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HomeHomeDiscussionsDiscussionsiFly GPS for An...iFly GPS for An...Planning routes using radial interceptsPlanning routes using radial intercepts
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1/5/2021 11:51 AM
 

working on it, i promise!

 
New Post
1/7/2021 11:41 AM
 
Alasdair wrote:

Hate to be sceptical here but I've repeatedly requested a way to fly a radial over the years since I replaced my Lowrance 2000C with an iFly700. But heh - I'd still love to see it happen.

So I'm thinking about this feature, have some questions:  How did this work in your Lowrance?  Also can you give me some examples of when & why you need to fly a radial?  Here are some reasons that come to mind, but not sure I'm addressing the specific scenarios you are trying to solve.  These are some VOR related ideas, not all about "flying a radial":
- Planing a VOR-to-VOR flight, or planning a VOR approach
- ATC requests flight to a specific VOR
- In a holding pattern based on a radial
- Wish to report location based on radial & distance
- Just curious what radial I'm on
- Want to validate GPS accuracy by comparing with my radio VOR results
- Ian's scenario: I want to fly outbound from BXK (Buckeye, AZ) on th 280 radial and then intercept the 140 radial out of EED (Needles, AZ)
- Chad's scenario: Designate fixes by waypoint/radial/distance (I presume this means add a waypoint to the flight plan)
- If it was easy to see radial/distance info on the app, could be helpful as a backup if GPS goes out
- If GPS goes out, could allow user to enter radial & distance, or radials from multipe VORs, to manually update ownship position on the map

What am I missing?  

Thanks!
Walter


Walter Boyd
President, Adventure Pilot
 
New Post
1/7/2021 12:47 PM
 

I try not to poo-pooh other people's enhancement requests, especially since I don't fly in their shoes.  But why spend precious development time on a technology that is being sunset'ed by the FAA?  According to what I just pulled off the web, "A of September 20, 2020, the FAA had shut down 82 VORs. In Phase 2 of the program, which runs through FY2030, another 225 navaids will be decommissioned."  There is such a LONG list of enhancement requests that precede these recent VOR ones. 

I might have this view because I don't use VORs, so I don't see the big deal.  And, if I understand correctly, it does sound like the FAA is going to keep a core set of VORs operating (though not indefintely, I'm sure).

But if this comes down to a business case of making iFly attractive to a new or larger audience, then I guess go for it.


Powrachute PC 2000; Aventura II; Cherokee 180
 
New Post
1/8/2021 8:20 AM
 

Of course VORs are not as important today as they were before GPS came along, and it is true that the number of VORs is decreasing.  However, the FAA considers them an essential backup to GPS, so they are not going away.  Even after the planned reductions are complete in 2030, almost 600 VORs will remain in operation (down from about 900 before the reductions began), and as of today there is no plan to reduce their numbers further than that.

https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/...rograms/vormon/

 
New Post
1/8/2021 10:24 PM
 

Walter - all screen shots from the Lowrance are long gone unless you can still access the original ifly forums! ..but basically it gave an OBS function. You could actually use OBS with any waypoint whether VOR or otherwise. There was a rocker button you held right or left to dial the OBS.

There really isnt another way with a GPS to fly from a waypoint with a gps - legs always take you to.

with the OBS function I could dial in a radial to or from any waypoint and essentially the HSI and CDI pages worked just like a VOR, even better that's where the NMEA data for the autopilot would track. no reception issues and no accuracy loss further out from the station as the gps signals dont fan out.

Putting aside holding, procedure turns and missed approaches. Maybe I just want to track outbound from somewhere on a given heading looking at stuff, I'm not actually navigating to a specific predefined waypoint.

anyway it worked as an OBS function/mode. If I recall correctly when I picked a waypoint "station" and set an OBS it would track that to oblivion which was fine. 

When I was done with the OBS and switched back to regular mode I'd resume my flight plan if I had one active.

I won't argue I'm sure I'd use it less often than I used to but that's how it worked.  

 

 

 

 
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