GAUGE: SALS, version for FS9 (Satellite Assisted Landing System)
NOTE: SALS is a precision approach and landing guidance system. It will furnish both lateral and vertical guidance to the landing zone of any airport or seaplane base inside MS Flight Simulator. And like ILS, SALS does require a certain amount of piloting technique that can be easily acquired and honed by practice. That gives one a feel for the gauge and how to instinctively respond to its guidance display.
Features ----------------
> Lateral guidance accuracy to within 10 feet of runway center.
> Provides updated list on all airports and seaplane bases within gauge limit of 30 nautical miles.
> Allows one airport to be selected from list as the destination airport.
> Allows one runway to be selected at the destination airport.
> Provides glidepath/glideslope guidance to a calculated landing zone at either end of selected runway.
> Has 1 glideslope needle that operates similar to an ILS glideslope.
> Has 3 glidepath needles; fine, medium, and course. The sensitivities of these needles vary, thus providing enhanced feedback on the rate of glidepath interception or correction.
> Illuminated directional arrows that show the tendency of the glidepath needles to move left/right. When no arrows are illuminated, the aircraft is centered over the glidepath.
> GO VISUAL message will alert pilot when 1 NM from landing zone.
> Screen provides climb out azimuth information in case of missed approaches.
> Backcourse indicator (BC) alerts pilot when glidepath needles are providing reversed information.
> Panel or separate window installation. Includes icon gauge.
ACCURACY NOTE:
A) As the aircraft passes over the landing zone during a missed approach, glide needles may temporarily fluctuate in much the same way as a VOR needle when passing over the VOR station. Accuracy will be regained when the GO VISUAL message disappears as the aircraft gets further from the landing zone.
B) The glideslope angle used by SALS is a 3-degree incline to the landing zone. This zone is located 5-percent of runway length from the nearest end of the runway. Unlike certified ILS approaches, this calculated slope does not take into account any terrain or obstructions around the airport. Therefore, a happy descent should be confirmed visually.
SCREEN MESSAGES:
1) AIRPORT STANDBY (orange)- No airports within 30 NM.
2) GO VISUAL (red)- Within 1 NM of landing zone. Take over visually.
3) BC (yellow)- Selected runway is 90-degrees or more behind aircraft. The glidepath needle is in reverse mode when flying backcourse legs.
4) RANGE LIMIT (orange)- Aircraft is getting further from the selected runway and is nearing the 30 NM range limit. If course is continued, gauge will automatically switch into Approach Mode (see Operation below).
GLIDEPATH NEEDLE TRIO
*Fine needle (top): Half scale deflection = 250' or more from center of glidepath.
*Medium needle (center): Half scale deflection = 1250' or more from center of glidepath.
*Course needle (bottom): Half scale deflection = 3125' or more from center of glidepath.
(Fine is 5 times as sensitive as Medium. Medium is 2 1/2 times as sensitive as Course.
The aircraft is within 10 ft. of glidepath center when all three needles are aligned at mid-scale.)
Operation---------------
1. Master Battery Power must be ON before gauge will operate.
2. Button (A) has a dual function. The first function is to control electrical power to the gauge. Pressing this button will turn the gauge ON/OFF.
3. The second function of the A-button is to place gauge in Approach mode when gauge power is first applied.
4. When in Approach mode, the gauge will identify airports within an approach range of 30 nautical miles from the aircraft. A maximum of seven ICAOs can be listed on the screen. They are shown in the order of their proximity to the aircraft with the closest at the number 1 spot on the list. These will constantly be updated as the aircraft changes location. If there are no airports within the 30 NM range, the AIRPORT STANDBY message will be displayed.
5. It is possible in regions with a heavy concentration of airports to not see the destination ICAO on the list of seven even when it is relatively close. That will change as the destination ICAO gets nearer and as other listed airports disappear from the screen.
6. Pressing the DOWN ARROW button on the gauge will allow the listed ICAOs to be scrolled. As each airport is selected, the ICAO will turn from orange to green.
7. When the desired airport has been selected, press the ENT button. That will enter the airport into SALS and inform the gauge at what airport you intend to land.
8. After pressing the ENT button, the gauge will display every runway designation associated with the entered airport.
9. Using the arrow button, scroll through the runway list to select the desired runway designation for landing, then press ENT.
10. The gauge will then enter the glidepath/glideslope mode. The following data is associated with this screen:
a) Title box confirming the ICAO of the destination airport.
b) The two magnetic headings of the selected runway.
c) The length (ft.) of the runway.
d) The elevation (ft.) of the runway.
e) The distance (NM) to the landing zone.
f) The glidepath/glideslope screen containing guidance needles.
g) Glidepath arrows that show tendency for glidepath needle movement.
11. SALS will automatically determine which runway heading to use for its computations when you turn onto the final leg. The runway heading that is within 25-degrees of the aircraft heading will be used for this purpose.
12. Keep the three glidepath needles centered left/right to remain astride the centerline of runway. Turn aircraft TOWARD the needles for heading corrections.
13. a) To intercept the glidepath, fly toward the needles. Having three glidepath needles, SALS provides more advanced notice that the glidepath is nearing interception. This means the initial angle of interception can be a fairly sharp angle (40-60 degrees). This is much sharper than a typical ILS localizer interception. The angle of interception flown will depend upon flight characteristics (speed, turn radius, etc.) of the aircraft. The Course needle will be the first to become centered. As it nears the center of the screen, adjust the angle of glidepath interception to a shallower angle.
b) The Medium needle will be the second needle to become centered. As it approaches center scale, adjust aircraft heading by making the angle of glidepath interception increasingly shallower.
c) The Fine needle will be the last to become centered. The aircraft should be very close to the runway heading as the Fine needle is approaching center because it moves rather quickly in 10 ft. steps.
d) The illuminated left/right arrows indicate in what direction the glidepath needles have a tendency to move. The arrows are even more sensitive than the Fine needle and indicate the direction of potential needle movement.
If neither arrow is illuminated, all needles are at rest with no tendency for movement. This means the aircraft is directly over the glidepath.
14. Tendency arrows are not active on backcourse legs.
15. Keep glideslope needle centered up/down to remain in center of glide descent to landing zone. Move the aircraft TOWARD the needle for glideslope (altitude) corrections.
Note: See included SALS Design Parameters.doc for illustrated glidepath/glideslope information.
16. When the GO VISUAL message appears on screen, you are 1 NM from landing zone and should verify by sight the relationship of aircraft to runway and make adjustments accordingly.
17. When the GO VISUAL message is displayed on screen, the glideslope needle and two glidepath needles (Fine/Medium) remain visible and useable. They retain accuracy until distance to landing zone nears zero miles.
18. At touchdown, the GO VISUAL message will disappear from screen and all needles will center.
19. C-button will clear screen display and return gauge to Approach mode showing the list of nearby airports.
NOTE: For this gauge, BACKCOURSE is defined as any course being flown that places the selected runway 90-degrees or more behind the aircraft and within 30 nautical miles.
20. On backcourse legs, a "BC" message will be displayed at the right side of the ICAO title box. This message means the glidepath needle is to be used in reverse. Turn the aircraft AWAY FROM the needle for backcourse heading corrections.
21. On missed approaches, continue flying at runway heading. When the GO VISUAL message disappears (when bearing to airport lies behind the aircraft and is outside mileage limits), the glidepath needles go into BC mode (reversed) and can be used to guide aircraft away from airport. Keeping needles centered will align the runway directly behind the aircraft. More on this in the TIPS below.
22. After you get within 30 NM of the destination airport and after entering into SALS the runway designation, the aircraft may traverse various legs of the landing pattern. As it does, the BC message may light up as the aircraft passes through areas that meet the backcourse definition. This is normal and only means the gauge does not yet know which end of the selected runway you intend to land on. The "BC" message will turn off once the aircraft has turned onto the final leg of the runway. At that point SALS knows your landing intentions and will begin calculating all glide information accordingly.
TIPS
a) The proper use of the tendency arrows will greatly aid in intercepting and following glidepaths. Once established on the path, the arrows will then allow the pilot to anticipate heading changes before the needles actually indicates a correction is needed.
b) When an arrow is lit, it shows in what direction the Fine needle will travel once it begins to move. If the Fine needle is at its limit, then the arrows show what direction the Medium needle will move. If the Medium needle is at its limit, the arrow shows what direction the Course needle will move. If all needles are at their limit, the arrow indicates that the aircraft is continuing to get further from the center of the glidepath and in what direction.
c) When no arrows are lit, the aircraft is following the center of the glidepath. Should an arrow light up when in this situation, it is a signal that the aircraft should be turned slightly in the direction of the lit arrow. This will cancel out any needle movement before it actually occurs.
Panel installation------------
(For illustrated details on how gauges are located and sized on a panel, please read the Gauge Coordinates.pdf file included with this archive.)
1P. Installing the SALS gauge: The following line should be added to the panel.cfg file of the desired aircraft. The line is added under the [Window00] section:
2P. The two XX's in gaugeXX should be the NEXT consecutive gauge number not currently in use on the panel.cfg file. LocationX and LocationY are values you choose. These coordinates will move the gauge to various positions on a panel bitmap. SizeX and SizeY will determine the gauge size when displayed in flight simulator. See Gauge Coordinates.pdf for more details on how this works.
3P. What size should you make this gauge? Start with these numbers and adjust for your panel.
X-size of 98; Y-size of 98 (The width:height ratio is 1:1)
4P. Place SALSv9.cab into Gauges folder of FS9.
B)Window installation-------------
(Make backup of panel.cfg before using this method)
1W. The following line should be added to the panel.cfg file of the desired aircraft. The line is added under the [Window Titles] section:
[Window Titles]
WindowXX=SALS
2W. The two XX's in WindowXX should be the NEXT consecutive Window Titles number shown on the panel.cfg. This entry will allow the gauge to be activated from the FS menu under View/Instrument Panel/SALS.
3W. The following section should be also be added to the panel.cfg file.
The default location for the gauge window is the upper, left corner of the screen. This window can be moved and resized manually as needed.
To change the default location, change the "position" value in the line shown below:
[WindowXX]
BACKGROUND_COLOR=0,0,0
size_mm=98,98
position=0 <--Change this value
visible=0
ident=210512
A 0-value locates window in the upper, left corner on your screen; an 8-value will move window to the lower, right corner.
0 1 2
3 4 5
6 7 8
The block of numbers shown above indicates the position sequence. A 9-value equates to a zero and begins the sequence again.
To change the default window/gauge size, two lines must be changed; the "size_mm" line and the gauge line. These are shown below.
[WindowXX]
BACKGROUND_COLOR=0,0,0
size_mm=98,98<------(1)Change these X, Y values in a 1:1 proportion
position=0
visible=0
ident=210512
gauge00=SALSv9!SALSv9, 0, 0, 98, 98<-----(2)Change
SizeX, SizeY to the SAME X, Y VALUES just placed in the "size_mm" line.
_______________________________________________________________________
Installation of Icon gauge--------------------
(Not needed if installing gauge into panel or if you prefer to use the FS menu to open/close the gauge window)
This icon will open/close the gauge window.
1. The following line should be added to the same panel.cfg file that contains the SALS installation data. The line will add an icon to your panel that will activate the gauge window. The line is added under the [Window00] section:
2. The two XX's in gaugeXX should be the NEXT consecutive gauge number shown on the panel.cfg. LocationX and LocationY are values you choose. These coordinates will move the icon to various positions on a panel bitmap. SizeX and SizeY will determine the size of the icon when displayed in flight simulator. See Gauge Coordinates.pdf for more details on how this works.
3. What size should you make this icon gauge? Start with these numbers and adjust for your panel.
X-size of 19; Y-size of 19 (large icons)
X-size of 12; Y-size of 12 (small icons)
4. The icon gauge is archived inside the SALSv9.cab file and will be accessible to FS when that cab file is placed inside the Gauges folder.
-------------------------
