Hi All I have a question....over the week end I installed the "Howard 500 aircraft and a program called copilot and was checking out the Howard and I punched up the GPS and the Direct to button and I may have brushed the keyboard and noticed that the airport code line in the GPS was filling in from the keyboard. The next day I tried to do the same thing but it would not function.QUESTION: can you activate the GPS airport code from the keyboard?Thanks in advanceTONY

Hi Tony!Yes, the FS9 default GPS can be operated from the keyboard. Quote from the FS9 Learning Center:--- BEGIN QUOTE ---To select a direct-to destination1. Press the Direct-to button.The Select Direct-to Waypoint page will appear, with the waypoint identifier field highlighted.2. Use the small and large knobs to enter the identifier of the desired destination waypoint. (The large knob moves the cursor; the small knob dials letters and numbers.)3. Press the ENT button once to confirm the selected waypoint, and again to activate the direct-to function.Note: After you've turned the small knob to highlight the first letter, you can type the identifier on your keyboard.--- END QUOTE ---You find the complete FS9 GPS manual here: [FS9]/FSweb/LearningCenter/Navigation/UsingTheGPS.htmVOlker :]

I tried that in the real airplane the other day, but I couldn't find the keyboard! :-roll In the real aircraft, it is just as cumbersome turing the large and small knobs plus fly the aircraft, especially in turbulance.W. Sieffert

I can't stand using the default GPS anyway, RealityXP is the way to go! :)VOlker :]

Couldn't agree with you more Volker! In comparison to Reality XP's unit, the default MS version is just a bad joke! I just sent off a file to RXP with a 530XP conversion for the Howard, if they accept it for the user files, it will be available shortly.BestSch

Hehe, the only good thing I can say about the default FS9 GPS 500 is that it has roughly the same size as the RealityXP 530XP, so it's easy to replace the toy with the real thing. I'll give your Howard retrofit a try, this plane is gorgeous!Gru

Volker: If you can't wait till RXP loads it up, mail me at: [email protected] and I'll send it to you.BestGrahame (EDHL)

VOLKER , tHANKS I though I was dreaming !!!Tony

>I can't stand using the default GPS anyway, RealityXP is the>way to go! :)It's nice, but I miss the 'terrain map' too much to give up the default GSP entirely... :)

>>I can't stand using the default GPS anyway, RealityXP is>the>>way to go! :)>>It's nice, but I miss the 'terrain map' too much to give up>the default GSP entirely... :)I don't know the RealityXP at all -- although I do recognize that it seems to have many enthusiastic supporters.But - in regard to the "terrain map" of the default GPS, I am with you Bill - if I understand what you are alluding to. One of the MAJOR improvements of FS2004 over FS2002 (for me) is the inclusion of the "terrain" detail as shown in the default GPS. Now I can fly in unfamiliar terrain without any charts ( I know that in real life that this would be unrealistic) - but in FS, it is great to be able to see the terrain around you and know the approx altitude of mountains etc by their colours. In fact, I would like to see this feature improved a little-- i find that the detail shown on the GPS is very dependent on the range selected -- in some cases, I find that suddenly the terrain detail becomes "pixelated".I have never really read much discussion about this major advance in FS2004.Barry

There are two sides on this coin! it is a major advance in some sort because now you have much more information, but it also is a step backward in the real as it gets departement because the Garmin GNS 530 (or the GPS 500 "modeled" in FS2004) does not have such a feature at all...Hope this helps!