Should we update ICLS behavior in FSX based on this thread? Is it even possible?
Oct 2012 Paddles Monthly:
http://www.hrana.org/documents/PaddlesMonthlyOctober2012.pdf "At the risk of geeking out too hard on Precision Approach and Landing Systems (PALS) after last month's article, "ACLS is Dropping Me Off Low!!", this month I'd like to throw out a few nuggets of information with respect to ICLS. During our last PALS cert on the Truman, several pilots remarked that flying bullseye on a Case 3 ap-proach seemed to get them to that (HX) for which we all strive, while the needles got that little sagger (refer to last month's article) for which hopefully none strive. Chances are you all learned the reasons for the comfy ICLS start (is it ever at night?) at LSO school, but if you're at all like me, you may have crammed that knowledge in a hard to reach spot to make room for something else like directions to work, your wife's phone number (even though it's stored in your phone) or in exceptional cases the latest Top Gun standard timeline.
We'll start with the ICLS antennas; the azimuth antenna is located along the drop lights, but we're not terribly concerned with that right now. The elevation antenna, however, is located on a stand that is about even with the 3-wire, aft of the island on the starboard side of the boat and a little more than 18 ft high. I'm going to try for the short version of this sto-ry – 18 ft is higher than the average hook to eye value, plus the antenna is forward of the normal HTDP. Also, the ICLS antenna is about 4 ft below our eyes in the cockpit (assuming a Hornet or Rhino).
What do all of these numbers mean? For all intents and purposes it means the center of bullseye is about 7 ft above the beam of light in the center cell of IFLOLS (see Figure 1, which I know is not to scale - thank you, former test guys). Obviously, 7 ft of difference at the ramp is a lot; so that's why you wouldn't want to fly the ICLS to the deck, because if my arithmetic is correct that would be about 21 ft of hook to ramp (I went to TPS, no big deal). This is also why the ICLS is NOT a 200 – 1/2 system; it's a 300 – 3/4 system – if that was a surprise, grab your CV NATOPS and look those weather mins up. Finally, the ICLS coverage volume is obviously finite and doesn't lie on top of the IFLOLS center cell, so as you approach the in close position, you should see bullseye race up and off of the display (if they race down, you're really high). I'm guessing you all knew this, but hopefully this was a good refresher as to the why.
So the bottom line is that if you fly a center (or even cresting) ball pass, then bullseye elevation should start to creep up-wards around 1 mile from touchdown and will really take off IC. And for one last parting shot, does it work as gouge for a decent start during CASE 1? It can, but depending largely on groove length and whether or not CATCC switched the ICLS to the correct glideslope after the IFLOLS got set to 4.0 deg for high winds, you could be in for a surprise. So use with caution. Thanks to anyone who cared enough to read and keep 'em safe, paddles. Also, I promise this will be my last PALS article… at least for a bit."
VX-23 PALS Discussion
-LT Luke “Smuggla” Johnson
