Autopilot, GPS, and Flight Planner Questions

I've looked at a lot of YouTube videos on how to use the flight planner and autopilot in fsx, but I have not found one yet that seems to really explain everything.

 

The plane I am flying in fsx is the Bombardier/Learjet 45.

 

Is there any way for the flight planner to automatically create a route that lines up the plane with the ILS glide path? I've been doing this manually by letting flight planner do the "find route" function and then manually editing the map to fly through intersections that I select in order to gradually line up the plane as close as possible to be on the ILS glide path.

 

In the gps, I have no idea what it means to "activate vectors to final". Does that do what I just asked about? If not, what does it do? Are these vectors something that is already stored in fsx memory that never changes or do they change from day to day, flight to flight, or whatever? Are these the same vectors that I would be given if I use the ATC feature?

 

In the gps, I often have the choice to activate things or else "load" them. What's the difference? If something gets loaded, does that just mean it is saved in gps memory for possible future use? If something is loaded, is it automatically activate too or do I always have to activate it manually?

 

If I want to fly my plane a distance of only about 200 miles, say from Boston to NYC, and I want the plane to fly as similar to what a real lear 45 would fly, do I pick in flight planner "high altitude airways", "low altitude airways", "vor to vor" or "direct gps"?

 

Is there any way to setup the flight planner/gps/autopilot or else get some addons to fsx (even if that means using another aircraft) that will completely auto-fly the plane from once it is on the takeoff runway to landing it on the landing runway where every last thing is done automatically including control of altitude, speed, heading, gear up/down, flap settings, radio settings, spoiler settings, landing brakes & reverse thrusters, selecting the flight path for the shortest total distance (but, of course, not at the expense of intercepting the landing glide path in the location where it should be intercepted) etc, etc?

 

If there any really good, really complete guides to doing this that are explained so well that even a 3rd grader could understand it, please let me know where they are & I'll read them.

Yes! Complete guide to what you want is in the "Learning Center" of your Sim. Now, why in the name of all that is flyable, would you want to just sit and watch everything happen automatically? You can always watch an episode of Sky King on TV!

 

There is a payware addon called "It's your Plane" and you can set it up so the co-pilot does all the work and you can sit there with your joystick in your grasp (not necessarily flying the aircraft!).;)

 

http://www.itsyourplane.com/

I wouldn't fly in a fully automated "self flying" mode all the time, but I'm just curious to know if it can be done. Also, if there is a total automatic mode, I'd fly in it sometimes and watch how it flew to see if it did something differently than I was doing when I flew manually and maybe I might learn something.

I've been reading in the fsx "help center" as you suggested. I'm new at this and so some of it makes sense and some does not.

 

If using the gps I select "activate vectors to finals" does that mean the gps will automatically fly the plane to line up with the approach or does that mean I have to use the ATC feature and hear vectors given to me on the voice radio and manually fly the headings & altitudes they tell me to fly?

I certainly can understand your request at the beginning of learning FSX with its learning curve, but take the time to go thru the Lessons and you will be flying like a Pro in a short time :-) Flying an airplane in RL in not easy and it take skills,dedication to processes and procedures to achieve the simple goal of getting from A to B.

However,in the meantime, you can take a look at FSXPilot. This is a shareware designed to make the process a little easier. Check out the videos on YouTube to see if this is something you might be interested in. Good Luck and happy flying.

Here's an explanation from the Garmin manual...

 

https://www.manualslib.com/manual/508815/Garmin-G1000.html?page=48

 

That said, I think you're putting the cart before the horse. Unless you're already familiar with using ATC and flying instrument procedures, it probably won't mean a whole lot to you. I don't mean to discourage you, but learning to fly is not a 3rd grade project. That said, I've enjoyed learning about it for many years now. There's a lot to it, but if you take it in steps there's no reason you can't learn it. I'm certainly no genius, and I've managed OK.

To find out what it's really like flying an airliner into an airport under total IFR conditions, meaning very poor visibility until about 1 mile out from touchdown, I highly recommend flying the "Monsoon Mission". Everything is preset for you with the Autopilot and Autothrottle and all you have to do is follow the instructions from ATC that are passed on to you by the Copilot. The only "extra" things you will have to do is turn on the NAV1 audio to hear the ILS identifier and to hit the APR button as you turn on to your last approach turn. Of course, you will need to land the aircraft safely. It's not automatic.

 

This is good practice and will let you see what needs to happen for a correct ILS/Glideslope approach and landing.

If I want to fly my plane a distance of only about 200 miles, say from Boston to NYC, and I want the plane to fly as similar to what a real lear 45 would fly, do I pick in flight planner "high altitude airways", "low altitude airways", "vor to vor" or "direct gps"?

 

I also did a lot of my learning with the Lear Jet 45. I set up the flight from Atlantic City (KACY) to Baltimore (KBWI) IFR - Direct GPS - 10,000 feet. I used just fair weather. It is only a short flight so you are not flying to long. This was a good way for me to learn about flight plans and practice landing. All of your questions will be answered over time when you really start to understand what is involved with flying.

I've been reading in the fsx "help center" as you suggested. I'm new at this and so some of it makes sense and some does not.

 

If using the gps I select "activate vectors to finals" does that mean the gps will automatically fly the plane to line up with the approach or does that mean I have to use the ATC feature and hear vectors given to me on the voice radio and manually fly the headings & altitudes they tell me to fly?

 

Lots of good advice in the other responses, but to answer your specific question, if you have activated an approach in the GPS, then to fly it you have to have the autopilot set to GPS. When you are ready to turn onto the final runway heading (I do this when the ATC gives the direction to turn towards the runway) select the NAV command on the GPS and it will fly the approach. Once the plane has turned onto the runway heading (and assuming you are tuned to the ILS) then switch the GPS back to the nav mode and the plane will fly down the glide slope. All of this assumes you have the plane well set up for landing of course. If this sounds confusing to you then you should do some more reading in the learning center and take the applicable lessons in FSX.

I do have a few specific questions that I either haven't found answers to or else did not understand the answers. The more of my questions that I can get answered, the more I will understand about instrument flying/atc/etc and be able to figure out on my own.

 

In the gps, if I activate "vectors to final" just exactly what will that cause to happen as opposed to when I do not activate that? Does that mean the autopilot will fly the routes given by ATC?

 

I have found "approach plates" that give detailed directions on how to land, yet it seems that atc will tell you to fly on paths that are not what is on the approach plate if I remember right. Why does atc contradict the approach plate?

 

How does atc come up with their instructions for headings/altitudes/speeds? Do computers usually tell them what to do or do they do this manually? On what does ATC base the vectors they hand out? Is it just to space out traffic and avoid collisions and maybe avoid clouds or other weather conditions or are there other factors they use to come up with the flight paths they tell pilots to fly? Does ATC usually just pick the vectors from some set of allowed paths that is predetermined or do they have the freedom to make up whatever paths they think are best at the time?

 

If a single plane was approaching an airport with no other traffic even close, would atc usually tell the pilot to fly the same path as the approach plate for the given active runway?

I was confused about IFR flight plans and "vectors to final" at first too. Here's what I've learned:

 

In an FSX flight plan there are a couple of key pieces of information:

1. The origin and destination airports

2. The "enroute" flight plan. These are the waypoints that you'll be flying to while enroute between origin and destination.

 

There's also stuff like your cruise altitude, weather and fuel planning but we'll ignore that here.

 

If you choose a "GPS direct" flight plan, there will be no enroute plan and you'll just follow a "great-circle" path from origin to destination.

 

If you choose low or high-altitude airways, then you're navigating along paths defined by VOR radials (VORs are ground-based radio beacons, each emitting a signal that allows you to track to/from the VOR along any of 360 radial lines). There are low-altitude "Victor" airways (below 18000 feet in the USA), and high-altitude "Jet" airways. The FSX planner will choose an airway path if you request it and if it can find one. Your NAV log will show the airways and also the VOR frequencies to tune if you want to follow the track with your nav radios.

 

You can set your NAV source to "GPS" and tell the autopilot to follow the NAV source and the GPS will guide you along the route, automatically sequencing to the next waypoint. The waypoints break your flight plan into "legs" or "segments" which are the tracks between pairs of waypoints.

 

In the real-world there are also flight plans that don't follow VOR radials, but just go direct between GPS waypoints. These are called RNAV routes. The FSX planner will not generate an RNAV route for you, but with flight planner software you can load such a route into FSX and the GPS can follow it.

 

An interesting question is, how do you connect to your enroute plan after departure from the origin, and when do you exit from the enroute plan so you can approach and land at the destination?

 

One way is to use SIDs and STARs, which are predefined routes to guide you during departure and arrival. You could also think if them as little self-contained flight plans that are separate from your enroute plan. When one plan ends, the next begins. The point at which this happens is called the "transition". For flexibility, SIDs and STARs can branch out to connect with different transition points, and you choose the one that suits your plans.

 

SID stands for "Standard Instrument Departure" and STAR stands for "Standard Arrival". They are sometimes just called Departure and Arrival Procedures. FSX doesn't support them but with addons you can program them into your route and follow them.

 

What FSX does support is ATC vectors. When you file your IFR flight plan and contact ATC after takeoff, it will "vector" you (ie. give you headings to fly, and altitude clearances) to guide you so that you connect to your enroute plan. Once you're on track towards your first waypoint, ATC will tell you to resume your own navigation which just means you can switch your autopilot from HDG to NAV and let it follow your GPS plan. If you stray, ATC will start to vector you back on track.

 

As you near your destination ATC will want to start vectoring you off your enroute plan and set you up for approach. Like SIDs and STARs, an instrument approach is like another flight plan that is designed to set you up so you can land, and it can also have one or more "transition" points, which might serve to connect from a STAR or enroute plan.

 

An instrument approach will always have a "Final Approach Fix" or FAF, which is the start of the last "leg" or "segment" of the approach plan. When you reach that point you should be cleared to land and you'll make make the final decision while flying that leg whether to land or go on a missed approach (FSX also has missed approach procedures but I'll skip those).

 

By default if FSX ATC clears you for an ILS approach it will be for "vectors to final", which means ATC is going to vector you to the FAF, at which point you'll intercept the localizer and glideslope. You also have the option to request something else. For example you can ask to start the approach from a transition point instead, or you can ask for a different approach and/or a different runway. You'll really want to have the relevant charts handy in that case because ATC will assume you'll know what altitudes to fly at. ATC will give you vectors to the transition but then you're on your own. Unfortunately although FSX has a lot of approach procedures built-in, they are very old and current-day charts might have very different procedures. I think there are some addons available which give you charts that properly represent the procedures inside FSX.

 

On your GPS, you can load the approach procedure that you were given by ATC. Until you activate the procedure, the GPS will assume it's still following the enroute plan, but the approach is pre-loaded for convenience so later you just need to activate it. You can click the FPL button and scroll up/down to see the loaded plans. Once you activate the approach, the GPS switches to the approach plan.

 

If you are getting vectors to final, then the GPS plan starts at the FAF, but the GPS has no plan for how to get to the FAF. That's because you just told the GPS that ATC is going to vector you there, meaning you're switching to HDG mode and following the directions ATC is giving you. The GPS will begin auto-sequencing along the approach plan once you arrive at the FAF.

 

If you choose a transition instead, ATC will vector you direct to the transition waypoint. In the GPS you can activate the approach, and from what I remember, you can go to the FPL page, highlight the transition point, then hit MENU and you'll have the option to go directly there. That way you can have the GPS navigate direct to the transition point and will automatically sequence you through the approach. Just remember to tune your radios for the ILS and switch from GPS to NAV once you're in range to intercept the ILS.

 

Personally I would practice all this stuff with the C172 at first but that's up to you.

 

The GPS manual in the FSX learning center is VERY good, but I had to read it over about 3 times before it all made sense. Understanding all the concepts there goes a long way to being able to deal with more complex addons, flight management systems and so on.

 

Cheers,

Barry

bdf369, thanks for the great response!

 

I've been using the fsx flight planner to setup a direct route from the departure airport to the destination airport. I'm flying the Learjet 45.

 

Then I use flight planner to edit that route. I pick a runway I want to land on (I'm not using ATC yet on any of this so I pick whichever runway I like, usually the one that is the closest to pointing to where I'm coming from) and I add a few intersection waypoints that line up with that runway so that the plane is automatically closely lined up with the approach path (at LaGuardia, I've had no problem finding some intersections that line up with, for example, LaGuardia runway 22, and those intersections are Craly, Famma, Yoman, Hobob, and Aleks). From what you said, it sounds like this would be called an RNAV route. I also use either the gps 500 or else the "map" feature of fsx to find out the course direction of the runway and its ILS radio frequency and I set that course into the autopilot and I set that frequency into the Nav1 radio.

 

I fly the plane with the autopilot on by activating its "ap" button, the autopilot "nav" button active, and to the left side of the autopilot panel, I activate the small "gps" button, the autopilot "altitude button" activated with an altitude I've set and the autopilot "spd" button activated using a speed I've set. As the plane gets close to the first waypoint that lines up with the runway, I manually reduce the speed and altitude using the knobs in the autopilot for those purposes. After the autopilot has flown me past the first waypoint that lines up with the runway, the plane is pointed at the next intersection waypoint that lines up with the runway and therefore is also pretty closely pointed to the approach path.

 

The first time I fly this route, I "cheat" using a feature of fsx that I don't think exists in real planes, a visual display of the glide path consisting of a lot of rectangles spaced apart from each other along the glide path. That lets me see if the plane is above or below the glide path. If the plane is above the glide path, I make a note that on future flights I will keep my altitude somewhat below the glide path at that intersection since apparently the autopilot won't take over to control the plane's altitude on approach unless the glide path is intercepted from below. Instead of cheating with visual glidepath display, I could also fly the route without it and use the "diamonds" and/or the display of whether or not the ILS has been locked on to then figure out at what altitude I should be to easily enter the glidslope from below.

 

When the autopilot has flown the plane past the first intersection waypoing that lines up with the runway, I activate the autopilot "app" approach button while simultaneously throwing the "gps/nav" switch to "nav". If I see the horizontal and vertical "diamonds" appear below and to the side of the pitch indicator and/or in the lower left of the main flight indicator the display changes to that of the ILS localizer for my runway, I know that the autopilot has detected the ILS and is within its range, so I keep the "app" button activated and the plane auto-flies to the runway on the glide slope. If I see no indication that the autopilot has locked onto the ILS system, then I de-activate the autopilot "app" button and re-activate the "nav" button and turn the "gps/nav" switch back to "gps". I repeat this periodically until the autopilot has locked onto the ILS system.

 

When the plane enters the glideslope, the autopilot de-activates its "altitude" button and takes over controlling the altitude. I manually set the autopilot speed to about 145 knots, extend the flaps to the right settings when appropriate and drop the gear.

 

When the plane just gets over the runway pavment, I de-activate the autopilot and its "speed" button then I flare the plane and when it touches ground, I turn on the spoilers, reverse thrusters, and ground brakes to slow down.

 

All of this gets me to the airport in the shortest distance and lands me at my favorite runway at any given time, but I've so far avoided using ATC along with the restrictions it would usually put onto which runway I use and which speeds/headings/altitudes I fly when within their control and I've avoided flying any published "stars", "approach plates", etc. I'll get into all of that soon.

 

I'll have to figure out in the real world how close I can pick the last waypoint to the airport without ATC overrulling my choice. I'll also look around and see if in the real world I won't always get lucky enough that there are multiple intersections that all line up with all the ILS runways. At some point, to the extent I may be doing things that fsx lets me do that can't be done in the real world, I will try to the extent possible to switch over to real world procedures.

 

By the way, in the real world, do planes have to intercept the glideslope from below in order for the autopilot in approach mode to lock onto it and start controlling the altitude?

 

If RNAV (gps) routes do not use radials of vors, then how is it determined where RNAV intersections are placed? For example, are some of them located at places where they willl help to guide planes to the approach glide path? Does someone predetermine where they are placed and publish them in a list that pilots have to use and/or is stored in gps systems?

 

Thanks again, learning all this is both challenging and fun.

About your question as to Glideslope interception - locking onto the G/S from above is theoretically possible, and is occasionally done, but in the vast majority of cases, it is locked on to from below. The reason is that once the ATC (or you) get you close enough to the airport to actually receive the ILS signal (usually ~25nm out), they also descend you low enough so that you simply hold your altitude (below the actual G/S) until your vertical (constant) path crosses the Glideslope. If you try to lock onto it from above, you're gonna need (once above it) to descend significantly more rapidly compared to the descent rate required in order to intercept the G/S properly, and that's only so as be able to catch the G/S signal and glide to the runway.

I'll have to figure out in the real world how close I can pick the last waypoint to the airport without ATC overrulling my choice. I'll also look around and see if in the real world I won't always get lucky enough that there are multiple intersections that all line up with all the ILS runways. At some point, to the extent I may be doing things that fsx lets me do that can't be done in the real world, I will try to the extent possible to switch over to real world procedures.

 

Building flight plans that line up with a runway is a common flight sim practice for beginners and probably even for some more experienced simmers. It's all good, you are having successful and enjoyable flights.

 

When you start using a real-world weather engine you can be in for some surprises. The wind can shift while you're in the air and ATC will want to change the runway you land on. In the real world this can happen too, so realistic flight plans don't usually try to line up with a runway. Also, ATC can change other parts of a flight plan so real pilots need to be able to accept changes "on the fly".

 

In FSX you'll often find ATC will start vectoring you well before you reach the last waypoints of your plan. ATC has it's own ideas about how to direct you to the airport but it will generally try to line you up with the active runway so you just need to switch to HDG mode in the autopilot and use the heading knob to follow their directions.

 

By the way, in the real world, do planes have to intercept the glideslope from below in order for the autopilot in approach mode to lock onto it and start controlling the altitude?

 

Real aircraft can intercept from above the glideslope, but keep in mind this could mean flying a steep approach and it can make it difficult to slow the aircraft down and this practice is not recommended.

 

One note about APP mode: The ILS has 2 separate radio signals: The localizer (which lines you up with the runway) and the glideslope. In FSX I find the localizer has a much longer range, so often I switch from GPS to NAV mode first to just capture the localizer. You can turn audio on for NAV1 and listen for the morse code to identify you're on the correct frequency, then switch to NAV mode for capture. Then I wait for the glideslope indicator to "come alive" (eg. by indicating the glideslope is above) before I press APP. One benefit of doing this is that I've confirmed that I'm tracking the localizer before descending. I've seen FSX planes descend on the glideslope without having the localizer properly captured. That could be bad news as you could end up descending without being lined up to the runway.

 

If RNAV (gps) routes do not use radials of vors, then how is it determined where RNAV intersections are placed? For example, are some of them located at places where they willl help to guide planes to the approach glide path? Does someone predetermine where they are placed and publish them in a list that pilots have to use and/or is stored in gps systems?

 

Good question I don't know exactly how RNAV points are chosen but once they are then they are published and GPS database updates are generated.

 

One thing though is that some waypoints are chosen for enroute planning and are probably selected to aid in optimal routing of air traffic.

 

There are other "terminal" waypoints which are used for approach procedures and some of these might therefore be placed to align with a runway.

...I add a few intersection waypoints that line up with that runway so that the plane is automatically closely lined up with the approach path (at LaGuardia, I've had no problem finding some intersections that line up with, for example, LaGuardia runway 22, and those intersections are Craly, Famma, Yoman, Hobob, and Aleks). From what you said, it sounds like this would be called an RNAV route.

 

Not an RNAV route, you are actually flying the ILS approach to RWY 22.

 

Note the Initial Fix is YOMAN...http://155.178.201.160/d-tpp/1612/00289I22SAC1_2.PDF

 

The other points you noted (except HOBOB) are all on V123-157...

 

As a comparison, here is an RNAV approach to RWY 22...http://155.178.201.160/d-tpp/1612/00289RRZ22.PDF

 

RNAV points can be anywhere as they are not defined by any navaids. In this case the RNAV approach keeps the plane over water more than the ILS, which makes for better neighbors.

 

peace,

the Bean

Real aircraft can intercept from above the glideslope, but keep in mind this could mean flying a steep approach and it can make it difficult to slow the aircraft down and this practice is not recommended.

 

The reason that you do not intercept the Glideslope from above is to avoid false or ghost signals , you must intercept from below .

To the best of my knowledge the ghost signals are a result of side lobes .

 

When an ILS facility is installed for a particular runway the two differential lobes that form the basis of the glideslope are tilted upwards at the required angle , usually 3.00 degrees , or very near to 3.00 degrees .

The glideslope angle chosen and used results from a careful survey of the approach path taking into consideration aspects such as terrain and obstacles .

An example of a runway ILS glideslope that varies from the usual 3.00 degrees is at London City airport , it's glideslope is 5.5 degrees , and only aircraft that can manage that approach angle , and maintain approach speed control at the steeper angle are allowed into London City .

 

Cheers

Karol

 

I put together a short and simple video which maybe will help you. (This is my first video so don't be to critical).

I think there are some addons available which give you charts that properly represent the procedures inside FSX.

 

 

Cheers,

Barry

 

Barry, what an excellent post. I was wondering about the addons you mentioned that would give you charts for the FSX procedures. Any links for that? That would be pretty cool to be able to see what the RNAV approaches inside FSX would look like!

The video was great. I could see most of what was going on when I watched it full screen on YouTube.

 

The HSI (the instrument that indicates attitude/speed/altitude/vertical speed/etc whatever it may be called if it is not HSI) was a bit too small for me to see it well enough to see the heading/speed/altitude/nav aid that is shown in lower left corner/etc even when watching it in full screen HD resolution.

 

Are there any files you could send that I could load into my fsx and have it duplicate your flight (essentially, playing back in my own fsx what you recorded in yours)? I have no idea if fsx has that feature.

 

What were some of the waypoints you flew through just before you started recording the flight?

 

Thanks again, this is all helping me a lot.

In the real world, can the pilot of a heavy jet fly a low altitude airway route from Boston Logan to New York LaGuardia if he desires? Can he pick a high altitude airway instead if he desires? I wonder if the choice of flying a low altitude airway or high altitude airway is a matter of pilot discretion in general? In fsx flight planner at least, I can choose either one anytime I want it seems.

 

When I'm being vectored around by ATC and told sometimes to descend or ascend, how many feet per second should I change altitude by?

In the real world, can the pilot of a heavy jet fly a low altitude airway route from Boston Logan to New York LaGuardia if he desires?

Sure.

 

Can he pick a high altitude airway instead if he desires?

He can, though at 160nm as the crow flies he would have a hard time climbing that high in that short of a flight.

 

FlightAware.com has an IFR route Analyzer that might help you- http://flightaware.com/analysis/route.rvt?origin=kbos&destination=klga

 

As you can see, that short of a route would not typically be flown in a heavy, not economical.

 

I wonder if the choice of flying a low altitude airway or high altitude airway is a matter of pilot discretion in general?

RW airline pilots rarely plan their flights. Most carriers have flight planning departments that do that.

 

When it comes to the actual operation of the plane, the pilot is the final authority.

 

Of course, ATC is going to have their input.

 

When I'm being vectored around by ATC and told sometimes to descend or ascend, how many feet per second should I change altitude by?

 

One rule of thumb is groundspeed x 5 for descent planning. 1500 ft/min is a good place to start.

 

Climb rate is altitude dependent. You cannot climb at the same rate from FL300 to FL350 that you can from sea level to 10,000 ft.

 

peace,

the Bean

The video was great. I could see most of what was going on when I watched it full screen on YouTube.

 

The HSI (the instrument that indicates attitude/speed/altitude/vertical speed/etc whatever it may be called if it is not HSI) was a bit too small for me to see it well enough to see the heading/speed/altitude/nav aid that is shown in lower left corner/etc even when watching it in full screen HD resolution.

 

Are there any files you could send that I could load into my fsx and have it duplicate your flight (essentially, playing back in my own fsx what you recorded in yours)? I have no idea if fsx has that feature.

 

What were some of the waypoints you flew through just before you started recording the flight?

 

Thanks again, this is all helping me a lot.

 

This was just a simple flight. Like I said in an earlier post that I started out more or less with something easy. As I progressed in my learning I then started to add to my skills. Below is an image of how I set this up. When set up this way ATC will vector you the whole flight.

 

I just thought of another question that's also related to flight planning, routes, etc.

 

What route (headings and altitudes) does one fly to transition out of an en-route jetway and descend down to a Star entry point. For example, a Star entry point for LaGuardia, if I understand all this right from looking at a Star chart, is Haarp. So how does one descend from a Jetway down to Haarp? Does ATC dictate how this is done, are there published instructions or rules for how to do this, or what?)

 

Similarly, what about transitioning from the high altitude Jetway system to the low altitude Victor system. Who or what tells me what route to

fly between the two systems?

I use FSC(Flight Sim Commander) and then insert a flight plan,hit the buttons auto hdg and App and let FSC do it's own thing,but once established ILS/LOC I turn off FSC and fly manually.If however you are flying online IFR you have to follow ATC intructions anyway,they will(should) give you vectors to rwy hdg. benibaz.

The Autopilot setting will do what you want. You can set it shortly after takeoff, then set Nav to your GPS which will follow the IFR flight plan you create. If you only want the plane to be on auto pilot as you near your destination, set it on APP for Approach. I think AP makes sense on long flights over water if you want to step away from the cockpit for a break, but as others have posted, the best part of FS is the ability to direct and fly the aircraft as a sim pilot.

 

Sherm