For VFR flying I normally set up the courses on the CAA quarter mil first; well OK, on my Christmas present digital versions. Then I get out my CX-2 flight calculator, to correct courses for windspeed and direction, plus corrected speed and duration.Very enjoyable but it does make it hard to set up a flight when the odd half hour gap appears, or when I've just noticed a home team controller on seat.. Not using it before online flights with real weather led me to parts of the UK I'd never previously seen; or wished to! The unaccounted for wind was the problem..
I got round this by making a small gauge that displays Magnetic Heading, Magnetic Track and Windspeed and Direction. If I can remember what course I was hoping to follow it now becomes easy to adjust heading to give me the required dtrack. I suppose it's a sort of unsophisticated Drift Gauge.
In practice, even though the GF Autopilot isn't enabled, I use the CRS knob as a bug setter, so that the track I wish to follow is displayed in the GF's window. I then adjust the heading I fly until the Gauge's Magnetic Track is the one I aim to be on. It's not strictly kosher but I guess the same info is available from a real life small Garmin GPS, that a VFR pilot night normally carry. Incidentally I was interested to see, in this week's mag, that the two seater spitfire that that Romain chappy fles has a small GPS built very neatly into its panel.
If anyone is a panel tinkerer and would like to try it you can download from:
http://www.homepages.mcb.net/gwinsk/GW_DRIFT2B.zipPlace GW_DRIFT2.CAB in the Panel gauge of any FS9 or FSX aircraft with which you wish to equip it. Don't try to unzip the gauge.
To instal it in the main section of your panel.cfg file, include the following line, changing xx to become the next gauge number in sequence
GAUGExx=GW_DRIFT2!GW_DRIFT2,3,630,200,190To move the gauge further right, increase the existing 3, to some higher value, until it's far enough right.
To move the gauge up or down, either decrease or increase the existing 630, until it's correctly located.
If the gauge is too big, then reduce the existing values 200,190 but keep the two values in the same ratio.
That's all there is to it. By the time you've equipped the first ten aircraft it will become quite painless.
NB: It's freeware and supplied without warranty or after sales service! If you can't install it, I've just left on a 3 months cruise.........
Gerry Winskill
