Simviation Forums

I was over at AvSim reading their review of Cloud9's new F-104 Starfighter, and in reviewing the avionics package it says "The navigation system is quite basic and consists of a VOR/NDB/TACAN receiver that can be slaved to the autopilot".

Is this correct ? TACAN?  Is this accurate? - does F/S 2k4 support TACAN ?

I don't have F/S 2k4 but this might be an incentive to buy it, since I mainly fly military planes and most all military airfields have TACAN approach plates available, and this would add to the realism if TACAN receivers are available.

Bill A (aka Gringo6)

I've seen a few military add-ons where they somehow use fs9's existing NDB's to simulate a tacan signal.

I'm not aware that TACANs exist in FS9. It's a shame because half the beacons I would like to use are TACANs but of course don't exist in FS. Surely it wouldn't be that difficult to create them for FS9 (FS10 too would be nice - despite being a "civvy" sim, there's no point denying the military exist - all the bases are there, so why not accurate navigation aids for them...)

Well, there may be some civil aircraft equipped with tacan recievers as well anyway.  It would be a handy nav option.  And, while we are on the subject of nav aids that MS overlooked I might also mention that I know a few pilots that use LORAN as well.  It would be swell to have that secondary nav aid available also, especially if flying "feet wet" as they say aboard carriers.

TACAN in general can be described as the military version of the VOR/DME system. It operates in the frequency band 960-1215 MHz. The bearing unit of TACAN is more accurate than a standard VOR since it makes use of a two frequency principle, with 15 Hz and 135 Hz components. Theoretically a TACAN should provide a nine-fold increase in accuracy compared to a VOR but operational use has shown only a 1.5 to 2 fold increase. The distance measurement component of TACAN operates with the same specifications as do civil DMEs. Therefore to reduce the number of required stations TACAN stations are frequently co-located with VOR facilities. These co-located stations are known as VORTACs. This is a station composed of a DME range measurement unit (for civil and military use), a VOR (for civil bearing information) and the bearing part of a TACAN (for military bearing information).

Well I guess the short answer is that TACAN doesn't exist in F/S 2k4.

Thanks for the answers.

Bill A (aka Gringo6)

Well I guess the short answer is that TACAN doesn't exist in F/S 2k4.

...and FS10(?) would be better if they were included...