Simviation Forums

Hello all,
I know there is a Flight Planner that draws the magenta line on the GPS - leg by leg , and that the autopilot can be linked to it to follow the route with altitude and speed being controlled by the pilot.
Is there such a " Flight Manager " that will also allow the altitude and speed of each individual leg of the route to be set for the autopilot to follow ?
I know some Payware aircraft have a FMC included but that is more advanced , also there is FS Navigator but I believe only climb, cruise and descent can be set.
Some aircraft have " auto throttle " so such a thing may not work with all aircraft - if such a " thing " exists !
Regards

Go here:

http://simviation.com/1/search?submit=1 ... filename=Y

That's an easy yet functional FMC that can do pretty much all you want.

Regards,
zachary77

As you stated a good FMC will allow you to set altitudes for every leg or waypoint in your flight plan, The problem is no two FMC,S seem to program the same way they are alike in a lot of ways but just a little different. I have two payware aircraft that have a fully functional FMC but you go about programming each one a little differently. Mind you there is not a lot of difference but just enough to keep you on your toes.

Zachary - thanks for that - I will give it a go and see how I get on.
Gary - Will a FMC also be able to regulate speed ?
Regards

Hi,

Wanting an FMC to manage speed and altitudes is a big ask (!), as this is certainly moving into payware territory of better aircraft. VNAV is one of the hardest components of aircraft avionics development to get right.

The Honeywell FMC is superb, and it does from memory manage advisory VNAV (not used it for ages, however).

VASfmc is another example, as not only does it give users a full MCDU, but you also get MCP panels and PFD/ND's too. It's freeware, and sadly it doesn't work with all versions of FSX. It's Navigraph friendly, and runs in Windows (NOT in sim).
http://c-aviation.net/vasfmc-freeware-fmc-for-fsx/

There are some excellent payware gauges/FMC's, but the one that springs to mind are those by Ernie Alston ISGsim Simavionics, giving you advanced features for reasonable cost; the main drawback is that this will not interact with the native displays of your aircraft, so you'll need to edit panel.cfg in order to place the FMC's and PFD/ND's into the VC (or 2D) panels. However, a number of preconfigured cfg files for a large number of aircraft are available.
http://www.isgsim.com/?page=home

There are many others, including Eric Marciano's EasyFMC (http://emarciano.free.fr/En/EasyFMC.htm) though I'm not sure if this one allows speed/alt constraints, but the above two are worth checking out.

Another point to consider is whether such gauges actually allow you to enter flight plans from scratch, or whether they only allow you to load the presently loaded FSX flight plan. Equally, some but not all will allow you to edit routes OR insert other waypoints, or enter direct to's that are not already present in the flight plan.

It may be worthwhile adding FMC's to older aeroplane, so that they get a new lease of life, for instance, CLS and Just Flight's "F-Lite" range can be brought up to date with ISG gauges.

On the other hand, what you are looking for is full functionality and that is hard to add into an existing aeroplane after it leaves the developer; retrospective additions are good but not perfect!

TBH, I would heartily recommend looking for a decent payware aircraft during the sales, such as QualityWings 757 or 146, or perhaps Captain Sim. Don't scoff at my CS suggestion, as let me tell you that I had a great flight in my CS757 last night, and it was faultless in LNAV/VNAV, and once a year CS has a one day sale - $9.99!

Equally, look for SimpleFMC, as this little Windows utility can drive a non-FNC equipped aircraft (737-200, DC-9 etc) and if you boost it's now old navdata with up to date fixes, NDB's, VOR's (easily done with Excel), then by simply entering a fix (or list of them), you get instant heading-hold driven LNAV.

Fabio

Now that is what I call hitting the nail on the head great answer

You are very welcome!

I believe the best answer is to opt for a quality payware aircraft, otherwise you're trying to make something into something that it isn't l, if you see what I mean.

The QualityWings 757 is a great aircraft, and can be had for £17 or $25, and the QualityWings 146 for not too much more. Both have VNAV and LNAV, and you can't go wrong.

And if I sound biased towards the 757, it's because the 757 is my favourite aircraft, and £17 for all variants is a steal, IMHO.

Oh, and you'll be able to find a QW 757 livery for practically every carrier.

I know you asked gary, but hopefully if I and gary both answer, then that'd be even better!

You can set FMS speed in the FMC/CDU by entering in constraints, typically for a Boeing this would look like 220/6000 after which you'd hit the RLSK next to the waypoint you want this restraint applied to.

Then, when flying, provided VNAV and autothrottle are ON, the aircraft should apply this speed and arrive at the required altitude set, in this case 220 knots at 6000' altitude,

However, you could operate the autothrottle without VNAV in by dialling in a speed or mach number in the speed window on the MCP, and the aircraft will then fly at this commanded speed.

Hope this helps.
Fabio