Hi All,

I picked up the 737 last week and have been really enjoying it. Learning to fly using radio nav is particularly challenging being used to flying aircraft than have an FMS.

In future I intend on flying this aircraft on VATSIM (I assume the transponder works properly for that) and was wondering if anyone uses SID's and STAR's? I can fly using some procedures if they use VOR/NDB's but a lot of them nowadays are RNAV, which this aircraft isn't capable of.

Do people normally just request vectors if flying this aircraft online?

The only way to use SIDs and STARs is to create a default Flight Planner flight plan. I use FS Commander 9.2 to do that because I can add SIDs and STARs and save them in the correct FLT format.

Then. To fly the GPS route, you must click on the NAV/GPS Switch and use VOR LOC mode on the Autopilot Mode Selector. The Cockpit Tooltips show the NAV/GPS Switch as the Marker Beacon Sensitivity Switch (see image below).

http://i669.photobucket.com/albums/vv58/Markoz958/2012-12-18_14-28-50-342.jpg

Hope this helps

Thanks for that Mark.

I actually have noticed the NAV/GPS switch on the panel but always keep in NAV mode as I prefer to fly it the way they did back in the 'old days'  :)

I use FSBuild and found out about skyvector.com from another thread and have been building my own plans based on VOR/NDB's. I can use FSBuild to convert flight plans to default FSX with SID/STAR's in them which is fine when flying offline, but on VATSIM an ATC would usually issue you with a SID while receiving clearance and it may not be the same as what you have in your flight plan.

I guess I'll just fly the non-RNAV procedures if available or request vectors.

Michael R.

That's the only way I do SID and STAR in the 737. Otherwise, I take off, slowly turn the 737 towards the VOR radial to track to the next VOR etc., before peeling off to be able to track an ILS/GS or line up on a runway for a manual landing. :o

There are still lots of SID/STAR's that can be flown with VOR/DME. In the U.S. its still very common; In Canada its rare. However, the STAR will usually end in vectors to final once your 20-30 miles from the airport. And its probably (for me at least) one of the most challenging and fun things to do in FS.

Check out the Van Nuys 9 departure out of KBUR.

http://skyvector.com/airport/BUR/Bob-Hope-Airport

That's right in the US there's still at least one non-RNAV SID or STAR for almost every major airport.

And since there's no FSDO in flight sim to jerk your license away from you if you wander too much it's possible to hand-fly a SID or STAR or do it with heading mode only.  I did for a while flying the 732 in Alaska before I switched to Acceleration and got the autopilot to track the magenta line without it having to be in alt hold mode.

You just have to pay real close attention to what's going on and have the GPS installed in the airplane so you can see the line you're supposed to be following :)

Talk about a challenge...I even managed to keep the RC4 controllers from barking at me most of the time.

CXA546 wrote on Dec 18^th, 2012 at 3:18pm:

There are still lots of SID/STAR's that can be flown with VOR/DME. In the U.S. its still very common; In Canada its rare.

I might have to start flying the B732 around the US.

In Australia majority of SID/STAR's into major airports are now RNAV as well so haven't really bothered using them. I've just been tracking the VOR radial to the airport then switch over to ILS and track the inbound LOC course according to the chart.

It's still a real challenge though! keeping an eye on the speed of the aircraft as it turns to final and manually adjusting everything. Been flying the NextGen so long that I've gotten used to doing everything on auto with an FMC.

FlyBoyMikey wrote on Dec 19^th, 2012 at 1:12am:

I've just been tracking the VOR radial to the airport then switch over to ILS and track the inbound LOC course according to the chart.

I don't even do that. I fly VOR to VOR and then when close to my destination airport, use heading select to intercept  ILS, or just to line up on the runway and land without those navigation aids. ;)