[Missions] FS ACADEMY - NAVIGATOR | FS Academy

Hi everyone, I have some exciting news to share…

Coming soon for MSFS is FS ACADEMY’s latest mission pack:
FS ACADEMY - NAVIGATOR

FS ACADEMY - NAVIGATOR is an all-new tutorial pack designed to add a new dimension to your flying, enabling you to navigate cross-country using real techniques to find your way.

Escape the shackles of the airfield circuit and spread your wings by learning step by step the skills and techniques required to go and explore.

Starting off with the basic principles of waypoint selection we will build you up gradually to incorporate timings, wind drift and varied landscapes to complete your skillset and prepare you for embarking upon your own adventures. 11 tutorial missions will introduce you to the crucial skills needed for visual navigation before setting off on a multi-leg bush trip across Scotland to put what you have learned into practice.

Navigation logs and VFR route maps are included, so you have everything you need to tour the landscape. Created by a real airline captain, FS ACADEMY - NAVIGATOR is designed to mirror a real life navigation course, taking you step by step across a wide range of conditions and locations, using the real techniques for maximum authenticity. Whether touring the Las Vegas skyline after dark or traversing snow-swept Sweden, NAVIGATOR has you covered

Each mission has accompanying theory, found in the complete ground school manual. Learn the theory before you take to the skies with the help of your onboard instructor, fully narrated and complete with custom ATC.

​NAVIGATOR 01. THE VIEW FROM ABOVE
Commence your exploration into the world of VFR (Visual Flight Rules) navigation by getting to grips with the range of ground features available to you for route planning. See the pros and cons of line, point and area features on a tour of the UK’s south coast on a warm summer’s day.

NAVIGATOR 02. STEPPING STONES
Linking a series of ground features together forms a basic route across the San Francisco Bay area, hopping visually from point to point as you soar above the Californian countryside towards the unmistakable Alcatraz and the iconic Golden Gate Bridge, using this simple stepping stone technique.


NAVIGATOR 03. WATCHING THE CLOCK
The stepping stone method is limited to features that are within visual range of each other. This works well for areas dense with useful features, but we will now add the element of time to enable more flexible planning options which are unrestrained by line of sight. Use the five T’s to keep on top of your progress as we introduce the navigation log on a journey across Cornwall.


NAVIGATOR 04. BLOWN AWAY
Famous for its strong winds, Fuerteventura is the ideal place to demonstrate how the effects of wind plays its part in navigation. Learn the simple clock face method of estimating your drift angle, allowing for a quick calculation of your required heading to fly to keep you on track when the wind blows.


NAVIGATOR 05. STRETCHING YOUR LEGS
More direct routes are possible when you know how to tackle longer legs, which is the subject of this flight across New Zealand’s North Island. Use enroute fixes and the drift lines from your map to estimate your tracking and learn how to make corrections to keep you on course.


NAVIGATOR 06. RADAR CONTACT
Venture into controlled airspace for the first time whilst learning how to operate the radios and contact Air Traffic Control to negotiate an Aerodrome Traffic Zone (ATZ) before flying the special Low Level Route between Liverpool and Manchester, followed by a zone transit through controlled airspace.


NAVIGATOR 07. FROSTBITE
Keep the show on the road after temperatures plummet and the snow moves in. Take to the skies above southern Sweden to learn how to adapt to the new perspective offered by a snowy landscape so that the winter months do not leave you grounded.


NAVIGATOR 08. NIGHT SHIFT
Don’t let darkness scupper your plans by gaining an understanding of the limitations and adaptations of night flight as we tour the Nevada skyline between the Hoover Dam and the Vegas Strip.


NAVIGATOR 09. MOUNTAINEER
Forced down to lower levels by deteriorated weather, take the twists and turns of mountain navigation in your stride, remaining wary of the dangers and invisible hazards that are found in the valleys of the French Alps.


NAVIGATOR 10. SKYLINE
What better place is there to take in the NYC skyline than from your airborne vantage point above the Hudson. Take advantage of a Class B Exclusion Zone and slip through the crowded New York airspace and experience the Statue of Liberty from a new perspective.

NAVIGATOR 11. ISLANDER
Traverse the stunning landscape surrounding the Isle of Arran, Scotland. Then head eastbound to perform the VFR entry procedure to arrive at Glasgow airport, learning about setting the fuel mixture and water crossings whilst enroute.

NAVIGATOR 12. HIGHLANDER
Put your new skills to practice and complete your Navigator experience by going solo and taking to the skies above the Scottish Highlands, looking down upon some of the most glorious landscapes imaginable in this authentic multi-leg Bush Trip.

​FS ACADEMY - NAVIGATOR is accompanied by a complete 70+ page ground school manual, covering a host of topics to boost your background knowledge before you take to the skies.

Spread your wings and venture out over the countryside, finding your way by map and compass, gaining the skills you will carry with you for years to come with FS ACADEMY - NAVIGATOR.

LEARN ALL ABOUT NAVIGATOR HERE: www.fsacademy.co.uk/navigator






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This is great news! I owe all the FS Academy products VFR, IFR, Voyager and Jetliner. Beside the Bush Trips, for me this is by far the most enjoyable content in the sim. Just to note: I fly 100% in VR.

Looking forward to the release of Navigator

Regards
Harald

PS: Maybe you could think of releasing a Mission pack for a small and local ‘Airline’. Offering just 3-4 rather short connections in a nice area of the world. With some variations in weather, daytime etc. and if possible to choose the aircraft (C208, Kodiak, Twin Otter…). Just an idea. Of course it is easily possible to create such flight-plans by ourselves, but the immersion with a talking instructor (Co-Pilot), ATC as done in your other products and targets during the flight raises the immersion strongly.

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Hi there, thanks for your kind words, I’m glad you’re having a great time with the existing packs. I think Navigator will be well received, as it benefits from all of the advancements made over the years such as markers, objectives, camera sequences etc.

I made a set of 4 missions, based around Aviation sans Frontiers, with scenery added by SimWorks Studios. The proceeds go to the charity, so maybe take a look at those!

Best,
David
FS ACADEMY

Hey all!

David from FS Academy was kind enough to let me have a spin of this product a couple of weeks ago and I wanted to share it with you and show you what you are in for and to those of you unfamiliar with how FS Academy Tutorial products work, the way it’s structured!

This is a GREAT compliment to the already-existing lessons: VFR, IFR, and JETLINER, specifically, it’s like a sister to the VFR package.

It was exciting enough for me to want to show it to you guys, so I asked David for permission to do a quick video of it. :wink:

Hope you enjoy.

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Great video Jeremy!

Expecting NAVIGATOR to go live on Orbx, Contrail, Aerosoft, Simmarket, Flightsim.com and Just Flight before the end of the week. Marketplace to come soon after.

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Hi everyone,

I’m really pleased to report that NAVIGATOR is now available.
ORBX: FS Academy Navigator - Orbx
AEROSOFT: https://www.aerosoft.com/en/microsoft-flight-simulator/msfs-tools/3781/fs-academy-navigator-msfs

Simmarket, Flightsim, Contrail and Just Flight will be releasing later today or by the weekend, with Marketplace shortly after.

I think this will be a new flagship mission pack for FS ACADEMY, and I hope you like it.
More details and up to date store availability here: www.fsacademy.co.uk/navigator

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Here’s a great preview of NAVIGATOR 01. The View From Above by Tennshadow Gaming:

“I really like it… I like the new features… I can’t wait to explore the rest of this series”

See what the Simhanger has to say about NAVIGATOR: MSFS | NAVIGATE LIKE A PRO! | FS ACADEMY release NAVIGATOR | First Look & Review - YouTube

“One of the most genuinely useful set of tutorials I have come across. Navigator concentrates on the real world piloting skills needed to fly a VFR route. This package represents good value for money… It helps me be a better pilot.”

Hi everyone,

I’m pleased to say that NAVIGATOR is now available on PC and XBOX from the in-game marketplace.

Go to ACTIVITIES and you will find NAVIGATOR and the full FS ACADEMY range in the TRAINING section.

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SimFlight Pro are running a giveaway for FS ACADEMY - NAVIGATOR. Take a look here: COMING MAY 17TH to Microsoft Flight Simulator + Weekly NEWS | 25K Special Episode - YouTube

all is well & good until mission/lesson 4 blown away. it literally makes no sense whatsoever, a terrible job of explaining . the manial gives an analogy of a clock so 15 mins is quarter of a hour 30 mins half hour so you would use half of the wind speed as crosswind component (whatever that means) but then it says 60 minutes is one hour so its a full wind speed crosswind component …eh? but then it gets even more mumbo jumbo ish saying desired trk 120 degrees wind 090/20 airsped 120 knts wind angle 120 -90 =30 degrees half of 20 =10knts crosswind component drift angle 10 divided by 2 = 5 degrees hdg to steer trk 120 - 5 drift angle =115
this just makes no sense at all , its complete & utter gobblegook , complicated not well explained & just makes no sense … it went from being a very straight forward pleasant tutorial to a cockpit load of nonsense . i will now have to watch a bunch of youtube videos to try & understand what on earth all this means but i know for a fact that it will never be explained like this because this makes no sense at all & as far as i can tell it is in martian . i encountered this same sort of thing in the ifr lessons , something about timing a minute whatever it was but it didnt make much sense either & i abandoned /didnt do any more of them but because the vfr & jet liner made a lot more sense i thought i would give fs academy the benefit of the doubt & went ahead & purchased this navigator add on. i think obviously it was written by someone who understands their own shorthand but seriously i dont think anyone else will be able to understand it , i know i cant.

i think it is only fair to mention that overall these packages are enjoyable & helpful. i reccomend the vfr, jetliner & apart from me not understanding this lesson 4 called blown away i am sure that the rest of it will be great. im not dissing these add ons because overall they are really good.

Hi there,

I’m sorry to read you are having a hard time with lesson 4.

Consider taking a look at lesson 4, as flown by Zentropy Aviation:

Crosswind corrections are not immediately intuitive, but we cover it in the same way as most pilots do through their IRL flight training.

The clock concept means that if the wind direction is 60 degrees or more from your HDG, then consider the full wind speed to be your crosswind. If 30 degrees off HDG, use 1/2 the wind speed.

Not all learning styles are the same, so before giving up I suggest re-reading and reattempting lesson 4 (using the onscreen objectives) and supplement with video learning and other resources.

All the best

I’m very pleased with this product.
When something from FS Academy comes out is always a must-buy for me.

I would advise Navigator to anyone.

If I had to find anything to mention that I didn’t quite like, I would say that I would have preferred a takeoff and a landing as standard on every flight.

Starting and finishing the flight mid-air really breaks the immersion for me, but mainly it discourages me to replay the mission after I learnt what the lesson is about.

I do enjoy the duration of the lessons, now around 20-40 minutes. I wish they included a
flight pattern departure and landing, and they would be perfect for me.

I should mention all the great things about this package and its great educational value that makes it overall an excellent product.
Also, other people might argue that they prefer no departures and landings so the lessons are shorter, so don’t take my opinion as a deal breaker.

Cheers

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Definitely agree. The favourite part of any flight for me, is take off and landing. Previous iterations of the series have allowed landings at the end of a lesson if that is what you wanted. Will still persevere however, as the lesson are invaluable.

@SlyNShifty Crosswind correction means finding the correct heading to maintain your required track. I usually guess it but using the correct mathematical method is sensible in the sim and essential IRL.

There is nothing factually incorrect in Lesson 4 but even I decided to do a bit further study, as it was hard to take it all onboard whilst concentrating on holding heading speed and altitude in a C152 with no AP.

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Indeed.

When I scroll all the lessons between FS ACADEMY VFR and NAVIGATOR looking for something to practice again, I always choose something that either starts from the ground or ends on the ground.

I think I played the first 2 VFR lessons (VFR departure procedure and VFR approach procedure from and to Liverpool) more times than all the other lessons together.

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Hi guys,

Thank you, that’s really great to hear that you’re enjoying Navigator. I’m very proud of it and getting such positive feedback across the board is very encouraging.

Happy landings,
David

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This is off-topic from this thread, but wondering if there are any plans to release lessons for gliders down the line, especially with official MSFS support for it come end of the year.

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Hi there,

Yes maybe! I have only limited IRL gliding experience so will have to do research and consultation, but a gliding module would be a great addition to the series.

What else would you guys like to see?

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Helicopter lessons would be nice aswell. :slight_smile:

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