Navigating around in the Cessna

[Nightflight]

I have been trying to fly a VFR flight from KGSO to KCRW but i am having a little problem with the navigation and autopilot. First, Flight director is on auto and i am just trying to get the airplane to a certain altitude

(3000 ft). The alt will hold but cant seem to find the button to rotate to change the alt display on the autopilot panel. Next, if i engage heading hold, the airplane should turn to my desired heading if i change that on the HSI right?  Lastly, if i down load a flight plan from xplane, how do i get it to show up so that i can use it with my cessna. I put the flight plan in my output folder under FMS plans right? Where should it show up in Xplane??? Or do i just need to right my flight plan out by hand and input it on the flight plan screen. It does make it more real if you right it out.

[cessna729]

I have been trying to fly a VFR flight from KGSO to KCRW but i am having a little problem with the navigation and autopilot.

This route?

 

First, Flight director is on auto and i am just trying to get the airplane to a certain altitude (3000 ft). The alt will hold but cant seem to find the button to rotate to change the alt display on the autopilot panel.

Cos the default General Aviation/Cessna 172SP is old like me! and it only has a simple autopilot, so by default there is no ALT adjusting knob, it will just HOLD the current Altitude.

But if you want to play around with X-Planes Settings, Joystick and Equipment you could program some of the spare buttons on your joystick (or keys on your keyboard) to get it to work!

 

You would need to set the following:

 

1.   autopilot/vertical speed................................to select VSI mode for climbs and decents.

2.   autopilot/vertical_speed_down.....................to decrease the target VSI setting

3.   autopilot/vertical_speed_up.........................to increase the target VSI setting

4.   autopilot/altitude_down................................to decrease the target ALT setting

5.   autopilot/altitude_up....................................to increase the target ALT setting

Or you could just program the "sync" options so the auto-pilot would just hold the VSI that you currently had.

 

Next, if i engage heading hold, the airplane should turn to my desired heading if i change that on the HSI right? 

Yes, as lond as the FLIGHT DIR switch is in AUTO.

 

Lastly, if i down load a flight plan from xplane, how do i get it to show up so that i can use it with my cessna. I put the flight plan in my output folder under FMS plans right? Where should it show up in Xplane??? Or do i just need to right my flight plan out by hand and input it on the flight plan screen. It does make it more real if you right it out.

This is how you program a flight plan and instrument stuff.

The one for your flight might look like this:

I3 version1428 +35.215_-078.798 0.000000 35.215073 -78.7989121 KGSO 3000.000000 36.107845 -79.9480971 KPSK 3000.000000 37.137344 -80.6784821 KBKW 3000.000000 37.791256 -81.1242521 KCRW 0.000000 38.375465 -81.593643

Unfortunately you can't use .fms flight plans with the default C-172SP as far as I can remember to load the whole flight plan.

The C-172SP only has a simple single waypoint GPS reciver, so by default the FPL button on the GNS430 dosn't work and you can only input the NEXT waypoint and use the "Direct to" key (looks like a capital -D-> with an arrow through it).

So you would go:

-D->     use the innner and outer knobs to select the 1st enroute waypoint KPSK, then press ENT

Then take off, turn onto your intial HDG, start a climb, trim the aircraft, then press the CDI button on the GPS receiver untill you see "GPS" appear above the button, then press the engage the auto pilot, and select LOC (if you have set up the joystick buttons like I suggested you could also set up ALT and VSI.

cessna729.

 

Edit1: Or as Keith much more sensibly suggests in the next post do it with VOR's or my fav NDB's (trouble you had better be quick cos the FAA wants to decomission lots of VOR's and NDB's soon!)

 

Edit2: Ohh!, and thanks to steven winslow's post for correcting my fading memory (It appears you can get the C-172 to load a flight plan using a spare button on your joystick and assigning it to FMS/key_load).

Edited January 3, 2013 by cessna729

[Keith Smith]

Or, you could skip the GPS and just use the VOR's that work REALLY REALLY well in that airplane:

 V45 PSK V59 BKW V258 HVQ

 

Here's the route: http://skyvector.com/?ll=37.12470231381898,-81.05822754262331&chart=301&zoom=5&plan=A.K7.KGSO:F.K7.PROVE:F.K7.FREON:V.K6.PSK:V.K6.BKW:V.K6.HVQ:A.K6.KCRW

[steven winslow]

Unfortunately you can't use .fms flight plans with the default C-172SP

 

Yes you can.  You just need to program a button to "load flight plan" and you're good to go.  It will load a flight plan into the GNS430.  Just go to the joystick and equipment menu>advanced>FMS (I think) and set a button to "load flight plan."

[Nightflight]

 

Or, you could skip the GPS and just use the VOR's that work REALLY REALLY well in that airplane:

 V45 PSK V59 BKW V258 HVQ

 

Here's the route: http://skyvector.com/?ll=37.12470231381898,-81.05822754262331&chart=301&zoom=5&plan=A.K7.KGSO:F.K7.PROVE:F.K7.FREON:V.K6.PSK:V.K6.BKW:V.K6.HVQ:A.K6.KCRW

 

 

So i just plug thhose vectore and waypoints into the route section of the flightplan???

[Keith Smith]

Nightflight, which 'flightplan' are you referring to? If you're asking how to assemble the route on skyvector.com as a flight planning tool, then just use the link above, it already contains the route.

 

If you mean the flight plan in X-Plane, there's no need. The point I was making was that you can fly by just tuning the VOR's.

[Nightflight]

OK keith...Ill try by using the vors

[Nightflight]

I also download the Apollo Gloabal AirMap To see if i acan input flight plans into it. I wanted something that would display on a GPS type insurment to show me if i was on course.

 

[Keith Smith]

What that will actually result in is that you will be navigating by moving map and occasionally referring to the vor.

You truly can do the entire flight using a vor receiver, or just by looking out the window. The vor receiver tells you if you are on course. I love GPS, but it isn't needed for this flight.