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Lesson 1, Basic Navigation
Be sure you have the Cessna [Cessna 182 S in FS98] on the runway at Meigs Field in Chicago. Look in your manual for the
map of Chicago If you look at the compass heading indicator it should say 360  That means you are facing north. 360
is north, 90 is east, 180 is south and 270 is west. If you look at your Chicago area map, to the northwest of Meigs filed is O'hare You will see a rectangular box with a number
inside. The number is 113.90. This is the VOR for O'hare. A VOR is a radio beacon that sends signals out in what are
called radials. Each radial is a compass heading. VOR's have a range of anywhere from 60-80 miles. This is the primary from of navigation used today. On the right side of
your Cessna instrument panel is the radio stack. [FS98 users should click the 'Avionics' button on the panel to open the radio stack. The radios in FS98 can be floated anywhere on the screen]
Com1 would be for radio voice communications with Air Traffic control. Your 2 NAV radios are marked NAV1 and NAV2.
[In FS98 the Cessna 182 RG has only one NAV radio, The Cessna 182 S has 2 NAV radios] Set the NAV 2 radio to 113.9, the O'hare VOR frequency. It may be the default. To the right of the NAV2 radio is DEM2. This will tell you
how many nautical miles you are from O'hare's VOR beacon. In this case it should say 15.5 [In FS98 the DME is below the NAV radios and is switchable between the NAV 1
and NAV 2 radios. Also in FS98 the NAV radios will generally not function till you are around 2000 feet. This is more realistic than FS95 and is caused by obstructions, so don't be
alarmed if the radios appear to not work while on the ground] To the left of the radio stack are 2 OBI Navigation gauges. [In FS98 the OBI gauges are the
second stack from the right of the panel] Look at your bottom gauge. Adjust the top number till the needle centers. It will probably center around 299. This means if you took off from Meigs and turned to a heading of 299 you would be at O'hare in 15.5 miles. This means if
you took off from Meigs and turned to a heading of 299 you would be at O'hare in 15.5 miles. you are clear of the obstructions. You can adjust the gauges in FS98 by
clicking the OBS gauge and FS98 gauges have a moving compass as opposed to the numbers in FS95] This is fine if you just want to get to the airport but you'll probably want to land.
Look at the runway listing for O'hare.. The runway numbers generally indicate the compass heading of the runway.. i.e.. runway 9R is 90 degrees, runway 27 is 270
degrees. These are not exact though, lets decide to land on Runway 27R. If you notice that next to runway 27R in the Chicago area sectional directory it gives a frequency of 110.5 This is called a '
localizer' or "ILS" for Instrument landing sytem. Put this freq. in your NAV 1 radio, DME 1 will tell you how far you are from the END of the runway. [In FS98 keep in mind the
gauges will not be active till you are clear of the obstructions]. The localizers are at the far end of the runway.. some won't give you a Nautical miles reading so don't think
something is wrong if it doesn't. Since planes don't fly in straight lines but have to turn to line up with runways. Lets fly from Meigs to O'hare
with a planned landing on runway 27R. We will fly north at a heading of 360 degrees after takeoff.. Since we want to land on runway 27 (heading 270 degrees.)
What we want to do is intercept the 270 degree radial from O'hare. So set the bottom OBI gauge top number to 270. Also set the top OBI gauge top number to 270.  [FS98 users should turn the OBS knob till the compass shows a
heading of 270 at the top of the compass] But the second gauge is more important for now.. you can take off at about 60 knots. To make it easier on your first flight we'll use
the auto pilot. After takeoff hit the 'Z' key. This will enable the autopilot.. [FS98 users can hit the AP button on the radio stack] Make sure you're flying on a heading of appx
360. it can be a little off, preferably off to the east so you don't hit the buildings. You can lock your heading in by hitting control H [FS98 users can hit the HDG button on the radio stack]
just make sure you've enabled autopilot first. Climb to about 2500 feet and level off, you can level off your altitude with Control Z. [FS98 users can hit the ALT button on the radio stack]
As you head north the needle on the lower OBI gauge will start to center as you approach the 270 radial from Ohare..As the needle nears center, make a.gradual turn to compass heading 270.  At this point you should be about 12 -13 miles from
O'hare. Now that will be on the final approach you want to look at the OBI 1 gauge. This gauge is referenced to the NAV 1 radio which is set for 110.50 which is the ILS
for runway 27R. You'll see a vertical and Horizontal needle on OBI gauge 1. The horizontal needle tells you if you're to high or too low on your approach. If it's above the center circle
you need to climb. It's telling you where you should be not where you are. if it's lower than the center circle you need to
descend. The vertical gauge tells you your position in relation to the runway.. If the needle is to the right, the glide slope to the runway is to your right. If the needle is
to the left, the glide slope is to your left..Again, it's telling you where you should be. [On FS98, the needles on the gauges are fixed a ton end and have a
pendulum type movement but the same rules apply]. Small corrections and turns are better than wide turns is showing you lined up with the runway and at the correct altitude) At this point lets hit P to pause. Hit Z to turn off the auto pilot. [FS98 users can just turn off the AP button on the radio stack]
For this flight we'll let the Instrument Landing system bring the plane in so you can see how it is done. Hit Z again to turn the AP back on.Normally you won't hit pause and don't have to turn the
AP on and off, this is just to make it easier to understand.. Now hit Control O, that's the letter OH. [FS98 users can hit the APP button on the radio stack]. This locks the plane into the ILS
. The localizers have a range of about 20 miles. The ILS can basically land the plane and while it's more fun to land
yourself, this will show you what's happening without having to make too many decisions..The Auto pilot should make a few turns and line itself up with the
runway. It should control the altitude as well on your appraoch. you need to watch your speed, The ILS WON'T do this for you. Try to keep it above 70 KTS. Normally you won't hit pause and don't have to turn the AP on and off,
this is just to make it easier to understand.. Now hit Control O, that's the letter OH. [FS98 users can hit the APP button on the radio stack]. This locks the plane into the ILS. The
localizers have a range of about 20 miles. The ILS can basically land the plane and while it's more fun to land
yourself, this will show you what's happening without having to make too many decisions..The Auto pilot should make a few turns and line itself
up with the runway. It should control the altitude as well on your appraoch. you need to watch your speed, The ILS WON'T do this for you. Try to keep it above 70
KTS.. Lower your flaps 20 degrees and don't forget to lower your landing gear. Keep an eye on your altitude, if you're too high or too low when you hit control-O [the APP button for FS98 users]
you might have to make some adjustments. Watch the glide slope indicators on OBI 1 If all goes well the ILS should bring you
down perfectly on runway 27R, make sure you cut the engines (F1) just before touchdown and gradually hit the brakes after you're down. Practice a few times
and eventually follow the glide path manually. After a while you'll be able to fly to other airports..
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