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Before the descent, record:
| Item |
What to record |
Why it matters |
| Runway |
Example: RWY 31 |
Defines roughly direction of approach. |
| ILS frequency |
Example: 108.75 MHz |
Required for localizer/glideslope reception. |
| Localizer course |
Example: 310° |
Required for DED CRS, HSI CRS, and correct mental picture. |
| TACAN |
Example: 22X |
Optional but useful for range/DME and approach setup. |
| Field elevation |
Example: 1,500 ft MSL |
Used to cross-check glideslope altitude. |
| Weather/wind |
Direction, speed, cloud base, visibility |
Determines active runway, crosswind, and stability criteria. |
| Missed approach |
Heading, altitude, rejoin/divert |
Prevents improvising during workload. |
- Some DCS maps use the mission’s wind direction to determine the active ILS direction. If the frequency is correct but you get no signal, confirm the landing runway and wind direction.
- Brief the approach before workload increases: runway, frequency, course, TACAN, weather, final altitude, missed approach, and comms calls.
Use these values as a rough sanity check for a normal 3-degree glidepath. Add the field elevation to convert AGL to MSL.
| Range from threshold |
Approximate height above runway |
10 NM |
3,000 ft AGL |
8 NM |
2,400 ft AGL |
6 NM |
1,800 ft AGL |
4 NM |
1,200 ft AGL |
2 NM |
600 ft AGL |
1 NM |
300 ft AGL |
These are technique values only. If an approach plate, mission brief, controller, or squadron SOP gives specific altitudes, use those.
Complete normal recovery preparation before becoming heads-down in the DED:
- Fuel quantity checked.
- Bingo and divert fuel reviewed.
- Altimeter set and cross-checked.
- ADI, HUD, SAI, and HSI attitude/heading references checked.
- Landing light.
¶ Activate and tune ILS
-
On the AUDIO 2 panel, rotate the ILS knob out of OFF.
- Set volume as low as possible without being
OFF if you do not wish to hear the Morse identifier of the localizer.
-
On the ICP, press the T-ILS priority function button, which is also 1.
- The DED displays TACAN data on the left and ILS data on the right.
-
Use the Dobber switch down/up to place the asterisks on the ILS FREQ field.
-
Enter the ILS frequency using the ICP keypad, with no decimal:
108.75 → 10875110.30 → 11030- Press ENTR.
-
Move the DED cursor to the ILS CRS field.
-
Enter the localizer inbound course:
- Use three digits:
087, 128, 310, etc.
- Press ENTR.
-
Verify reception:
- No invalid flags.
- Localizer/glideslope bars appear when in range, typically within roughly
15 NM.
CMD STRG is present/highlighted if you want HUD command steering.
¶ TACAN/DME setup, if used
If the destination has TACAN or you want range/DME information:
- Confirm the MIDS LVT switch is powered on; TACAN depends on the MIDS terminal in the DCS F-16.
- On the
T-ILS page, place the DED cursor on the TACAN CHAN field.
- Enter the TACAN channel using the ICP keypad and press ENTR.
- Use 0/M-SEL as required to toggle the
X/Y band in the blank center space of the T-ILS page.
- Use the Dobber switch right/SEQ to select the desired TACAN mode:
T/R for ground stations.
- On the HSI/EHSI, use
PLS TCN if you want ILS bars plus TACAN bearing/range.
Select the HSI mode deliberately:
| Mode |
Use case |
PLS NAV |
ILS localizer/glideslope on HUD/ADI/HSI while navigating by steerpoint. Best when your approach fix/runway point is a steerpoint. |
PLS TCN |
ILS localizer/glideslope while also using TACAN bearing/range. Best when the airfield TACAN provides useful DME. |
Set the HSI CRS knob to the same inbound localizer course unless intentionally using a separate TACAN course. This avoids a common DCS F-16 confusion: DED CRS is used for ILS steering logic, while the HSI course knob affects HSI course display/interpretation. When you set the CRS in the DED, you wilL cuase the HSI CRS to change to the CRS entered in the DED.
A good ILS starts before the needles move:
- Plan to intercept the localizer at
20–30° whenever possible.
- Intercept the glideslope from below. Chasing it down from above usually leads to excess sink, speed, or both.
- Use TACAN/DME or a steerpoint to verify that altitude roughly matches range.
- Avoid steep turns close to localizer capture. Roll out early, then make smaller corrections.
Use a disciplined scan rather than staring at one cue:
- Flight Path Marker / attitude
- Localizer bar
- Glideslope bar/caret
- AoA indexer / AoA staple
- Altitude and range
- Engine RPM / throttle position
Use the “fly toward the bar” habit:
- If the vertical localizer bar is right, fly right until it centers.
- If the vertical localizer bar is left, fly left until it centers.
- If the horizontal glideslope bar is above the FPM/ADI center, you are below glideslope; reduce descent or add power.
- If the horizontal glideslope bar is below the FPM/ADI center, you are above glideslope; increase descent carefully or reduce power.
- The goal is a centered cross on the ADI/HUD/FPM with the command steering cue in the center of the cross.
The DCS F-16 rewards small, stable corrections:
- Use stick to place the FPM and maintain the desired flight path.
- Use throttle to control AoA/energy and prevent excessive sink.
- Make paired corrections. A pitch correction without power often changes AoA; a power change without pitch often changes glidepath.
- Do not chase the bars with large bank or pitch changes. Correct, pause, and let the aircraft settle.
- As you get closer to the runway, reduce correction size. The localizer becomes more sensitive near the antenna.
At 500 ft AGL in IMC/night or 300 ft AGL in VMC, be:
- Gear down, three green.
- Landing configuration complete.
- On localizer and glideslope with small corrections only.
- Approximately
11° AoA.
- Sink rate controlled.
- Aligned with the correct runway.
- Cleared or deconflicted with traffic.
If not stable, go around.
¶ Landing
At the threshold or runway overrun:
- Keep the aircraft aligned with the runway.
- Shift the FPM from the threshold to roughly
1000 ft down the runway.
- Smoothly reduce power toward idle.
- Flare gently; do not level off and float excessively.
- Touch down on the main gear with controlled sink.
¶ Touchdown and rollout
- Touch down no higher than about
13° AoA.
- Avoid more than about
15° AoA during rollout due to tail strike.
- Hold the nose up for aerodynamic braking until around
100 KIAS, then lower it smoothly.
- Open speedbrakes fully after the nose comes down.
- Apply moderate to heavy wheel braking as needed.
- Engage NWS when slow enough, normally below about
30 knots, unless earlier NWS is required to prevent runway departure.
- Clear the runway, close speedbrakes, safe systems, and make the appropriate radio call.
Execute a missed approach when any of these occur:
- Localizer or glideslope flags appear.
- ILS course guidance becomes unreliable or inconsistent with outside references.
- The aircraft is not stable by the briefed gate.
- Sink rate, AoA, or airspeed is outside limits and not correcting promptly.
- You are more than about
1 dot low or 2 dots high on glideslope and cannot correct smoothly.
- You lose runway environment when required to continue.
- Traffic, runway obstruction, battle damage, or weather makes landing unsafe.
- Smoothly advance throttle to
MIL or as required; use afterburner only if needed.
- Close speedbrakes.
- Stop the descent and establish a climb while maintaining runway or assigned heading.
- Gear up with positive rate and sufficient airspeed.
- Follow the briefed missed approach, ATC instruction, or squadron SOP.
- Reconfigure, diagnose the problem, and choose: reattempt, divert, or hold.