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C!T ROM 2
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FLIGHTSI
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VLIEGTUI
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PL_P1040
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FLTDIR2.DOC
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1993-01-12
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Flight Director II is a program to allow complete control of the
FS4 autopilot from the keyboard.
This adventure differs from the original Flight Director (fltdir.zip).
All unnecessary functions have been eliminated. A couple of irritating
little bugs have been eliminated. The incrementation of heading and
magnetic variation has been slowed down to make it easier to lock on
the right number. A status display has been added so that you can
determine what has been turned on or off. The program has been rewritten
to provide high priority to the climb lock and heading lock functions.
(The speed of response is highly dependent on the amount of video
management going on.) You can initialize the magnetic variation to any
figure you like.
This program is not the same as Charlie Gulick's "Flypal". If you don't
already have Flypal, send Charlie $18.00 and get it. It's a worthwhile
purchase. Send your check to:
Charles Gulick
2810-C East Ashley Drive
West Palm Beach., FL 33415
Phone: 1-407-642-7704
CIS: 71241,321
Once FLTDIR2.ADV is loaded, the following keystrokes are available:
KEY FUNCTION
0 Toggle Altitude Lock On & Off.
\ Up increment of Altitude Lock in 100' steps.
/ Down increment of Altitude Lock in 100' steps.
' Stop altitude incrementation and lock on new altitude.
8 Magnetic variation adjust.
e Toggle Heading Lock On & Off.
w Left turn incrementation of Heading Lock.
r Right turn incrementation of Heading Lock.
x Stop heading incrementation and lock on new course.
7 Toggle status display on.
a Above ground altitude.
` Toggle adf on & off. Should be followed by pressing <esc>.
z Autopilot master switch.
It is possible to set the altitude and heading locks on and adjust them with
the autopilot master switch off. Nothing happens until the Autopilot master
switch is turned on.
To use Flight Director II, load fltdir2.adv in your FS4 directory and
select it as you current adventure. (AAF is required.)
My experience is that it usually is more efficient, when changing
altitude, to disengage the altitude lock, climb to altitude and lock on,
then make small incremental changes in altitude (\/'). The same holds
true for heading lock (werx).
For the initial operation of heading hold to work properly, the magnetic
variation must be entered (8). If you don't enter the variation you will
swerve off course (by the amount of local variation) when engaging the
heading lock. For instance: in the FS default scenery, the variation at
Chicago is 0, at SFO 38. Chicago is 0, East of Chicago is a negative
variation and west of Chicago is a positive variation.
If you fly in the same area most of time, you may want to initialize the
magnetic variation to the value for your area. Use a DOS text editor and
edit fltdir2.txt. The first line of code after the comments is:
setvar(v,0)
Change the 0 to the figure for the desired initial magnetic variation.
Save Fltdir2.txt
Compile the revised adventure:
aaf fltdir2.txt fltdir2.adv
One way to determine the amount of local magnetic variation is:
1) Boot up FS4 at desired location.
2) After the compass settles down, note your present course.
3) Enter the Autopilot menu (5 F) and note the heading displayed.
4) Subtract the heading displayed from you present course.
Another method is to get in the air and settle on a course with the autopilot
off. Note your compass or gyro reading. Turn on the autopilot (z) and turn on
the heading lock (e). When the plane settles on course again, note the
reading. The difference is your magnetic variation or the change in
variation from the previous setting.
Remember, The Fltdir2.adv only controls the existing FS4 autopilot and has
nothing to do with the FS4 autopilot's control of any particular plane. The
FS4 autopilot works best with agile planes and is very sluggish with heavy
planes. I have tested the Flight Director II with both the ATR-42 and the
T-1040 and it works just fine, although heading changes are much slower on
the ATR-42.
The program may be freely used, modified and reissued by anyone, for any
non-commercial purpose.
I'd be most interested in any comments or suggestions. I hope that this
information will inspire others to explore this ADV technique of improving
FS4 and that they will share their knowledge.
Art Rutty, CIS 72550,2533