The COM & NAV Instruments
A brief description of the instruments & what they do.

COM1 & COM2 radios
These are two way communication radios. Two COM radios are not essential. COM2 can either be used as a backup, or it can be tuned to a different frequency. For example you could set COM1 to the tower & COM2 to the Information service, if you really wanted to.
I just ignore COM2.
Each radio will usually have a ‘live’ frequency & a ‘standby’ frequency. This is so that you can preset a frequency, while staying tuned to another. When you want to use the new one, you flick the switch in between the two & the frequency values swap over.

NAV1 & NAV2 receivers
These are for receiving signals from navigation beacons.
There are basically 3 types of beacon - VOR, ADF & ILS.
You can tune to two different beacons at the same time with NAV1 & NAV2.

VOR - Very high frequency Omnidirectional Range
This beacon has a separate beam for every heading degree of the compass.
There are a few different flavours of VOR beacon, but all are similar in function.
Most will support DME (Distance Measuring Equipment). This information is displayed by your DME instrument gauge & will show distance to the beacon, ground speed & estimated time to the beacon. ILS also has the DME function.
If you tune NAV1 or NAV2 to the frequency of the VOR beacon, the VOR instrument will automatically display the direction to you. On the VOR instruments that I use, the single lined arrow is for NAV1 & the double lined arrow is for NAV2.

ADF - Automatic Direction Finder.
This beacon is more simple device & predates VOR. It is still in operation at a lot of smaller airfields.
It needs to be tuned in using the separate ADF receiver. This is found on the radio stack.
It sends a signal which is picked up by the ADF instrument. This is similar in appearance to the VOR instrument. It shows the direction of the beacon, in relation to the nose of the aircraft. ADF will not give you DME information.

ILS - Instrument landing system.
This is a two part beam that is situated at the end of a runway.
The localizer is similar to a single beam of a VOR & it has DME capability. It guides the aircraft along the runway heading.
The glideslope is a single beam that guides the height of the aircraft, right down to the numbers on the runway.
If the ILS frequency is entered into NAV1, the ILS information is automatically shown on the big Horizontal Situation Indicator on the main instrument panel.
NAV2 may not be equipped to use ILS information in some aircraft.

Autopilot
The autopilot will hold the aircraft in a set situation.
It has a number of activating buttons, most with their own input settings.
HDG - This holds the set heading, performing any turn needed to get on course.
ALT - This holds at the set altitude.
Climb rate - Situated next to the ALT setting, it gives the rate at which the aircraft climbs or descends until it reaches the ALT setting.
IAS - This holds the indicated air speed
APR - This will hold the aircraft to an ILS beam.

These settings can be altered at any time, allowing you to fly purely by using the autopilot.
There will be a master switch to engage/disengage the autopilot. This saves you having to press all of the individual buttons to turn it on or off.
There is also usually a master switch for the autothrottle. This needs to be switched to use the autothrottle. Some aircraft will not have autothrottle.

The autopilot can have some other functions, but these are the main ones.
Some autopilots will also make use of a full flight plan, but I do not use that.

Transponder
This works as an Identifier for your aircraft for ATC. It can be set using the radio stack, but the ATC will automatically set it for you when you get your IFR clearance. The number is known as your Squawk.
 

Pushback & Taxi
You press the apostrophe key (') to bring up the ATC window (Nice choice there from Microsoft ???).
I usually shrink the window & put it in the top right hand corner, out of the way.
After asking for & getting IFR clearance, you must ask for & get taxi clearance.
This is all done by mutli choice options from the ATC window.
To push back from the gate, you press ‘Shift-P’
FS2002 gives you the choice of turning during pushback, but is not very friendly about it.
Pressing ‘1’ means turn to the pilots left, ‘2’ means turn to the pilots right.
Remember you will be going backwards!
Before you push back, find out which way you need to turn. When you are ready, press ‘Shift-P’, then immediately press ‘1’ or ‘2’. If you take your time over it, it will not work.

If you do not know the way to the runway you can select ‘Progressive taxi’ from ATC.
This gives you a pretty pink line to follow.

While you are taxiing to the runway, get your autopilot set ready for when you leave.
Enter the altitude (ALT) as given by ATC & set your indicated airspeed (IAS).
I always set the IAS value to 250kts initially, as this is the speed limit below 10000ft.
Depending on which aircraft you are flying, you should set the Rate of climb (located next to ALT) as between 1000-2000 ft/min.

Select your takeoff flaps setting, usually 1 notch or sometimes 2.
Set a little bit of upwards trim, to help give the elevators enough force to rotate the aircraft. It usually only needs half a mark of trim on the gauge.
If the aircraft lifts off without you rotating, you probably used too much trim. FS is not very realistic with a lot of trim set.

ATC will have instructed you to hold short of the runway. So when you get there stop & request takeoff clearance.
 

Takeoff
You must request & get takeoff clearance.
ATC will usually have instructed you to fly the runway heading after takeoff, so as you get onto the runway, set your autopilot Heading (HDG) to point in the direction of the runway.
The HDG direction is shown (usually by a rotating arrow) on the Horizontal Situation Indicator. Make sure it is pointing straight forward.
Leave the autopilot & autothrottle switched off for takeoff.
Check your autopilot HDG, IAS, ALT & Climb rate settings.
Make sure that the autopilot buttons for HDG & ALT are lit, ready for use.
Make sure that no other autopilot buttons are wrongly lit, especially APR.
Check your flaps setting is correct.
Check your spoilers are not out.
Check your trim is set slightly up (it usually points down on the instrument itself)
Apply power & off you go.
You should really find out the correct rotation speed for the aircraft you are flying, but it will usually be around 130-150kts for a jet airliner.
As soon as you leave the ground (watch the VSI gauge), retract the gear, then activate the autopilot & autothrottle.
You should keep a careful watch on the speed. A good rule of thumb for flap retraction is to pull the flaps up a notch whenever the acceleration starts to slow.
If the aircraft is not able to hold speed, reduce the climb rate until it can hold speed.

Always remember that the autopilot does not really know what it is doing. If it is not behaving as you expect, try resetting the values or turn it off & back on again.
It is the pilots fault, if the autopilot crashes the plane!
 

Cruise
Listen out for your ATC instructions.
Follow them by adjusting the HDG & ALT settings on your autopilot.
Over 10000ft you can increase your speed as you wish, but no one will tell you off if you do it lower. At higher speeds & altitudes it makes more sense to use Mach hold instead of IAS hold, on the autopilot.
Normal rates of climb/descent are between 1500-3000 ft/min. It depends on the aircraft’s capability, some can do more.
Remember to slow down before you get to your destination!
 

Approaching the airport
ATC will tell you which runway you are to land on. Make a note of it.
Find your destination airport on the map view.
Zoom in until you can see the runways & their numbers.
Click on the runway you want. A list box of information will pop up.
Scroll down to the bottom & you will find the list of runways. Make a note of the heading & ILS frequency of your runway. Cancel the map view.
Enter the runway heading into the NAV hold on the autopilot, but do not select the NAV hold button. The NAV setting here only makes the Horizontal Situation Indicator point the right way.
Enter the frequency of the ILS into the NAV1 control (Some models need to bring up the radio stack window to do this.)
As you get under 3000ft you will want to be at around 200kts, ready for approach.
ATC will guide you a lot better if you keep to a stable slow speed of around 200kts.
Intercepting the ILS should be done at around 2300ft above the ground & below 200kts.
If you look on a map or GPS display, you should be aiming to intercept just before the green beam begins. If ATC is aiming you too close, adjust course yourself. You are responsible for getting it right.
Take a look at your DME instrument. It should show the distance from the beam, the ground speed & the estimated number of minutes to get there. The DME will do this for any beacon (ILS or VOR) that you tune into & that supports the DME standard.
ATC will bring you in at a slight angle to the localizer beam. As you approach it, make sure that your compass instrument is showing the correct direction & beam indication.
If it all looks right then press the autopilot approach hold button APR.
 

Landing
You must have pressed the approach hold APR button well before you get to the beam line.
You should be slowed down under 200kts, but not at full landing flaps.
As you intercept the beam, the HDG light will go out on the autopilot. This is supposed to happen & means that the ILS localizer has taken over that function.
The aircraft will turn onto the beam.
You should see the glideslope indicator showing that you are below the glideslope beam.
This is normal, as you always intercept the glideslope from below.
As you get closer to the glideslope, slow down nearer to your landing speed (130-160kts is usual for landing speed, depending on aircraft type & weight).
As the glideslope indicator begins to come down, you should be ready to select full flaps.
Some aircraft will not fly level very well with full flaps selected, so it can be better to select full flaps after intercepting the glideslope.
When the glideslope is intercepted, the aircraft may dip down too far. You do not have to sit there & let it do this!  Encourage it level using the elevator controls, they still work.
Either way, if you are not going too fast or too slow, the aircraft should settle onto the glideslope beam. Make sure you now have full flaps, are at the correct landing speed & have your gear down.
Arm the autospoilers.
Decision height will be indicated on your instruments, when you reach it.
I usually turn off autopilot & autothrottle here, they have done their job & the aircraft should be on a stable descent.
Throttle back as you get over the threshold & reduce rate of descent to about 300 ft/min.
On landing, throttle right back & select reverse thrust (F2 key).

If you let the autopilot land the aircraft, be aware that it will not perform any sort of flare & you may hit the ground harder than is desirable. It can even hit nosewheel first & cause the gear to collapse. If your aircraft sinks into the runway, the gear has probably failed.
You can easily put in a manual flare, using the elevators.
If you do a fully automatic landing, you must turn off autopilot & autothrottle as soon as you touch down.

After a few seconds, release the reverse thrust & use wheel brakes as needed.
Disarm the autospoilers & put the spoliers down.
Flaps up.
Taxi to gate, using ATC progressive taxi if needed.

The end