What Oh What Am I Failing to Do to Track a Flight Plan with AP?

[Mac6737]

More frustration! This time, it's the Daher 930. At welcome screen, I generate a VOR to VOR flight plan between two airports. The plan duly appears in the display, with all intervening waypoints. CDI is set to VOR 1. Take off. Level off. Hold ALT mode. Engage NAV mode. Plane locks on a course utterly unrelated to the flight plan, or even the HDG (which is NOT enabled). What is it following, if anything?

 

Numerous Youtubes and comments in these pages tell me that engaging NAV mode should track the active flight plan. There must be a missing step or procedure.

 

Can anyone tell me what I am not doing right?

[tiger1962]

You're setting the CDI to VOR1 instead of GPS. In VOR1 mode you need to enter the VOR frequency manually into the NAV1 radio, in GPS mode it's tuned in automatically by the GPS itself. Edited November 11, 2021 by tiger1962

[Cavulife]

First off, are you using the NXI add on? There have been some reports of problems with that.

 

I don’t recall if simply setting up VOR to VOR in the Welcome Screen planner will also set the frequencies for the VOR for you. If not, you’ll have to enter that yourself and verify that it is being received. Depending on terrain you may have to climb higher to receive the frequency.

 

You will also have to set the radial TO the VOR you want to fly to. It may default to 360 unless you’ve entered something different. This would cause the AP to try to intercept the 360 radial even if you wanted to fly say 270.

[Mac6737]

You're setting the CDI to VOR1 instead of GPS. In VOR1 mode you need to enter the VOR frequency manually into the NAV1 radio, in GPS mode it's tuned in automatically by the GPS itself.

 

Oh for Pete's sake!

[Aptosflier]

First off, are you using the NXI add on?

I believe the NXi is now the default, not an add-on. If it's not the default now, it soon will be.

[Mac6737]

Never heard of the NXI add-on. I believe Tiger answered the Q. See prior post. Setting VOR to VOR apparently does not set the frequencies. Who knew? Certainly not I!

 

Note: At the Welcome screen, you choose a routing: GPS or VOR. If you choose VOR, who on earth would imagine that you have to set your CDI to GPS!!?? (And not to VOR. Huh?)

[Cavulife]

Never heard of the NXI add-on. I believe Tiger answered the Q. See prior post. Setting VOR to VOR apparently does not set the frequencies. Who knew? Certainly not I!

 

Note: At the Welcome screen, you choose a routing: GPS or VOR. If you choose VOR, who on earth would imagine that you have to set your CDI to GPS!!?? (And not to VOR. Huh?)

 

You don’t HAVE to set it to GPS, but if you set it to VOR then you have to do the things I said in my response at the same time as Tiger’s. VOR navigation can be kind of fun, you should give it a try.

[tiger1962]

At the Welcome screen, you choose a routing: GPS or VOR. If you choose VOR, who on earth would imagine that you have to set your CDI to GPS!!?? (And not to VOR. Huh?)

 

At the Welcome screen there's also ILS (low level) and ILS (high level) if you scroll down past Direct and GPS. They all use the same CDI setting of GPS; think of it this way:

To follow the plan on the GPS, set the CDI to GPS.

[Mac6737]

At the Welcome screen there's also ILS (low level) and ILS (high level) if you scroll down past Direct and GPS. They all use the same CDI setting of GPS; think of it this way:

To follow the plan on the GPS, set the CDI to GPS.

 

Which reminds me: When do you use high level and when do you use low level? What's the cutoff altitude? Or isn't there one?

[tiger1962]

Which reminds me: When do you use high level and when do you use low level? What's the cutoff altitude? Or isn't there one?

 

The cutoff altitude seems to be somewhat amorphous according to ATC in MSFS; as a rule of thumb I select IFR low altitude for GA planes and IFR high altitude for airliners, but ATC will often request a climb to FL250 when I'm in a DA40 and I've filed an IFR low altitude plan at 5,000ft cruise. I ignore ATC under these circumstances of course, it's my sim and my rules.

[Aptosflier]

First off, are you using the NXI add on? There have been some reports of problems with that.

 

I don’t recall if simply setting up VOR to VOR in the Welcome Screen planner will also set the frequencies for the VOR for you. If not, you’ll have to enter that yourself and verify that it is being received. Depending on terrain you may have to climb higher to receive the frequency.

 

You will also have to set the radial TO the VOR you want to fly to. It may default to 360 unless you’ve entered something different. This would cause the AP to try to intercept the 360 radial even if you wanted to fly say 270.

 

He’s flying the TBM. (I just looked at the original post.) it has the G3000, not the G1000 NXi.

 

 

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