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Navigation by GPS


c119

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I've read about it, but i cannot able to get a destination planned, by GPS.

I click on "Direct route", then i put a destination (LIRP for example, i.e. Pisa), then i click two times ENT. In the cockpit then i put the auto-pilot on NAV, but the airplane don't follow the GPS track .... neither with the auto-pilot on NAV/GPS. Why ? Thanks to everybody for your advices.

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To be a bit more precise...

 

As mentioned, the tricky thing to get used to is the combination of several switches:

1) NAV/GPS

In Nav mode, the Autopilot will try to follow radio beacons or manual control.

In GPS mode, the AP is dedicated to the GPS gauge *IF* the AP master mode is NAV.

 

2) In the AutoPilot(AP) you must configure two switches:

In NAV mode the AP will follow tuned radio beacons OR the GPS depending on the NAV/GPS switch position.

In HDG Mode, the direction of the aircraft is COMPLETELY controlled by the pilot changing the HDG bug on the HSI or the HDG window control.

 

To follow radio navigation:

NAV/GPS to NAV

AP to NAV

Tune Navigation Radio 1 and set radial for desired intercept angle.

 

To Follow GPS:

Load a flight plan or set a direct destination in the GPS.

Activate the desired waypoint in the GPS.

NAV/GPS to GPS.

AP to NAV.

 

To control the direction manually:

NAV/GPS Doesn't matter

AP to HDG

Set the heading controls.

Note: There are external programs like flight planners (Plan-G) which can send direction commands to FS to follow DIRECT DESTINATION or flight plans loaded externally. These programs rely on AP = HDG to control the aircraft. External programs are often much more flexible and full featured rather than the built-in flight planner.

 

3) LASTLY:

The plane electrical system must be on (battery or generator)

The Avionics switch must be on.

The AP master switch must be on.

 

FSX avionics and electrical systems are often much more simplified than the real world.

If the above seems complicated, FSX is actually giving you a bit of a break from the real world although you can download or purchase certain aircraft which add back some measure of real world complexity.

 

Amazing as it might seems, all this is covered in the default FSX manuals and help.

 

-Pv-

2 carrot salad, 10.41 liter bucket, electric doorbell, 17 inch fan, 12X14, 85 Dbm
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"I've read about it, but i cannot able to get a destination planned"

 

Back when I was learning the sim (80s) I managed to get this all figured out, but it took me several days of experimenting with all the options. Although the in-sim helps are useful, there are times when all the dots are not fully connected together. Although the documentation covers the individual function of all the default AP switches, they do not clearly display their interactions in a table. Hope I don't have to type all that out too often...

 

Here's how the Learning Center describes it (mine is a lot more wordy):

7 - Navigation mode selector button

 

The navigation mode selector button engages the autopilot's navigation mode, enabling automatic tracking of a VOR course, GPS course, or localizer for enroute navigation. When engaged:

 

If the Nav/GPS switch on the panel is set to Nav, the aircraft captures and tracks the VOR course or localizer tuned on the Nav1 radio and set on the VOR1 indicator, HSI, or in the course window (jets only, see below).

If the Nav/GPS switch on the panel is set to GPS, the aircraft captures and tracks the course to the next GPS waypoint.

 

10 - Nav/GPS switch

 

The Nav/GPS switch selects the navigation receiver (Nav 1 radio or GPS) that feeds the Nav 1 display and the autopilot.

 

When the Nav/GPS switch is in the GPS position and the autopilot's Navigation mode is enabled, the autopilot will follow the programmed GPS course to each lateral waypoint in sequence. The GPS does not provide vertical guidance to the autopilot.

 

I've been known to clutter up this forum with a lot of text. Best not to read the posts where you see my name and you're not having trouble with the item in discussion.

-Pv-

2 carrot salad, 10.41 liter bucket, electric doorbell, 17 inch fan, 12X14, 85 Dbm
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You are misreading how to use the Flight planner in FSX or FS2004.

 

The first 2 steps are - on the CREATE TAB - is to enter your departure airport, press OK, then destination airport, then OK. Once that is done, select FIND ROUTE. This gives the options of direct GPS, low altitude airways, jet routes or VOR to VOR. You can do any type. Initially the map view pops up with the suggested route by a red line. You can then drag the red flight path line around with your mouse to have the route cross over VORs etc as you want, and the plan will update itself in the TYPE/ID leg box to the right of the map.

 

The altitude you put in has nothing to do with the autopilot or GPS Nav. FS uses you chosen altitude to calculate the time, groundspeed and fuel burn for your legs, based on the data for the plane contained in the aircraft.cfg and air files. The altitude is not sent to the autopilot - you put that in yourself on the autopilot control head.

 

The speed for the plan is based on the cruise speed you see in the [Reference Speeds] section of the aircraft.cfg file -it is TRUE design cruise in KNOTS!, not indicated airspeed.

 

Once you are happy with the route, you need to save it (it can be named whatever you want). You can modify the route after saving it by using the EDIT vice the CREATE tab in the Flight Planner.

 

Your saved route shows up on your kneeboard nav data card, including frequencies for any VOR or ADF station you have chosen along your route. The time and fuel for each leg is based on the plane's performance at the altitude you entered in the planner, and the wind that may or not be entered in the world/weather menu choices. If you fly at a different altitude that changes your true airspeed significantly or you do not fly at a true airspeed that is contained in the aircraft.cfg file, the time and fuel will be different is well.

 

Props are not affected by these differences too much - a jet can really be off because of the very large variances in altitude and true airspeeds they are capable of.

 

Finally, before you get ready to takeoff, look at your GPS (there are two slightly different types that are common) and push the "route" or FPL" (flight plan log) button. You should see a list of your checkpoints along the route - the legs the GPS will follow if you set the AP to follow GPS. Compare that with your kneeboard navlog and you will get the idea of what the GPS is going to do for you.

 

As aid before, you typically need a combination of a NAV mode and GPS?NAV selectors on your autopilot to get GPS tracking - almost any FS airplane has this somewhere. Again - YOU input the altitude in the autopilot control head - GPS has no control over altitude hold.

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You are misreading how to use the Flight planner in FSX or FS2004.

 

The first 2 steps are to enter your departure airport, then destination airport. Once that is done, select route gives the options of direct GPS, low altitude airways or jet routes. You can do any type, and drag the red flight path line around with your mouse to have the route cross over VORs etc as you want.

 

The altitude you put in has nothing to do with the autopilot or GPS Nav. FS uses you chosen altitude to calculate the time, groundspeed and fuel burn for your legs, based on the data for the plane contained in the aircraft.cfg and air files. The altitude is not sent to the autopilot - you put that in yourself on the autopilot control head.

 

Once you are happy with the route, you need to save it (it can be named whatever you want). It the shows up on your kneeboard nav data card, including frequencies for any VOR or ADF station you have chosen along your route. The time and fuel for each leg is based on the plane's performance at the altitude you entered in the planner, and the wind that may or not be entered in the world/weather menu choices. If you fly at a different altitude that changes your true airspeed significantly or you do not fly at a true airspeed that is contained in the aircraft.cfg file, the time and fuel will be different is well.

 

Props are not affected by these differences too much - a jet can really be off because of the very large variances in altitude and true airspeeds they are capable of.

 

Finally, before you get ready to takeoff, look at your GPS (there are two slightly different types that are common) and push the "route" or FPL" (flight plan log) button. You should see a list of your checkpoints along the route - the legs the GPS will follow if you set the AP to follow GPS. Compare that with your kneeboard navlog and you will get the idea of what the GPS is going to do for you.

 

As aid before, you typically need a combination of a NAV mode and GPS?NAV selectors on your autopilot to get GPS tracking - almost any FS airplane has this somewhere. Again - YOU input the altitude in the autopilot control head - GPS has no control over altitude hold.

 

Thanks for this, however, I'm so lost. :(

 

Thanks anyway!

 

What's flight director?

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The Flight Director is simply a pair of lines on our Artificial Horizon gauge.

 

Every question you have asked and all the answers given so far are available to you right in the Simulator. Do some reading the studying.

 

When it becomes apparent to us you are not doing your own research, you will eventually get less help.

 

The great volume of text given to you so far is like asking people to type out a book to you. Instead, you should go read the book for yourself.

 

-Pv-

2 carrot salad, 10.41 liter bucket, electric doorbell, 17 inch fan, 12X14, 85 Dbm
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I have looked at I have looked at endless videos but it differs aircraft to aircraft and the tutorials aren't useful because you just follow these green arrows.

 

I wanted someone to explain it in a different way than FS have.

 

I find it all a bit confusing, like understanding a Maths theory. Reading the same text over and over again isn't going to help. :(

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Hmmm... So what is confusing you? Specifically? There are step-by-step directions for using the AP/GPS in the above posts, several different ways of looking at it. You're going to have to be more specific about what confuses you -- is it procedures? Is it theory? Is it terminology? Is it actually reading the instruments/gauges/switches?

 

Perhaps the Wikipedia articles on GPS could help you a bit on understanding theory. Perhaps, with liberal use of the pause key when needed, you could follow one or more of the step-by-step instructions given above, possibly several times, to help cement it in your mind. Perhaps you could try the procedures (and see what happens) in one aircraft (don't switch around), probably a light single engine just for the sake of simplicity, to see if doing that repeatedly will help.

 

The bottom line is that if nothing so far has helped, you'll need to be much more specific about where the confusion is, about what's hard to understand, perhaps about what you really are trying to learn. After all, we can't read your mind. Lots of folks are trying to help, but we're only human...

 

Larry N.

As Skylab would say:

Remember: Aviation is NOT an exact Science!

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The Flight Director is simply a pair of lines on our Artificial Horizon gauge.

 

To elaborate a bit, the flight director is an indication on the gauge that shows what the autopilot thinks should be done, that is, the attitude it thinks your aircraft should have at any given time. But rather than flying the aircraft when you have the AP disconnected from the controls, it just displays the output of its calculations as an instrument indication for you to follow, that is, put the aircraft symbol on the gauge exactly on the FD representation and match its changes by manual flying.

 

When the AP is connected to the controls, you'll see the aircraft attitude indication closely following the FD indication.

 

Perhaps I should add that a lot of aircraft, especially smaller, lighter aircraft (singles, in particular) don't have flight directors.

 

Larry N.

As Skylab would say:

Remember: Aviation is NOT an exact Science!

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  • 2 weeks later...
The GPS simply flies the plane towards the destination or waypoints that is programmed into it. It's up to you to fly the plane. In FS the flight director has nothing to do with it. You can either input the destination directly or use the flight planner and the plan will be put into the gps. Make sure the nav switch is set to gps. Happy flying.
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cerinacy,

 

If after this thread and the dozens of others on the same subject and the youtube videos, Learning Center just doesn't work for you, then you have not applied yourself with enough determination. Also consider this feature may be too much for you to learn for now. Apply yourself to learning other things and come back to this some day.

 

Consider:

1) Learning how to fly GPS flight plans requires you to have complete understanding of how to operate the Autopilot. Learn that first. The reason the Learning Center and the explanations given here are better than "follow the dots" videos is at the root of it, the Autopilot in FS is a standard feature in every aircraft. No matter how different the aircraft designers try to make the controls look, under the hood, the AP works the same.

2) Choose ONE plane that you like a lot and learn to master that ONE plane in every detail including its autopilot. When you are so confident you can handle this aircraft in every situation with one hand tied behind your back, then start to study GPS navigation again. It will look totally different to you.

3) FS can be overwhelming to new pilots who expect to master it in a few days or weeks. FS can throw wrenches at seasoned pilots like me who have been at it for 30 years.

4) The GPS navigation is not hard. It has two basic modes:

A)DIRECT and B)a Flight Plan including one or more waypoints in addition to departure and destination airports.

Clicking the direct button in the GPS window lets you enter an ICAO code for an airport. If you don;t know what that is, you have more study to do.

If you want to fly a flight plan, you have to create one with the FS flight planner or an external program. The GPS window will automatically use a flight plan loaded into FSX. If you don't know how to create or load a flight plan, you have more study to do.

 

Last, once you have a flight plan loaded into FS, all you have to do is click the proper autopilot buttons and the plane will *nearly* fly itself. What buttons to click and when have been thoroughly explained here.

 

Now you know what to study. The video demos will be largely meaningless to you until you acquire certain basic skills and there is no substitute for practice. We cannot wave a magic wand over the text in this forum and force you to Grok.

 

-Pv-

2 carrot salad, 10.41 liter bucket, electric doorbell, 17 inch fan, 12X14, 85 Dbm
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Thanks for your advices. I already knew, from real aviation, what are DME, ILS, VOR, LORAN, NDB, VFR, IFR, TACAN, ICAO CODE, etc. etc. Only, i wasn't able to understand how that stuff works on FSX ( don't forget my FSX is in German, and i don't understand German :-) ), but now GPS navigation and ILS approaches goes well. By the way, the ILS path don't drive my U2 on the right height but only on the right direction ..... in fact it starts in the right manner, but at a moment the U2 starts to climb too much .... On other airplanes ILS drives well also the height.
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C119,

Just so you realize my recent comment was directed at another user.

 

Your original post was asking how to operate GPS navigation but now you are asking about ILS approaches which is completely covered in another thread you created:

https://www.flightsim.com/vbfs/showthread.php?286247-Ask-about-ILS

 

The U2 model you are trying to fly may not be modeled correctly which might be why you can do it in other planes, but not this one. High altitude planes are different from all other planes in FS and require special skills.

 

Another point a lot of new pilots miss if if you turn on APP mode BEFORE the GS marker appears on your Artificial Horizon, the AP will use ILS mode only and will ignore the glide slope. If the GS marker is below the center when you enable APP mode, the GS will be ignored. If your aircraft is at the wrong altitude, attitude and/or speed, the AP may lose lock on the GS.

 

Aircraft like the Concorde and SR-71 which do not have flaps to provide additional lift at low speed, require very high pitch angles on final approach and landing.

 

Here is an ILS approach being performed in an SR-71:

 

-Pv-

2 carrot salad, 10.41 liter bucket, electric doorbell, 17 inch fan, 12X14, 85 Dbm
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