Definition
An air traffic control service in which the controller issues specific heading instructions to guide an aircraft onto the final approach course of an instrument approach procedure, typically intercepting the localizer or final approach course at an appropriate angle and distance from the runway.
Plain English
The controller tells you what headings to fly so that you end up lined up with the runway for your approach, instead of you flying the published route to get there yourself.
Context Anchor
Seen during instrument arrivals when a controller directs the aircraft toward the approach instead of having the pilot fly the full charted route.
Derivation
A 'vector' in navigation simply means a heading to fly. 'Radar vectors' means the controller is watching you on radar and giving you headings based on what they see. So 'radar vectors to the final approach' literally means: headings provided by a radar controller that lead you onto the final approach course.
Why Pilots Care
Provides safe, efficient positioning onto the approach without requiring the pilot to navigate independently to the final course in instrument conditions.
Grounding Statement
Picture the controller watching your aircraft on a radar screen and giving you headings that place you in line with the runway approach path.
Intuition Check
Radar vectors are not suggestions or arrows on a screen; they are controller-assigned headings to fly. Final approach does not just mean “near the end”; it means the last defined part of an approach toward the runway.
Example Sentence 1
Approach control advised, 'Expect radar vectors to the final approach course for the ILS Runway 27.'
Example Sentence 2
The controller continued issuing radar vectors to the final approach until the aircraft was established on the proper heading and altitude.