Hi,
First, disable wind. If you can't follow the needle in zero wind then with wind is going to get a lot more interesting!
Second, you will need some math in order to compute things:
Drift correction angle:
You are flying heading 235. The wind is 130 at 7 kts. You have a tailwind from the left, but what correction do you require?
First, let us compute the winds.
235 - 130 = 105 degrees, so you have a tailwind from the left.
Tailwind component =
cos(105) * 7 = -1.811 kts
Crosswind component =
sin(105) * 7 = 6.76 kts
Let us assume you are at 5000 ft flying at 150 kts IAS.
TAS = ~165 kts.
Ground speed is
~165 - (-1.811) = ~165 + 1.811 = ~166.811 kts.
The drift correction angle required is therefore:
arcsin(6.76 / 166.8 ) = 2.32 degrees to the left.
If the wind is over 180 degrees (e.g. you are flying 030 and the wind is 287):
1)
287 - 030 = 257
2)
360 - 257 = 103 degrees.
I suggest you pick up an E-6B if you want to really get into navigation with the 377. You should be within 1 nm of your waypoints when using dead-reckoning. You can quite easily navigate the Atlantic for example, and get to where you are going without any problems.
As you are using an inherently less accurate method of navigation, it will pay you to aim for landmarks on your routes, e.g. an island, so you can get a position fix, determine the winds, and correct any nav errors.
A good test I use to ensure I'm flying accurately is to fly from Heathrow on a loxodromic course to Schipol. If you get it right, you should overfly the main terminal building at Schipol.
This is the accuracy you can fly with in FS, as long as your flying is accurate.
It takes practice. I had to fly the Schipol test flight about 7 times before I nailed it, but once I got it, flying long range was not a problem. Using the navigators map I could see the waypoint I was aiming for and how accurate I was flying. I was no more than 0.7 nm from any of my waypoints.
Flying VORs is quite easy once you know what you are trying to do.
Imagine a big string is attached from you to the beacon you are trying to fly to. String is attached to the pointer of the RMI (Radio Magnetic Indicator). It doesn't matter where you fly, or which way you are heading, the needle always points to the station.
Let us suppose the beacon is 100 nm due north of our position, and we are flying direct to that beacon. The needle will be pointing straight up on the RMI, and we will eventually arrive at the beacon.
Congratulations - you just flew your first VOR! By flying 360 degrees, we flew along the 180 radial TO the beacon. There is a deliberate mistake there...
Radials are the radio lines that eminate outwards from the VOR. They are configured such that there is one unique radial for each degree of the compass. The radial that starts at the beacon and heads due north is the 360 radial. The radial that starts at the beacon and heads due east is the 090 radial. The radial that starts at the beacon and heads due south is the 180 radial, etc.. Rinse and repeat for every degree.
Now, I wrote that we flew into the beacon on the 180 radial. This is incorrect. We were flying the 360 radial INBOUND to the VOR. If our instrument had a TO/FROM flag, it would be showing TO when set to 360. If we set 180 it would be showing FROM and operating in the opposite sense, sending us off course (unless we knew it was reversed then we could fly it accordingly but you are asking for problems).
As we approach the VOR with the TO flag showing, upon passing the station we first lose the signal, then the needle points DOWN (away) and the TO/FROM flag shows FROM. This is why it is important to set the correct course on the instrument, in order to get the correct indications.
With the RMI we don't have a course selector, simply a needle and a pointer. What we need to do is fly the aircraft so the needle is pointing TO the beacon, AND on the course that we want to fly to that beacon.
Let us assume we are due south, but we want to fly the 030 radial FROM the beacon.
There are two things we can do. One, fly direct to the beacon from our present position then turn to fly outbound on the 030 radial, or we can intercept the 030 radial INBOUND to the beacon. In order to get the aircraft flying the 030 radial, we need to turn to a heading of 300 degrees, so we are flying perpendicular to the 030 radial. As the needle pointing to the beacon starts to point towards 030, we start to turn towards the beacon, aiming to be flying 030 with the needle pointing straight up at the beacon, and also pointing at 030 on the RMI.
Once this is established, the aircraft heading needs to be corrected to allow for wind drift. If the aircraft is set up correctly, the needle will keep pointing up on 030.
If the needle starts pointing to the left, we need to overshoot the needle to the left, in order to "push" the head of the needle back towards 030 (the desired radial). Conversely, if it goes to the right, we need to overshoot the needle to the right to "push" the head of the needle back to 030.
If we are flying FROM the beacon on 030, and the tail of the needle starts pointing to the left
then we need to turn to the right. This has the effect of "pulling" the tail so it is pointing back at 030. Conversely, if the tail of the needle goes right, we need to overshoot the tail to the left to "pull" it back to 030.
Remember that all radials are magnetic, so remember to consider magnetic declination when flying (the radials are aligned to where the beacon is so 100 miles away changes things).
I found it was quite pronounced in the 377 that the radials are NOT straight lines (thanks to Oskar for highlighting why - obvious, but I missed it). You will find that your initial magnetic heading to the beacon is not the heading you find when you get to the beacon!
Just make small corrections to stay on the radial. Remember also that the closer you get to the beacon, the more sensitive the needle, so don't chase it - you will lose.
I hope that makes sense! If you need drawings, let me know. I'm on the wrong computer at the moment to draw anything.
Best regards,
Robin.
A2A/AccuSim. 'nuff said!
