For More Than A Decade I've Wondered...

[andyjohnston]

Is it just me, or do the VOR gauges in the default Cessna work backwards? Did that really slip past Microsoft at the time?

[jandjfrench]

Hey Andy,

I can't check right now but, just to clarify, are you saying that the gauge says From when it's actually set to point To the VOR?

[CRJ_simpilot]

I actually haven't flown the Cessna all that often so I'll have to take a look. I know the VOR gauge (what's it called again?) in my F22 does work. Both radios in fact. It will point to the ILS and show the LOC.

[jandjfrench]

Hi again,

I checked and the triangle points upward when heading toward the VOR. I knew that the KSNS VOR was located on the airport so I took off from KMRY, tuned in the SNS VOR, and flew towards it. Here's a pic:

[andyjohnston]

But when you turn to knob up the card goes down.

[jandjfrench]

Hi,

I'm not following what you're saying. But just to make sure we're not discussing apples and oranges here I'll say this. If the aircraft is some distance from the VOR and magically stopped in space and the Nav radio is tuned to that VOR, turning the knob will cause the needle to zero in two different places. One place will have the arrow pointing up and that would be the heading you would have to fly to go directly to that VOR. Conversely, the other zero would have the arrow pointing down and that would be the heading directly away. And just so that there's no confusion, the current heading of the aircraft plays no part in any of this.

Jim

[lnuss]

But when you turn to knob up the card goes down.

 

There is no way to "turn to knob up" (whatever that means) and the card doesn't go up and down. You rotate the knob clockwise or counterclockwise (right or left) and the card rotates. It sounds as if you need to learn how to read (and use) a VOR, perhaps reading this Wikipedia article or perhaps in the Aeronautical Information Manual (AIM) or in the Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge (PHAK) chapter 16 (page 16-25).

 

Jim has it right, but perhaps these other sources will help you further understand what is happening. Note that the arrow he described is called the TO/FROM indicator.

[andyjohnston]

I guess I shouldn't have asked. Nevermind.

[lnuss]

No reason not to ask, Andy -- it could be a reasonable question if we understood exactly what it was you were seeing. But the way you phrased things didn't make much sense to either Jim or to me, so you apparently are using different terminology from what we are used to, thus we attempted to help you find more information to get a better understanding -- we need to talk a similar terminology in order to communicate, so perhaps you can reword your question so that we can follow it better.

 

Or maybe someone else out there understood you better than we did.

[johncott]

Andy, Works find for me. Set my VOR for a radial and was able to fly right to a VOR using that radial. To/From was pointed "To" the VOR and soon as I flew over the VOR the To/From arrow changed to "From."

[il88pp]

"turn to knob"

did you mean: turn the knob?

If so, -what knob? And turn which way/direction?

 

"the card" -what card?

 

"moves down" -down? How do you mean?

 

Also, do you mean the FSX cessna, or fs2004 cessna?

And, are you using the default 2d panel, or is it an addon panel?

 

All those things matter. A screenshot would help a little too.

[Hossfly68]

Try this video to make it a little easier to visualize.

 

Also, if you're near a training airport, ask them if they have the King Instructional videos and if you could watch the one about VOR navigation.

You may also be able to find a few on YouTube.

I pretty much freebased those things the week before I tested for my Private license. Very well done, and very easy to understand.

[andyjohnston]

I've been flightsimming for over 20 years, I know how they gauges and basic navigation work.

 

In the default FSX Cessna 172, if you turn the knob clockwise, the card (background) on the OBI should move in the same direction. On mine at least, if I turn it clockwise, the card turn counterclockwise.

[il88pp]

Ok, that's a lot more clear. Won't have an answer for a while. Just one last question. Is this the vc, or 2d? And if 2d, is it an addon panel?

[mqytn]

I've flown the default Cessna a few hundred hours and I can say that the VOR gauge works perfectly.

[CRJ_simpilot]

Just to add what's been said. When your flying to a VOR it's called a bearing. Flying away from a VOR is called a radial.

 

 

 

[johncott]

Quoted from AndyJ "...if you turn the knob clockwise, the card (background) on the OBI should move in the same direction. On mine at least, if I turn it clockwise, the card turn counterclockwise."

 

Thanks for the clarification. I checked my default C172 and if I turn the knob CW the card turns CW and the degrees decrease, if I turn the knob CCW and card turns CCW and the degrees goes up.

 

I have also notice with the default GPS500 when doing direct to navigation and selecting a airport, if I move my mouse wheel up, the characters go down and when I move the mouse wheel back, the characters go up. Another thing I notice in the VC when I scroll up the on the start/mag switch if turns CCW and when I scroll down it goes CW. In the 2D cockpit the start/mag switch works the other way.

[il88pp]

It's not a fixed direction. When you turn the knob, the direction the card turns in depends on whether you fly to the vor or away from it.

 

I think that is by design, and matches real world. (despite what some people say, most of fsx does.). Moving like that also always made sense to me. Can't explain why it makes sense at the moment though. I haven't flown the cessna for a while, and too tired at the moment as well.

[lnuss]

Just to add what's been said. When your flying to a VOR it's called a bearing. Flying away from a VOR is called a radial.

• Whether inbound or outbound you're flying along a radial (radials are measured as away from the station but you can fly them both directions).
  
• A relative bearing is a direction in degrees relative to your nose.
  
• An absolute bearing is the direction (from where you are) of something relative to north (it can be magnetic or true).
  
• The path you are flying is a course, and the direction your nose is pointed is the heading. Winds affect the relationship between heading and course (no wind, they match).
  

[Hossfly68]

I've been flightsimming for over 20 years, I know how they gauges and basic navigation work.

 

In the default FSX Cessna 172, if you turn the knob clockwise, the card (background) on the OBI should move in the same direction. On mine at least, if I turn it clockwise, the card turn counterclockwise.

 

 

Gotchya! Yeah.. that's how it worked in every Cessna I've ever flown. Still throws me off and I could never get used to it. It just feels "backwards" and wrong.

[Sentry_FiveZero]

A technique taught to me when confused is to turn your aircraft to the same heading as the OBI and THEN it’s much easier to figure out where you are in relation to the VOR

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[andyjohnston]

Gotchya! Yeah.. that's how it worked in every Cessna I've ever flown. Still throws me off and I could never get used to it. It just feels "backwards" and wrong.

 

So it's not just me, but that's how a Cessna works. Interesting.

[Hossfly68]

So it's not just me, but that's how a Cessna works. Interesting.

 

Nope. That's how that specific VOR works. King, Bendix, Cessna, etc... all work on the same principals, but MAY have different designs depending on when they were made, what model they are, whether or not the designer's wife was red headed or blonde. You've just got to get used to the equipment you're flying.

I checked the stock Cessna in FSX the other night. The VOR knob and the dial rotate the same way, but at a different speed or maybe just because it's a different size, it seems weird. My 173 was a 1967 model, and it's been almost 30 years since I had it and flew it but I THINK it had Cessna radios in it. No clue who made them for Cessna, but that knob rotated and I'm pretty sure the dial rotated the opposite way. The dial and knob in 172RG in which I got my IFR rating rotated the same way. The other 172 had a similar setup. Just depends on what the maker decides should be "correct" for their radio set.