Great news! The 737-200 v1.0 can follow a GPS Flight Plan. I just found this out by accident, and then read the csx737_manual2.pdf (page 54)!!! See attached image.

I'm flying it right now using Direct To plan. Next I'll try a full GPS plan!

Mark

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yes, they added that on 0.6 or 0.7...

I'll never use it anyway ! Prefer to fly this bird like the real should be.

By the way, the flag name of that switch on FSX is right now : Marker Beacon Sensitivity switch instead off GPS/NAV switch.

Cthulhus wrote on Apr 21^st, 2012 at 8:03am:

yes, they added that on 0.6 or 0.7... I'll never use it anyway ! Prefer to fly this bird like the real should be.

There wasn't anything about in in the csx737_manual2.pdf (dated 24 March 2012), only in the latest one. I did press a lot of buttons to see what would happen (functionality). If I did not see anything happen, I returned it to it's previous position and that would be why I didn't find it earlier.

I am enjoying flying the "old way", but I know that there are others who want to use GPS flight plans. Now they will know that they can do it.

Yes, absolutely, in addition, I find the location of this interuptor well placed. Hidded and not really hidden too!

Well, I see that the FD mode VOR LOCK does not work, well, not until the 1.1 I hope :)

Hey :)

will she now also follow the Civa Ins?? when i put the little switch into the up position?

Corina :D

Corina Meyer wrote on Apr 21^st, 2012 at 11:39am:

Hey :) will she now also follow the Civa Ins?? when i put the little switch into the up position? Corina :D

I don't know how CIVA INS works, but it does seem to use a system like the FS GPS. It's definitely worth a try.

Mark

Ok I got it if you craete a FP, in Vor loc autopilot it works.
But if you use external tool like  Vasfmc or INS there are no sign.
I also use Saitek multipanel and the HDG rotary dosen't work at all any hint?
The rest works fine.

I was also hoping for ways to get the INS working. Keep us posted, guys, me likes to know if it's possible.  :)

simbiosi wrote on Apr 21^st, 2012 at 6:06pm:

I also use Saitek multipanel and the HDG rotary dosen't work at all any hint?

Do you have a registered version of fsuipc as you might be able to get it working normally through that.

Paul

I tried diffrent things but the AP is not able to follow the CIVA INS... if someone finds a solution  tell me ;)

Corina

No luck with the Civa at any switch setting? Makes me wonder, because if the plane can follow the default GPS, it should work with the CIVA.  :-/

Nope this time is not the same as usual, is based on Vor TRK before it was HDG . I mean you can follow the internal Flight plan but you can't Track active HDG.
What INS is doing is to change the HDG to follow the route, so if you have active HDG there is no problem, even VasFMC do the same.
But here we can't do much as long as we do some sort of machinery setup in FSUIPC but is so annoying.
Why this method if it doesn't want to add Sperry 177 or CDU at list it should give as the ability to use external addon like ISG or what ever.

This is something that has to be request and really hope to change soon.
The hardware doesn't work with this situation I can't change HDG at all.

thanks mark this is helpful

That's great news, Mark--- thanks! I'm assuming you can add the actual GPS gauge as on the 707 and 727!?

Bruce

btscott wrote on Apr 22^nd, 2012 at 3:43pm:

That's great news, Mark--- thanks! I'm assuming you can add the actual GPS gauge as on the 707 and 727!? Bruce

Hi Bruce.

You will be happy to that it comes with the GPS already there for your use. SHIFT+6 and the GPS pops up onto the screen.
Select Direct To Waypoint on the GPS, or create an FS Flight Planner plan and it will follow it.

Mark

Also, if you have Reality XP, just replace the default FSX GPS gauge with the 430. Works well.

Steve Amsden

Corina Meyer wrote on Apr 21^st, 2012 at 8:53pm:

I tried diffrent things but the AP is not able to follow the CIVA INS... if someone finds a solution  tell me ;)

I was trying too, but I couldn't get the CIVA to drive the AP.  :( Here's a screenshot of the mod. http://www.captainsim.org/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1335036741/22#22

CoolP wrote on Apr 23^rd, 2012 at 10:48am:

I was trying too, but I couldn't get the CIVA to drive the AP.

All external autopilot like civa Vasfmc ISG drive the autopilot in HDG mode.
CS has used another variable for heading, not the one of FSX,  so it will not work as usual.
Even with hardware like Saitek multipanel heading doesn't work.
I think this is something urgently to change IMHO

As stated somewhere else, maybe there's room for a mode switch like in the 707, to allow for the external stuff to work.

Does anyone know if ISG1 will work, was thinking of buying it so I can simulate 'modern' 737-200 operations.

See simbiosi's post above. As long as the hdg mode stays custom, the chances are slim for the addon gauges to grab the bug.

ah, yep sorry missed that when I read it first time!

Once again-- thanks, Mark. Good to hear!

Bruce

Have I to submit a ticket for this one ? Any official info?

simbiosi wrote on Apr 23^rd, 2012 at 5:05pm:

Have I to submit a ticket for this one ? Any official info?

Done

I have also raised it in the 737 wishlist forum

Hello,

I have a question about the gps navigation. I want to fly the 737-200 with the gps flight plan (loaded into fsx). What should I do step-by-step? I've tried to click almost everything in the flight deck associated with the navigation and I still don't know how can I fly this aircraft with automatic navigation (via autopilot). Like vasfmc. I would like to fly this beautiful jet in the vatsim, but I can't do it without navigation...  :( Please help me.

Has anyone tried bolting this freeware Delco CIVA  on to the aircraft to see if it works.

http://www.simufly.com/ins/ it's the same nav system that the FSLabs Concorde uses.

Bruce

Bruce448 wrote on May 13^th, 2012 at 6:36pm:

Has anyone tried bolting this freeware Delco CIVA  on to the aircraft to see if it works. http://www.simufly.com/ins/ it's the same nav system that the FSLabs Concorde uses. Bruce

Bruce and lukas:

Yes, we have tried adding CIVA INS. It's now confirmed that it will not work on this aircraft. Please take a look at:

http://www.captainsim.org/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1335036741/25#25

BTW, in a user-poll, CIVA INS lost out to the more realistic CWS control on this aircraft (since there is currently no way for a switchable mode).

http://www.captainsim.org/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1335210228/15#15

The plane can fly by GPS Navigation off a loaded FSX FPLN. Please look/search for "L16" in manual2, which is the NAV/GPS switch, and coupled with VORLOC setting (of the AP Mode Selector) will enable FPLN tracking.

I do not see this NAV/GPS switch on my panel in the place the manual says it should be.  It seems to be missing altogether.  Is it hidden somewhere else?

Just above the (three) marker lamps, Tim. The label is wrong though, it doesn't read nav/gps switch. Perhaps that's the thing tricking you.

Here is an image to show where it is.

The info can be found on the ‘737 Captain’ FLIGHT MANUAL Part II – Aircraft Systems (csx737_manual2.pd) pages 13 & 54.

Mark

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Am I correct that this feature works like the FSNavigator "fly flightplan" toggle? In other words it's not necessarily following a "GPS flightplan" but rather, following the loaded FSX flightplan, whether it was saved as Direct, VOR, or whatever.

If that's an accurate description, then I think it's innacurate to say that if you use this you are not navigating realistically. You can fly a perfectly realistic VOR or Hi Altitude airway flightplan and use this feature which is very handy when you want to step away from your PC for a time.

I don't see how letting the sim take over for a few minutes is any less realistic than pausing the sim  ;)

Considering this is a pc simulation, and not everyone can sit at their pc for 4 hours at a time, I think it's very practical feature that all developers should include (most of them do) on classic non-FMC aircraft.

bud7h7 wrote on May 19^th, 2012 at 9:46pm:

Am I correct that this feature works like the FSNavigator "fly flightplan" toggle? In other words it's not necessarily following a "GPS flightplan" but rather, following the loaded FSX flightplan, whether it was saved as Direct, VOR, or whatever. If that's an accurate description, then I think it's innacurate to say that if you use this you are not navigating realistically. You can fly a perfectly realistic VOR or Hi Altitude airway flightplan and use this feature which is very handy when you want to step away from your PC for a time. I don't see how letting the sim take over for a few minutes is any less realistic than pausing the sim  ;) Considering this is a pc simulation, and not everyone can sit at their pc for 4 hours at a time, I think it's very practical feature that all developers should include (most of them do) on classic non-FMC aircraft.

It is not realistic in any way for this aircraft to follow a GPS. This Aircraft never came out with GPS, since it was built in the sixties, there was no such thing. This aircraft as said many times is not meant to do anything but follow the VOR or NDB which it is modeled for (-100 & -200 series). The only reason it has this basic GPS is that Captain sim put it in for those who who need  help learning VOR navigation as a visual AID. So realistically speaking, the aircraft does do what it is intended to do, fly VOR's & NDB's. Sorry to tell you but starting a 4 hour flight and walking away from the Simulator is not realistic either.  I hope you can enjoy this aircraft for what it is, a CLASSIC. ;) ;D

I see you quoted me, but did you actually read my post? To clarify, yes it's unrealistic to actually sit there and "fly" with this feature enabled. But to enable it so you can leave the pc while the aircraft stays on course should not be translated as flying a classic incorrectly. It simply allows you to leave the sim if you need to, rather than pause the flight.

A switch like this one was also on the DF 727 and other classics. It has nothing to do with making the aircraft GPS capable, and it doesn't have to be defined as an "aid" for less experienced simmers - I've been flying VOR/NDB in FS since 1999, and absolutely would not add a GPS to this aircraft.

Correct me if I'm wrong, since I haven't tried using it yet, but all this switch does is follow the flightplan, it is not adding a GPS to the aircraft! And if that's the case, then just because the aircraft is following the plan automatically does not equate with GPS navigation.


Quote:

Sorry to tell you but starting a 4 hour flight and walking away from the Simulator is not realistic either.

That's absurd. I look at it this way. If I need to leave the cockpit, then the first officer has the aircraft. And this toggle switch is my first officer in that situation.
Have you ever flown heavy iron? It's perfectly realistic and common for a pilot / FO to step out of the flightdeck. And there's no pause switch in a real aircraft.

[quote author=bud7h7 link=1334992917/30#35 date=1337472264]I see you quoted me, but did you actually read my post?   :'(  

Been in many jets since the late '70's, only seen one pilot leave the cockpit in flight, to go to the bathroom for 10 minutes.

I also often leave the cockpit for a while and my "virtual FO" takes over from me. Now if that means that the GPS covers the gap for my pretending he is following the VOR to VOR route, then that's fine by me.

You need to remember that we all take the realism of FSX to whichever level we choose. So if we choose to use the GPS, real or not, we choose to use it. I choose to use it if I want to. ;)

The way it works is fairly simple. It follows the plan waypoint to waypoint. It does not care whether those waypoints are VOR, NDB Intersections, Fixes or just a spot where we create a user waypoint on the map. So it follows whatever plan we load into the sim.

Mark

Markoz wrote on May 20^th, 2012 at 1:03pm:

You need to remember that we all take the realism of FSX to whichever level we choose. So if we choose to use the GPS, real or not, we choose to use it. I choose to use it if I want to.

One point I was trying to make is that the term "use the GPS" would in fact suggest unrealistic navigation in the 732, but using this particular switch does not add GPS capability to the airctaft. Merely allowing FS to following the flightpath is not GPS navigation. There is no Global Positioning SYSTEM in use, it's nothing more than FS keeping the aircraft on path. It could actually be called "rail mode".

If someone actually flies this way, of course it's unrealistic. And frankly, it would be unrealistic even if you had a GPS installed. There's much more to GPS navigation than simply not using radio NAV.

But to switch to this mode so you can go make a cup of coffee or whatever, hardly makes your simming any less realistic than pausing the sim or even using 2x, 4x, etc. It's really more of a FS feature than an aircraft feature.

Yes it's a cheat, but I value being able to "set it and forget it."....The one thing that discourages me from being a real pilot, is hours of just sitting there...In flightsim, I can go out and do things while in cruise....this is a huge advantage...I understand why the switch isnt labled, it would kill the realism for people who want authenticity...I'm just glad it's there...what ticks me off is that the nav/gps did not respond to my key setting...so it took me until reading this post to find out where it was.