Any help w/ approaches and visual would be appreciated!

[F-16 1]

Okay I'm flying from Faro airport to Madeira (both in Portugal) and I need a little help:

I wanted to do a visual approach in Madeira since there is no ILS approaches however, when I took off from Faro I was given one heading after take off and then after that, I wasn't given any more vectors whatsoever therefore I flew right over Madeira airport. Why didn't I get given any more vectors?

Also, when I'm doing my flight planner on my main FSX screen, should I select IFR or VFR? - Madeira doesn't have any ILS approaches!

Can anyone give me a basic tutorial on how to do a visual approach?

Thanks!

Regards,

F-16

[Snave 466]

Included in the Learning Center within the sim itself.

After that, for more advanced information go to

http://www.navfltsm.addr.com/index.htm

Do not try to shortcut the learning process.

Take it one step at a time, and make use of your own intelligence rather than trying to get someone else to hand it to you. This is not a hobby that you can just get handed to you. Or else reinstalls and monumental screw ups are in your immediate future..!

[PatrickZ 300]

You can only get vectors if you're flying IFR. I suspect you were flying VFR, wich means flying by sight. So when flying VFR, you got to vector yourself.

Mostly VFR is for small sports aircraft that fly low for ground visibility. IFR is for larger aircraft (airliners) that fly higher. After all, VFR means navigation by sight while IFR means navigation by instruments.

The fact that your destination airport doesn't have ILS doesn't mean it's VFR. You can navigate to a certain point by instruments or by following vectors and then see the runway. Then by looking at the PAPI-lights you can land your aircraft. That's a normal IFR procedure.

[Guest cptawsom]

Here's something simple that you can do, whether you're doing a visual or ndb/vor or ils landing:

If you have an aircraft that has a fairly advanced FMC, and permits you to enter navigation fixes, before you start your flight, follow the following very simple process:

For our example, let's assume that we will be landing in Kos airport (LGKO). There is no ILS there, so we have to do a visual landing (perhaps aided by a VOR). And let's say the wind comes from the north so we will be landing on runway 32.

Now, if you look at your charts, you will see that the exact magnetic heading for the runway, from the south, is 325.

So go to a FIX page in your FMC and enter the following:

LGKO

325/10

325/15

This will do the following. It will draw on your navigation display:

- a straight line with direction of 325-145 -> parallel and very close to the runway

- two circles with the airport as center, and radiuses of 10 and 15 nautical miles

Now, whatever type of landing you are going to do, with whatever navaid (or not), this gives you better and instant situational awareness -> you know exactly where you are.

It also helps you to descend (at an altitude to capture the localizer, or to start the visual approach) and slow down in time (at your approach speed +5), which, if you are flying something with a large mass (eg 747), it cannot be done at the last moment.

PS: I do this for all my flights, no matter what type of landing I am going to perform.

[PatrickZ 300]

That's all very true cptawsom, but I'm afraid it's a bit too complicated as an answer to a clear beginners question. After all, if you knew about FMC and all the stuff like that, you wouldn't ask a question like this one.

So let's assume you fly the default FSX Boeing 737. It doesn't have an FMC, but it does have a NAV/GPS switch. Now the departure and approach modes (vectors) are being done in NAV-mode (while flying on heading) while the part in the middle is being done in GPS mode. Assuming you're flying IFR, on a certain moment after departure the ATC will say "maintain own navigation", wich means your departure is finished and you're switching to your actual flightplan. In this situation you follow this flightplan by GPS. Then at nearly the end of the flightplan the ATC will start giving vectors again. This means the flightplan is finished and you start your approach. The approach vectors you to a point in front of the runway and from there on you're on your own. This is true for every type of approach. How you perform your flight from that point to the actual runway is subject to the situation available. If there's nothing available, it's visual.

A VFR flight is very different. While flying VFR, you got to fly a circuit. On departure, you leave the circuit on a certain point and then see where you're going by looking at the ground. Navigation points can be roads, railroads, rivers, coasts, anything on the ground you can see from the air. Then at your arrival airport you enter the circuit and land. All visual, the ATC doesn't tell you anything.

PS You don't need an FMC to fly IFR. All you need is instruments and knowledge how to use them. Older jets like the 707 and DC-9 don't have an FMC, but they do fly IFR. You also can't draw those lines on your screen since you got analogue instruments. And IFR is very good possible on analogue instruments.

[Guest cptawsom]

The problem with instruments, be either VORs or NDBs, is that reading them is not very precise, but just an approximation.

So for the example, in the above example of landing to RWY 32 of LGKO, while you would be waiting for the VOR radial to get to 325 (145) (or a little less - or more - to start your final turn), you would never be able to read it with accuracy -> you would always be let's say +/- 5 degrees.

While, with the two straight lines on the navigation display, it is much more accurate for your eye to distinguish whether they are parallel, or not.

[PatrickZ 300]

I agree with that, but your aircraft has to be capable to draw these lines on the navigation display. Not every aircraft is capable of doing that. Possible reason could be that you don't have a navigation display.

[Guest cptawsom]

Also, to the simmer that started this thread:

If you want to start learning how to do visual approaches, you have to forget, in the beginning, special cases like Madeira, Insbruck etc. that do not offer an unobstructed line of flight, along the runway centerline.

Start with any other "normal" airports, preferably with those close to the shore, whose approach is over the sea, so that you don't have to worry about terrain along your flightpath.

[F-16 1]

That's all very true cptawsom, but I'm afraid it's a bit too complicated as an answer to a clear beginners question. After all, if you knew about FMC and all the stuff like that, you wouldn't ask a question like this one.

So let's assume you fly the default FSX Boeing 737. It doesn't have an FMC, but it does have a NAV/GPS switch. Now the departure and approach modes (vectors) are being done in NAV-mode (while flying on heading) while the part in the middle is being done in GPS mode. Assuming you're flying IFR, on a certain moment after departure the ATC will say "maintain own navigation", wich means your departure is finished and you're switching to your actual flightplan. In this situation you follow this flightplan by GPS. Then at nearly the end of the flightplan the ATC will start giving vectors again. This means the flightplan is finished and you start your approach. The approach vectors you to a point in front of the runway and from there on you're on your own. This is true for every type of approach. How you perform your flight from that point to the actual runway is subject to the situation available. If there's nothing available, it's visual.

A VFR flight is very different. While flying VFR, you got to fly a circuit. On departure, you leave the circuit on a certain point and then see where you're going by looking at the ground. Navigation points can be roads, railroads, rivers, coasts, anything on the ground you can see from the air. Then at your arrival airport you enter the circuit and land. All visual, the ATC doesn't tell you anything.

PS You don't need an FMC to fly IFR. All you need is instruments and knowledge how to use them. Older jets like the 707 and DC-9 don't have an FMC, but they do fly IFR. You also can't draw those lines on your screen since you got analogue instruments. And IFR is very good possible on analogue instruments.

That's all very true cptawsom, but I'm afraid it's a bit too complicated as an answer to a clear beginners question. After all, if you knew about FMC and all the stuff like that, you wouldn't ask a question like this one.

So let's assume you fly the default FSX Boeing 737. It doesn't have an FMC, but it does have a NAV/GPS switch. Now the departure and approach modes (vectors) are being done in NAV-mode (while flying on heading) while the part in the middle is being done in GPS mode. Assuming you're flying IFR, on a certain moment after departure the ATC will say "maintain own navigation", wich means your departure is finished and you're switching to your actual flightplan. In this situation you follow this flightplan by GPS. Then at nearly the end of the flightplan the ATC will start giving vectors again. This means the flightplan is finished and you start your approach. The approach vectors you to a point in front of the runway and from there on you're on your own. This is true for every type of approach. How you perform your flight from that point to the actual runway is subject to the situation available. If there's nothing available, it's visual.

A VFR flight is very different. While flying VFR, you got to fly a circuit. On departure, you leave the circuit on a certain point and then see where you're going by looking at the ground. Navigation points can be roads, railroads, rivers, coasts, anything on the ground you can see from the air. Then at your arrival airport you enter the circuit and land. All visual, the ATC doesn't tell you anything.

PS You don't need an FMC to fly IFR. All you need is instruments and knowledge how to use them. Older jets like the 707 and DC-9 don't have an FMC, but they do fly IFR. You also can't draw those lines on your screen since you got analogue instruments. And IFR is very good possible on analogue instruments.

Dude... This is a fantastic answer. Thank you so much, it's extremely appreciated!