Simviation Forums

          Guys just wondering when traveling across countrys is there anyway you can tell where you are, i mean what city or town you are flying over at that particular time.
i hope this doesnt sound to silly

That's where Navigation is very important. When flying cross country, there are many way to navigate from point to point, weather it's by visually by landmarks, navigation radios, GPS, ect.

I would suggest reading as many online tutorials as you can find, and getting an aeronautical chart to leard to read.

In FS2004 you can use a program called FSNAV but I am not sure if they have a veraion out for FSX yet. 8-)

Flight 1 has FSDiscover. It includes points of interest and geographic names which you can toggle while flying. It can also serve as a navigation tool with an orange path painted on the ground but that kind of takes some of the fun out of doing it yourself.

Yes really set out to improve your navigation skills.

From my home in Australia I fly a lot around western Canada and the NW USA, around the UK using Horizon GenX, and of course in Australia.  For eastern Australia I have some old 1:1000000 sectional charts, for NZ I bought two I to a million maps, for Canada and the USA a combination of sectional maps from Megascenery and large scale road maps: same thing for the UK and parts of Europe.

It's all makeshift I know, but it is great to fly over great FSX scenery and from a map, or atlas, identify  principal features.  It is good training and also I find really enthralling and fun.

For IFR flights say from Seattle to San Francisco I relate the waypoints and navaids to their correct places on the mape ie EUG to Eugene.  It makes it more real.

You can also cheat and just pull up ATC. Eventually you'll fly near a major airport or city/town, which can be seen by by selecting the nearest airports option in the ATC window.

I think the real challange is navigating without snecking a peek at the GPS. Try just using the map. I bascicly use a good ol Rand Mcnally road atlas. You can let the sim compute your flight in the flight planer. That will give you all your headings and times between waypoints. When I plan my flights I try to pick as many large airports I can find on my path. Then i'll watch my times to known when I have to change headings when that airport is in sight. As a good pilot you should always plan your flights so you always know were your at. For a real challange fly at night and keep an eye out for them green/white airfield becons. Or in real crappy weather when it's hard to see the ground.

I think the real challange is navigating without snecking a peek at the GPS. Try just using the map. I bascicly use a good ol Rand Mcnally road atlas. You can let the sim compute your flight in the flight planer. That will give you all your headings and times between waypoints. When I plan my flights I try to pick as many large airports I can find on my path. Then i'll watch my times to known when I have to change headings when that airport is in sight. As a good pilot you should always plan your flights so you always know were your at. For a real challange fly at night and keep an eye out for them green/white airfield becons. Or in real crappy weather when it's hard to see the ground.

I almost never use the GPS while navigating in FS. I always use sectional charts, and my navigational radios...

Esselbach - I never fly that high  (most of the planes I fly don't even have lights)....  Generally, I take off, follow the river to Old Joe's barn, turn left, find Ma Baker's moonshine still, circle a bit to get the aroma, then follow the creek to the ol'swimming hole - usually some interesting sights to see.  By that time the 4:40pm train is chugging away and I just follow it, barely keeping up with it, unti I turn into final ....  :0

These are great threads..

You fellas are right on. I guess it all depends on how real you wanna make your flightsim expreance.  Like Brett said, when I take the ol'Jenny out I will chart my own flight with pencil, protractor,ruler and old road maps. Than fly the route with just compass and stop watch, and Felix, a few times I've had to stop at ol'Joe's farm to get directions. Now when I go more modern than I go the way Esselbach said. I'll plan a flight using the trusty C182, using sectional charts and Nav radios. Navigating with VOR's,NDB's, DME's takes abit to learn, but ain't what this is all about? As far as jetliners, I say take off, hit auto, and let the comp do the rest ( hard to see stuff above 30,000 ). Don't get me wrong flying jets is also awsome, but if I get in to jets It hav to be a diffrance subject.

One thing I like about FSDiscover is that it has an extensive library of geographic names for the US. A lot more than even the most detailed maps which usually only show towns and roads. Places like Dead Horse Creek, Crooked Hollow and Long Pond. Lots of fun just flying over and looking at all the different places.

This is a really good thread.  It demonstrates the great versatility of FS.  With even the default scenery, but greatly improved with add-on mesh and scenery, you can fly just as you would in the real world.  You can do compass, map and stopwatch (bell,book and candle) navigation which is a fantastic discipline and a great skill to learn.  There are books and websites a-plenty to teach you basic navigation.  You will learn the difference in real time between Indicated Airspeed, True airspeed and Groundspeed, about true and magnetic bearings and so on.  It is actually very good fun and great practice.

But also FS allows us to go hi-tech.  Add-ons like the Level-D 767 have an almost fully replicated automatic flight system.  Modern transport jets are not hand-flown nor are they navigated by map and compass.  They follow precise pathways laterally and vertically - so automation is vital.  But using these systems is still based on the pilot having done basic navigation and understanding absolutely the navigational rules behind.

But only blunder across the landscape a few times, lift your game and start to learn some real world navigation - it raises the interest level enormously (especially when you reduce the visibility and increase the cloud coverage).

Pick two airports at random, about 100nm apart, neither of which you're familiar with (neither with an ILS), in an area new to you, too. Put the trusty C172 on the ramp at the first one. Set user defined weather to; overcast, 1 mile vivsibility, moderate wind (random direction). You've now been chosen, as the best, available pilot, to get timely, urgent cargo to the other airport.

Get a VFR sectional (or low-altitude IFR chart) (or use the map in FS

Brett,

That may be a bit much for someone who isn't proficient with instrument flying, let alone basic navigation. Maybe he should keep it a bit more simple for now, and work his way up when he's ready