Any Ideas!......NAV, CRS tracking problem

[Fall_guy 1]

Hi Guys,Having chosen an Aircraft, made a Flight Plan, and then teleported to the end of the filed runway............After engine starts and system checks, I then activate the FMS and select NAV (on the left display) and turn the CRS mode Knob to select Waypoint (NAV) so the aircraft can follow the filed Flight Plan. Then after take-off.... at around 1,000 ft , I activate the Auto-Pilot.The Problem is that the NAV button on the Glare panel will NOT let me depress it (Select NAV function) while the A/P is ACTIVE (When the A/P is NOT active the NAV button will depress (select)).1) In any case the Aircraft will NOT follow my Flight Plan2) The Course indicated does not change on the Navigation Display (although FMS 1 is displayed on the left sideof the ND).Im pretty sure I've omitted something from the system files, (Panel, Amp) but Ive checked them against the Hawker files several times and everthing appears OK.Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated as this is driving me KNUTS!!!!! If you need any more info please post.Thanks for your TimeJohnBoeing 737-800 Project

[Roger Mazengarb 0]

G'day John,Great news to hear that the 737-800 project is alive and well!>Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated as this>is driving me KNUTS!!!!! If you need any more info>please post.OK first things first -- put the jug on and make a coffee! :-)Always works for me when I have problems with Fly! II. To the problem! At the moment I'm not sure that you actually have a programming problem. Let me explain -After reading your post I fired up Fly! II, selected the Hawker and opened the flight planner. Set KSFO as departure and KLAX as arrival, clicked on generate route and start flight plan.Sitting in the dark cockpit at the end of the runway I used the key to auto start the engines and as soon as power was available I selected the NAV button (with AP off) and it lit up as selected.I then switched the AP on and tried it and it wouldn't work.BUT ... I noticed that a "low signal strength" warning message in the lower left hand corner of the screen.On checking the flight plan waypoints I noticed that Fly! II had generated an NDB (omnidirectional beacon - you can't use the AP to Fly a course in NAV mode to an NDB. You have to use heading mode. ) "PADJAR" as the first waypoint out of SFO. The auto pilot NAV mode only works with a VOR/localiser. You can use BC mode and fly a radial out from SFO but that's another story.Also I dont remember if the radios are auto tuned. I think you may have to progressively tune the #1 NAV radio to the waypoints as you go. I haven't yet tried the flight plan as I want to reply to you asap.1. Check your flight plan and make sure you are using a VOR.2. Check that the #1 NAV radio is tuned with the VOR as the active frequency.If you are doing this and still having problems then try the same flight plan with the Hawker and see if the default aircraft works.Get BackCheers,Roger

[RandallR 444]

Roger,I'm not at home where I can verify my normal operations with the Hawker Panel. You're spot on about tracking only vor/loc in NAV mode when not using the flight director. However, if the flight director is loaded with your flight plan and you set the AP to WPT mode, choosing NAV should follow all waypoints in the flight plan.

[Guest tonyc]

John,I assuming that you've switched the knob to "nav" position, and that sometimes the signal for that NAV is weak and the autopilot will not take...try another nav point and see what happens....tony

[Roger Mazengarb 0]

G'day Randall,Good job we have pilot experience on hand! :-) You right in what you say, except I'm not sure the FD is involved in any way. The Flight plan is automatically loaded into the FMC. FD ON or OFF it still works. Don't no why I veered off on the radio mode use of the AP as on re-reading Johns post he does say he selected waypoint. (GPS which is using latitude/longitude ref.)Cheers,Roger

[Roger Mazengarb 0]

G'day John,Many apologies for my previous ramblings. I realy should read posts much more carefully and not fly off at a tangent. I'm getting old :-)After reading Randalls reply I did another test in the Hawker and found that I had to set BOTH the efis knobs to waypoint. If I only selected the LH knob (bearing source) to waypoint then I had the same symptoms you descibe but if I also selected the RH knob (course source) to waypoint also then everything worked fine.Hope this helps.Cheers,Roger

[RandallR 444]

You've got it, Roger! Geez...I'm afraid my age is creeping up on me - I was referring to the FMC (and said FD)! :-roll

[Fall_guy 1]

Hi Roger, Guys..................Thanks for your replies.Sorry I'm late getting back to you all, but I had a problem accessing the forums.Firstly, Roger when using the FMS computer to follow your flight plan, Once you've selected your DEPARTURE airport/runway and your ARRIVAL airport/runway in the PLANNER, you then ADD your WAYPOINTS manually. The most important thing to remeber though, is you must NOT create a generated route. Simply START the flight plan and you should be transpoted to the Departure Airport. Go through your Engine/system starts and then switch on the FMS's accept BOTH FMS display and then select the NAV button on the left FMS keypad(Pilot ).Next goto the BEARING/COURSE source panel and turn the COURSE KNOB to WPT (Waypoint, is position 3 I think!) This will then display FMS 1 on the left-side of the ND screen..........AND a bearing TRACK indication at the bottom right of the ND screen. Once airbourne simply switch on the A/P and select NAV on the A/P mode panel and the Aircraft will then fly your stored flight plan right until touch-down.Roger, please don't think I'm teaching you to suck egg, you probably know all this already, but it may be useful for others/newbies.ALL the above works fine in the HAWKER, but for some reason when I try to fly FMS in the B737-800 ...........I don't get a bearing TRACK indication and the NAV button will not depress, so the Aircraft will NOT follow my FMS flight plan.Sorry its long,John

[Roger Mazengarb 0]

G'day John,OK I now understand your problem. That's a start :-)>Firstly, Roger when using the FMS computer to follow your>flight plan, Once you've selected your DEPARTURE>airport/runway and your ARRIVAL airport/runway in the PLANNER,>you then ADD your WAYPOINTS manually. The most important>thing to remeber though, is you must NOT create a generated>route. Simply START the flight plan and you should be>transpoted to the Departure Airport. Go through your>Engine/system starts and then switch on the FMS's accept BOTH>FMS display and then select the NAV button on the left FMS>keypad(Pilot ).All the above I THINK is a red herring as far as your problem is concerned.a.) I don't understand " MUST NOT create a generated route." I have no problems using either generated or manually created flight plans.Occasionally Fly! II will report unable to create route and I have to manually do it.b.) When a flight plan is started it is automatically placed in the FMC. The NAV and FPL buttons on the FMC only affect the FMC display. they have no decernable effect on the AP operation. The FMC is hard wired to the AP computer (in Fly! II) and indeed the FMC's don't even have to be switched on and the AP will still follow the flight plan.!! Don't know if that's a bug or not.>Next goto the BEARING/COURSE source panel and turn the COURSE>KNOB to WPT (Waypoint, is position 3 I think!) This will>then display FMS 1 on the left-side of the ND>screen..........AND a bearing TRACK indication at the bottom>right of the ND screen. Have you eliminated the BEARING switch and pointer (magenta pointer with cross) from the B737 ND ?? Hard to determine from your posts. > Once airbourne simply switch on the>A/P and select >NAV on the A/P mode panel and the Aircraft will then fly your>stored flight plan right until touch-down.>Agreed, I followed your instructions precisely and found no problems with with the default Hawker.Just curious as to why you don't select the bearing to waypoint as well? >Roger, please don't think I'm teaching you to suck egg, you>probably know all this already, but it may be useful for>others/newbies.Hey! I may be getting a bit long in the tooth but this old dog is still capable of being taught new tricks :-lol>ALL the above works fine in the HAWKER, but for some reason>when I try to fly FMS in the B737-800 ...........I don't get a>bearing TRACK indication and the NAV button will not depress,>so the Aircraft will NOT follow my FMS flight plan.As previously noted I can reproduce this error by creating a disagreement between the AP and the NAV system. This is what I suspect you are experiencing.I myself have had times when I had unexplainable (to me) errors when swapping default files into aircraft. Funny things just sometimes inexplicably just happen. All I can suggest is what you have already done. Check the files - especially for spaces - against the default originals. If you have deleted the COURSE bearing selector knob then try incorproating that in your B737 and see if that helps.I'm not a programmer mate so I'm sorry I really can't be of much help.If you have been altering the ND gage then I think you may need to make a new ND gage with it's own unique identifier.Don't give up! :-) Roger

[Roger Mazengarb 0]

G'day John,I don't know if you have "Fly! II gage reference guide" by Chris Wallace but I've copied the EFIS panel and ND gauge and attached them to this post.The full reference guide is downloadable from Fly! Wikki (I think) and it is my bible when it comes to instruments/panels.The ND is hard coded and complete. (1 page)The EFIS panel I have only attached the first page as the most important part is the table at the beginning. The programing you can get from the Hawker.Not sure if any of the above is of help or hinderance :-) but I mean well. Cheers,Roger

[Fall_guy 1]

Hi Roger,Your absolutely right Mate, the fms does'nt even have to be switched on for the aircraft to follow the flight plan, however I can only get the aircraft to change course when the EFIS (CRS knob is set to WPT). When the BEARing knob is set to WPT the aircraft does'nt follow the Plan. (Is this tobe expected).The Good news is the B737 now follows the Flight Plan and now displays XTK on the Right-side of the ND (which it never did before).I'm not quite sure what I've done to correct this problem (The only file I've been working on is the Radios and the Floor Panel.) ...........ANYhow a huge thanks for your help and that coffee worked wonders.One more thing......in the Amp file Ive seen a reference to HF (High frequency). Do you happen to know what its for and whether it functions in FLY? also have you any input as to how the various Radios (Comm/Nav/ADF/Transponder, etc) are actually switched ON. I know in the Hawker their are switches located on the Main Panel, but I can't seem to find any ON/OFF buttons/switches on the B737 pics I've looked at.Many, Many Thanks for ALL your replies........their really helpfulJohn

[KenWood 5]

Hi John,Sorry I'm just now getting into the thread... Do you happen to have PMDG's 757 or 777 aircraft at all? I know in the "other sim", there's always one button located on a panel simply marked "Avionics" that turns all avionics on or off... What you might can do is drop Rob Randazzo over at PMDG a quick email asking about that, and if their group might be able to supply you with a page or two of info, seeing as they did a 737 for MSFS... but am willing to wager Rob might be willing to share a little help on this. :-)I do not think the HF radio area ever was addressed within the patches - so ten to one they are not functional (at least to my knowledge). Chris might know...I will check with Alex to see if he has any manuals for the 737 (any version) to help at least figure this out. Cheers!Ken Wood :-sun1http://www.avsim.com/hangar/fly/dfdg/bannernewkw.jpgGateway 700X; Intel P4 2.4GHz; 512MB RAM; NVIDIA Ti4200 4X AGP 128MB; SB Audigy; Thrustmaster TopGun Fox 2 Pro Shock

[Fall_guy 1]

Hi Ken,Thanks for that.............Ive more or less finished the Floor Panel (radios etc). and Ive noticed in the bottom left corner of this panel (as you look forward of the cockpit) there appears to be two knobs on a lighting plate.1) FLOOD - brightness2) PANEL - brightnessWhat Im not sure about is whether the Panel KNOB operates ALL the panels lighting or just the FLOOR panel lighting. My overall issue is that on the Hawker there is a button/switch which turns on the RADIOS stacks..................I'd like to know what indeed turns on the individual Radios (Comm/Nav/ATC) etc on the Boeing 737.Thanks for your HelpRegardsJohn