setting a course

[Pilot002]

hi guys, I'm having trouble setting a cruising course with autopilot (it's basicly my first try) cause I see that there is a course nob on the autopilot. I would really like to use this instead of the heading nob for cruising
thank you

[Pilot002]

sorry guys, I just realized that it's the omnibearing selector nob that I was talking about. but I still want to know how to use it

[Pilot002]

Originally posted by Pilot002:

sorry guys, I just realized that it's the omnibearing selector nob that I was talking about. but I still want to know how to use it

never mind about that, just want to know how to get a cruising course

[Morag]

See if this helps to get you on the right track

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6JIyNG_8v8

[Pilot002]

Originally posted by Morag:

See if this helps to get you on the right track

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6JIyNG_8v8

it did, but it doesn't show me how to set a cruising course if I'm going to waypoints or going very sea and I was mainly speaking about aircrafts like a 737 or any comercial aircraft. but thanks a lot anyway

[Morag]

Originally posted by Pilot002:

Originally posted by Morag:

See if this helps to get you on the right track

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6JIyNG_8v8

it did, but it doesn't show me how to set a cruising course if I'm going to waypoints or going very sea and I was mainly speaking about aircrafts like a 737 or any comercial aircraft. but thanks a lot anyway

Well this video is showing you VOR navigation but you can set the VOR instrument to the GPS or the NAV radios. So if you have a flight plan loaded in the GPS you can use the CDI follow the course in that rather than a VOR radial.

The principle is the same if you're in a 737 or a Cessna 172.

[Dr Nico]

If you're navigating VOR to VOR, then simply adjust the OBS knob to center the VOR needle in expected direction, that will give you the heading to follow to reach this VOR.

Then, you can either set that heading on AP to follow it, or set the AP to do the navigation:
- switch NAV/GPS set to NAV,
- for C172, click the nav button on the AP.
- for B737, click the LOC button on AP panel.
in both cases, AP will drive you to the VOR.
When getting close to the VOR, enter the frequency of the next VOR on your route, and restart the procedure.

That will give you some work to do in the cockpit compared to GPS

[gspectre]

Are you trying to get the Autopilot to get you from take-off to landing and make all the turns for you? If so, that's not really flying, that's riding.

Either way, check out some of the lesson that FSX provides. There are a lot of them and it seems most new flyers (and many older ones) may not even know are there.

[Thogmar]

Originally posted by WWA3463:

If you're navigating VOR to VOR, then simply adjust the OBS knob to center the VOR needle in expected direction, that will give you the heading to follow to reach this VOR.

Then, you can either set that heading on AP to follow it, or set the AP to do the navigation:
- switch NAV/GPS set to NAV,
- for C172, click the nav button on the AP.
- for B737, click the LOC button on AP panel.
in both cases, AP will drive you to the VOR.
When getting close to the VOR, enter the frequency of the next VOR on your route, and restart the procedure.

That will give you some work to do in the cockpit compared to GPS

Actually yes and no. That's called "homing" the VOR and it will certainly get you directly to the VOR if you want to do simplistic navigation.
However real world pilots are also trained to select a SPECIFIC COURSE (I.E. 270 degrees) on the HSI or VOR gauge and then fly a heading to INTERCEPT that COURSE.
Why would you want to do such a specific thing?
1. Specific courses and altitudes (typical of airways) will give you clearance from obstacles like mountains, radio towers, aircraft, and buildings if you're reading a chart that gives you parameters.
2. VOR approaches use SPECIFIC courses aligned closely to runway headings most of the time so you are all set to land straight ahead. This is similar to what ILS locator beacons do for you.

This also allows you to fly over other landmarks or significant points of interest if you know the VOR radial necessary.

Particularly in 737s and other airliners, they are rarely just "homing" to a VOR, it's much better and more precise to fly a specific inbound or outbound course.

[Pilot002]

Now I know about VOR navigation but I also know that the frequency of the VOR doesn't go very far, so for example if I'm flying over the Atlantic Ocean, how would I set a cruising course than

[gspectre]

I would think your Flight Planner would set that up for you before you started your flight. Then all you wuold need to do was follow the line using Autopilot.

[bobbi]

With modern equipment a plane flying across an ocean would use GPS. Befoore that well funded commercial carriers would use inertial navigation (a computerized system using on board gyroscopes and accelerometers) or the time delay marine LORAN system (land based instead of satelites, but uses time delays similar to the GPS system). Before all that they would use Deduced (Deed) reconing (using a compass, clock and the airspeed indicator - the old speed times time process), nondirectional beacons (sometimes on ships sent out for that purpose) and celestial navigation (sighting astronomical objects the way sailing ships used to).

At one point a commercial flight was thought to have entered the wrong start coordinates into their inertial guidance system, resulting in their course being diverted over a restricted section of Soviet airspace and the commercial flight getting intercepted and shot down.