PLT358: Localizer And Back Course
What code PLT358 covers, why the FAA tests it, and how to study Localizer And Back Course before your checkride.
Recall radio - LOC / ILS
What this means for your checkride
The localizer provides the ILS course guidance and operates in the 108.10 to 111.95 MHz band. Some localizer antennas also transmit a usable back course behind the array. A localizer-only approach provides lateral guidance without a glide slope.
Pilots must recognize when only localizer guidance is available and understand back course sensing, where needle indications can reverse.
On a back course, students may fly toward the wrong side of the needle unless they understand the reversed sensing.
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.