Radio Navigation Setup
PremiumintermediateTune the VOR and ILS frequencies for the approach into Paris by hand, on the page the FMGS otherwise manages for you.
What this scenario covers
The RAD NAV page holds the radio navigation aids: two VOR receivers with their courses, the ILS with its frequency and course, and ADF. The FMGS auto-tunes most of this from the flight plan, but the crew can and does override it — a manual entry stays until it is cleared.
This scenario sets up an ILS into Charles de Gaulle. The frequency and inbound course come from the approach chart; entering them puts the raw needles where you want them regardless of what the flight management computer would have chosen.
How it applies in flight ops
Auto-tuning is convenient but it is not the authority. Crews cross-check the ILS identifier and course on RAD NAV against the chart before every approach, because flying a perfectly stable approach onto the wrong localiser is a documented accident category.
Manual VOR tuning also earns its keep when the procedure requires a specific raw-data cross-check, or when a navaid is out of service and the auto-tune choice is not the one you want.
Fly this one with Premium
Everything about this scenario is on this page, steps included — reading it costs nothing and always will. What Premium adds is doing it: the MCDU validates every entry as you make it, tells you when an entry was accepted but wrong, and saves your progress across devices.
Step-by-step: Radio Navigation Setup
- Set up your route first. Type EGLL/LFPG and press 1R.
- Navigate to the RAD NAV page to set up navigation radios.
The RAD NAV page lets you manually tune VOR, ILS, and ADF frequencies. While the FMS auto-tunes navaids along your route, pilots manually set and verify frequencies as a crosscheck — especially the ILS for the approach.
- Enter the Dover VOR identifier. Type DVR and press 1L. The MCDU will look up the identifier.
Dover VOR (DVR, 114.95 MHz) is on the white cliffs of Dover — one of the most-used navaids in European aviation. You find VOR identifiers and frequencies on en-route charts and your flight plan. Entering the ident auto-tunes the frequency.
- Now enter the Dover VOR frequency 114.95. Type 114.95 and press 1L.
Every VOR has a unique frequency published on aeronautical charts. VOR frequencies range from 108.00 to 117.95 MHz. You can enter either the identifier or the frequency — both work. In practice, the FMS auto-tunes VORs along your route, but pilots verify as a crosscheck.
- Set up the ILS for your approach. Enter ILS frequency 110.70 for Paris CDG runway 27L. Type 110.70 and press 3L.
ILS frequencies come from the approach plate for your destination runway. You look up the Jeppesen or national AIP approach chart for runway 27L at LFPG, which publishes the localizer frequency (110.70), course (268°), and glideslope details. Getting this wrong means you could intercept the wrong localizer beam or get no signal at all during approach — extremely dangerous in low visibility.
- Radio navigation is configured. Press INIT to return to the main page.
What to take away
- RAD NAV is auto-tuned by the FMGS, and manually overridable at any time.
- A manual entry persists — it does not quietly revert to the auto choice.
- Cross-check the ILS frequency and course against the approach chart every time.
- Raw-data navaids remain the independent check on a managed flight plan.
The rest of Foundations
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Background reading
- GuideHow to Fly an ILS Approach in MSFS 2024: From Setup to Touchdown
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- GuideThe A320 MCDU Explained: Every Page, Simply
What is the A320 MCDU? A plain-English guide to every Airbus MCDU page — INIT, F-PLN, PERF, RAD NAV and more. Practice free in our MCDU trainer.
- GuideCAT II/III Autoland in MSFS 2024: How to Actually Make It Work
Set up CAT II/III autoland in the PMDG 737 and Fenix A320 for MSFS 2024: dual AP engagement, ILS tuning, LAND 2 vs LAND 3 — and why yours disconnects.