FSX navigation and ILS approaches
I am often asked by friends about how I navigate through the virtual skies in Flight Simulation. I have tried several methods from quite expensive payware to freeware navigations systems. It is not my intention here to preview any software here but simply to detail the navigation I have found most user friendly and functional for the FSX beginner.
I use a payware program called FSDiscover. It is simple to use and gets me from the start to finish of the flight without getting lost along the way. The program is available by download from Flight One and is accompanied by an easy to read manual. The cost is around A$40.00 but in my opinion this represents quite good value.
Once installed FSDiscover is available via the Add-ons menu within FSX. It is quite easy to draw the flight plan and if necessary make changes during the flight. There is nothing fancy or sophisticated about FSDiscover and I doubt it will suit real world pilots but for strictly Flight Simmers it is quite adequate. Unfortunately it is not possible to view the flight plan while flying.
This is overcome fairly easily however, by loading the flight plan which is created in FSDiscover into the Garmin GPS which is installed in the vast majority of Flight Sim aircraft. It is then possible to view the progress of the flight in "real time" and also to view the terrain over which the aircraft is flying.
Having created and loaded the flight plan into FSX we will then look at how to fly an Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) approach using an ILS navigation system. The ILS is absent from most Australian FSX airports but installing "Macs Airports" rectifies this shortcoming and makes it possible to fly an ILS approach and landing at all Australian medium and large airports.
There is no need to go into detail here about how to create the flight plan as this is adequately covered in the FSDiscover manual. Make sure the plan is saved as PLN.pln and close FSDiscover. You can choose a specific name for the plan if you intend to use it again, but I find it just as easy to create a new plan for each flight rather than sort through a long list of plans for the one I want.
Now go back to the FSX flight menu and choose Flights --> Flight Planner. The Flight Planner window appears. Choose Load at the bottom of the screen and locate the flight plan you saved as PLN.pln. Click Open and return to the Flight Planner window. Click OK. If you have correctly placed the aircraft at the start of the flight using FSDiscover you will probably answer "No" at the next prompt and the Flight Planner window will close.
HINT. The easiest way to position the aircraft for takeoff in FSDiscover is to install a temporary waypoint a short distance off the end of the takeoff runway. You can then position the aircraft ready for takeoff and then remove the temporary waypoint. You can also switch off those rather annoying orange arrows by pressing Ctrl+Shift+F9.
On the aircraft flight panel open the Garmin and you flight plan should be displayed as a red line. Move the GPS/NAV switch to GPS and the aircraft is ready to follow the flight plan to the destination airport. You can now make the decision to get airborne.
Some aircraft are equipped with Take Off and Go Around (TOGA) instruments. If using auto take off first set the flaps to at least one notch. Next turn on the Auto Throttle (AT) and make sure all the switches on the Auto Pilot (AP) are off. Finally set the cruise altitude and rate of climb on the auto pilot. These are normally 6000ft and 700ft/min by default.
An auto landing gear control is also available on some panels. Move the switch up to activate and set the Delay to about 10 seconds and the gear down landing altitude to about 700 feet.
Now use the mouse to click on the TOGA switch. The throttles advance to full. Release the parking brake and the aircraft will accelerate to takeoff. When the aircraft nears V1 the Auto Pilot will engage and at V2 the aircraft will become air borne. Positive rate, flaps up, disengage the Auto Throttle and position the throttles for cruising.
Engage the NAV on the Auto Pilot and the aircraft will turn to follow the flight plan and climb to the cruising altitude. The Flight Director (FD) can also be turned off. The air craft should now be following the red line on the Garmin GPS.
It is time to configure the aircraft for ILS in case it gets forgotten later. First find the NAV1 frequency of the destination airport and enter it into the NAV1 standby receiver (STBY). Now click on the toggle switch to move the STBY receiver to active (ACT NAV1). Recheck that the correct frequency is now tuned on the NAV1 receiver.
Enter the approach direction into the heading (HDG) window of the auto pilot. The approach direction in the FSDiscover flight plan MUST be approximately the same as the heading set in the HDG window. While the aircraft will make its final approach based on the entered HDG it must be heading toward the landing runway in order to make the adjustments for the final approach.
Ideally the aircraft should be at the correct altitude and heading in the final direction at about 8nm from touch down. Now move the GPS/NAV switch to NAV so as to engage the auto pilot with the NAV1 radio beacon. Next press the approach (APR) button on the auto pilot. The aircraft is now being guided down the glide slope to touch down.
Adjust the speed of the aircraft to make a smooth landing and apply the brakes when on the ground. Switch off all buttons on the auto pilot and use the SRS to taxi to parking. Close the aircraft down or try it all again.
Questions, errors, feedback
please. Cheers, Mac