INSTRUMENT LANDING SYSTEM

What is an Instrument Landing System?

 The Instrument Landing System (ILS) is an instrument presented, pilot interpreted, precision
approach aid. The system provides the pilot with instrument indications which, when
utilized in conjunction with the normal flight instruments, enables the aircraft to be
maneuvered along a precise, predetermined, final approach path.

 ground-based instrument approach system that provides precision guidance to an aircraft

approaching and landing on a runway, using a combination of radio signals and, in many cases,
high-intensity lighting arrays to enable a safe landing during instrument meteorological
conditions (IMC), such as low ceilings or reduced visibility due to fog, rain, or blowing snow.

The instrument landing system (ILS) provides the pilot with:

 Guidance information regarding the approach path derived from the localizer and the glide
slope
 Range information at significant points along the approach path by marker beacons or
continuous range information from distance measuring equipment (DME)
 Visual information in the last phase of flight from approach lights, touchdown and center line
lights, runway lights

Parts of an ILS

Ground equipment

a. Localizer
The localiser aerial is on the runway extended centreline at the opposite end to the
approach end, at a distance which ensures that it lies below the runway take-off obstruction
clearance plane. The transmitter building is usually located 100–120 metres to the side of
the aerial.

 It transmits on a frequencybetween 108.10 and 111.95 MHz, in the VHFband, thus sharing this band
with terminalVORs. Localisers transmit on frequencieswith ODD first decimals only. Therefore,108.30
MHz would be a localiser frequency,whereas 108.40 MHz would not.

 The localizer system consists of a network system from 13 to 41 VHF antennas.

  The field pattern radiated by the localiser is illustrated inwith the course line lying along the
extended runway centreline. The localiser beam ‘width’, as it is interpreted by the travel of
the localiser needle on the aircraft cross pointer indicator from full deflection in the blue
sector (150-hertz) to full deflection in the yellow sector (90-hertz) is normally 5° for
uncategorised systems and all other systems are adjusted to 210 metres wide at the landing
threshold.

 A receiver located to the left of the centreline will detect more of the 90 Hz modulation tone and
relatively less of the 150 Hz modulation. This difference is called DDM (Difference in Depth of
Modulation) and it causes the vertical indicator needle to indicate that a correction to the right is
necessary. Conversely, a receiver right of the centre line receives more 150 Hz than 90 Hz
modulation and therefore, the needle will indicate that a correction to the left is necessary. The line
along which the DDM is zero,defines the localisercentre line. When flying along this line, there will be
no deflection of the needle, indicating that the aircraft is on the centre line.

 On each side of this line the DDM increases in a linear fashion up to at least 3° on both sides of the
runway. The localiser coverage should provide adequate signals to distances of 25 NM within 10° on
either side of the centre line. Further coverage must be provided to distances of 17 NM between 10°
and 35° on either side of the centre line.

 Finally, coverage must be provided to distances of 10 NM at angles greater than 35° from the centre
line, for those installations in which all round coverage is provided.Where topographical features
dictate or operational requirements permit, the limit may be reduced to 18 NM within the ±10° sector,
and to 10 NM within the remaining coverage.

b. Glidepath

 The glide slope transmitter operates on one of 40 ILS channels within the ultra-high
frequency (UHF) band from 329.15 MHz to 335MHz. The glide path radiates its signal
only in the direction of the localizer front course.
 The glide slope frequency is usually paired with the localizer frequency as the pilot
enters only the localizer frequency in the aircraft instruments.
 The glide scope transmitter is located between 230m/750ft and 380m/1250ft from the
approach end of the runway and offset between 75m/250ft and 198m/650ft from the
runway centre line.
 It transmits a glide path with a beam width of 1.4°. The glide path projection angle is
normally adjusted to 3° above the horizontal plane so that it passes through the middle
marker at about 60m/200ft and the outer marker at about 426m/1400ft.
 The glide slope is normally usable to a distance of 10NM (it can be extended when
requested). The glide path provided by the glide slope transmitter is arranged so that it
flares from 5 to 8m (18 to 27ft) above the runway.
 It should not be expected that the glide path will provide guidance to the touchdown
point on the runway.
 The glide path is the ideal descent slope and means that a portion of the glide slope intersects
the localizer.

There are 5 glide slope systems:

a. Null-reference,
b. Sideband-reference
c. Capture-effect
 d. Endfire
e. Waveguide

 The null-reference, sideband-reference and capture-effect glide slope are image effect
systems. They use ground reflexion in order to generate a radio electromagnetic field.
The stability of this field is dependent on the weather condition (wet ground, snowy
ground).

 The sideband-reference system is normally used when the runway is descending

towards the end threshold.

 The capture-reference system is normally used when the runway is climbing towards the
end threshold.

 The endfire and waveguide glide slope are systems without image effect using the ground. They
are usually employed when an image effect system cannot be implemented.

C.Marker Beacons

The marker beacons used with the ILS are low powered, operate on a frequency
of 75 MHz and radiate a fan shaped field pattern. There are usually two marker
beacons:

Outer Marker

The outer marker is located approximately 3.9 nautical miles from the runway
threshold and is aligned across the front beam of the localiser. Its purpose is to
provide height, distance and equipment functioning checks to aircraft on final
approach. It is modulated at 400-hertz and keyed to transmit dashes
continuously at a rate of two per second.

Middle Marker

The middle marker, also a fan marker, is aligned across the front beam of the
localiser and is situated approximately 1050 metres from the runway threshold.
Its purpose is to indicate the imminence, in low visibility conditions, of visual
approach guidance. This marker is modulated at 1300-hertz and keyed to
transmit alternate dots and dashes.

Some overseas installations utilise a third marker beacon (inner marker) which is
modulated at 3000-hertz, identified by a keyed continuous signal of six dots per
second and is located 75–450 metres from the runway threshold. There are no
inner markers associated with ILS installations in Australia.
History of ILS

One of the most difficult tasks a pilot has to perform is to achieve a smooth and safe landing.
Early pilots landed on an open field, facing any direction that gave them the best angle relative
to the wind. But as traffic grew, and more aircraft began to use airports rather than farms or
fields, landings became limited to certain directions. Landing aids were developed to help
pilots find the correct landing course and to make landing safer.

Airports had begun using lights in the late 1920s, when landing fields were marked with
rotating lights so they could be found after dark. In the early 1930s, airports installed the
earliest forms of approach lighting. These indicated the correct angle of descent and whether
the pilot was right on target. Their approach path was called the glidepath or glideslope.
Gradually, the colors of the lights and their rates of flash became standard worldwide based on
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards. The Air Mail Service's intermediate,
or emergency, landing fields that it established along the air route used rotating electric
beacons and lights that were set around the perimeter of the field.

The introduction of the slope-line approach system was a first in landing aids. Developed in the
1940s, the aid consisted of lights in rows that showed the pilot a simple funnel of two rows that
led him to the end of the runway. Other patterns showed him when he was off to the right or
left, or too high or low. The system was inexpensive to build and operate although it had some
limitations and was not suitable for certain airports.

Radio navigation aids also assisted in landing. One type, introduced in 1929, was the four-
course radio rang, where the pilot was guided by the strength of Morse code signals. Another
type that was tried experimentally was the low-frequency radio beam. These radio beams
flared outward from the landing point like a “v,” so at the point farthest from the runway, the
beams were widely separated and it was easy for the pilot to fly between them. But near the
landing point, the space between the beams was extremely narrow, and it was often easy for
the pilot to miss the exact centerpoint that he had to hit for landing. Another new method had
a pilot tune into a certain frequency at a checkpoint far from the airport, then use a stopwatch
to descend at a precise rate to the touchdown area of the runway. This method also proved
difficult.

The instrument landing system (ILS) incorporated the best features of both approach lighting
and radio beacons with higher frequency transmissions. The ILS painted an electronic picture of
the glideslope onto a pilot's cockpit instruments. Tests of the system began in 1929, and the
Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) authorized installation of the system in 1941 at six
locations. The first landing of a scheduled U.S. passenger airliner using ILS was on January 26,
1938, as a Pennsylvania-Central Airlines Boeing 247-D flew from Washington, D.C., to
Pittsburgh and landed in a snowstorm using only the ILS system.
More than one type of ILS system was tried. The system eventually adopted consisted of a
course indicator (called a localizer) that showed whether the plane was to the left or right of
the runway centerline, a glide path or landing beam to show if the plane was above or below
the glide slope, and two marker beacons for showing the progress of approach to the landing
field. Equipment in the airplane allowed the pilot to receive the information that was sent so
he could keep the craft on a perfect flight path to visual contact with the runway. Approach
lighting and other visibility equipment are part of the ILS and also aid the pilot in landing. In
2001, the ILS remains basically unchanged.

By 1945, nine CAA systems were operating and 10 additional locations were under construction.
Another 50 were being installed for the army. On January 15, 1945, the U.S. Army introduced
an ILS with a higher frequency transmitter to reduce static and create straighter courses,
called the Army Air Forces Instrument Approach System Signal Set 51. In 1949, the International
Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) adopted this army standard for all member countries. In the
1960s, the first ILS equipment for fully blind landings became possible.

The development of radar during World War II led to the development of a new precision-beam
landing aid called ground control approach (GCA). GCA worked along with the ILS to help
planes land at busy airports. By 1948, distance measuring equipment (DME) was being used to
provide data relating to the plane's distance from the ground. The installation of other radar
continued with the air-route surveillance type of radar and the airport-surveillance radars that
were installed at a number of airports in the mid-1950s. These helped air traffic controllers
with their job.

Microwave landing systems (MLS) were developed in the 1980s. These systems allow pilots to
pick a path best suited to their type of aircraft and to descend and land from more directions
than the ILS. Having different landing patterns can help reduce noise around airports and keep
small aircraft away from the dangerous vortices behind large aircraft. MLS have been adopted
in Europe as replacements for ILS. In the United States, however, the FAA halted further
development of MLS in 1994. Instead, the FAA is considering the use of technology based on
the global positioning system (GPS) instead of, or in addition to, existing microwave systems.
The GPS uses satellites for navigation between airports and is exceedingly precise.

Lights still play an important part in landing. Modern approach lighting can be oriented to
accommodate any obstructions located near the airport that the pilot may need to avoid
before beginning his descent to the runway. Lights can even be set at a second angle for larger
aircraft because those cockpits are farther off the ground and the angle of descent will look
different to pilots in these planes. Pilots flying into fields without any staff can often turn
landing lights on or off themselves or change their brightness by tuning their radio to a certain
frequency and clicking their transmitter.
Helicopters have used visual landing procedures for most of their history, and on June 12,
1987, the FAA opened its national concepts development and demonstration heliport. This
research heliport was fully equipped with items such as a microwave landing system as well as
precision approach path indication lights like those used by fixed-wing aircraft.