So, I bought a couple of real life sectionals

[TracyQ 2]

Green Bay and Klamath Falls, to be exact.  Especially since getting the A2A Cessna,  I have been wanting to learn VOR to VOR navigation,  and the GB sectional depicts my youthful stomping grounds,  and the KF sectional  fits nicely with the new (ish) Orbx NCA addon. ( And I just spent two weeks driving up and down I-5 in CA, OR, and WA.)

 

Anyway, I have spent countless hours reading online about radio navigation,  and using Skyvector, and still haven't discovered how to navigate in this way;  somehow I thought the real charts would make it clear.  

 

Not in my case,   :( .

 

Soooo much info on the charts,  and it is soooo  small!   I shall persevere,  but dang, that GPS is a wonderful invention!  

 

Some things just do not "click" in my brain,  and this appears to be one of those things.

 

 

 

[turner112 52]

Hi Tracy,

 

What is it you're having trouble with?

[z06z33 763]

Green Bay and Klamath Falls, to be exact.  Especially since getting the A2A Cessna,  I have been wanting to learn VOR to VOR navigation,  and the GB sectional depicts my youthful stomping grounds,  and the KF sectional  fits nicely with the new (ish) Orbx NCA addon. ( And I just spent two weeks driving up and down I-5 in CA, OR, and WA.)

 

Anyway, I have spent countless hours reading online about radio navigation,  and using Skyvector, and still haven't discovered how to navigate in this way;  somehow I thought the real charts would make it clear.  

 

Not in my case,   :( .

 

Soooo much info on the charts,  and it is soooo  small!   I shall persevere,  but dang, that GPS is a wonderful invention!  

 

Some things just do not "click" in my brain,  and this appears to be one of those things.

Id be happy to help you. Im a realworld pilot so I might be able to explain it to you better than some online sources since I fly sims as well.

As for the sectional get to know the legend by heart it seems like a lot but if you study it a few times it'll all click.

[TracyQ 2]

The main thing is finding the proper frequencies for the NDB's and VOR's.  Not so bad for the NDB's,  but when a VOR is in a busy (chart-wise) area,  say around Eau Claire WI (KEAU?),  there is just so much info that I am lost.  Would it be 118.575 to tune that VOR?

 

OK, by going to Skyvector (https://skyvector.com/airport/EAU/Chippewa-Valley-Regional-Airport), I see that is not the correct frequency,  it should be 112.90,  at least as I read it?

 

Sorry for the big letters,  don't know why that happened.

[turner112 52]

Hi Tracy  -

 

Here's a hint

 

http://flighttraining.aopa.org/pdfs/VFR_Chart_Symbols.pdf

 

Check out page 4 of the PDF (actually page 11 of the official document)

 

Andrew

[RWFeldman 159]

Doesnt the FSX Lessons have a fairly decent Vor nav tutorial. Been yrs since I used it but it taught me well enough? LESSON 3 Private Pilot

[henri5 16]

I also bought a sectional of my area but I never use it because there is too much information  written in  text that is too small and crowded for my old eyes. The problem is that sectional cover  too much area - hundreds of square miles so are big and clumsy to use, in addition to not having approach information, which you probably use a lot more than the information of the sectionals.

 

What I DO use is SIMPLATES X Ultra on the Ipad for Approach plates and airport information all over the world. Most of the information on the sectional that is required for simulation is available on the FSX map (airport and navaid frequencies, airways etc), but more convenient to see better is Plan G, where you can see any  airport or Navaid information simly by mousing over it, in addition to seeing your aircraft on a zoomable real moving map showing cities, roads and so on. The same information  can be obtained  from FSCommander, but on a black background instead of an actual map. Plan G is free and FSCommander has a free demo. Both also have flight planning, but PlanG does not have SIDs and STARs, whereas FSC does.

 

Henri

[dajackman2 2]

Kinda of off topic but, when I was taking lessons, my local airport gave away expired sectionals....always a good source, and the price is right!

[RayHff 6]

You can download free copies in PDF format from the FAA:

 

www,faa.gov

 

Also, there's a free Aeronautical Chart Users Guide.