PLT049: ILS Indications
What code PLT049 covers, why the FAA tests it, and how to study ILS Indications before your checkride.
Interpret ILS - charts / RMI / CDI / indications
What this means for your checkride
The instrument landing system gives a precision approach: the localizer provides horizontal guidance to the runway centerline and the glide slope provides vertical guidance to the touchdown zone. On the CDI both needles center when you are on course and on path; full deflection means you are at the edge of the guidance.
The ILS is the primary precision approach, so the FAA tests how to read the localizer and glide-slope indications and fly them down to minimums.
Pilots chase the glide-slope needle with power alone. On an ILS you fly pitch and power together, and the localizer is far more sensitive than a VOR, so corrections near the runway must be small.
Where to study it
A code on your test report is an area of deficiency. An authorized instructor must review it with you and endorse that review before you take the practical test, and the examiner may revisit it during the oral. Study it until you can explain it out loud, not just recognize the answer.