Just to clear up a matter before I buy this product - does it come with a navigation unit, such as an INS, or do you navigate just with the VOR radios?Thanks for any help.-Phil

I'm sure someone who owns this bird will jump in, but if not, I believe that you can download the manuals and some tutorial flights from their site or the avsim library...should tell you all you need to know!sg

The Captain Sim 727 you can only navigate via the Vor radios, the old style. But apart from this the CS727 is well worth their money. Take a look at www.captainsim.com for more informationRon

VORs and NDBs only. But what I do is whenever these are out of range, I follow the route on the GPS and just use HDG select to adjust my heading for wind and stay on course. Its actually a lot of fun cause you can't leave and go to the bathroom or take a nap. You're constantly monitoring your airspeed (no autothrottle) when the wind changes and also your route.Vectors for final with the Default ATC or Radar Contact would be a big plus.

It doesn't have an INS, or a panel mounted GPS, for that matter, so you navigate with VOR and ADF, and land using ILS, VOR or ADF. There is an icon that brings up a Garmin handheld GPS, however, so you can see your route of flight and find nearest airports, but you cannot set radio frequencies or otherwise control the aircraft from the handheld GPS unit.However, there is a 'cheat' that lets you fly a route as if you had a panel mounted GPS. Load an aircraft that allows you to slave an HSI between the VOR or GPS, then toggle the switch so that the HSI is slaved to GPS. Then load the 727. The HSI on the 727 picks up on the previously-loaded aircraft's settings, and the HSI will be slaved to the flight plan, and once the autopilot is set to NAV mode then the aircraft will just follow the flight plan as if it had a GPS unit on board. The problem is that there is no switch to toggle between NAV and GPS modes for the HSI on the 727, so if you do this cheat the only way to get back to the NAV mode in flight is to pause, load another aircrat, switch the HSI back to NAV mode, then load the 727 back again, and resume the flight. You'll notice, too that if you change VOR frequencies the HSI will show a GPS flag, so you won't be able to shoot ILS or VOR approaches using this 'cheat'

>The problem is that there is no switch to toggle between NAV>and GPS modes for the HSI on the 727, so if you do this cheat>the only way to get back to the NAV mode in flight is to>pause, load another aircrat, switch the HSI back to NAV mode,>then load the 727 back again, and resume the flight. You'll>notice, too that if you change VOR frequencies the HSI will>show a GPS flag, so you won't be able to shoot ILS or VOR>approaches using this 'cheat'Rather than switch between aircraft, you can assign a key in FS9 to toggle between NAV and GPS modes.

To be clear, the vast majority of 727s delivered to domestic US airlines had only 2 vors and 1 adf. I am sure some have been retrofitted - but I know from reading posts from UAL pilots that their large fleet was never updated.Get yourself a set of high altitude en-route charts or FS Navigator and you will be fine. The charts will give you VOR intercept radials for intersections so you know when you are crossing. It's really fun once you get the hang of it.

and to add to this,there's a great FREEWARE ins available via www.simufly.com...i have it installed on some of my DC8's(to stay correct for the era of those planes ;-) )and it works great....be sure to read the manuals though ;-),this is NOT a thing you are used to using in one flight ...greetings

You can install a GPS/NAV switch on the main panel so that you can fly the GPS plan on auto pilot. To do this use the Learjet 45 GPS/NAVswitch. Just add the GPS/NAV gauge in the Learjet45 air cfg file to the Captain Sim 727 air cfg file. You will need to play with the positioning on the panel. If you wish, send me an e-mail and I will give you the exact vertical and horizontal position numbers that I used. There is really no need to be swithing back and forth between aircraft. [email protected] Stanner

Hello All,Yeah, I love this topic . . . you youngsters get to see how us old guys use to have to do it . . . when you really 'flew' the aircraft.Couldn't resist, guys, sorry. Best to all,Clayton T.DopkeMajor, USAF (retired)"Drac"

Hi Clayton,You make a good point. I'm currently doing my IR and have to do it the "old way" too (even though my a/c does have a GPS and a/p, they will both "fail" rapidly during the check-ride :) ).I often wonder though: Pilots of modern aircraft are more like computer systems managers. But they all surely did their IR in the venerable C172 or similar at some time long ago. I wonder how they would handle just a pair of VOR's, a DME and an NDB, and be in the soup.? Maybe this stuff stays with you forever, I don't know.BTW- The C.S. is excellent (to the original poster). As mentioned above, I use it for IR training- the a/c that I fly is nothing like this :). but I can practice some basic instrument navigation with it.Bruce.

In my opinion the CS 727 is the most fun and most emersive 'heavy' add on available. I love it. The Iron Knuckles DC9 comes in a close second.Regards,Boone,

Thanks for all the replies. I already had the freeware INS guage on my Concorde, so I think I'll put them over to the 727, to give a more 'retro-fitted' approach to navigation.Cheers for the help.-Phil

Although it is possible to put the INS gauge in the CS 727 panel it renders the nav hold or course hold inactive. There are one or two other problems people have discovered with this alteration.CheersBoone,"When the seagulls follow the trawler, it's because they think sardines will be thrown in to the sea." E. Cantona