INSTRUMENT

LANDING
SYSTEM (ILS)

What s ILS?
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ILS is stand for Instrument Landing System.

It has been existence for over 60 years.
But today, it is still the most accurate approach and
landing aid that is used by the airliners.

History of ILS
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The first scheduled passenger airliner

to land using ILS was in 1938.

History
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Tests of the first ILS began in 1929.

The first scheduled passenger airliner to land using ILS
was in 1938. A Pennsylvania-Central Airlines Boeing
247-D.
In 1949, ICAO adapted an ILS standard developed by
the US Army as a standard system for all of its member
countries.

The Uses of ILS

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To guide the pilot during the approach and landing.

It is very helpful when visibility is limited and the
pilot cannot see the airport and runway.
To provide an aircraft with a precision final approach.
To help the aircraft to a runway touchdown point.
To provide an aircraft guidance to the runway both in
the horizontal and vertical planes.
To increase safety and situational awareness.

Why pilots need ILS?

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To enable safe landing during reduced visibility due to

fog, rain, or snow.
In order to enable Auto-land in newer aircrafts, ILS
signals are essential.

Poor Visibility Landings

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Scheduled service would be impossible without a way to

land in poor weather.

Runway Approach
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Precision Runway (P) Categories

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Runway Threshold: Beginning of runway for landing.

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Touchdown zone: The first point for the aircraft should

touch the runway during landing.

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Aiming point: serves as a visual aiming point for a

landing aircraft.

ILS Components
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There are 3 equipments for Ground Installations, which

are:
Ground Localizer (LLZ) Antenna To provide
horizontal navigation
Ground Glide path (GP) Antenna To provide
vertical navigation
Marker Beacons To enable the pilot cross check
the aircrafts height.

ILS Indicator
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Glidepath
Deviation from
optimal glide
path

Localizer
Deviation from
runway centre
line

How ILS works?

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Ground localizer antenna transmit VHF signal in direction

opposite of runway to horizontally guide aircraft to the
runway centre line.
Ground Glide Path antenna transmit UHF signal in vertical
direction to vertically guide aircraft to the touchdown point.
These signals activate the vertical and horizontal needles
inside the ILS indicator to tell the pilot either go left/right or
go up/down.
By keeping both needles centered, the pilot can guide his
aircraft down to end of landing runway aligned with the
runway center line and aiming the touch down.

ILS Components
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Marker Beacons: the

height aircraft

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Glide Path:
vertical guidance

Localizer:
horizontal guidance

13

Localizer
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Localizer is the horizontal antenna array located at the

opposite end of the runway.
Localizer operates in VHF band between 108 to 111.975 MHz

Localizer
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Needle indicates direction of

runway.
Centered Needle = Correct
Alignment

Glide Path Antenna Array

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Glide Path is the vertical antenna located on one side of

the runway about 300 m to the end of runway.
Glide Path operates in UHF band between 329.15 and
335 MHz

Glide Path
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Needle indicates above/below

glide path.
Centered Needle = Correct Glide
path

Marker Beacons
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Marker beacons operating at a carrier frequency of 75

MHz are provided.
When the transmission from a marker beacon is received
it activates an indicator on the pilot's instrument panel.
The correct height the aircraft should be at when the
signal is received in an aircraft.

Marker Beacons
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Outer marker
The outer marker should be located about 7.2 km from
the threshold.
The modulation is repeated Morse-style dashes of a 400
Hz tone.
The cockpit indicator is a blue lamp that flashes
accordingly with the received audio code.
The purpose of this beacon is to provide height, distance
and equipment functioning checks to aircraft on
intermediate and final approach.

Marker Beacons
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Middle marker
The middle marker should be located so as to indicate,
in low visibility conditions.
Ideally at a distance of 1050m from the threshold.
The cockpit indicator is an amber lamp that flashes in
accordingly with the received audio code.

Marker Beacons
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Inner marker
The inner marker, shall be located so as to indicate in
low visibility conditions.
The cockpit indicator is a white lamp that flashes in
accordingly with the received audio code.

Advantages of ILS
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The most accurate approach and landing aid that is used

by the airliners.

Disadvantages of ILS
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Interference due to large reflecting objects, other

vehicles or moving objects.
This interference can reduce the strength of the
directional signals.

MICROWAVE
LANDING
SYSTEM (MLS)

Introduction
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By the late 1960s, however, air traffic congestion and

the need for more noise sensitive approach paths to
airports had begun to demand a more capable and
flexible landing system.

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One problem with ILS was that the VHF/UHF

frequencies in which it operated had a limited number of
channels.
As air transportation became more popular, planners
began to see a time when certain areas of the country
would have more airports requesting instrument landing
systems than the ILS frequency range could
accommodate.
The relatively low frequency range of the ILS was also
susceptible to signal reflection, or "multipath," errors.

What is MLS?
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MLS (Microwave Landing System) was developed to

improve the uses of ILS system, however only few
Airports have MLS installations.
MLS is an advanced precision approach and landing
system.
MLS provides position information in a wide coverage
sector and is determined by:
Azimuth angle measurement (horizontal)
Elevation measurement(vertical)
Range measurement

MLS Ground Installations

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An MLS elevation (vertical) guidance station

MLS Ground Installations

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An MLS azimuth (horizontal)

guidance station

What is MLS?
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MLS operates in the Super High Frequency (SHF)

between 5.031 to 5.090GHz.

Advantages of MLS
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MLS provide large coverage signals even in very poor

visibility.
As MLS signals have large coverage, this will increase
runway utilization.
MLS also has more channels which can avoid the signal
interferences.