5-Step ILS Landing Guide

Trying to use an Instrument Landing System (ILS) in a flight simulator can be a daunting task if you've not tried it before, or if you're not familiar with instruments and aircraft systems however the whole process of setting up and landing a plane is very basic once you know how. I've designed a simple 5 step process which I would like to share with you.

When flying, Air Traffic Control will normally direct you towards the airport and runway you'll be landing on by telling you to fly a certain heading and giving you certain altitudes. This takes away the pressure of navigating to the airport when approaching it, giving you time to set up the plane for an ILS landing. Hopefully you will be familiar with using the auto pilot and will be flying to ATC's instructions with the Autopilot enabled.

Step 1: Gain information about the runway you'll be landing on.

ATC will tell you which runway you will be landing on. Let's say for this example you've been told to land on runway 04. There's two pieces of information you need to find out about that runway, its ILS Frequency and the Runway Heading. You can normally find these in a simulator by going into the Map and double clicking on the airport. Make a note of the frequency and heading, we'll use these in a moment.

Step 2: Make sure the plane's set to Navigate by Radio

Most planes have two forms of navigation, they can navigate by using a GPS system or they navigate using Radio frequencies. In the cockpit, there's a switch which allows you to choose between the two systems and you want to set this to "NAV" so that the plane is using Radio frequencies to navigate.

Step 3: Enter the ILS Frequency into the Nav1 Radio

Take a look at the radio stack and find the "Nav1" settings, you'll see two frequencies. One is Active and one is Standby. You can easily tell which is which because you can only change the Standby frequency. Change this to the ILS frequency you made a note of earlier then make it the Active frequency.

Step 4: Change the Omni Bearing Selector to the runway heading

On smaller planes the Omni Bearing Selector will be a dial, on larger planes it will be a knob on the Autopilot panel. You want to change this so that it's showing the runway heading. In our example we said we would land on runway 04 so the heading would be 040 (but this could be anything from 035-045).

Step 5: Activate the Approach Hold autopilot switch.

Very simple final step, just press the Approach Hold button on the autopilot and the plane will take care of the rest. As you fly in line with the runway, provided you've done all the above steps, the plane will automatically turn and line up with the runway. Also when you get close enough it will also start to descend automatically. Then when you're happy with the approach and can see the runway, you can disable the autopilot and land the plane manually.

And there you have five straightforward steps to landing a plane using an Instrument Landing System! Easy huh? If you're a more visual learner, please see this video which uses this guide.

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FPS Skills

One of the most valuable skills you can develop in online gaming is Situational Awareness. Broadly speaking, this is when you take a moment to work out what's really going on around you. By doing this, it allows you to make a better decision about what to do next, rather than aimlessly run at the nearest bad guy.

One of the easiest things to look for and probably the first thing you should look at is the current "state" of the game. Most if not all games have a scoreboard which you can view mid game which shows you lots of statistics. What you want to look at here is how many points each team has and how much time is left until the end of the game. As basic as it sounds, you now know whether you're currently winning or losing and you can adapt your behaviour to suit. If you're winning, you may consider playing more cautiously. The enemy has to chase the game and as they do they will start playing more recklessly, taking more risks which gives you a great opportunity to pick them off and increase your lead. If your team is losing, you may need to take some more risks and push forward some more to get more kills or points.

Also look at how much time is left. If you still have lots of time, say 5 minutes or more then there's no need to panic. You can afford to be a bit more relaxed however if you've only got 30 seconds and you're only a couple of points behind, you need to throw all caution to the wind, go after the enemy with everything you got and get those last few kills to gain the lead and ultimately win the game!

One of the most important tools at your disposal which is available in most FPS games is the Mini map. I believe that if you want to be fully aware of what's happening around you, you need to be glancing at this at least once every 10 seconds. The mini map gives you essential information, the most important of which is the location of enemies. By knowing where enemy players are, you can plan an attack or defence and catch out any aggressive players who make a break to try and sneak around you. It helps you to stay that one step ahead.

You can also use the mini map to see the position of your team-mates. I've often found that players tend to get drawn into a specific area of the map and you'll end up with a large gunfight with many players on both teams grouped together. Keep an eye out for this happening, because this is your opportunity to move through the quiet areas of the map where there are no enemy players. This happens a lot in objective style games where everyone's focused on gaining control of a point on the map or getting control of an object. A tactic I like to employ at this point is moving round the side of the enemy then shooting them as they run towards the area of focus. Lots of easy kills plus it takes some pressure off your team mates so they have a better chance of doing what they need to do.

At the end of the day, Situational Awareness isn't too difficult a skill to develop. Simply take a few seconds during a game to look at the bigger picture. Take a moment to process that information, understand what it means, then use that to decide what to do next. You'll find yourself becoming a much more effective player.

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Coin Pusher Machines Are Great Money

Have you ever considered placing a coin pusher machine in your business? There are good reasons to consider them. They are good profit generators that require very little floor space. If you operate a convenience store, laundromat, tavern, liquor store, restaurant, truck stop or any other business where there is good foot traffic, then you have a potential location. You could possibly pay your monthly rent or mortgage with one or two of these machines.

If you are interested in making coin pushers part of your business, there are some important factors to consider. For one, the machines need to be in a secure location where they can be seen by store personnel. This is to prevent tampering or cheating, such as shaking the machine. Almost all machines sold have an audible alarm and a trap door to prevent coins from being shaken out, but for the alarm to be effective there needs to be an employee present to hear it.

Legality is another concern. The machines must be legal to operate in your location. Some areas are fine, but some have restrictions. You can check with local authorities to find out what, if any, restrictions exist in your area. The most common restriction is that you may not be able to play with or pay out real coins. In that case you would be able to use tokens instead of coins. You can exchange the winner's tokens for trade or small gifts instead of cash. You could also load up the playing field with "bait", such as gift cards, watches or MP3 players.

Speaking of coins used, change or token availability should be easy and convenient. You should have a change machine or token dispenser mounted in the machine or on the wall near the machine. If the player runs out of coins you want it to be convenient for them to get more coins and continue playing.

Consider the physical layout of your business. The machines need a floor space of about three feet wide and two feet deep. The location should be visible to store personnel and also easily seen by potential customers.

Once you've decided that a coin pusher will be a great addition to your business, the big question is, "To buy or not to buy?" You can buy your machine, or if you do not want to make a big cash investment you can have an operator install your machine for free, in exchange for a share of the profits. Typically the profit is split 50/50 between the location owner and the operator. To find a local operator just check with vending companies in your area.

If you decide to buy a machine you should avoid used machines. Buy a new machine with at least a one year warranty from a reputable dealer. You can find a dealer through the internet by using a search engine such as Google. Expect to pay between $1200 and $2000 depending on features, options and the quality of the machine. These machines provide a great return for a small investment of money and floor space. In today's economy you need all the help you can get.

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Gaming Addiction for Making Money

If you are looking for a way to turn your gaming addiction into a money maker there are a variety of ways you can pursue.

First, you can try to be a beta tester for the big video game companies. This is probably not the easiest thing to do. To earn the top dollars these companies usually require years of testing experience and some programming knowledge. That doesn't mean you can't get a job from them. You just won't be playing the coolest, top games.

Second, you can find one of these companies that are putting games on Facebook or just making a new site for a game. They aren't the most glamorous games but you still can get paid to test them out and give your feed back.

Third, start writing game reviews. You can start your own website and write your own reviews about the latest games you have played. If you have found cheats or hidden treasures you can post those too. Create a walk through. To get a domain name is cheap and easy. You can find cheap hosting too so you keep your costs down. Invite others to offer their thoughts and any cool things they have found while they were playing. To make money this way you would need to get into posting ads on your site for different companies related to gaming. You can try Google AdSense for one. Amazon.com is another. If you want to try GameFly.com you need to have quite a lot of visitors already established and have a pretty good functioning site to pass their application process.

Another way you can earn money playing video games is through some different sites that allow you to play games to earn credits. You do certain tasks on the site and earn credits. If you refer someone you earn credits. You keep building up your credits and doing the tasks they ask you and you can convert those credits into cash. These sites are usually a game within a game. Some are like medieval games. You play a couple of child like games to earn your credits. You take those credits to build your army and kingdom. You battle others and take them over to earn more credits. All of these credits you eventually take and convert into cash for yourself.

All of these are ways you can use your gaming addiction to earn yourself some money. I am not saying you will become rich doing this. These are just ideas for you to try.

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FNM Hero

Last time, we left off with the deck list here:

Land: 
20x Mountain

Creatures: 4x Rakdos Cackler
3x Legion Loyalist
4x Rakdos Shred-Freak
4x Burning-Tree Emissary
4x Reckless Waif
4x Lightning Mauler
2x Firefist Striker
4x Pyreheart Wolf
2x Rubblebelt Makka
1x Boros Reckoner
1x Hellrider

Other Spells: 3x Searing Spear
4x Madcap Skills

Side Board:
3x Traitorous Blood
4x Skullcrack
3x Volcanic Strength
4x Curse of the Pierced Heart
1x Brimstone Volley

And we had $39.50 in our budget.

Friday Night Magic time. The store finally had some copies of Ash Zealot. I picked up the two that they had at $3.00 each. Along with the $3.00 entry fee, we are down $9.00 on the day to bring us to $30.50.

I switched them out for two Shred-Freaks because Zealots are strictly better, and I feel 2/2 is better than 4 Shred-Freaks and 0 Zealots. With those changes, let's jump into round one:

Round one: The first round brought me up against WB Humans.
In the first game, I played a turn one unleashed Cackler with a turn to Burning-Tree Emissary into Lightning Mauler. Swing six. After a couple more attacks he packed it up.
Game two, he mulled to five. He did not draw any black lands and could not answer my threats with his own.
1-0 on the night

Round two: This round put my up against BW Zombies. Geez.
Game one, he had turn Cartel Aristocrat with turn three Messenger and turn four Messenger. When you follow that up with two Blood Artists the next turn. Yeah. I lost.
In the second game, I kept a hand with two lands in it. I proceeded to see now other lands that game. It happens.
1-1

Round three: Not I'm sure about this round. I played against a bad Rakdos Aggro deck. It was kind of like he just bought an Into Pack and went from there. That is very possible.
In the first game, my luck continued. I kept a hand with two land and did not see another. With me only being able to cast one spell a turn, and him casting a couple it was short work.
I was relieved to see three lands in my opening hand after not seeing a third in the past two games. Funny story, though. I drew all lands after that. Four non-land cards means another loss.
1-2
Round four:

What a night. This time, I got to play against BR Control.
The first game started out as well as I'd hope with turn one threat followed by turn two two threats. It was too fast for him to assemble any sort of defense.
In game two, he managed to trade removal for the early creatures and stall long enough to resolve multiple Desecration Demons. Goodness. I could not handle them.
First game three of the night. I had a similar start as game one, and when he couldn't answer my early guys this time I won.
2-2 on the night

Round five: This round kind of put me in a bad mood for the rest of the evening. I played against a little girl (7-10 I'm not sure) who was playing mono-red.
In game one, my first two hands did not have any lands. On five I kept with two lands. She had a fast start that I couldn't compete with.
Game two, my first three hand did not have any land in them. I said sure it with one land at four. I managed to get her down to seven before she played a Hellrider. When she was done attacking me she revealed her hand to show me she had another Hellrider and started laughing at me. STILL HAD ALL DEEZ!!!!!!
Geez, girl. She also said, "Good games" as she walked off still laughing. That's good sportsmanship when your opponent mulls to five and four. What do I know, though.
Oh well, not every Friday can be me stomping people into the ground all night. 2-3 doesn't give any prize. So, looks like I just got the Planeswalker points I need to get to 400 for the season.

I, also, played Tuesday night. I made some changes to the deck:

Land: 
20x Mountain

Creatures: 
4x Rakdos Cackler
3x Legion Loyalist
2x Rakdos Shred-Freak
2x Ash Zealot
4x Burning-Tree Emissary
4x Reckless Waif
4x Lightning Mauler
2x Firefist Striker
3x Pyreheart Wolf
1x Boros Reckoner
1x Hellrider

Other Spells:
3x Searing Spear
4x Madcap Skills
3x Volcanic Strength

Side Board:
2x Traitorous Blood
2x Stonewright
2x Rubblebelt Makka
1x Volcanic Strength
4x Curse of the Pierced Heart
1x Brimstone Volley
1x Pyreheart Wolf
2x Toil / Trouble

I moved Volcanic Strength to the Mainboard. I love that card.

New cards:
1x Volcanic Strength ($0.25)
2x Stonewright ($0.25)
2x Toil / Trouble ($0.25)
Total: $1.25

New Grand total: $30.50-$1.25=$29.25

With these changes, let's see how we do:

Round one:
The first round brought my against a real jerk playing Junk Reanimator. I'm sorry, but I always hear this guy laughing at other players when they make mistakes or do something he considers wrong. It was the first time I have every played him. I wanted to beat him bad.
He won the roll and start out with some mana dorks. I got him down to eleven before he played a Tragtusk followed by a Restoration Angel targeting the Tragtusk the following turn. Dang.
The second game, my hand was Mountain, Mountain, Legion Loyalist, Burning-Tree Emissary, Lightning Mauler, Curse of the Pierced Heart, and Rakdos Cackler. I attacked for one on turn one, drew and land and attacked for five on turn two, and drew another Lightning Mauler on my next turn. I played my third land and casted Cackler unleashed along with the Mauler. A short soul bound and attack left him at five. I looked at my hand of Curse of the Pierced Heart and passed the turn very pleased with myself. He played a Tragtusk to help stabilize his life a little. The next turn I drew an irrelevant card and just attacked him knowing that I had the Curse in my hand and I just need to get him down to one. I managed to do that successfully with all my dudes. After I casted Curse on my second Main Phase, he could not believe it. While he were getting ready for game three, he made multiple comment about that Curse, and how he could not even comprehend losing to a stupid card like that. Hey. Don't call my cards stupid. This guy is a piece of work.
In the last game, he did not find a Tragtusk to play. The funny thing is that I did not even do the final points of damage to him. I had two Ash Zealots in play with him at five life. He casted Gristly Salvage at the end of my turn showing Unburial Rites and Angel of Serenity. He says sweet and takes land. On his Main Phase he flashes back Unburial Rites. I asked him if he was sure that he wanted to do that. He just looked at he and laughed. He insured me he wanted to flashback Unburial Rites targeting Angel of Serenity (he didn't say targeting of course because that would be correct of him). I said sure and informed him he took six damage from my Ash Zealots. Without a word, he grabbed one of my Zealots and read it. "Oh, I did not know that," he said.
Let that be a lesson in knowing what all cards in play do at all times. Geez dude. I felt so good that he beat himself with a mistake that he probably would have fallen on the ground laughing at someone else if they had done that, and he had the Zealots. Felt so good.
1-0

Round two:
In the second round, I got to play against Brian Kibler's RG Domri deck.
In the first game, I played a turn one Cackler unleashed into turn two Burning-Tree Emissary with Mauler for six damage. After another attack that included a turn three Legion Loyalist he was down to seven. He had Morters and Pillar for a couple of my guys. I got him down to one before he played Thundemaw and left it on defense. I drew land after land while he drew guys and came over for the win while I did not drew a Searing Spear for four turns. Dang.
The second game was a lot better with me actually being able to do the same thing almost exact, but drawing the burn spell this time.
In the third game, I could tell he was desperate when he blocked my Loyalist with his Elf with my first attack for one. He did not really play anything while I kept drawing well. Sometimes that just happens,
2-0

Round three:
Pillar of the format, Jund is up next.
Drawing acceleration is good for Jund, but drawing just acceleration is not good for Jund. While I was attacking, he was playing Farseek and Keyrune. Easy game one.
Game two ended with him chaining Tragtusks to get back above twenty health after I got him down to eleven. Dang.
The next game ended up having the same thing happen after I got him down to six. You can't win them all.
2-1

Round four:
With a win, we can still get some prize. This round was up against a Four Color Unexpected Results deck.
In the first game, I had a double Burning-Tree Emissary into Mauler hand with turn one Cackler. He did not draw any sweepers.
Game two, I only had one Burning-Tree Emissary this time. Same story though. He did a turn four Unexpected Results that yielded him a Hallowed Fountain. Dang, I wanted it to be something crazy.
3-1 on the night.

3-1 gets $4.00 bringing the total up to $33.25. Geez. I need to finish off this playset of Zealots. I hope the store will have two more on Friday! I feel like the deck is solid with the Volcanic Strengths mainboard. I'll have to confirm this Friday night, though.

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Legacy Time ElksCasual Tribal Deck

As many might know, I'm not sure into winning every single game of Magic I play. I like to play for the fun of the game, a lot. This leads me to some weird, and probably bad, deck ideas.

When I started playing Magic, my parents bought me the Stampede Theme deck from Fifth Dawn. The first thing I did once I learned how to actually play the game was, I took out the Red. My new mono Green deck slowly evolved into Elves. Not the combo Elves type of deck, just a pile of Elves. This, I believe, is where my love of tribal themes was seeded. In those days I just played kitchen table with a few friends and never played in tournaments.

My second deck that I ever created was a Blue and White Merfolk in Lorwyn. (Yes, I played with my Elves for many years without trying a single new thing. I wish I could go back and expand my horizon from the start, but that's another story.) I guess where I am trying to get at is that most of my Magic-playing-life I have been playing tribal decks.

This brings me to my current state of mind. I want to play a tribal strategy, but I can't just simply build a good deck like Merfolk or Goblins. No, I have to go deep into the card database and see what other creature subtypes might have a chance. I plan on writing more about all the "fun" ones I have found, but for now I want to stick with the one I first set out to make. Elks.

I was going to take Aurochs, but that seemed too easy. Why Elks? I'm not sure. I have a deep down love for Green and wild animals like elk and deer. Also, I have a secret love for Great Sable Stag.

Saying that I want to work on this deck might be a bad idea, but I really do think it could do decent at my local tournaments. Because I know how much you all are sitting on the edge of your seat waiting to see the list, here it is (for now):

Lands: 24
24x Forest

Creatures: 14
4x Dawntreader Elk
4x Great Sable Stag
4x Gang of Elk
2x Axebane Stag

Other: 22
4x Rancor
4x Spider Umbra
4x Snake Umbra
2x Overrun
4x Rampant Growth
4x Ranger's Path

Sideboard:
I'm not sure

As you can see, this deck is a work in progress. Fetch lands would help thin out the deck, but too many nonbasics could lead to failing to find with Rampant Growth or Ranger's Path. Also, Mutavault could help the deck along with other shapeshifters. Game-Trail Changeling would be an idea. He even still looks like a Elk or maybe a Moose. I don't know. It will probably always be bad, but I like it.

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How to change Folder 's icon to the icon you like

Toycon link
http://www.snapfiles.com/get/toycon.html

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