?'s for FSNavigator

[Matthew Wilson 987467]

Two things.

 

Firstly, when you use FSNav to fly an IFR flight plan for you, lets say to a runway with no ILS, how far in can you let it take you before you switch to manual. I noticed it calculates rate of descent right to the runway and all but im used to intercepting a glideslope and a heading when i land on AP. Im guessing you need to head to an intersection that lines up with the runway and then turn into it to fly straight in but does it work like an ILS or does that still only work on a runway with ILS feathers?

 

Secondly, how exactly does adding a SID/STAR work? I was under the impression that FSNav automatically sets up your waypoints and headings into a departure/approach (like reading a chart) but when i add one to my flight plan using drag and drop form the SID/STAR's menu it just shows a flight plan path straight from my last waypoint to the end of the runway.

 

Is there more to it?

 

Thanks for any help.

[Matthew Wilson 987467]

Just in case anyone replies to this, i kinda figured out the first part. FSNav does a very nice job of setting up rate of descent for you so it pretty much works just like an ILS approach if you use it right.

 

Im still wondering about the second part though.

 

I did try using the 'autoroute' function but i still cant tell for sure if its plotting out charted SID and STAR's for me.

[Matthew Wilson 987467]

Ok i just figured out that its pretty easy to get SID/STAR's off Myairplane.com

 

I guess ill just use that.

 

Unless anyone has something important to add to this thread just forget it.

 

I think this qualifies as talking to myself.

[Alfredo Pacheco Jr 966120]

Hello Matt,

As far as SIDS/STARS working for FSNav, the only way they get updated is by users themselves. It's not that hard once you get the hang of it. First, if it is a sid:

 

*start with a rwy for any airport. Then just start adding waypoints. Match it to the SID of Myairplane as close as possible. You can even right click on certain VOR's after inserting them on your flight plan and change them to a bearing point. Once this is all done, go to file ro option, and save as SID/STAR. Fill in the neccesary data in all the lines, and you have yourself an up to date SID. Then do this for all the other SIds on that rwy.

*Same thing with STARS. Once this is all done for that entire airport, go to file>Upload SID/STAR. This will send the file to the FSNav site and a rep from FSNav will look at the data and see if it is correct enought to put it into the database as a new update.

Im sorry to say, but owners of FSNav are resposible to update the SIDS/STARS. I have only had the chance to do two SIDS on KSAN. But I think you have to do the entire airport in order for it to be uploaded and then approved for download for everyone else to use on FSNav. Hope this helps. If anything, just go to the FSNav website and look through there forum, they have lots of issues just like yours there. I looked before becuase I had a similar prob.

Happy Flying,

Alfredo Pacheco Jr

[Paul O'Donnell 969350]

Hi Matthew,

 

as I don't have FSNav on infront of me I a little trouble remembering exactly. But if you select the runway to start from then enter this into your Flight Plan, make sure that the desired runway is highlighted and go to the sid's/star's selection screen, there should be a green arrow or symbol which you click and it will show you the relevant SID's for that runway. You can then drag the SID across to the FP section and drop it ontop of the runway you are using. this should enter the SID from FSNav (these might not be up to date). I only found out how to do this the otherday after having FSNav for months.

for STAR's its a similar process, just highlight the landing runway, go to the SID's/STAR's selection, click that green symbol and choose the desired STAR and drag it over to the FP section.

Then enter your routes for in between and you are sorted.

 

Goodluck.

[Matthew Wilson 987467]

Ok.

 

Thanks guys.

 

Both those replies make alot of sense.

 

I did notice you can save SID/STAR's and since i can get the charts off myairplane.com that wont be so hard to create them when i need to.

 

And when i make a flight plan ive just been adding the SID/STAR from the drop down menu without putting the runway in first.

 

Ill have to test this all out.

 

Thanks alot.

[Matthew Wilson 987467]

Ok one last question.

 

Paul what you said to do worked exactly.

 

I added the runway first, then dragged and dropped the SID right onto it and it added the waypoints. Very sweet.

 

One thing i did notice was that the waypoints double back on themselves, at least for the few that i tried from KSEA.

 

For example the SID SUMMA6.SUMMA 34R loops around the airport, then when it reaches the intersection for Fix01 it heads straight to the SEA VOR and then straight back out to the SUMMA intersection.

 

If i remove the VOR as a waypoint the whole flightpath looks much smoother.

 

Is this just a bad example because its a flawed SID??

 

I tried a few others from that airport and they all did the same thing. Just when they reached the 2nd to last waypoint they shot straight back to the SEA VOR and then out to the last intersection.

 

Odd indeed.

 

But anyway thanks, thats exactly what i needed to know. Between that and getting the charts for these so i can touch them up the whole operation should be working fine.

 

Ive been hesitant to take off in anything but a prop so far till i was up to snuff on running SID/STAR's from within FS.

 

And now i am.

[Paul O'Donnell 969350]

Hey Matthew,

 

I've had some SID's similar to what happened with yours. In which it would use a VOR as a back course as such, I tried the exact same as what you said, by removing the VOR and then it made the SID look alot better.

I would suggest you cross check it with the relevant charts and maybe try a short flight offline, just to see if it flies the SID properly. I done this a few times until I was happy that I was flying the SID according to the charts.

I've also noticed recently that some of the SID's in FSNav are named differently to the SID's in use now, so I'm guessing its the dated SID's, most of the time they are very similar with just a name difference, for example a SID at EGPF (Glasgow) that I use alot is NGY3J, in FSNav it shows it as NGY2J.

 

I hope the flying goes well Matthew, I used to stick with the props and smaller tins, until I started getting the jist of flying SID;s and operating FSNav properly. I then stuck with the learjet for a few months before stepping up to the big tins. I've learnt alot of great info within the forums, that if I hadn;t stumbled upon it, I'd still be flying circuits in a C172.

 

Goodluck mate

[Matthew Wilson 987467]

After i posted that last one i went back ito FSNav and tried a few other airport SID's to see what they looked like and they seemed fine.

 

I like the idea of crossing them with the real charts though. Will definately help to know for sure if im running the right flight path.

 

A question, in another thread someone told me to go to the Navdata site to keep my data up to date, which i did, but of course only got the Oct '06 update because thats the last freebie.

 

Does that navdata program update the SID/STAR's? I [Mod - Happy Thoughts]umed it would, but i dont want to [Mod - Happy Thoughts]ume.

[Paul O'Donnell 969350]

That I'm not too sure about Matthew, I also downloaded the last free AIRAC cycle for FSNav, but was unsure if this updated the SID's and STAR's. I don't think it did as some of my SID's are still labelled differently.

 

Also if you crosscheck them with the charts, you can also see if the recommended crossing altitudes are correct, and if no ATC is online then you know at which altitude to fly. I think this made reading the charts a little easier for me to grasp at first.

 

Happy Flight Planning

[John Hoopes 1118583]

I apologize for reviving this, but if anyone out there that uses FSNAV could answer my question that would be great. After having created a SID/STAR...is there anyway to manually select it? I notice they are inserted when the Auto Route is calculated/generated, but I cant seem to find a way to select a specific SID/STAR I want to use. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

[Ernesto Alvarez 818262]

do not use the auto route generator in FSNAV. not accurate at all.

 

plan your route manually or use real world routing.

 

for the SID's/STAR's

on the map, on the left side youll see 3 tabs, MAP, PLAN, FMS. go to PLAN, select the departure airport, then on the right of that youll see the available departure procedures. do the same for the arrival field.

 

dont forget to check the charts! update as needed. i add new procedures that arent listed as i use them. there was a website that was keeping that data updated, majority was for south america and europe tho.

 

also if you arent aware already, you can update the nav data via navigraph

www.navigraph.com

[John Hoopes 1118583]

Thanks for the quick reply...I found that I wasnt pushing the other small button (small green arrow or "^" symbol) after selecting the airport. Unfortunately I lack a lot of the new ones and will probably need to construct alot of the STARS by hand (but if they're common enough, it will save time in the future)...No STARS exist in my database for LAX for example...SIDs do however...

 

thanks again!