How to I mathematically find the magnetic variation

[Guest stang]

I need to be able to mathematically find the magnetic variation based on a lat/long. Does anyone know how to extract the magnetic variation from the FS02 scenery files. ThanksTerry

[Guest]

Hi TerryMag.Var cannot be mathematically calculated.You need to open the bgl files and extract the info from there. I do not know of some tool that will do this, but the structure is fairly easy to understand.Check the fs2k sdk.Cheers George

[Guest Hugo]

>Hi Terry >Mag.Var cannot be mathematically calculated. I agree with you Terry>>You need to open the bgl files and extract the info from >there. I do not know of some tool that will do this, but the >structure is fairly easy to understand. >Check the fs2k sdk. >>Cheers George If you use FS Navigator, pointing to any airport will give you the local mag. var.In FS itself, if one slews himself the the spot he whishes to determine the variation, and then presses the scace bar, its a/c will sets itself pointing True North (Geographic North). On the heading indicator one can read the corresponding magnetic heading. The difference between this value and 0 or 360 will give the east or west mag var.Hope it helpsHugo

[Guest Hugo]

>I agree with you Terry Oups! I meant George. SorryHugo

[Guest DannyV]

Actually, it can be calculated using the latest World Magnetic Model. If you do a search on WMM-95 at the NIMA site, you will find a program (including source code if required) where you can plug in the lat/long, altitude and year and it will calculate the mag var for you. If you can't find it, let me know and I'll email you the ZIP file.Cheers,Danny VickersPS. The US DOD and just about the most of the Aviation Authorities that publish approach plates use this formula from what I have read. I have checked all of the mag var for airports around Australia, and they agree 100% with the publlished values ;-)

[Guest Hugo]

Well, I wasen't aware of that. One good thing about ignorance is there is always ample empty space to fill in ;-)Thanks for the leed, I'll give it a lookHugo