Newby here, looking to take off...

[Niblet]

Quickie question - the 737 has a yellow and a blue light to the left, both of which I've occasionally managed to trigger. Any idea what they are or what they're trying to tell me?


N.

[Nav]

Long time since I flew the 737, Niblet - but if they flash as you land, at a guess they're telling you that you're passing over the Outer and Middle Markers.

About joysticks - I wore out my force-feedback and decided to try a thing called 'Freedom 2.4.' No FF, just normal functions plus twist rudder. The thing about it is, it's cordless - I find that pretty 'liberating', no more tangled wires and I can put it up on the shelf when not in use. Pretty lightly sprung, not as light as the real thing but workable. It also needs no calibrating, stays lined up at all times. I missed the 'feel' on landing for a time, but got used to listening for the tyre-noise again - after all, landings are only PART of the joys of FS!  :)

Have you got the hang of VOR navigation yet? Any problems or mystery areas, give a shout........  

[Niblet]

I suspect the blue one has gone off a couple of times during takeoff/climb, complete with buzzy noise.

Haven't expeimented further with VOR, as I'm trying to figure out the Instrument Landing System thingy - landings are my downfall, literally, at present.

I tried doing the ILS lesson thing in FS itself but it didn't seem to make much sense, instructions said follow the needle, instructor was saying "turn left more" and the window had a message "turn right"...

I downloaded a little Word file, probably from here, with pictures and stuff - but still couldn't quite figure it out.

From what I figure out i need to know the frequency of that specific runway, yes?

And I stick that in NAV1?

Or somewhere?

One thing I really need to remember is to watch my fuel loading, I keep doing little hops of just 25 mins or so, meaning I'm coming in with virtually full tanks...

Is there a simple but from the beginning tutorial anywhere on ILS?


N.

[Nav]

Yes, set it on NAV1. A few other things you need to know though - see if this helps

[Niblet]

That's awesome, thanks!

It can fly at 140 knots? Ah... so my technique of keeping the approach below 200 knots but above 160... Yeah, I'm sure the numbers are somewhere but it gets tricky keeping up with the flood of new data. I tend to go off in tangents, learning about runway and taxiway markings when I intended learning about ILS etc  ;D

[Nav]

Hope it helps, Niblet.

About flight planning/VOR navigation etc., the best I can offer is another contribution I made to Simviation's database, "FS2004 Round The World In A Prop.' You don't have to read it all ( ) - it (literally) covers a lot of ground - but the first few pages cover the use of VORs etc. fairly comprehensively. If you download it and try the first flight that I've described, besides seeing a lot of Australia, you should be fully-conversant with the basics of VOR navigation. About in the middle of this page:-

http://www.simviation.com/fsadventures_10.htm

[Niblet]

Certainly sounds worth a look, thanks. I just said to wifey that I'd like to plan an around the world trip in a relatively small plane, using more conventional navigation. The GPS is a bit too easy - though in real life I'd use it and carry a hand-held spare... I do a fair bit of jungle trekking and have always sworn by GPS, was singing its praises back in the day my heldheld cost around $400. Today I have a little Garmin model, size of a mobile phone, waterproof, cost about 90 UKP.

Will have toi pick the ideal plane...


N.

[BFMF]

Navigating with a GPS is ok, and ok to have as a backup, but it's much more enjoyable/challenging to navigate with maps, compass, and nav radios

[Niblet]

I agree there's a much greater sense of "finding" your destination with something like VOR, which is why I want to learn more and practise it.

With jungle-trekking you're never quite sure if you're going to find a large river or other such obstacle, which can change your plans by days, even weeks, so I'll use every aid available. One of the biggest problems is getting a decent signal under the trees, along with battery life (2 AAA's, though I always carry a tested 8 pack of spares!). They can be such a life-saver that if I were in a Hollywood plane crash I'd rip the the GPS and battery out the plane and lug them with me

So far my attempts at VOR have been pitiful. I really need to dedicate an afternoon to reading and understanding just what does what (and what I'm supposed to do).

Am trying to download the Legacy if only to check it out (despite this site's best attempts to prevent me, for some reason. What's with the user name and password stuff halfway through a download?)

Still haven't got round to reading all of the round the world trip journal but will do, once all this New Year stuff etc is out the way. The way I figure it such a trip takes planning so will put a lot into it, including trying to get hold of a world map so I can track and mark my progress. I also intend saving it as one single saved file if possible. Can that be done with FS9? The file saving does seem a lttle werd at times.

I may also wait until I've got "FS scene", which sounds good. Anyone use this and does it really improve anything?


N.

[Nav]

So far my attempts at VOR have been pitiful. I really need to dedicate an afternoon to reading and understanding just what does what (and what I'm supposed to do).

Best if you give some details of what's happening (or NOT happening) and which aeroplane you're using, Niblet. The FS VOR lessons are pretty useless, he makes it too complicated and pitches you into flying it all manually from scratch. The Cessna is also a bad choice as it only has an old-fashioned 'hung from the top' gauge.

Mty tip is, use the Mooney or the Baron, which have a proper HSI guage like the one shown in the ILS tute. They works exactly like the ILS - the arrow shows the current set course, the shorter line shows that course relative to your position. You can either adjust the course and press 'NAV' so that the autopilot flies you straight to the VOR - or press 'NAV' and fly diagonally towards the course until the autopilot turns you on to it. The same method 'backwards' will fly you away from the VOR. To quote that RW thing of mine (Page 9):-

"(For newcomers again