heading, elevation, ILS freg, etc. Flying on-line without ATC or flying off-line you will need information to get set up for a good approach and safe landing. When I fly off-line I use the real world weather feature in FS. Also when I can contact my destination airport, I contact FS ATC for the active RWY.I have a system that I learned thru trial and error and experience. This system works for me but you might not like it. After I save my FltPln I go to the edit portion of FS planner. By panning I go to  my destination APT.  I zoom in until I can see the RWYs and draw a sketch of the Rwys, on the FLtPln if i printed it or on a piece of paper if I did not print the FLTpln. I add the RWY numbers and an approximate location of the closest Navaid to the APT. I always make sure this Navaid is included in the FltPln. Next step is to click on a RWY and it will bring up an Apt information screen. All kinds of useful information here. Actual RWY headings ( the RWY nr. is not the actual heading of the RWY) in the far right hand column, Apt elevation, ILS fregs, ( I add these to my sketch at the ends of each RWY.)  Now hopefully I have all the info I need to make make a successful approach and landing. I get lined up on the Navaid to get a good approach to the active RWY. If I don't do this at the time I make my FltPLN, I will wait until I'm within 100nm of my destination Apt and bring up FS Map View. If you wait until you get too close you will be very busy trying to look up a good approach and fly the aircraft. You can also pan in map view to your destination Apt and get the same info. What will work also is to use the Navaid to get within visual range of the Apt and fly a visual pattern. Have fun.  MTN520 Don.
   
• 1/23/06, Does your indicated airspeed gauge go to ooo ( zero ) occassionally??? Some aircraft.cfg files are set to take into account that pitots freeze up when the outside air temperature is under 32 F, 0 C. The solution is to turn your pitot heat switch on. Also your antiice switch. A lot of panels have a temperture gauge on them. Look to see if your panel has such a gauge and switches. Check the gauge occasionally as you are climbing. You might be under freezing sitting on the ground but as you climb it gets colder. Even in the summer weather. Have fun. MTN520, Don

   

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