TAny details on how it will work? I'm just curious if it will only be available for certain hardcoded runways... or can it be made to work at any airport?
I've been doing some beta testing so I can answer these questions.
Setup is easy. You simply drop a folder called panel.GCA into C-47V3 with the modern VC and select the proper panel.cfg for FSX or P3D which is included. (Banjoman and I have it working in C-47 with VVC (see video in original post), and he has it working in C-54, C-119, and others so it is adaptable to other aircraft with some fiddling.)
What you get with the new panel is the amazing AILA gauge that provides all kinds of functions that Manfred has adapted (with permission) to provide an Approach Control and GCA for any runway...actually any spot you want to call the runway end, which will give helo drivers a GCA capability for North Sea platforms or wherever. (I've tried it on a stationary aircraft carrier and it worked fine. Still pondering how to make it work on a moving one so the vNavy folks can also have CCA capabilities. No clue what happens in a sim if a helo backs
up the glideslope as, I'm told, has happened in real life.)
So to use the Approach Control and GCA capabilities you open the AILA panel (Shift -6) and select an airport and runway, set an intercept point (typically 8nm for a 3.0º glideslope), and then click a button to engage the Approach Controller function. A sweet voice on the radio says, "This is Approach Control. Standby for vectors to runway XXX." Then she warns you about terrain clearance and gives you headings to the GCA intercept where she turns you over to the GCA Controller who talks you down. (You can skip the Approach Control part and simply fly to about a 10 miles straight-in and contract GCA directly.)
There are some geometry issue which may cause Approach to redirect you. For example, she really doesn't like it when you arrive beak to beak with departing aircraft, flying down the departure corridor. And you need to be outside 15nm on initial call so she can vector you into the GCA box pattern and get you turned in toward the GCA glideslope intercept point, all tidy like.
One important point to keep in mind: so far she can't provide terrain and obstacle clearance, that's your responsibility. Where available I use VOR/LOC/ILS/GPS approach plates to get Minimum Safe Altitude (MSA) info and use that until on the final approach course. You can also get obstacle clearance numbers off Sectionals and enroute charts. I use SKyVector.com.
Anyway, once you or Approach have you somewhere near the PAR glideslope intercept point, typically 8 miles and about 2500' AGL, the GCA controller will give you heading and decent advice down to about the threshold. What you'll hear is "You're well left, you're left,you're on centerline, you're' right, you're well right" and "You're well below, you're below, you're on glideslope, you're above, you're well above" about every 4 seconds, as appropriate.
But if you're precise you'll hear, "On glideslope, on centerline, " a phrase that has passed into aviation history. But not if you fly FSX or P3D.
The Big Lift about the Berlin Airlift features authentic, GCA, C-54s, and DC-3s (with some footage missing and lots post-war propaganda). Available free at
https://archive.org/details/The_Big_Lift#
Strategic Air Command with Jimmy Stewart and
Airport have GCA sequences, as mentioned earlier in this thread.
Flight Command [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
(1940) available from Amazon streaming for $3 is good but typically schmaltzy WW2 flick about the development of GCA.[/FONT]
