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The other day we were flying into Los Angeles, LAX, airport. It was hazy and visibility was probably five miles and overcast. We were coming in on the SADDE 6 arrival from the north, we were on the downwind leg and approach control asked us to keep our speed up since there was a “heavy” on the straight-in approach to ILS 24R as well. It was the first officer’s leg.

Usually this kind of set-up doesn’t pose a problem. If you get a good intercept angle on the ILS, no more than a 45°, your speed is on target,  and the winds are close to being down the runway, you can keep your speed up and accommodate the controller’s request with no problem. Today though we had a right quarterly tailwind and things were going to get worse before they got better.

So we are on the base leg and approach gives us a heading, tells us we are cleared for the approach, and instructs us to call tower.

The autopilot is on and what happens, we blow through the localizer. Our ground speed was too fast for the autopilot to pick up the localizer and track it inbound. Luckily we were far enough out that it wasn’t an issue and there was no conflict with any other traffic in the area. The first officer made the necessary corrections to get us aligned with the localizer to continue a normal approach and we landed safely.

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Outside of a nice smooth landing, executing a successful ILS is probably the second most rewarding part of flying. When I get behind on an approach, I feel like I haven’t done as good of a job as I could. If I’m not on glideslope and the course deviation indicator (CDI) is not centered and it seems like my airspeed is all over the place, I  know I’m better than that and it usually means that I failed to prepare adequately both in my briefing and mental preparation.

But when it all comes together, then what a thrill! Throw in a little weather like snow and some turbulence plus some bad or complicated instructions from air traffic control (ATC) and it makes a solid ILS approach and a safe landing all the sweeter.

Want to practice approaches from your own home? Check out the Elite PI-135 Basic ATD. Very cool!

So lets talk about some of the steps you need to take to have that successful ILS approach.

1 -  Get Weather and Brief the Approach Early

In the CRJ or any jet for that matter, things happen pretty fast. I start preparing for the approach about 30 minutes out. I get weather, calculate my landing weight, call in-range with my specials, tell the passengers about the weather and say good-bye, and most important, get my mind wrapped around the arrival, approach and landing phases. With the weather in hand, I know if I’m going to need the Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) for de-icing or air conditioning, what approach to expect, discuss my exit from the runway, brief the expected taxi route to the gate, and my plans for a missed approach or go-around, if necessary. During the last 30 minutes, I start to talk less, put on my seat belt (which reminds me to watch for crossing and speed restrictions), and honor the sterile cockpit when below 18,000 feet.

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Being a pilot isn’t about just getting your certificates and ratings. These are really just tickets to learn. Even now, after thousands of hours in single-engine airplanes and the CRJ, I am still learning. Sometimes it’s little things but sometimes it is really big things like this book:

Instrument Flying Update: What every Instrument Pilot Needs to Know About the New Rules on Approach Transitions, WAAS, LPV, LNAV/VNAV, RNAV SIDs, TAWS, and Much More” by John Eckalbar’s

I found that I had gotten into a rut on my instrument flying. That is pretty easy to do when you fly for an airline. Flight Dispatch plans your flight, tells you the weather, and whether or not there is a chance to divert. Pretty easy stuff. You just have to manage the in-between stuff. Then one day the company decided to implement GPS approaches. Why we hadn’t done it sooner, I don’t know. GPS approaches are efficient and in many cases can get you down to 200 feet above ground level (AGL) which is equivalent to a Category I ILS approach. Of course I understood the basics of GPS but my knowledge was behind on the mechanics of the GPS approach.

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