[Fragments of FScene textures]

Dear Ruud

Thanks for your excellent European textures which I recently purcheased for FSX.

I have a question wihch I have not seen in the forum after a brief look; I noticed that some fragments of your textures appear in other parts of the world eg South America where I do not have your textures. They appear mainly to be suburban or semi rural and also some grassland which appear as rectangles in random places.

I have installed the updates, inluding the the new suburban textures but I thought these were just for Europe. Also I beleive that your snow textures appear everywhere else as well - not sure but I don't mind these as they are better than defualt anyway.

As these fragments clash with FSX textures in non European regions, is there any way of getting rid of them and having default everywhere except Europe?

Apologies if there is another thread; I would be happy to be redirected if so.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Regards

Ray Harris

Thanks

[What would YOU like to see in FSNav 5]

Really looking forward to 5. This must be one of the most cannot do without aids that was ever invented for FS.

A few wishes:

Variable rates of descent/climb to be able to be set for different sectors of the plan rather than having to having to set one per aircraft.

More variety of preset aircrafts - you can do them yourself but it would be useful to have download resource just like SID/STARS.

As already mentioned here; access to a good terrain map/spot heights and other potential obstacles to take account of. OR - link to Google Earth map?

Finally perhaps a bit hopeful here - ability to view and download approach plates and airport plans within FS Navigator would just about perfect it for me anyway

Could end up being an expensive product though?? :-)

Ray Harris

[FSNAVIGATOR => PMDG 737 NG PROBLEM HELP ?]

It is correct that FSNav cannot contol PMDG.

Not sure if you were aware that you can export PMDG flight plans from FSNAv. There is an export file on the FSVAv site. Much better to to do this and then also use the FS2004 export option to load an IFR plan with ATC at the same time. I think the PMDG option even saves your speed and alt settings.

Woud be a good education to learn how to operate the FMC in PMDG they are not that hard really.

rharris

[Problems with distant textures]

Have you checked the 'Extended Terrain Textures' box in FS9's display settings menu?

Apologies if you already did this. I use FScene and have ETT checked and don't have these problems at all.

regards

Ray Harris

[Flight plans and PSS Dash 8]

You should be aware that you can create flight plans in FS Nav and export them to FS9. This is true for all PSS products not just the Dash 8. PSS FMC will not allow you to load FS Nav plans directly. There are other helpful threads on this board about just this subject which is why I know the answer.. :-)

PS the real world Dash 8 FMC will not let you import flight plans at all.... neither will the FS version of Garmin 430/530

regards

rharris

[Which Planes Use AutoLand?]

Autoland is feature of certain aircraft whereby a built in homing UHF receiver can track ILS data (using both horizontal and vertical vectors) to a very high degree of accuracy (unlike VHF Nav) and take the aircraft down onto the tarmac including flare and rollout features in the case of CATIII. There are a number of categories from CATI to CAT III which are supported at certain airports. CATIII is full Autoland and only supported at major airports in the real world.

FS9 default planes and most freeware planes do not simulate CAT Autoland whereas most payware Jets which have Autoland in the real world (eg LevelD767, PSS A320/340,PMDG 747,PSS 777) also have Autoland in the Flight Sim versions.

Some capture the ILS frequency automatically and some eg PMDG 737 you have to dial in and set on the NAV radio in advance. Once the Autoland feature is engaged you should get a 3 Green condition for landing.

I have found however in practice that even if Autoland is not featured, APPR mode will do most of the things that at least CAT I & II will do where it does not include automatic flare on touch down, although just like in the real world centre line accuracy is reduced. Even most default FS planes emulate 'ground effect' at low levels which increases lift and assists flaring in most cases without CAT III auto flaring.

Great fun - get some payware

Hope this helps

rharris

[ATC Sending me to wrong IFR Runway]

Opposite end of 9R??? Do you mean 27L? Perhaps check your winds in Teeside and Schipol before doing your plan. FS Metar is a good free tool for this. If the winds are coming in from a westerly direction ATC will definately not land you on 9R anyway. Alternatively if you really must land 9R, then apply user defined weather in FS9 and make sure that you set winds to Easterly (say anything between 03 - 110 degrees)

Firstly debonis is right, you have to take control of your own flight. It is well known that FS9 ATC is rubbish, especially IFR. Secondly in the real world you do not know which runway you will be given until you contact approach (within 30 miles of the aiport typically).

Also in the real world I understand that the runway is only assigned then and mostly aircraft do not adhere exactly to their original flight plan.

It is is easy to change the STAR approach if you know about it early enough. When I was flying FS9 (rather then payware) aircraft under FS Nav control, I used VFR rules for ATC. Once you have set your landing runway in FS NAv I was mostly given the correct runway by ATC. If not you can request an alternative if you want.

Flying ILS and landing manually is OK if you have a good control Yoke etc and good framerates, if not Autoland is not possible with FSNav. VRef is difficult to calcualte in FS9 planes that don't have dedicated FMCs but 140Knots is a good average. FSNav is not a good tool for calculating an accurate VRef and landing speed for every aircraft or combination.

However you can get FSNav to bring you to finals without worrying about ILS then land the plane and flare then rollout manually. I beleive you have to do this anyway.

If you want a real experience then use PMDG or Level D payware aircraft and do an ILS CATIII Autoland. Thats definately not a game! and FS Nav is still indispensible

good flying

rharris

[Autralian airports]

Hey maskrider

great resource, thanks. I have SimPlates2004 but even they dont have all the approaches in the standard package and they have taken away the extra country plates until the next release now.

cheers

rharris

[Autralian airports]

I have discovered in my version of FSNav that there is no Autralian Aiprot info in FSNav. Sorry if I have missed some vital instruction which others all know about. I have downloaded all the SID/STARS as far as I know but no airports appear in Australia. My version of FS9 has no Australian airports either.

Appreciate any help

rharris

[Tutorial....Flying/Landing using FS Navigator]

You did not mention whether you meant a PMDG 737 or an ordinary 737. PMDG is very complex compartively and you would tend to use its internal FMC for landing (which i do regularly). On the other hand for FS9 planes you certainly could use FSNav to control the plane and land it, as long as you take note of the speed (V1 VR V2, VRef) and flaps gear etc.

It is not difficult to use FSNav but some background in navigation would be useful. There is an excellent tutorial on FS Nav by FW Nicholls in the UK which you can download from the FS Nav website. You can then use FSNav to make flight plans and control lateral and vertical navigation of your plane including landing it - with a bit of skill. However knowledge of approaches, STARS and height and speed restrictions is necessary. FSNav has some of this for most major airports and SimPlates 2004 has a lot more info.

hope this helps.

rharris

[FS Navigator Author.]

I would like to see an FSNav overlay giving more visual aids such as landmarks, roads, rivers, railways, towns??

Not sure how relevant most people would think this is but for VFR flying, specially small aerodromes with no navaids; it would really help. Would even buy it as an add on if available.

regards

rharris

[FSNav autopilot and LevelD763]

I use FS Nav all the time to create flight plans for Level D 767. Don't export altitude crossing and speed data though. The FMC will derive this from its own precision calculations. Note that ILS approaches are an issue even in the Level D 767FMC. They may not work well unless you program the FMC carefully. I find it best to use Sim Plates 2004 for actual approaches and build my own flight plans in FS Nav then monitor them very carefully durinng the 767 descent. This takes practice. Also some STARs are not always entirely accurate . In real life most of this under ATC control until finals in any case. But you can find yourself too high or too low for an effective appproach and good Auto or hand landing via ILS. Its a dream when it does work though.

good flying

rharris

[Impossible STARs in FS NAv]

Chris

I bought a copy from the UK last week and got them in 2 days. I think the guy who produces this is an American but lives in Cambridge UK which is where Dauntless Soft is registered. There's no evidence that the product is on its way out and its incredibly useful; it was not on back order when I ordered about 10 days ago. Did you try to buy from a US online store maybe?

You get thousands of plates with the package and can donwload thousands more from the website so it should satisfy all your needs. I can thoroughly recommend it. I use FS NAv as well which is brilliant but I checked some STAR and Approaches in FSNav with SIM plates and was able to make a number of useful changes to European Airports.

rharris

[Question about IFR]

Alistair,

Hey...

Thankx for the tip- appreciate your point; albeit a bit patronising.

Yes i'm new to this, I have a lot to learn and yes its only a game! I was asking a valid question about a feature of FS Nav/FS9 rather than about my abilities to hand fly a jet. I have so far had no problems dealing with any irregularities that come up during a flight one way or the other. I worked it out for myself. Howevever sometimes it is good to get others' opinions - thats part of the fun. There is no requirement for me train on this like a real pilot..either. If I want to fly (and crash) a 767 after only 5 weeks then that's exactly what I'll do! I'm not a real pilot after all - I think FS9 and FS Nav is amazing in being able give us non pilots some of the thrill of flying real machines.

Incidentally I can already hand fly a small plane solo in FS9 and I can also hand fly a jet most of the way and stick to a flight plan - still training on hand-flying it down ILS glide slope though I must admit. On the other hand most commercial pilots do not hand fly jets from take off to touch down either... whatever the shortcomings of FS9 ATC it at least gives a semblence of reality...and thats good enough for me.

rharris

[Question about IFR]

I think I fixed it - I exported my FP into FS9, set it to IFR/High Level and bingo ATC recognised my plea to get out of LHR in the fog. Not ideal but I guess that's FS9 not FSNav. IFR flight following behaved rather strangely though; French ATC en route whilst I was still climbing thought I was descending and gave me 10,000 ft - must be too much Vin Blanc! I was on my way to Rome>

If thats not the answer, appreciate your comments.

thanx - still learning. Had FS9 about a month now...

rharris :roll:

[Question about IFR]

I have noticed that when using FS Nav flight plans the ATC in FS9 does not recognise my flight as IFR. Obviously in bad weather the ATC will not let me go, thinking I am requesting a VFR flight and in <1500ft cloud base it will not let me land. My passengers are not pleased (I had to canel the 0715 to Rome from London Heathrow this morning because of fog! &%$"" :x)

I am new to FS so any advice? The help in FSNav does not mention IFR and there seems to be no way of forcing IFR in FS9 unless you use their horrid internal flight planner and select IFR - do I have to do that maybe?

thanks

rharris

[Impossible STARs in FS NAv]

Thanks to you I am now using some approach plates I downloaded and modifying in FS Nav by hand. FS Build looks good but overlaps a lot of functions in FS Nav. Once you have set up a proper approach plate in FS Nav you can indeed autoland a plane. I regularly autoland 767s and A320s at Frankfurt, Dublin and Heathrow (you guessed it I am British). I shall certainly use your approach info JFK on my BA jumbo next time I'm there...

Whilst I can fly Cessnas in FS9 by hand, flying a jet down the ILS glide slope with poor frame rates and a sticky old joystick is very hard work even with FD as a guide. So I will continue to be a passenger (or maybe co pilot) and enjoy the ride and the clouds... btw Some people tell me that BA flights have to use autoland at some airports. I am also doing some PMDG 747 tutorials now which are great fun!!!! Now thats a proper plane.

good luck guys

rharris

[Impossible STARs in FS NAv]

Guys

This is wonderful stuff, especially the arrival plate for KJFK 13 - I learned a lot reading your answers. Bottom line is FS9/FSNAv is only as real world as you are - I'm not yet obviously. I guess you have to program and fly the plates separately rather than using the STARs given in the default SID/STAR database..

Thanks a million for bothering to answer what must seem a bit of a naive question

rharris

[Impossible STARs in FS NAv]

Brad

Hey thanks for the tips, your well outa my ATC league there. I have had FS for just 3 weeks!

Actually I do Autoland using FS Nav and FS9 all the time and it works just great for me. I can also hand fly a jet as well, even onto a runway (sometimes :-)) but its a pain with a cheap joystick - need somethin much more responsive and sensitive. However.. my point was not using Autoland but the sheer impossibility of the STAR given in FS nav provided to runway 13L at KJFK inbound from EGLL. For a start this STAR does not intersect the ILS glide slope for 13 right from the top which for real planes is surely a must I would have thought (FAA??) and secondly the turns provided are impossible for a 747. I just wondered why thats all. I can create and fly my own approach but I like to use STARS as I assume real planes would do, autoland or not. They just have to be credible.. I want to know why these ones seem not to be. Look in FS Nav for yourself and let me know if I should be handflying that!

cheers

rharris

[Impossible STARs in FS NAv]

I am running FS Nav 4.7 with FS 9.1. On the whole I think FS Navigator is a stunning cannot-do-without product. However with some STARS particularly being a little of a newbie to this area, I feel they are impossible. I set a 747 on a flight from EGLL to KJFK. STAR due to wind direction was to land on runway 130 right. The STAR given by FS Nav gave a severe right turn just before the runway; impossible for a 747! Needless to say my 6 hour flight ended by crashing into a building - lovely lotsa smoke.

I'm probably missing a trick. I have gone through a tutuorial and am prepared to create my own STAR but why did the one provided by FS Navs database give me an imposisble approach. btw EDDF approach to 25L is equally wierd and definately not one I have experienced in real flights.

Help appreciated

Thanks

rharris