Base leg is meant to tell you that you should expect to be turned onto the localiser next. I have had several times when I am on “base leg” but then get turned back outbound due to faster/slower traffic.
Well, “turn left 130, base leg” very very directly implies that you are supposed to intercept the localiser, so if you don’t hear “cleared for the XXX ILS” that is rather below the belt
“Turn left 130, base leg” is not a clearance to intercept the ILS. It’s a situational awareness call. “I’ll be turning you in soon, so get the checks done”, sort of call.
Well, “turn left 130, base leg” very very directly implies that you are supposed to intercept the localiser, so if you don’t hear “cleared for the XXX ILS” that is rather below the belt, and that is exactly what I got going into Annecy, right here
The magenta line is the LOC – when flying an ILS I set up the GPS in OBS mode, inbound runway bearing, for monitoring only, so I can see where to expect the LOC to be.
@Peter on that day there was also talk about “base leg” on the radio. I had never heard that before. Would have to listen to the recording again for more details. Interesting to see all the nuances that seem to exist …
Remember, you are allowed to use more than a rate one turn to intercept if necessary. Up to 30°AoB is perfectly acceptable, even in a skills test.
This has reminded me of this discussion also.
Unfortunately the magic words “cleared for the ILS” are not always passed in time to act on them.
Flying into Annecy on Wednesday this week, I got them very late on base leg, with the LOC indicator already passing half scale and heading rapidly for the centre, and I had just enough time to press the APR button.
I flew it coupled so I could take photos 
but had I flown it by hand I would have needed a lot more than Rate 1 to turn onto the LOC without an overshoot.
It is always a tight moment in flying. For some reason ATC usually don’t clear you for the approach till really late, and it is not obvious why they do that.
And sometimes they just forget… has happened about 2x, once with Bournemouth.
I agree, I think it is pure and simple saturation.
I find when I have flown for a while (and it applies to other things) the checklists do come in help. Just a simple checklist of the key actions for the particular phase in hand – read it through before you commence that phase and it is a surprising reminder of the key actions that you dont want to forget.
In a different world, but since it is being discussed, how many times have I nearly pulled away from my sailing berth forgetting to disconnect the shore power, or leave one of the bow ropes attached, or forget to switch to the inverter etc so I now have myself a little list of the things to remember and it works every time.
In the same way whilst I am pleased to say I have never had an engine failure in the climb, I now find myself in the twin doing a quick mental rehersal of the vital actions everytime.
It just puts the brain back in the mindset required.
The German rules about radio communication being considered private and thus can not be published have not changed – have they?
No.
Stephan, I do not know how much experience you have flying IFR, but if you are low-time, and in addition to that had little recent experience, you may just have been a little saturated by the rapid succession of events, and that caused you to miss the approach clearance.
When you are saturated you just stop assimilating information – you block out external sensors until the information overload is resolved. I had that happen to me twice. The first time was one of the very first times I sailed a cat with my uncle. We were tacking back and forth in a channel to get to shore on a beach, and there was a pole in the middle of the channel. Such a light cat has very little inertia, and in order to help the turn you keep the foresail against the wind, and only when the tack is completed do you sheet it in on the leeward side. On this occasion I released the sheet too early and we headed directly towards the pole. There was nothing the helmsman could do because having no forward speed, there was no rudder authority. He was shouting instructions to me, but I was incapable of reacting to them. Everything seemed to be in slow motion until I realised what I had to do, pulled in the sheet on the windward side and barely managed to avoid the pole.
The second time was during VP/RG differences training in a Piper Arrow. On climb out after a touch&go, I was focusing on retracting the gear and setting climb power (power reduction), keeping the blue side up and correct heading, when I got a call from tower. Although it sounds silly now 19 years later, that was enough for me to reach saturation. I heard the call as a distant voice in the headset, and I just knew I was unable to cope with more than I already had on my plate.
I do not want to downplay the importance of flying regularly, especially IFR, in order to maintain proficiency, and I object to those who claim that flying is like riding a bicycle; you never forget. My personal experience is however that the more experience you have, gained over a relatively short period of time, the less proficiency you loose over the time you have not been flying.
4 weeks without flying is nothing, and I am sure you will frequently have 4-week periods during which you do not fly, or do not fly IFR. You may want to mitigate lack of recent experience by canceling flights that would be too challenging weather wise, i.e. raise you personal minima until you have done a flight or two.
