Flightsim Navigation with NDB, VOR, DME, GPS

[RudyB24 296]

Thanks for your feedback. Yes, I thought I had set throttle for 120 (the plane was a C182, 120 seemed an ok cruise speed) but during the pause in the video speed had gone down to 100 without me noticing. Only when I saw the clock was already over 5 minutes I noticed, to my surprise ...  I apparently had been more busy with the video than with flying. I indeed created the Skyvector plan 'quick and dirty' and had not included any height or wind data in the planning.

[RudyB24 296]

Flight Sim Navigation 10 Fly To or From a VOR.

Video 10 shows the steps to take to fly to or from a VOR (Very High Frequency Omni-Directional Range) radio beacon.
1: Tune the VOR frequency in one of the nav radios and listen to the Morse code to verify.
2: Turn the OBS knob until the CDI needle is vertical AND the TO/FR indicator shows what you want: fly towards or fly away from the VOR.
3: Read the bearing at the top of the scale and change heading to that bearing.

Link to the video.

Link to the blog post.

 

[RudyB24 296]

Flight Sim Navigation 11 Intercept a VOR Radial Outbound

To intercept a VOR radial flying it outbound, we can use the CDI to find the bearing that will give us a 45 degrees intercept angle.

Link to the video.

Link to the blog post.

[RudyB24 296]

Flight Sim Navigation 12 Intercept a VOR Radial Flying Inbound.

Video 12 is about intercepting a VOR radial, this time flying inbound. The added step with relation to flying outbound is that our bearing will now be the 180 degree reciprocal of the radial we want to intercept.

Link to the video.

Link to the blog post.

Edited April 25, 2020 by RudyB24

[RudyB24 296]

Flight Sim Navigation 13 Landing at Lukla Tenzing Hillary Airport

After 12 videos on NDB and VOR flight navigation using the radios and the ADF and CDI instruments it’s time for a short intermezzo. This video is a visual flight with approach and landing at Lukla Airport in the Himalayas.

We’re all eagerly awaiting MSFS2020. The screenshots and the short videos that have been shown so far all look breathtaking, and I bet the flight experience and cockpits will be too.

In anticipation a group of enthusiasts built a website called FlighLoc.com that contains an ever growing collection of  'must see' places on earth to fly tover or to land at with our flight simulator. First on the list is Tenzing Hillary airport at Lukla in the Himalayas.

I can’t wait for FS2020 to arrive, but in the mean time we can alreeady enjoy the scenery with the Google Earth Flight Simulator. We can even land, be it that I have not found any brakes on the plane.

Link to the video.

Link to the blog post.

[RudyB24 296]

The link to the blog post was not the correct one ... this one is: Link to the blog post.

[RudyB24 296]

Flight Sim Navigation 14 Landing at Sion RW25 Switzerland

Another flight and landing, just for fun, this time at Sion, Switzerland, with stunning views during the approach over the snowy mountains and the green hills of the Swiss Alps.

Link to the video.

Link to the blog post.

[RudyB24 296]

Flight Sim Navigation 15 VOR Navigation with Garmin G1000

The video shows how to tune a VOR radio beacon on the Garmin G1000 and how to show the VOR CDI display on the display. The bearing to or from the VOR can be found by turning the course knob until the needle is straight.

Link to the video.

Link to the blog post.

[RudyB24 296]

Flight Sim Navigation 16 FSRadioPanel Android App for Radio Stack, Auto Pilot, and more

With instrument navigation a lot of radio tuning takes place during flight. I went on the lookout for an app that I could use on my Android tablet to have a separate Radio Panel available on the desk, under hands reach. It would decrease the need to change cockpit views all the time and it would be fun, giving a bit more of a ‘cockpit feel’.

Several apps could be found and I tried all those that had a free demo. The one that stood out for me was FSRadioPanel. It’s not just a radio stack … it has a lot more under the hood, 7 apps in one.

Link to the video.

Link to the blog post.

[RudyB24 296]

Flight Sim Navigation 17 FS Radio Panel Used During a Flight.

The previous video showed the FS Radio Panel Android app screens ... this video shows the app at work during a flight. I think it a joy to work with.

Link to the video.

Link to the blog post.

[RudyB24 296]

Flight Sim Navigation 18 DIY Radios & Autopilot Panel Project Part 1

Using the FSRadioPanel Android app the idea came to mind to add physical knobs to and create a cockpit panel. Looking for ways to connect the hardware to the flight sim I came across the MobiFlight software for use with an Arduino Mega or -Pro Mini. I tested it and it worked like a charm, after which the idea for a DIY project grew a bit larger ... why not add encoders, buttons and displays for a complete autopilot? This video shows the start of the project ... more to follow when there is progress.

Link to the video.

Link to the blog post.

[Alpha Floor 237]

On 4/29/2020 at 12:03 PM, RudyB24 said:

The bearing to or from the VOR can be found by turning the course knob until the needle is straight.

You can just "push" the CRS button and the CDI will centre to the station automatically, much faster than rotating the knob.

Not sure whether the simulation allows pushing, but worth trying.

[RudyB24 296]

Flight Sim Navigation 19 Intercept a VOR Radial with HSI or Garmin 1000

The video shows how to find the heading for a perfect 45 degree intercept angle to a specific VOR radial.

And yes, this time it also shows we can push the CRS knob to find the bearing to the VOR. 🙂

Link to the video.

Link to the blog post.

Edited May 15, 2020 by RudyB24

[RudyB24 296]

Flight Sim Navigation 20 Radios and Autopilot Panel Design and Drawings

The intention is to laser cut the four panels out of 'milk' plexiglass and to laser engrave the texts in the dark gray spray paint layer, after which hopefully they light up nicely in the dark with some LED strips functioning as  back light.
The design is done in Fusion 360, which is free for personal non commercial use. The Fusion file, the drawings and the laser DXF files all are available for download on the blog.

Link to the video.

Link to the blog post.

 

Edited May 21, 2020 by RudyB24

[RudyB24 296]

Flight Sim Navigation 21 VOR Tracking, Bracketing

VOR navigation has some advantages over NDB. The course deviation indicator needle is more sensitive and the needle does not inverse when flying away from the VOR or after having made a heading correction. This makes things less confusing. To get back on track we always fly to the needle.

The video shows tracking a VOR radial in a stiff crosswind using bracketing.

Link to the video.

Link to the blog post.

Edited June 1, 2020 by RudyB24