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ILS Overview
The ILS system uses VHF radio (at the airport) to transmit signals that
are received by the VOR receiver (in the airplane) and display
guidance information on the flight director or send information to the
autopilot.
The radio signal that lines up the airplane with the runway is called the
Localizer.
The radio signal that keeps the aircraft descending at a safe angle is
called the Glideslope.
The Marker Beacon is 3 radio beacons positioned along the extended
centerline of the runway that alert the pilot for glideslope intercept,
decision height and when to go around.
Localizer Antenna
Horizontally focused
Localizer Antenna
Horizontally focused
Glideslope Antenna
Vertically focused
ILS Categories
There are several categories of ILS, each pertaining to how low the
visibility can be in order for the aircraft to land safely.
The categories are based on ceiling and visibility at the airport when the
airplane arrives.
Decision Height (DH) Runway Visual Range (RVR).
Category I is a DH of 200 feet and an RVR of 2400 feet.
Category II is a DH of 100 feet and an RVR of 1200 feet
Category IIIa is a DH of 100 feet and an RVR of 700 feet.
Category IIIb is a DH of 100 feet and an RVR of 150 feet.
Category IIIc is 0/0, no visibility, and currently there are no Cat IIIc
airports in the Pakistan.
The airplane must be equipped and maintained for the various categories
and the pilots must also be trained and qualified to land in low visibility
conditions.
Runway Lighting
ILS Components
The ILS components consist of a Localizer,
Glideslope and Marker Beacon System.
These systems have airborne and ground
systems.
The compass locator is a low power station picked
up by an ADF receiver to guide the airplane
arriving from any direction to the outer marker.
Localizer
Left of
course
On course
Right of
course
Localizer
Glideslope
Above
glidepath
On
glidepath
Below
glidepath
Glideslope
The glideslope signal provides
vertical guidance.
There are no controls for the pilot
to tune the glideslope, it is
automatically tuned when he
tunes the localizer.
The glideslope operates on the
UHF band from 329.15 MHz to
335 MHz.
Just like with the localizer, it
transmits 2 tones: 150 or 90Hz to
indicate whether the airplane is
above or below the glide path.
Marker Beacon
Marker Beacon
The Marker Beacon receiver is
fixed-tuned to 75MHz.
There is a 3-light indicator in the
flight deck which will light up the
respective light for each marker
as the aircraft passes over the
marker.
There is also an audio tone
which sounds, and the pitch
increases and sounds faster as
the beacon is approached.