Beechcraft Baron Autopilot help.

Hi, I am having trouble flying the FSX Baron VOR to VOR on autopilot. I have looked at various threads on here and on the FSX learning centre, I thought I was doing things right, but I just cannot get the autopilot to fly to the VOR. This is what I am doing;

 

1 Set VOR frequency into nav 1 & nav 2 radio and ADF

2 Set yellow Omnibearing selector needle in the HSI dial to the radial I want to fly.

3 Set Nav/GPS switch to Nav.

4 Take off and steer towards the VOR on the radial I want.

5 Turn on autopilot and select Nav.

 

At this point everything looks ok but after a couple of minutes the aircraft is no longer heading towards the VOR, for some reason the autopilot simply won't fly the plane to the VOR, what am I doing wrong please? As I have said, the learning centre and the other threads here aren't much help to me, I don't seem to understand them correctly. I need a simple, straightforward step-by-step idiot's guide to VOR to VOR autopilot flying on the Baron, please help.

I have never done VOR to VOR using the A/P, but my question would be...is your audio panel set to hear the NAV1 or NAV2 audio and do you hear the MORSE code coming from the VOR you are flying to? I guess what I'm getting to is "are you in range of the destination VOR"?

 

Maybe some help in this older topic!https://www.flightsim.com/vbfs/showthread.php?305884-VOR-Auto-pilot-help/page2

Edited May 27, 2021 by mrzippy

I have never done VOR to VOR using the A/P, but my question would be...is your audio panel set to hear the NAV1 or NAV2 audio and do you hear the MORSE code coming from the VOR you are flying to? I guess what I'm getting to is "are you in range of the destination VOR"?

 

Maybe some help in this older topic!https://www.flightsim.com/vbfs/showthread.php?305884-VOR-Auto-pilot-help/page2

 

Thank you for the reply. I haven't turned audio on, would that make a difference to the autopilot? I did look at that thread you posted a link to but as the instruments on the Baron are different, I couldn't really understand it. Is it just that the autopilot on the Baron cannot fly VOR to VOR?

Ok, it appears that for some reason I am not getting a VOR signal. I have double checked the frequency and the VOR is less than 30 miles away. I can see the distance to the VOR in the DME display, and this changes as I get closer to the VOR, but I get no Morse signal and the red NAV tab stays in the HSI. Is there a minimum height to receive a VOR signal? I typically fly at around 5000 feet on short flights of less than 300 miles, is this too low for VOR?

In step 2 you tune in a radial. Assuming the TO/FROM flag shows FROM (therefore the course on the outside edge of the OBS is that radial's value), that will take you AWAY FROM the VOR station, once you get the needle centered. If you then rotate that OBS an additional 180º so that the TO flag is showing, (therefore the OBS shows the reciprocal of the radial), centered needle will now take you TO the VOR.

 

Keep in mind that the VOR indicators don't show anything about aircraft heading or attitude, only things related to position and to the course that is set. The AP will (to oversimplify) "read" the TO/FROM flag and the OBS to determine which way to go, and the TO/FROM flag (with needle centered) shows whether you are going TO or FROM the VOR that you have tuned in.

 

If the needle is not centered, then the AP will attempt to intercept the chosen course and center the needle.

 

And this is NOT limited to the Baron. Any other sim aircraft using VOR nav, AND the Real world aircraft and VORs behave exactly the same way.

I have solved the problem. The VOR beacon I was trying to navigate to was actually a TACAN beacon, that's why I was getting DME but no guidance. FSX for some reason classes TACAN the same as VOR. I have now learned the difference on the flight planner map.

Ahhh, a very good reason for the problem. Thanks for getting back to us with the solution.