Raw Data ILS 737NG

[RAT 5]

Hi Kilo:

Brace has some good points. I'll add mine as I've been teaching it for a few years.

Firstly, as with many things, keep it simple. Knowing the power/attitude settings certainly helps make it easier. Another thing is to fly the G/S in landing configuration. Thus you fly with no speed or configuration changes. Therefore any power & trim changes will be small. N1% must be correct and equal, so scan the gauges. 3% difference will cause yaw and LOC tracking problems.

Basic technique is that once on the ILS, N1% freezes speed, attitude holds V/S & G/S and trim holds attitude. Thus if you are on speed with stable power & stable trim, changes to maintain G/S will be tiny. Now you have more capacity to concentrate on LOC. 10 degrees bank max and preferably 5 is good advice. Fly with arm rests down and rest your elbow on them. Adjust them so your hand falls comfortably on the bottom corner of the yoke. (you can still lift your thumb to activate the trim). This helps you fly gently from the wrist with a soft touch. If you fly with a tight grip at the top of the yoke you will fly stiffly from the shoulder and not be relaxed. Corrections, then, will tend to be agricultural.
Remember attitude changes must be small. The a/c box symbol is about 2 degrees in attitude. A change in attitude of 1 box = 600-700fpm. Thus changes to correct G/S deviations should be 1/2 box. This is 50% of the G/S V/S and is plenty. Flying from the wrists helps make delicate adjustments easier. The common mistake is to fly nose heavy out of trim. Remember the control column will always centre. Thus after you've applied elevator to change attitude, and trimmed out the force, the control column will centre. It is common to see students holding a back force. Release the column and note any change in attitude & V/S, or not.

LOC: Use APP mode. You are flying an ILS not a MAP. You will get a common type rating for B737. The classics do not have GPS, thus there will be map shift. Who knows, there may be map shift on the GPS. (The military did put such a shift on the system during Gulf wars.) The trick is to centre the ILS display HSI style and keep the trackline over it. It is a huge picture and lets you see the slightest deviation. It will automatically correct for any change in drift or show up any deviation trend and allow quick correction. Being in final configuration, and flying from the wrist allows tracking the LOC to be achieved easily and gently.
The Track line allows you to look into the future. If you see the track line not centred over the ILS display, apply 5 degrees of bank to correct it. (This could be caused by a drift change, a small subtle bank angle being applied, or unequal N1%). If you see the LOC beam bar not centered, apply 5 degrees bank to set the track line off in the direction of the beam bar; fly left or right. The amount of attack depends on distance from the Rwy, but if this is on the G/S below 2500' a 5 degree attack should be enough. When the beam bar is centred apply 5 degrees bank to re-centre the track line and keep it there.
Using APP mode allows you to see the smallest deviation, and the large HSI symbol allows very accurate LOC tracking.

At 2500' agl platform level flght.
G/S: There are different techniques to achieve landing configuration at G/S capture. FCTM recommends Gear Down F15 at G/S alive. This will give N1 65%and about 7 degrees. Stop the balloon as flaps extend. Now it depends if F30or F40.
F30: At 1 dot call F30 and set 53-55% and keep level. The speed should decay to Vfly (Vref + 5) as G/S is captured. Small N1% adjustments should be made to match the G/S capture rate to the speed decay. This is the same technique employed in SE ILS's. At G/S capture set 2 degrees and trim the elevator.
F40: 1.5 dot F25 leave N1% at 64% at 1/2 dot select F40. The power setting at F15 is the same as F40 on finals. Thus there are no or very little power changes during the configuration changes and thus a/c control is easier.

If you wish to take F15 at 1 dot then you must reduce power to about 40% to slow down in time and take F30 at G/S capture and be on speed; set 2 degrees attitude and increase power to 53-55%. This will cause the nose to rise when in fact you wish to lower it. It all happens rather quickly and needs slick pitch control. Do-able but more difficult in your early days.

You can now concentrate on LOC.

Your scan will be horizontal. In RHS. Attitude-V/S-G/S-ATT-IAS-Tk line-N1%-Tk line-Att-bank angle(wings level or as required) Repeat, but N1% can be left out if IAS is correct.

I can't see the point of flying down to 50'. Even 200' is too low IMHO. 400' should be enough for training & checking.

If you lose the plot of both LOC & G/S go for the G/S first with a small change in attitude & V/S. Once this adjustment is in place have a look at the LOC. Avoid stirring the controls and chasing both at once. In the early days this is too difficult. Hopefully the ideas above will avoid this.

The FPV has no Boeing SOP. It's a spin off from HUD's. In the early days, IMHO, it is better to grasp quickly what attitude & N1% setting will achieve what performance. Thus next time you want to achieve a particular task you know what energy to give to the aeroplane. So, discover & remember what attitude achieves what ROD.