ILS Using GPS

[mikeglaz]

Is it possible to land ILS using GPS instead of the radio frequency? If so, how would I do that?

[speedy70]

Autoland is a feature of airliners only.You cannot autoland a GA aircraft.

Cheers Chris

[Oracle427]

Speedy,

Autoland and ILS are not synonymous. I fly approaches using ILS regularly for practice. An ILS is a tool that permits one to approach a runway without visual reference to the ground until a very short height and distance from the runway. At a most basic level you are looking at baking out of the clouds at 200 AGL and around .5 mile visibility. It is possible to go lower and with less visibility with specialized training, a crew, additional equipment and with specifically certified ILS systems.

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The simple answer is no as an ILS is a system that uses radio signals originating from the ground to provide vertical and lateral guidance to the aircraft.

A GPS equivalent is known as LPV. If there is an LPV approach to the airport, you may find it has similar minimums to an ILS. Some airports offer both of these types of approaches to a runway, but it is not always a given.

Both are very different in implementation and require slightly different techniques to avoid navigation errors. An LPV approach also requires a WAAS GPS, which uses ground based data sources to increase the position accuracy to a level sufficient to fly an approach that near to the surface or obstacles.