Nate Johns Posted June 25, 2008 at 03:26 AM Posted June 25, 2008 at 03:26 AM Hi all, Ok, I'm considering the great leap from FS to XP. I'm all about GA, but I also like flying the big iron on occasion. I was curious about a coupld of details on the FMS. First, I'm [Mod - Happy Thoughts]uming there's nothing that compares to the likes of PMDG on the quality of FMS systems. Does XP have effective LNAV and VNAV programming capability that the aircraft is capable of following well, particularly crossing restrictions? Are there nav database updates like NavData does? Are SIDs and STARs stored/storeable at all? Anyway... I understand they aren't the same sim and such. If I can get fair functionality for the higher performance aircraft and airliners, I might well make that leap. Any input appreciated. ~Nate Nate Johns "All things are difficult before they are easy." - Dr. Thomas Fuller, Gnomologia, 1732 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Smith Posted June 25, 2008 at 04:20 AM Posted June 25, 2008 at 04:20 AM Hi all, Ok, I'm considering the great leap from FS to XP. I'm all about GA, but I also like flying the big iron on occasion. I was curious about a coupld of details on the FMS. There are two types of FMS to discuss. The first is the stock FMS that ships with Xplane. It can be dropped into any panel using the PlaneMaker application, and is already used by most of the bizjets and airliners. To call it an FMS is a complete misnomer. It's just a waypoint sequencing tool that can program an [Mod - Happy Thoughts]igned altitude at each waypoint. It does not, for example, guarantee that it will help you cross a waypoint at a given altitude, it will merely set the target altitude to the number you specify. The rest is up to you, in terms of calculating a vertical speed and airspeed to actually make the restriction. The stock FMS does not understand IAP's, SIDs or STARs, per se. It's a waypoint sequencing tool, that's about it. The 2nd type of FMS is a 3rd party FMS that runs via Xplane's plug-in architecture that has vastly improved capability, but I cannot speak to specific functionality as I'm pretty much a GA guy. When I do fly bizjets and larger, it's /A. It was announced in this forum, it should be easy to find. XP's autopilot does support LNAV and VNAV. It will track a radial, or a GPS course. It will follow a glideslope. There are NAV DB updates, but I can't speak to their accuracy, or the source from which they're generated, simply because it hasn't concerned me in the past. Someone else that flies /G (or as close as you can to it with the stock FMS) will know that answer, though. Anyway... I understand they aren't the same sim and such. If I can get fair functionality for the higher performance aircraft and airliners, I might well make that leap. I'll save you some trouble. In all likelihood, if you attempt to fly heavy metal in xplane, and compare it to PMDG, you're going to be left wanting. I'd highly recommend flying some GA first to get used to what is _awesome_ about the sim, and then make a slow transition to the jets. Honestly, I have seen a good number of msfs heavy pilots come over to xplane, and now they fly GA and light bizjets (with a VFR GPS, essentially) all day long, and love it. No need to make any investment in the leap, either, go to x-plane.com and install the demo. You'll be underwhelmed, most likely, until you tweak the rendering settings for your box (another topic in and of itself). Have at it Nate, good to hear you're thinking about it. One person at a time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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