PLT321: Types of Landing Systems
What code PLT321 covers, why the FAA tests it, and how to study Types of Landing Systems before your checkride.
Recall navigation - types of landing systems
What this means for your checkride
Landing guidance systems range from precision to non-precision. The ILS provides both lateral (localizer) and vertical (glide slope) guidance; other systems such as the microwave landing system and GPS-based approaches provide guidance by different means. Non-precision approaches give lateral guidance only.
Choosing and flying the right approach depends on knowing what each landing system provides, so the FAA tests the types of landing systems and precision versus non-precision guidance.
Not every instrument approach gives vertical guidance. A localizer-only or VOR approach is non-precision, so you descend by step-down altitudes rather than following a glide path.
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.