The 'Connie' navigation challenge

[rjmck 0]

FSX now has a vintage airliner that is a total joy to fly and looks so good too: thanks to the team that has given us "Lockheed L-049A Constellation v3.0".This offers us the chance to try 1950's style navigation on transoceanic or transcontinetal flights where VORs and NDBs are few or non-existent.An example:1. Plot a great circle route, say from Auckland to Sydney -- ocean all the way. FSbuild will do it for you, with each waypoint about 100nm apart.2. Each 30 minutes, plot actual position. FSX doesn't let you do radio triangulation, so you can get the data using shift-z for lat/lon position.3. Using Bohumil Stadnik's Orthodromic Calculator (ortho-cities.zip) you can now calculate distance and bearing to nearest waypoint -- which lets you then adjust for wind drift. Or you can calculate your corrected bearing to next waypoint along. If you work at it, you can also calculate the wind speed and direction, check it against the "winds aloft" chart you downloaded before taking off http://aviationweather.gov/iffdp/ ), and adjust your heading accordingly.So a lengthy flight can keep you busy and interested, moreso than just watching a 747 FMS do it all for you. And what a sense of achievement when land finally comes in sight and you are right on target!Just avoid any temptation to check out along the way on the GPS they've included in the package. I have removed mine.Ron McKeirnan

[Guest PPSFA]

I have been flying this since the FS9 version, and it imported into FSX perfectly. Its a great plane and as a bonus, it works with multiplayer/ shared cockpit :-) Salute to the developer.

[Guest Lith1um]

Thanks for the heads up about the Connie. I'll have to download it tonight.It will fit right in with MyTrafficX as you can set your AI aircraft to historical years and see all the old traffic.

[Mace 1,902]

>FSX now has a vintage airliner that is a total joy to fly and>looks so good too: thanks to the team that has given us>"Lockheed L-049A Constellation v3.0".>Old-style navigation is very fun in the sim, because we have no real-world issues if we miss our island/airport etc. :) Thanks for the info on B. Stadnik's calculator.Incidentally, FSX has had vintage airliners for a long time actually (Jens Kristensen's DC-4...a great aircraft with VC and all...and other vintage airliners he has made for FSX, and T. Gibson's DC-6 imports to FSX too). I just didn't want anyone to think they weren't out there.Also if you like vintage floatplanes, search the AVSIM forums for the term 'floatplane' and you should find a thread where Phil Taylor lists his faves IIRC. They are some good ones.RhettAMD 3700+ (@2585 mhz), eVGA 7800GT 256 (Guru3D 93.71), ASUS A8N-E, PC Power 510 SLI, 2gb Corsair XMS 3-3-3-8 (1T), WD 150 gig 10000rpm Raptor, WD 250gig 7200rpm SATA2, Seagate 120gb 5400 rpm external HD, CoolerMaster Praetorian