Jump to content
Sign in to follow this  
Guest airbus2

STARS?

Recommended Posts

Guest airbus2

HeyI fly the pmdg 737ng and am considering purchasing Radar Contact. I need to know though whether RC will allow me to use STARS and give me vectors from the end of the star to the start of my approach?Thanks in advance,Dave

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

when you contact approach, the star ends. you will the receive vectors to finalunless you choose an iap approach, and then you can fly whatever approach you want until you contact tower.download the manual, the answers you're looking for are in there, especially in the section on flight planning and the tutorialsjd

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest airbus2

Thanks,I live in the UK, have you any idea how long Radar Contact would take to arrive?Dave

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

2 to 3 weeks. since it is the holidays, probably on the longer side of the estimate.maybe someone who just received their cd in the uk can tell you how long it took their order.your mileage may varyjd

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest airbus2

Thanks again.Just another question, sorry i didnt include them all in one post but I keep coming up with questions each time i read a review or the manual.When I purchase RC, do i also have to buy FSbuild etc or is there another way i can write flight plans which include SIDs/STARs without buying more products?Thanks again, and espiecialy for the prompt repliesDave

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Any flight planner that exports FS8 or FS9 .pln file formats will work. If they include SIDS and STARS which in export get converted to waypoints anyway so much the better.One thing to remember is that ATC has the last word on navigation, not the FMC. SIDS (DPs in the US) and STARS are a convenient efficient traffic flow method for ATC and pilots. ATC has the right to deviate you at any time. In those conditions you can manipulate your FMC or just go to MCP control (HDG, SPEED, FLCH or ALT) as necessary.I use the PMDG 737NG series. In order to keep RC and the FMC in synch regarding navigation waypoints I use FSBuild payware to export the plan (including SIDS, STARS, and airways converted to waypoints during export) to both the FMC for loading as a CO-ROUTE and to FS9 for loading as an RC flight plan. I also use the FS9 plan for loading into the payware ActiveSky 6.5 weather application which works with FSBuild for fuel planning. FSNAV is another payware product that with a downloaded .dll can export to FMC format.This allows me to fly the SID and STAR with RC using FMC guidance providing in part vectors that join or break away appropriately. Alternatively there are RC departure and arrival options that will let you provide your own navigation.While there are freeware flightplanners that will save to an FS9 format I am not aware of any (and I could be wrong) that export to the PMDG .rte (for the 737NG) or .rt2 (for the PMDG 747 but I guess it can use the .rte as well) for FMC import.If you use the SID/STAR database within the FMC it might not synchronize with the SID/STAR database in your flight planner. The only option to use this database is to read your FMC legs page and then enter each waypoint (as it is converted from the SID/STAR) off of the CDU and enter those into a freeware planner for export into an FS9 format for RC to follow.For some flights I do choose the IAP approach after RC approach states what runway is being used. Occasionally the runway might be changed due to a change of AI traffic patterns.I like FSBuild 2.3 because I can get active real world flight plans for the US and possessions from www.flightaware.com by clicking on as flight number of interest and paste it in the FSB route window and with minimum modification if necessary it will build that route. I just did that with a KTPA (Tampa) to KATL (Atlanta) emulating an Airtran real world flight with the 737NG.Before using the PMDG I used NAV3.1 (see the links on the RC site) but did not use its autoroute feature just putting in waypoints I have from hard copy enroute charts both low and high altitude. BTW, a complete set of printed US high altitude enroute charts is only about $14 from local or on-line pilot shops. I just prefer hard copy enroute charts for planning to verify autorouting or create my own route. On flightsim.com there have recently been uploaded scans of these charts. You can download terminal procedure charts at no cost from the FAA:http://www.naco.faa.gov/index.asp?xml=naco/onlineproductsor from the Resources section again at no cost from www.flightaware.com where at your option for a selected airport you can download each chart or get all charts bundled in a .pdf file.I advise having these charts (which include airport diagrams) printed out for each departure and destination and they are a requirement if you elect to do an IAP approach or do your own departure navigation especially noting the vertical profile and crossing restrictions.This all sounds more complicated than it really is but with RC and these chart facilities along with good flight planning it does get as real as it gets. If you browse the PMDG forums you'll find quite a few users including a couple of devlopers that use combinations of RC and these products to get a realistic airline/charter operation.I hope this helps in establishing methods to reach your goals.Resources:www.flightaware.comwww.fsbuild.com (with links to their forum and tutorials)http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=136

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest AirForcePilot

I do the exact same thing as you. Based on which one of my payware aircraft I want to fly, I look for flights through different airports on flightaware.com and copy and pasted the route into FSBuild 2.3. I then use the flight plan created by FSBuild to load into Active Sky 6.5 and update FS textures with GE Pro. The only thing I don't do is load it directly into the FMS. I like programming the FMS manually....just a personal thing =) After I start from a Cold and Dark cockpit and get to where I'm ready to pick up ATIS, I then load RC with the flight plan I created with FSBuild and adjust all the parameters accordingly....call sign, flight number, pax on board, etc...after I take-off I switch the coms over to the F/O and fly the plane. Having the F/O handle the coms while having the autopilot on is great for those really long flights so you can go do something else and not have to worry about missing a radio call.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  

  • Tom Allensworth,
    Founder of AVSIM Online


  • Flight Simulation's Premier Resource!

    AVSIM is a free service to the flight simulation community. AVSIM is staffed completely by volunteers and all funds donated to AVSIM go directly back to supporting the community. Your donation here helps to pay our bandwidth costs, emergency funding, and other general costs that crop up from time to time. Thank you for your support!

    Click here for more information and to see all donations year to date.
×
×
  • Create New...