Hi all,After few months of slowly learning the flying basics and plan (mostly GA) controlling I feel that it

Hi Shay,I can't readily compare the two, as I have never used FS Navigator 3. BUT, with FS Navigator v4.51 you can select your departing and arriving airports, and the program will automatically find the route with both a SID & STAR included.It takes into account MANY different aircraft types, including their cruising altitude, rate of climb & descent etc.As well as doing all of this, it will actually fly the route for, just as your autopilot or FMC would.Hope this helps! It is definetly worth the purchase!

I have used FSNav 3 but it is so long ago now I cannot remember the differences.What I will say though is, like Rob, FSNav 4.51 is worth every penny, but if you get V3 it will give you a good idea of what FSNav can do and if you enjoy V3 you can be confident in buying V4.51.Like most things, the later is much improved.Hope this helps.

Hi Shay,FSNav is a great add-on, and I really appreciate it for it's many features. But to add a twist here, I actually have stopped using it for the time being because I felt like the program was doing too much of the work for me. Part of the joy I get out of MSFS is planning my route, and learning to aticipate descent rates/timing as well as fuel management. My advice is to try FSNav for the free trial period, and then decide if you want to bravely venture out on your own. Having said this, however, it is a fantastic program for the purpose of learning basic navigation techniques (not to mention it's overall utility, a superb add-on).

Thanks Guys,I will take your advise and try it first to see how its fits me.Shay

Shay,Use the free V3 first because you will have unlimited use then d/load V4.51 to see the differences; you only have 20 (I think) runs with V4.51 before it times out.

David is right. FS NAV is a great tool for "lightening the load" of flight planning but nothing compares to paper charts and hand flying and really "Navigating" the aircraft using VOR's and NDB's. If you can get a chart (either real world type, or print out of a sim chart) and use it to navigate, it is a much more satisfying way to fly FS. Good Luck and post any questions you have about navigation here, there is a lot of knowledgable people here that can help you. Happy Flying!Ken

Shayt,Please be advised though, ver 3 will not work with FS2002. I think version 4 or maybe 5 were the first to work with it. In any case, I think it's such a fantastic program and well worth the price.John

To answer your question, FSNav 4.x added Low- and High- Airways to the map, making the routes flown easier to work out. It also improved the functionality.If I remember correctly, V4.x was the first to include SIDs and STARs, and it allows you to download user-created SIDs and STARs as well. Contrary to what was said above, you always could select your start and destination airport in FSNav 3. I can't comment on whether Version 3 works under FS2002, as I was already using V4.x under FS98, (I never used FS2000), but if it does work, it'll give you an idea of what the package can do. Many simmers swear by it, and I use it constantly, even if only as a moving map for the better add-ons.If you're interested in learning about aerial navigation, the following site is excellent, and is now being updated for FS2002:http://www.navfltsm.addr.com/index.htm

Alastair,That's a great Nav. site.Thanks alot,Shay

I used to run FSNAV 3 under FS 98 and FS 2000 Pro. As the module has to be installed in both FS folders to run in both simulators, they were two independant installations on the same system. It worked well for quite a while in both versions of Flight Simulator. Unfortunatly I started getting immediate error popups attempting to start both simulators. After clicking the button acknowleging the popup the simulator would close. This problem started occuring at the same time in both simulators. Removing FSNAV 3 cleared up the problem in both versions (98 & 2K pro) of the simulator.Are other users still able to use FSNAV version 3 to run with FS 2K and earlier?

No problem, glad to help ! It was this site where I learned how to fly the beacons and ILS, and my simming has been so much more satisfying since.