Hi guys,I would like a point clarified that bothers me. I have been flyin all kinds of approaches in FS if only to avoid the phoney vectoring by FS ATC. However one thing bothers me as I find it is totally wrong coded in the FS ATC. The DME arc approach. If you choose a DME arc approach FS clears you to the center of the arc (usually the VOR od DME that is the reference for the arc), instead of getting you on the arc or better an IAF that is positioned on the arc.I am not proficient in real world IFR procedures but I guess the arc is there to keep you at distance from the airport until you are on final. It makes no sense to me to fly to the center of the arc and than back to the arc as FS ATC wants me to. Can someone confirm that FS ATC got it wrong?Did anyone find a workaround for this so that FS clears you for the approach when entering the arc other than canceling IFR?Well that reads confusing and English is not my native language. I hope someone understands what I want to say.....:-). Alex

Alex, when flying a DME arc the IAF is usally the VOR. In my IFR flying my instructor taught me to fly to the VOR (IAF) then track out bound on the proper heading, the proper distance of the arc. Then fly the arc to the intercept the ILS or VOR approach. It sounds like you are doing everthing as intended. I don't think ATC would vector you right onto the arc. Maybe unless there was a waypoint on the arc that would give you an exact position.Here is an article I found on flying DME arc approaches.http://stoenworks.com/Tutorials/IFR,%20VOR...Approaches.htmlYou can find many other articles around.Kevin

In the FS9 database there can be 3 different Transistion Approaches for the VORDME arc approach.If you don't ask for the proper Transistion from ATC then you might be sent to the VOR for a procedure turn which may not be using the Arc.There is normally a left and right arc in the database and they also have a IAF waypoint identifier. If one of these are selected then ATC will vector you to that IAF which is the entry point of either the left or right arc.Make sure you are selecting the proper IAF waypoint identifier from ATC that cooresponds to which arc you want to execute.

Yes, usually there are one, two or more transitions for a DME arc approach. Usually they are the end of a STAR. But in FS I have never seen these transitions or IAFs. Guess I am flying the wrong airports. The FS approach database isn't exactly complete.Alex

No all end at the end of a STAR, infact, I really don't recall any IAFs at the end of STARs. There may be a few, but the majority I've come in contact may have an enroute or transision fix that leads to the IAF, but rarely is the IAF a waypoint on a STAR.----------------------------------------------------------------John MorganReal World: KGEG, UND Aerospace Spokane Satillite, Private ASEL 141.2 hrs, 314 landings, 46 inst. apprs.Virtual: MSFS 2004"There is a feeling about an airport that no other piece of ground can have. No matter what the name of the country on whose land it lies, an airport is a place you can see and touch that leads to a reality that can only be thought and felt." - The Bridge Across Forever: A Love Story by Richard Bach

The best way to fly any IFR approach is to have the actual approach plate infront of you. www.airnav.com has a listing of U.S airports where you can download the approach plates. I don't know of any websites that have approach plates for other countries. Perhaps someone might know. These really help me to put it into perspective. If I don't have an approach plate handy, I will sometimes sketch my own to give me a better perspective on what I am going to be flying.Kevin

AlexIf you give us a one of the DME Arc's you are having trouble with it would help.Remember the FS9 database is complete at the time MSN released the program back in 2003. If there was a Jeppesen Approach Chart for a runway in 2003 then it is in FS9. If you don't have the approach chart then open the default GPS and find the proper name for the IAF which ATC will vector you to for the arc.Not only will the GPS receiver show you the entire database of transistion approaches but will fly them for you which can be used as a learning tool. In FS9 at large airports the Transistion Approaches start where the STAR arrival ends. FS9 does not have published STAR's because the visual zone is only 108NM. I just finished posting on another forum "how to" use the pattern holds in FS9. Someone was kind enough to copy some of what I posted on the other site and put it over here on AVSIM. You might want to read the documemtation that MSN wrote on how to use the complete database and the proper way to ask ATC for the entry point to the DME arc.

Yes, I can do that as soon as I wil find the time. I will be away for two days with no access to the sim but will post on the weekened. I am using Jeppsen Sim Charts and the RXP GNS530/430 combination. My charts are a little older than the FS database, and the GNS database is a little newer so I never know exactly what I will get :-).Thx fr your help so far guys.

You can and often should intercept the arc from any heading. If the VOR lies on the opposite side of the field from your present position, it makes to sense to overly the airport, fly to the VOR and then outboud to the arc's distance.Maybe one of the links suggested in this thread goes through this but you can use the HSI to fly very precise arcs. Here's how:1. Fly inbound to the VOR and use DME to determine how far ahead of you the are is.2. Start a 90 degree turn in an appropriate direction and LEAD the distance from the arc so that you roll out ON the arc distance.3. You will have set the HSI course arrow to 90 degrees + 10 (obviously 100 degrees)relative you your heading. 4. You now have a course arrow oriented in a "horizontal" (left-right vs. up-down) position and the center portion of the arrow will be UP...or "above" the course arrow....because you have not yet reached the radial you set the HSI to.5. As you DO reach that radial, the center of the course arrow will, of course, center...at which point you change the course heading on the HSI to 10 more degrees left (if you are flying a left arc and right if your are flying right) at which point the center portion of the course arrow will again rise above the horizontally position arrow.6. When the center portion centers again, you dial in another 10 degress and just keep repeating that process until you reach the FAF.7. All the while you are monitoring your dme distance and you "cheat" toward or away from the vor as needed by either changing the 10 degree heading before or after the needle centers.Fun way to fly the arc.I hope I have explained this properly. I know how to DO it but EXPLAINING it is a different story!!In short, just fly any heading inbound to the vor and shortly before the dme distance...depending on ground speed) rotate the airplane and HSI course arrow to course 90 degrees from that heading...plus 10 degrees and wait for the needle to center...then add/subtract 10 degrees and keep doing that while monitoring dme distance.(-: