The inevitable noob question set

[Tim Krajcar]

So after battling XP9's install process for the last couple days, I finally got a full install done, just to find that both my Saitek pedals and my CH yoke have become completely useless in the year or so since I'd last logged any virtual hours. Luckily, the trusty backup Saitek stick was still in the closet, so I was able to make my first XP9/PE flight that didn't end in total tragedy last night (http://peaware.pilotedge.net/flight.cfm?id=118).

Nonetheless, I have no shortage of questions.... Some of which are plane model specific, so I won't bore you with those, but here are a couple general ones

1. Any tips for navigating airports successfully? Is there a top-down view similar to MSFS? Without any buildings of any kind, I'm finding the airports tremendously disorienting from the cockpit perspective.
2. Is there an in-sim AFD of some kind? Now that I'm back in the virtual cockpit, I've gotten a fresh set of charts, but the indicated ATIS frequencies for both KOAK (133.775) and KMRY (119.25) brought up nothing when I tuned to them. Or is there a different way to get ATIS? Or, in a pinch, just a METAR from the network? Or does PE not even sync weather yet and I'm just wasting my time?
3. Similar to #2 - I attempted to shoot the LOC/DME 28L into KMRY (chart: http://204.108.4.16/d-tpp/1101/00271LD28L.PDF) but was rather hampered by the fact that although the localizer came up fine, there was no DME available... I had DME to SNS so I'm pretty sure I was looking in the right place in the cockpit (X-Aviation Cessna 400) for it and it wouldn't come up. Is this a matter of needing to update XP's database somehow? If so, what's the procedure?
3. Is there a slew equivalent? I've figured out that I can push the various buttons under the map in the airport finder to be placed there (although there seems to be no way to preview which one will put me where - everytime I click the window closes), but in KOAK's case, all of the location presets were either in the terminal or on the cargo ramp - no GA presets. In MSFS, no big deal, I just use slew to go where I want to be. I'm sure there's a way to do similar in XP...

[Christian Mears]

Hi Tim,

I'm by no means an expert on X-Plane, but some things that might help you out (I'm on my work tablet and don't have the links available):
-make sure you have the latest RC update from X-Plane (there's an updater file in the root X-Plane folder). That will ensure you have the latest Nav data along with other fixes and tweaks.
-alternatively, you can go to Robin Peel's website and download the Nav file directly and install
-Check out the instructions on X-Plane.org forums for flying online; there are some great tips and links to various plugins, including one for an airport overlay on your screen.
-Check out the downloadable Custom Scenery files for the various airports.
-I believe there are a couple of methods to address #3, but one I often see is to taxi over to where you want your starting point and then save that as a "situation."

I may be wrong on some of this, but just going off the top of my head. If you need more detailed assistance, the X-Plane.org forums are a fantastic resource.

[Shawn Goldsworthy]

Tim, you can place your aircraft wherever you want to by clicking on local map and dragging your plane on that map to wherever you want to place it on the airfield.

Regarding the lack of a DME at KMRY, I'll send a note to Robin to get it put in there, for now as a temporary fix you can add this line of code to the VERY END of your earth_nav.dat. It has to go at the end because that's where the DME section is and it's easier that trying to paste it in the proper location......the order things are listed isn't important as long as it's in the DME section.

Code: Select all

36.59158900 -121.85794700 127 11070 18 0.000 IMTB KMRY 28L DME

Your earth_nav.dat file is located in your X-Plane folder under resources\default data.

Let me know if it doesn;t work and I'll double check that I have the code 100% correct. Create a backup of your earth_nav.dat just in case.

[Alex Stjepanovic]

Just mind the obstructions when dragging, as it seems X-Plane does take notice and often tears parts of your beloved aircraft apart if you go "through" something

[Shawn Goldsworthy]

Tim, I just took a peek at the newest data, the DME is there now, just update and you should be good to go.

[Brian Ratledge]

Tim, you can place your aircraft wherever you want to by clicking on local map and dragging your plane on that map to wherever you want to place it on the airfield.

I was going to recommend the same thing SX. It should be noted that if the elevation in the destination area is considerably below your current location your plane might get damaged. In which case you will have to fix your plane. This is very common.

[Brian Ratledge]

2. Is there an in-sim AFD of some kind? Now that I'm back in the virtual cockpit, I've gotten a fresh set of charts, but the indicated ATIS frequencies for both KOAK (133.775) and KMRY (119.25) brought up nothing when I tuned to them. Or is there a different way to get ATIS? Or, in a pinch, just a METAR from the network? Or does PE not even sync weather yet and I'm just wasting my time?

I use skyvector on a second monitor for all charts and get the current metars from it too. I turn on xplanes real world weather download. I set it to get it every 5 minutes. If i see that i need it to update sooner for an approach etc I do a manual download in xplanes weather.

[Shawn Goldsworthy]

Tim, you can place your aircraft wherever you want to by clicking on local map and dragging your plane on that map to wherever you want to place it on the airfield.

I was going to recommend the same thing SX. It should be noted that if the elevation in the destination area is considerably below your current location your plane might get damaged. In which case you will have to fix your plane. This is very common.

Yeah it happens pretty much every time. Just make sure the settings are set to have aircraft start on the ramp, and make sure "reset on hard crash" is off, then you can just use the wonderful X-Plane mechanic (reset all systems to operational) and you're good to go.

[Tim Krajcar]

Thanks, all, for the answers. Very much appreciated. Had a successful second flight last night into Van Nuys.

I'm still looking for answers on the weather questions. Let me rephrase these, for clarity:

1: Does PE sync weather from real-life sources automatically? If not, how can I make sure that I'm getting the same weather the controller has?

2: I was able to tune ATIS for an airport when Keith was initially walking me through the network setup, but ever since then I haven't been able to (for example, KOAK's wasn't working). For now, I have been calling the AWOS phone numbers published on airnav.com to get ATIS, which is actually fairly cool and realistic. However, it'd be nice to be able to use the freqs right off my charts. Is this a pipe dream or do I need to do something?

[Keith Smith]

PE doesn't touch the weather in the sim. This was done in anticipation for the release of X-Plane 10, which is going to have an incredible built-in weather engine that should need NO augmentation. Unfortunately, we released early, and XP10 has been delayed. So, we're left with XP9's weather engine, which isn't quite as good. However, you can still configure it to pull real-world weather. The information is easily located in the Weather panel.

When I say that XP9's weather isn't as good, what I mean is that it can only have one weather system loaded at any given time. So, if you're heading into LAX, and SMO has crappy weather, LAX has great weather, and HHR has moderate weather, I have no idea what you'll actually see. I don't know if it blends several nearby airports, or if it simply picks the nearest at the time. Xsquawkbox (VATSIM) has an advantage there, it looks at your filed destination, and then once you're within 40nm of the destination airport, it ONLY pulls weather from that ONE airport.

As for tuning ATIS, if you're doing it on com2, make sure your com1/2 selector is to to com2 (I think). That will tell xplane that you'd like to hear com2 (PE doesn't pay attention to that setting right now, so com1 will keep working, too, and you'll still be transmitting on com1). Also, make sure you've configured the Sound menu to have verbal or text ATC, as described in the installation documentation. This will allow you to receive ATIS and PE's PM's.