PLT275: ILS Localizer and Glide Slope
What code PLT275 covers, why the FAA tests it, and how to study ILS Localizer and Glide Slope before your checkride.
Recall ILS - indications / HSI
What this means for your checkride
The ILS guides an airplane to a runway with two radio beams: the localizer for lateral guidance to the runway centerline and the glide slope for vertical guidance to the touchdown zone. The cockpit display, often an HSI, shows deviation from each, and you fly to center both.
The ILS is the primary precision approach, so the FAA tests reading localizer and glide slope indications and understanding what a full-scale deflection represents.
The localizer is more sensitive than a VOR course; the same needle deflection means a much smaller distance off course, so corrections near the runway must be small and prompt.
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.