INSTRUMENT

LANDING
SYSTEM
 What is an ILS?
An Instrument Landing System (ILS) is a
highly accurate radio signal navigation aid
consisting of two antennas which transmit
signals to receivers in the aircraft cockpit; a
glide path tower located next to the runway
at the northern end and a localizer
antenna at the southern end. These
antennas provide the pilot with vertical and
horizontal guidance when landing in low
visibility. An ILS is not used by departing
aircraft.
How the localizer and glide path work together to provide vertical and horizontal guidance to pilots

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 What is the difference between ILS and Smart Tracking?

➢ Smart Tracking is satellite-assisted navigation technology allowing aircraft to

At the Gold Coast, Smart Tracking allows aircraft to approach Runway 14 from the
south and north with the majority of the flight path over the water before making a final
approach for landing. Smart Tracking at Gold Coast Airport has a decision altitude or
minima—where the pilot must be able to see the runway to continue with the landing—of 430
feet.
In comparison, an ILS provides a minimum decision altitude of 280 feet and improves
the predictability of landing in low visibility conditions.

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 3 COMPONENTS OF ILS

Guidance LOCALIZER, GLIDE SLOPE

Information MEASURING EQUIPMENT (DME)

Visual APPROACH LIGHTS, TOUCHDOWN AND

Information CENTERLINE LIGHTS, RUNWAY LIGHTS

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Airborne
Equipment

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ICAO standards - International
Civil Aviation Organization
standards
CAA- Civil Aeronautics
Administration
GCA - Ground-controlled
approach
MLS - Microwave landing
systems
The localizer, glide path and
sometimes the marker
beacon and DME receivers
are actuated by the one
control unit. Every localizer
frequency has a
corresponding glide path
frequency.
This pairing of the localizer and glide
path frequencies is determined by
ICAO and is an internationally
accepted standard. The glide path
receiver automatically tunes to the
correct frequency when the localizer
frequency is selected on the control
unit. When DME is used in lieu of
markers, it is similarly automatically
tuned
On most modern high speed aircraft
flush or recessed localizer aerials
are normally located in the vertical
stabilizer. The same aerial may feed
two localizer receivers; the aerial
system and receivers are generally
used for VOR also.
 The glide path receiver aerial is
normally located on the nose of the
aircraft or within the radome. On
very large aircraft, or those which
land with an unusually high nose
attitude, locating the glide path
aerial on the nose may result in the
wheels being too low over the
threshold. In this case the aerial
may be located on the underside of
the aircraft or on the landing gear so
that correct wheel height guidance
is obtained.
The radio altimeter aerial is of the
flush mounted type usually situated
underneath the aircraft with an
unobstructed ‘view’ downwards.
Marker beacon aerials are also of
the flush variety and are also
mounted underneath the aircraft.
 The localizer (vertical)
needle indicates, by
LOCALIZER deflection, the color area
of the sector in which the
aircraft is flying.

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 The glide path (horizontal)
➢ GlidePath needle indicates, by
deflection, the position
Indications of the glide path in
relation to the aircraft

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Marker Beacon

Textbook page 75
LOCALIZER
➢ The localizer (LOC) provides lateral course guidance during
an approach to landing

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 GLIDE
SLOPE
➢ The glide slope is normally usable to the distance of 10 NM

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MARKER
BEACON
➢ Precision radar or compass locators (OM, MM) may be
substituted for marker beacons

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COMPASS
LOCATOR
➢ Similar to an NDB, a compass locator is a low to medium
powered beacon which is the precursor to modern day
marker beacons
➢ Compass locators provide the same basic information to the
pilot as a marker beacon

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DISTANCE MEASURING EQUIPMENT
➢ A measuring device using ground and air to determine the
slant range of an aircraft from a point

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APPROACH
LIGHTS
TOUCHDOWN
AND
CENTERLINE
LIGHTS
RUNWAY
LIGHTS

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HISTORY
OF ILS

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 “
Airports had begun
using lights in the late
1920s, when landing
fields were marked
with rotating lights so
they could be found
after dark.

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 “
One type, introduced in
1929, was the four-course
radio range, where the pilot
was guided by the strength
of Morse code signals.
Another type that was tried
experimentally was the low-
frequency radio beam.

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 “
Tests of the system began
in 1929, and the Civil
Aeronautics Administration
(CAA) authorized
installation of the system in
1941 at six locations.

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 “
In the early 1930s,
airports installed the
earliest forms of
approach lighting

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 “
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.

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 “
The development
of radar during World War II
led to the development of a
new precision-beam landing
aid called ground control
approach (GCA).

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 “
By 1945, nine CAA
systems were operating
and 10 additional locations
were under construction.
Another 50 were being
installed for the army.

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 “
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.

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 “
The development
of RADAR during World
War II led to the
development of a new
precision-beam landing aid
called ground control
approach (GCA)

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 “
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.

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 “
By 1948, distance
measuring equipment
(DME) was being used to
provide data relating to the
plane's distance from the
ground

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 “
In the 1960s, the first
ILS equipment for fully
blind landings became
possible.

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 “
Microwave landing systems
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.

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 “
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.

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Airport
Markings

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