TChapman500

This green arrow on the GPS wouldn't happen to mean anything would it? I drew a line from the tail of the aircraft icon to that arrow and it appeared to be parallel to the course. I did not save any of the changes to the image. Thanks for the info scott967. Very helpful.

Bold texts indicate quotes from portions of the post. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "I reckon you should bin that flight plan." What do you mean? "Dont try and emulate something from FS98 or whatever, life is complicated enough." That was my favorite flight in FS98. "Just get a new flight plan, a real one, use the VORs in FSX, and / or use the FMC." By use the VORs in FSX, do you mean the VORs that the FSX flight planner wants to assign me? What exactly do you mean by FMC? FSX just has a black screen-like object with a few dozen buttons below it for the flight management system. "There are websites where you can download a real flight plan for the trip from Denver to Dallas or whatever your trying to do." FSX compatible? "Real 737 pilot does not have a list of headings, at least not that he is actuallly following. He simply has a clearance; join airway ABC123 at intersection XYZ and leave at XZY. He is not flying around fiddling with the CDI." First, what is CDI? Second, what's the advantage for using these airways over the VORs with the in/outbound headings being put into the Course selector? "He is flying magenta line on his PFD. In fact the autpilot is doing it all in LNAV mode." There are some things about the autopilot that I do not trust. Non-VOR navigation is one of them. "So what your doing is not realistic for 737, after 200 series anyway." What I'm doing is exactly what I would do in FS98. The co-pilot would tune the NAV radios to the VORs, and input something into the course selector, and I'd follow the course indicated by the HSI. There were almost no course corrections after switching from the outbound frequency to the next inbound frequency. "I think you are being a bit rude to J van E, who is trying to help and has better things to do. He very well knows about courses and headings, he also knows what a CDI is." I'm trying to clear out what appeared to be contradictory instructions. And I was actually asking him what a CDI is. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "LOL It would be a bit sad if I didn't know the difference after 4,557 posts on this forum." Sorry. "I am just trying to understand what's going wrong with your flight." When I put the headings into the course selector, I end up on a trajectory that is ~5 degrees off from where the map says I should be. And I'm trying to find a way to get the headings needed for the course selector right without having to repeat the flight several times and note down the new headings for the course selector. "If time permits I will see what happens on my PC when I try to fly towards a VOR using the heading that a flightplan is giving me instead of using the VOR itself to get there." Huh? I was using the VORs to get me there. The headings that I got from the planner are the headings I put into the course selector. I just left the heading selector to the default selection. "For now I will repeat again that it's a bit odd to tune into a VOR but to NOT actually use it but to use headings from a flightplan instead." What do you mean? I put all of the headings into the course selector. I was using the VORs exactly the way I'm used to using them. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks for clearing that up for me.

Fixed it. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What is CDI? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Huh? You're not making any sense! Do you even know what I mean by COURSE HEADING? It's the direction that the airplane flies to get to a specific point. NOT the direction that the nose is physically pointing towards! There are two heading selectors on the autopilot panel. One is the direction that the nose of the aircraft points to, and it's labeled "Heading." The other is the trajectory that the airplane flies, and it's labeled "Course." I put the headings listed into the flight planner into the selector labeled "Course." The HSI tells me that I'm on course, while the map shows that I'm on a ~5 degree trajectory to the right. For the entire flight, outbound I'm drifting away from the course, inbound, I have to make a 90-degree turn to the left, then to the right, and now I'm drifting towards the course. The entire time, the HSI tells me that I'm on course.

I'm using the default FSX VORs.

I'm trying to duplicate the Dallas to Denver flight from FS98.

Like I said, I compensated for wind. The aircraft heading does deviate a couple of degrees from the course heading when there is a wind, but the course heading itself deviates by about 5 degrees to the right of the course that's on the map.

Too late for that, However, to give you a picture of what happened, the map shows that I'm slowly drifting off course when I'm outbound, when I switch to the next inbound VOR, it shows me cutting across the course, then slowly drifting towards it. It appears to be about a 5-degree difference between the course of the map, and the course of the HSI. For the first leg of the trip, which was the longest, I drifted ~10nm to the right of the course, then shot across it to ~22nm to the left of the course, then drifted back onto the course, landing on course it right at the VOR. For the rest of the flight, the same thing happened, but the distances were much shorter and I didn't drift towards or away from the course as much. I'll send you the flight plan I used. Navigating by VOR without ATC. ATC will go by the course on the map, not the VORs. You must use the VORs to get the full extent of my problem. The ILS I used at the destination airport is 110.15, HDG 350. Descend to 7,500 before reaching the FQF VOR. Start descent outbound on HGO VOR or just before (CAUTION: Requires 2,000 fpm+ descent rate). Make sure the flight plan is loaded so that you can see where the aircraft went relative to the course displayed on the map. Cruise altitude is 35,000 feet. Again, do not use ATC. Use only the VOR radios and HSI to the frequencies and headings listed below, and look at the results. SPS - 112.70 - In 305 - Out 317 LAA - 116.90 - In 317 - Out 303 HGO - 112.10 - In 303 - Out 310 FQF - 116.30 - In 310 - Out (Tune ILS 110.15 - HDG 350) KDFW_to_KDEN_FL350.zip

Boeing 737-800. I compensated for wind direction. I'm talking about the course heading, not aircraft heading for the VORs. Outbound on SPS, the HSI told me I was on course while the GPS told me I was 10nm to the right of my course. Inbound on LAA, the HSI told me I was on course (once I had turned almost perpendicular to the course to intercept and back to the course heading) while the GPS told me I was 20nm to the left of my course.. For the rest of the flight, I was only slightly off course according to the GPS, while the HSI told me that I was on course. In other words, even though the HSI told me I was on course, when I switched to the inbound VOR frequency, I had to turn almost perpendicular to the course to intercept it every time just so that the HSI told me that I was back on course. The GPS however, said that I was off course almost the entire flight. Is there any way to save the course that the plane took so that I can show you what is going on? [EDIT] I'm using the headings that the default FSX flight planner has told me to use. [/EDIT]

Here's the situation. 1) I create a flight plan to go from the Dallas-Ft Worth airport to the Denver International Airport for FL350 with IFR. 2) I use the VORs that are used in FS98 instead of having them auto-assigned by FSX. 3) I use the headings listed in the flight plan and tune the radios to the correct VOR frequencies, navigating by what the results are. 4) The headings listed in the flight plans take me almost 10 degrees off course (according to the GPS) to the left or right seemingly in random order.. 5) ATC does not like what I'm doing and they take me off of my intended course. What happened?! How is it that I end up off course by 10 degrees when using the VORs to navigate when the flight plan tells me to fly those headings. EG: On one leg of the flight, the flight plan says to fly a heading of 317 towards the VOR. As it turns out, it's 309 that puts me on course. 309 is not a heading that is listed anywhere in the flight plan. There is a 310 on the final leg of the flight to get me lined up with the runway, but the headings listed are: NUM - VOR ID - FREQ - HEADING IN/OUT 1) SPS - 112.7 - 305/317 2) LAA - 116.9 - 317/303 3) HGO - 112.1 - 303/310 4) FQF - 116.3 - 310/333 These headings do not give me the course that the GPS gives me. In fact, it seems that if I were to go strictly by these headings, I would have to make a large turn to one direction, then the other, just to center the HSI. Is there a better way to get the headings required so that the outbound portion of a leg from a VOR puts me directly in line with the inbound portion of the next VOR? What FSX gave me does not line up the VORs correctly. According to the FS98 help for the flight, the headings are as followed: Num - VOR ID - HDG IN/OUT 1) SPS - 320/313 2) LAA - 308/298 3) HGO - 298/300 (just before FQF)

What about employing a controlled stall? If I do that, then it has no choice but to come down with a low airspeed reading. I could then use the engines to control the descent rate.

The runway is 5,000 feet in length (as already mentioned) and 11 feet above sea level, less than half of a degree from the equator and international date line. I can take off from the runway just fine fully loaded with the A321 and 737-800 (which is the largest aircraft the airport is designed to handle).

I have resorted to using spoilers to slow the aircraft down. In my first two flights, I did not use spoilers, but in my last flight, I did use spoilers. In fact, I had both spoilers and wheel brakes engaged before I hit the runway. And I still landed (I think this time at 175) too fast. A couple more things to point out, the runway is only 5,000 feet in length, and it's a commercial airport right in the middle of the infield of a race track with a ~60-foot obstacle (31-degree track surface banking plus 30-foot catch fence) 1,200 feet from the end of the runway. PS: I'll post a video of the landing. EDIT: Unable to make video of landing.

I've built a custom airport that has a few obstacles near the runway, requiring a glide slope of ~6 degrees to clear them. How do I run that glide slope without accelerating above my target speed? Standard glide slope appears to be ~3 degrees, so I'm coming down at double the normal speed. So far, I've run the landing twice (both in A321 fully loaded), both with a starting speed of about 135 kts, and both times I ended up landing at around 170 kts with one of those landings collapsing the left landing gear. Is there anything I can do apart from removing fuel that will prevent the aircraft from accelerating so much? Due to the steep glide slope, approach altitude is around 3,000 feet.

What does PMDG mean?

What does OP mean?

Um, the descent rate was 200 feet per second judging by how much the altimeter was changing by during the fall. That's 12,000 feet per minute (on impact). What does MTOW mean? The gear failed on take-off, so I immediately canceled IFR and turned left 180 degrees to land back on the runway. It's after that first turn that I had the engine failure. I was trying to maintain 200 kts because I didn't know how much the gear could take (I know now, thanks). I had to go from 3,000 to 2,000 because I was well above the glide slope (after the decent, which was a little after I had made that first 180, is when the engine failed). 2,000 put me below the glide slope, which is where ATC would have put me until the aircraft intercepted the glide slope (which I would have to turn around in order to do that). I think it was about 5 seconds after the engine failed that I realized it. And it was because the heading indicator was telling me that the plane was turning, even though the wings were level. That's when I went full throttle on the remaining engine and full right rudder (I released some rudder input to try to turn to line up with the runway). So, I should not go full right rudder when the engine fails? And how long will the 737's fuel last?

I have an interesting situation. My landing gear has failed to retract, forcing me to turn back to the airport, then just as I'm getting ready to make a left-hand, 180-degree turn to align with the runway, the left engine fails. Now I need to make the turn while compensating for the loss of the engine, and I only have 2,000 feet to play with. I tried, but the aircraft stalled and crashed. Is a 200+ foot-per-second straight down decent with a full tank of fuel survivable?

It sort-of helped. But the utility you suggested to me simply refused to fix the errors on my system. It counted something like 11,000 errors.

Well, I failed to produce the blue screen. Framerate was the same, skies were scattered (previously overcast), it was dusk, and I came in from the south, previously, I came in from the north. But this time, I was not recording the flight. I'm not sure if this was helpful since there were so many differences between the last flight and this flight. Here is the log that I recovered from the previous blue screen (the one where I was recording the flight) Dump File: Mini070412-01.dmp Crash Time: 7/4/2012 4:54:41 PM Bug Check String: KERNEL_MODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED Bug Check Code: 0x1000008e Parameter 1: 0xc0000005 Parameter 2: 0xa8a139f4 Parameter 3: 0xa7b69a68 Parameter 4: 0x00000000 Caused By Driver: SaiH075C.sys Caused By Address: SaiH075C.sys+99f4 File Description: Saitek Hid Driver Product Name: Configuration Software Company: Saitek File Version: 5.5.0.82 Processor: 32-bit Crash Address: SaiH075C.sys+99f4 Stack Address 1: SaiH075C.sys+c9a4 Stack Address 2: SaiH075C.sys+aa22 Stack Address 3: SaiH075C.sys+7901 Computer Name: (No Data Entry) Full Path: C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\Mini070412-01.dmp Processors Count: 2 Major Version: 15 Minor Version: 2600 Dump File Size: 90,112 Apparently, it's my joystick drivers that caused the crash, but I don't understand how that could be. Except that I had FSX and the joystick process at high priority.

Hello, I'm new here. I've experienced a blue screen crash on a 30-minute flight from Norfolk to Richmond during my decent to the runway. But I don't know why, since I did a 3-hour, 30-minute flight from a fictional airport 1800 nm SSW of Hawaii to Honolulu. The longer flight had a rougher framerate at the end, while the shorter flight had a lower detail level setting and higher framerate at the end. So why did the shorter flight (from Norfolk to Richmond) blue-screen? The only difference other than the detail level was that the simulator was actually recording a replay of the flight during the shorter flight while the longer flight was not being recorded. I don't think that should have made any difference, especially since the shorter flight had a higher framerate than the longer flight. In fact, I suspected that the longer flight might crash, but the shorter flight crashing was a complete surprise. System Specs: Type: Laptop (Acer Extensa 5620Z) Processor: 1.73 gHz (dual-core) Ram: 2 gb (which is maximum supported) Operating System: Windows XP 32-Bit (64-Bit not supported by hardware) Video Ram: 384 mb (integrated) Virtual Memory: 16 gb minimum, 32 gb maximum Upgrading hardware or software is NOT an option.