Any answers appreciated...I have a STAR in my flight plan and request IAP from Center about 40 miles out, no approach controller at arriving field so no vectored approach...waypoints are displayed in AdvDsp but as soon as I contact Tower waypoints are replaced with airport and rwy info. Is this intended..? Should I not be contacting Tower until I finish the approach and am on short final?Regards..

you might have something there. let's see what doug says?jd

OK..Let me know what Doug has to say...Thanks

John and ANE002,ANE002 - Interesting. Is it important to you that the checkpoints are still displayed after contacting Tower? If so, why? At this point you're flying per a plate, not the AdvDisplay, correct?John - RC having us contact Tower so quickly (if no Apch) has always been wrong. Fixing this up (contacting at a more appropriate time, including specific rwys etc) is one small part of the back-end v5 VMC changes I've hinted at over the past months. What the AdvDisplay shows when we get that far, that'll be up to you and the code. I imagine it'll all fall into place.

Doug..Well, I was using the Flight1 ATR without FMC but then found out that Otto will not work with their hand-rolled A/P version(non-FS A/P)so I couldn't count on the co-pilot feature to get me to ILS intercept..and a lot of the airports I fly to do not have an approach controller so I couldn't get vectors for ILS approaches. I just thought I'd use the AdvDisplay'ed checkpoints and dial in headings for vectoring to intercept with the ILS but as soon as I contacted tower the checkpoints were no longer displayed and therefore I couldn't use them...I guess I could use a moving map or the FMC but it just seemed cleaner and less workload to just fly the flight plan with the AdvDisplay for vectoring via the A/P's heading hold...I guess I could dismiss them not being displayed.. but then I would ask "Why not remove the code to display them totally if they are irrelevant and not needed/used?" I don't really want to see that happen but the logic of removing the display of checkpoints when there isn't any vectoring available escapes me....especially... just when I needed them most and no Otto to help out. Does this make any sense?Regards,Peter

If you request an IAP then you are expected to use your own nav tools whether FMC, GPS, VOR/DME, etc. You generally need approach plates if not using a GPS or FMC guided nav display that gives you a vertical profile as well.I think I'm correct in saying the RC displayed bearing and next waypoint is only there to insure your get credited for flying to it and to give you an idea if you are going to get there. I believe it is a by product of the process RC uses to monitor your heading as instructed by ATC and the plan you filed.It is not meant to be a nav aid as such.Any time you contact tower you are expected to be on final or else entering visual approach pattern where the vectoring process is no longer required and RC is not monitoring your heading as such. I'm in fact not sure if on visual such as a circling approach RC is doing any monitoring except to insure perhaps you are not straying too far off the pattern and also to recognise when you are on final for the landing clearance.One of the tricks to follow more points of a STAR, as an example, is to request an IAP and when granted you are on your own nav to get there so you can follow more STAR points if you wish then you would if ATC broke you out for the pattern they are using at the moment.Even without a STAR it makes sense at times to follow an IAP to allow lower altitude approaches so you don't have to dive and drive excessively. This is because RC looks at a certain range around you current location for the quadrant MSA as published. If you are landing in a valley or along one side of a mountain you may find RC dceclaring too high an approach altitude.In short, RC is not a nav aid once you leave approach vectoring and even with that you still have to know the approach via plates and other resources, just like the real world.

Ron..Ack, I was using FS Nav and had vertical data available, I just thought that AdvDisplay does such a nice job, it would be rather convienent to continue displaying the flight plan route which included STAR and not stop doing it just because I contacted tower, remember, the facility didn't have an approach controller so I was terminated from center and told to contact tower. Plus are you implying in the real world one would be expected to wait until one was on final before communicating with anyone i.e. - tower.Do you to mean that it would be okay to leave a plane in the traffic flow without communicating with anyone..??Regards,