Glide slope in AF2?

  • Hi guys,

    Recently when I played Aerofly I found a problem: Are glide slopes in AF2 the same as in reality or they are all identical?

    In the past I ususally flew 3000ft at the last waypoint to capture the glide slope. Because for most airports and runways that's the altitude of the start of the slope. However, yesterday I had a flight whose destination was Laguardia Intl. As I turned on the auto approach when ILS identified, the plane descend sharply to around 2500ft first and finally maintain virtical speed at around -800.

    Therefore, technically, need we check the real approach data before a flight to fly more accurately? And if we do check the navigation chart of real world airports. Will it works in Aerofly?

  • I remember that there is a problem in AFS2 with opposite rwys with identical ILS frequencies: 04/22 110.50.

    Regards,

    Thomas

    i7-14700KF @ 5.6 GHz, Geforce RTX 4090, 32MB RAM, 1TB SSD M.2, 1TB SSD M.2, 2TB SSD M.2, 32" Monitor 4K, Pimax Crystal

  • I don't think that technically or theoratically there is an actual 'start' of the slope, the slope goes on 'indefinitely', but I usually try to intercept the slope at the calculated final approach fix (which always is 10 nm out in AFS2) at 2500 AGL. 3000 may be a bit high in some circumstances...?

    BTW I never thought about glideslopes being the same or not: interesting. Afaik they are all the same in AFS2 as well as in real life. The approaches themselves may be different (check the charts for differences etc.) but the slope itself not, I think. Checking the charts isn't very useful with AFS2 yet btw because the planner always uses the same FAF and knows nothing about real world charts.

  • Muggins Law of ILS Approaches: The dot in the middle of the ILS meter is where you are. The point where the two needles cross is where you should be, i.e. in the beam.

    Not every airfield can provide the theoretically perfect ILS approach, which starts 25nm out, on the runway heading, at 6250 feet QNH. La Guardia and Kennedy are so busy and close together that many non-standard things apply.

    Your best bet is to download from the FAA AIP some Airfield Charts, see how it should be flown, learn that, and having hand-flown 'into the funnel' switch to auto and see what the A/P does. Start with a coastal airfield, with an E-W or W-E runway which you can approach over the sea.

  • Well, as J van E mentioned, the final approach segment in Aerofly always start 10nm straightly away from the runway. But actually it varies from airports to airports. And the navigation system in aerofly is in need of improvement. Maybe oneday IPACS would add departure and arrival data for some major airports.

    For now, what only we can do is to check the chart and input waypoints in a standard approach or departure process manually. But still we can't have an approach like the one in the old hongkong airport. Although it's common in real world. I remember last time I flew to JFK, the A380 I took had a sharp right turn and immediately touch ground, Really excited.:P

  • Maybe oneday IPACS would add departure and arrival data for some major airports.

    Afaik SIDs and STARs and approaches will be added with the upcoming ATC DLC. But no one really knows what to expect yet from AFS2 ATC...


    For now, what only we can do is to check the chart and input waypoints in a standard approach or departure process manually.

    Which isn't really possible because you can't remove the automatically added departe and arrival point... not even when they are placed inside a mountain. I seriously don't understand this hasn't been addressed yet but well, this also should change when we get ATC.

    Can't wait for a sneak preview of ATC, I have to say...

  • Afaik SIDs and STARs and approaches will be added with the upcoming ATC DLC. But no one really knows what to expect yet from AFS2 ATC...


    Which isn't really possible because you can't remove the automatically added departe and arrival point... not even when they are placed inside a mountain. I seriously don't understand this hasn't been addressed yet but well, this also should change when we get ATC.

    Can't wait for a sneak preview of ATC, I have to say...

    Which is actually possible: Let's take an example of Big sur three arrival of KSFO:

    The arrival start from BSR VOR, going through several waypoint from CARME to MENLO and finally intercept KSFO 28R ILS. All the waypoints can be found in aerofly, and they don't have conflict with the final approach(as shown in the picture)

  • Which is actually possible: Let's take an example of Big sur three arrival of KSFO:

    The arrival start from BSR VOR, going through several waypoint from CARME to MENLO and finally intercept KSFO 28R ILS. All the waypoints can be found in aerofly, and they don't have conflict with the final approach(as shown in the picture)

    Yes, but I think that's an exception. Most STARs I see (and use in P3D) have waypoints that aren't actual VORs but for instance points on a specific radial at a specific distance, so hard to reproduce in AFS2, but even more the FAF seldom is at exactly 10 nm, making it impossible to fly precisely as published. And having to reproduce a SID or STAR is a chore... The nice thing about AFS2 is how quickly you can get into the air and this doesn't help. ;) But anyway, I am looking forward to news about ATC!

  • TomB,

    Yes it is a pity that you can't save any given scenario (this should have been fixed long ago!!). You actually can cut out (edit) the Navigation path from your main.mcf in Documents\Aerofly FS 2 folder and then paste it in - make sure you make backups. The problem though is that IPACS changes the main.mcf format with just about every update.

    Dave W.