Reality XP Flight Line Avionics Apollo

By John Dale (9 July 2003)

The FLA package includes a full avionics stack with the UPS-AT GPS the GL-50 model, which is a moving map model, the SL-30 Nav/Comm, SL 70 transponder and a full audio panel, the SL15M (right). The first striking feature is not just that these work but the degree of interactivity and the extras are impressive.

The list of options available in this package is very extensive and includes the following:

The audio panel is a major advance over anything I have seen in FS2002. With built in volume control for marker beacons, optical Tx indicator linked to FS2002, and an aural warning system for certain failures, amongst other features, this is an impressive package.

Install screen

EZ Config

The load and install (above) is quite slick and piracy protected, involving an interaction back to headquarters. I guess we grow to live with these but it does make re-installs a bit of a pain, and if you mess around with your computer as much as I do, the odd reformat pops up and of course that is just when I had not backed up for months! This will install the basic program on the FS2002 Pro planes, after that you use their EZConfig program (above). As with their comprehensive Garmin 530 package, this software comes with an EZ-Install separate program. The instruments can be resized and moved at will. After the initial database has integrated all the navigation data from FS2002, then you can decide as to which planes you would like to install the instrument packages on. Following that a small icon will appear at the top left of your FS2002 screen. This can be undocked or removed after installing the instrument. The radios are completely resizable and can be undocked to run on a second monitor also. As yet networking function with WideFs is not applicable. Either way I did not notice a frame rate hit. I had an initial problem when selecting the full radio package from the icons within the running FS2002. It would only load the audio panel and radios and not the GPS i.e. the GL-50. As I was also testing the Reality XP Garmin 530 (previously reviewed and a great dual package), you have to be careful not to load both the FLA package and the Garmin 530 in the same plane, as it does not load both GPS units in that case. But you can run both "EZ Config" programs at the same time, which is very handy to compare and change planes make up before each flight if you wish or even whilst FS2002 is running and you wish to change planes.

EZ Config

Full avionics stack

OK, we are up and running and you can select whether you want the whole audio panel or just the GPS. I find that if the airplane I am using has a nice audio panel and radio stack that I do not need to use the FLA complete set-up but that is fine the GPS is still capable of being loaded separately. The full radio stack has so many features, that for IFR students or commercial students, it would be preferable to get used to the complexity. The moving map option on the GL-50 is not as nice as the Garmin 530 and this is to be expected but the ease of use of this instrument makes it an immediate favourite. Further data, such as Minimum Safe Altitude can be extracted from the GPS also (right). Keep playing with the buttons!

The various functions of the Apollo GL-50 are simple to access and the Nav function gives me the information that around Hope B.C. I should be at a minimum safe altitude of 6900' and an enroute safe altitude of 7700'. I am at 5500' VFR but above a broken layer because that is the real weather today from FS Meteo. I am trying to stay VFR in one of the most tricky parts of Canada to fly in marginal weather and that is up through the Hope-Princeton Highway to Penticton. Right about then the Princeton weather went to solid overcast at 2800' AGL so I abandoned VFR and went higher and filed IFR to Penticton. The choices on the GPS are NAV, NRST, INFO and MAP, Direct-TO, SEL and ENTER. When in MAP mode there is an option to show Airports, Intersections, and VORs or declutter at will. The INFO button gives all the information about a given selected airport or intersection and includes runway diagrams. The SEL key gives the various letter choices for an airport ID etc. The INNER and OUTER rotating knobs are a little difficult to get used to but way easier than on the 530 instrument. As you start using this instrument both VFR and IFR the versatility becomes apparent. I filed on past Penticton CYYF, as the weather seemed to improve. So I filed over to Castlegar CYCG and expected full IFR again as this is close to my hometown and I know what the weather is like here today as that is the reason I am flying FS2002 and doing a review rather than on my way in my Cessna 210 to a breakfast fly-in at Hope Airpark. Past Penticton I ran into solid cloud again but the GL-50 told me I was above the safe altitude of 8100' in this area so I remained safe IFR. See the image recorded near Penticton (this would be on 2nd monitor.)

Pressing FPL activates the Flight Planning Functions. Here you can view, activate or deactivate a FS2002 flight plan into the GPS. This was an added facility and available also on Reality XP's Garmin 530, which is the first time anyone has added that facility. I should add that during this flight I made extensive use of the Acrobat loaded manual for the FLA, numbering 109 pages in total. The manual covers the whole radio stack, including the GPS. As I broke out way back from Castlegar I elected to land VFR down through the Arrow Lakes. The GPS showed me all the airport info and zoomed in nicely even to give me taxiing in information.

With that flight over I tried to get the GL-50 to activate a flight plan from within FS2002, I had troubles with this but could use the regular FS2002 GPS to control the flight and enter the Direct-to of the next waypoint. This got me used to flight plans but I was still puzzled how to get the GL-50 activating and flying the plan. The manual has a chapter on this but it did not seem to see the flight plans I had entered, only certain ones. A quick response from Reality XP gave me a tutorial flight to try out flight plans. This is available at http://www.reality-xp.com/support/useprod/manuals/index.htm. The downloaded flight plan is probably the best way to get to know this intricate program. Meigs (or what is left of it) to Oshkosh is loaded from 'Select Flights" and I use the FS2002 Baron 58. When the "NRST" button on the GL-50 is pressed all the relevant frequencies are loaded into the Apollo SL-30 Nav/com. Good start!

Start up

Flight plan showing legs

There are a bunch of utilities and then you find the flight plan and load it. You can break it down into legs as shown above. After that the GPS unit runs the flight, I screwed up a bit and eliminated the first checkpoint, but that was OK, I missed Kenosha Regional Airport and went straight to the Badger VOR.

Navigating to Badger VOR

Radios enroute

The radios enroute (above) can be tuned from the GPS automatically from "INFO" button, or entered manually. Getting used to the very complex SL-30 was fun and rewarding. All information is continuously fed through to the radio from the GPS but it takes some getting used to. As we get closer to Wittman Int'l or Oshkosh, we can display all the airport info and frequencies on the GPS and feed them through to the SL-30 as we wish. All the information on the airport is in there and finally we can switch off the autopilot, pick up the ILS and bring her in on runway 36.

Now if only all new aircraft could simply have two main computers, GPS access and a database, then all this would be feasible at far less cost than current avionics panels. You still need a functioning nav/com but really there is no reason that the same situation as can be created here in virtual reality cannot be done a lot cheaper than it currently is in the real world of avionics. What is so nice about the Reality XP package is that it gives those of us that cannot afford these fancy avionics, a glimpse into their function and luxury. At the same time it gives all pilots who may own or use this complex equipment a perfect real world training tool.

Overall I think both amateur flight simmers and real world pilots would get a tremendous amount of benefit from this package and I highly recommend it. Any criticisms mentioned are minor and apparently an upcoming patch will improve things even more.

John Dale

jrdale@netidea.com

Visit Reality XP's web site.

Dr John Dale has been flying in Canada for 32 years and currently flies a Cessna 210 and organizes tours to the Yukon and Alaska in the summer. Check http://www.flynorth.com for details.