Hello all,

I've had a difficult time trying to get the answer to this question:  How do I get the 727 to work with fsnav?  Was it designed to exlude fsnav interface?  I have read the manuals that state how to operate the autopilot with no reference to FSNAV.  Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Start FS8/9, and go to "Settings" on the menu page. Select "Controls/Assignments", then select "Radio Commands". Scroll down to "Nav1/GPS on/off" and assign the 'N' key to this.

Go to the "Flight Planner", use the menus to plan your flight, then "Save" the plan. Now "Load" the plan.

Once in the aircraft, set up for departure, then pull up the GPS screen. You should see a plan loaded and a course line showing on the GPS screen.

Take off, and using the heading bug or hand flying, get onto an intercept heading to the course line shown. Then turn on the autopilot, and press 'N'. You will only see a change in the course deviation bar on your HSI, showing displacement from the GPS course line.

Select "NAV/LOC" on the autopilot selector, and the aircraft will turn onto and track the GPS course when intercepted. It will continue to track the course, through changes at waypoints, all the way to your destination, until you either push 'N' again, which will return the A/P to VOR nav mode, or turn off the autopilot.

I usually let the GPS fly the route, then switch to "Heading" mode to fly the approach, leaving the GPS screen up to self-vector myself onto the visual or ILS.

I've also found that switching to 'FLPN' on the GPS screen will give me distance to the final waypoint, giving me a guide to when to start down. (The moving map only displays distance to the next waypoint in the plan.)

Pushing the 'N' key does NOT bring up the GPS, you have to do that. 'N' just tells the A/P wether to use the VOR receivers or the GPS as a NAV source. The only change you should see would be on the CDI of the HSI.

This works for all my planes, with minor differences on how to couple the A/P to a NAV source.