Useful info cheers, i’ve no doubt im just messing up. I’ve been learning a bit at a time and enjoying it that way 
I’ll remember that!
I use VNAV all the time when using OnAir/FSE due to all the small, dark airfields I go to at night.
VNAV works on the penultimate waypoint, thus a route must be 3 or more waypoint, a route with just a start and an end point wont work as there is no third reference for height dictating the start point of the decent.
I just place the third waypoint or penultimate waypoint aligned with the runway heading for the landing, I then set an altitude for that third waypoint or penultimate waypoint in the GPS and make sure I am at that altitude before I get to that waypoint, and assuming your using the AP, about 1nm before reaching the waypoint, I turn off altitude hold and turn on VNAV I then switch from NAV mode to approach mode, as soon as the AP passes that waypoint, it will enter a VNAV approach and descend.
the longest approach I have got to work is 36nm starting at 10,000ft, I have also got some steep approaches to work in the order of 5nm starting at 5000ft, the latter though requires you be in landing configuration before starting it so you have your speed in check, as it is not as tolerant as a ~3deg ILS, due to the sort timeframe of the approach, the ability to gain speed and the larger rates of decent to correct ballooning when flaps are extended.
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Any time I do a flight that I post I just kind of fly it for myself and then do a voiceover afterwards without
Should have been more clear. VNAV doesn’t work on GA aircraft. I’m guessing you are flying something that us GA guys don’t (I never fly the heavies)
C208 caravan, Barron 58, King Air are GA aircraft, which it works with, and on the basis of the Barron 58 which has much the same G1000 as the C172 I suspect it will work with any of the G1000 equipped aircraft with AP.
Will have to try it out, but It was literally confirmed not working by Asobo/MS.
That being said, I’ll give it a shot tonight. Didn’t even think of trying it when reading it wasn’t implemented.
Can you make a video of this?
So I am not sure what the consensus is. Is RNAV approach with vertical guidance working?
I tried again and it didn’t work. Tried the approach to KLAS. The waypoints have altitudes preset except for final approach which were blank and can’t seem to be edited.
There is no Current VNV Profile when you press VNV. There is no indication that it is armed. I think you need to see VPTH on the top screen of the G1000 to indicate VNV is armed.
The plane followed the waypoints but did not do any altitude step downs.
If someone has been able to do this, please post a video.
Thanks
For the record, I did not claim it is working. I tried it and couldn’t activate it either so havn’t tried it since.
B101UKNo1 says otherwise.
I read another thread or dev thread that stated it wasn’t implemented yet, but again, if B101 says it is I’ll wait to see if someone can show it working.
Most people who claim it working are actually engaging APR at some point and trapping an RNAV or ILS in my opinion, but I’ll hold judgement until I check it out myself.
Not sure what B101 has experienced, but what I stated before is confirmed in the “known issues” thread here:
Known Issues
Aircraft instruments:
- The autopilot may struggle with altitude and speed targets
- VNAV is partially implemented on airliners, and not on general aviation aircraft
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LPV RNAV approaches with vertical guidance do generally work. I have flown them successfully in the C172 and the TBM. They are flown in APR mode, not VNAV.
Is VNAV working along a whole GPS route in GA aircraft with GPS and AP = NO
Is VNAV Approach working for GA aircraft with GPS and AP with 3 or more GPS waypoints with their waypoint height set = YES from the penultimate waypoint to the ultimate (last) waypoint.
VNAV is GPS driven height change, which is often a step altitude change, meaning if two waypoints are 30nm apart and the altitude change is 2000ft, it will be competed long before you reach the next waypoint.
VNAV Approach is a glideslope purely driven by GPS doing both lateral and vertical guidance, so is NOT a step altitude change.
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Are you flying VFR or IFR? Do you have an IFR approach loaded or just a regular flight plan? What plane are you flying?
In regards to penultimate and ultimate waypoint are you referring to the FAF (Final Approach Fix) and the MAP (Missed Approach Point)?
Please post details.
What plane and what airport?
How did you set up the flight plan ?
What enroute waypoints did you use?
What arrival waypoints?
Did you load the approach in the simulator?
What minimum altitude did you set?
At what point did you press the VNV button?
Was there anything in the VNV Profile window?
Did the panel indicate VPTH when VNV was pressed?
Did you get an announcement about TOD and BOD?
Sorry, but as close a step by step instruction you can give or even better, a video, will shed more light about the topic.
Thanks
Yes, but we’re addressing RNAV approaches, and the fact that the guidance is not accurate going to the runway. I don’t have the time to do it now, but someone can surely make a video overlaying a moving map in Navigraph Charts which shows the GPS is somewhat off of the actual waypoints, doesn’t make procedural turns, but flies directly to the next waypoint in the sequence and then turns. An RNAV Y approach is a lot smoother than it is in MSFS, if you can actually can find one to load. I agree with the above poster, in it’s current state you have to fly the flight plan the way the sim wants you to fly it, it’s missing transitions and it’s does not match real life approach plates at a lot of the airports.
Hello,
To answer your first question, Is the sim "letting me direct to the IAF? No the sim is not letting me fly to the IAF without input. I have to select the Approach that I want based on current winds, and the IAF that is appropriate for my direction of flight to the airport. There may be more than one IAF at some airports.
Second question, What altitude are you intercepting the glide path at? I descend and stay at the altitude that is required which is depicted on the approach plate at the IAF.
Third question: Do you get a glide path indication on the PFD? No I do not.
And lastly, you should start getting vertical guidance after you pass the IAF inbound once established on the approach. However in the sim, not all RNAV approaches will give you vertical guidance. The sim is not all there yet. It is hit or miss, but several do, and work well. And ATC is currently useless for IFR.
Hope this helps…
It’s frustrating, my CRS knob won’t move if I want to adjust it on an ILS, I can’t load IAFs or go Direct to, always above glideslope when I reach the Final Approach fix, airports not having their real life approaches, a lot of nav data missing.
Thanks for the reply,
I’ve included the plate for the RNAV 14 in KGPT just so I can reference it specifically.
Obviously you load the approach and transition to it based on the winds and your route of flight. It also seems that there is only one IAF on this approach, BROWA. Most RNAV approaches have 2 more IAFs called “t fixes” perpendicular to the first IAF to facilitate an arrival from either side. FS does not let you go to the IAF if this exists, but when there is only one IAF as in your case it should allow you to as that is the only option.
I was asking if you can go direct to the IAF using the direct to function?
So you’re descending down to 2800 ft prior to BROWA? I’ve only had luck with vertical guidance inside the FAF. If I was flying this approach I would descend to 2000 prior to AVYUM the FAF and press the APPR button to arm the glidepath. In my experience the glidepath would come alive after crossing the FAF.
If you’re not getting a glidepath indication then you can not utilize LNAV/VNAV minimums, only LNAV flying the approach in a step down method. What plane were you flying when you shot this approach? Most of the Garmin avionics in the game are WAAS certified and should be LPV and LNAV/VNAV capable.
You’re correct, approach vertical guidance comes alive after the IAF. Without any plates to reference we can’t know the level of service is offered for the approach (LNAV, LNAV/VNAV or LPV). I’ve also noticed specifically on the G1000 the CDI flag never switches to APPR from ENR, the GNS 430/530 do show this. Very hit and miss and I agree the ATC needs a lot of work to effectively and realistically fly IFR.
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Yes, you are correct that without plates we are lost. I was flying the super sonic Skyhawk with the G1000. I’m not sure about the “direct” function. I did select the approach, then the transition, and then “Activate” and fly direct to the IAF BROWA. If that is what you mean by direct to function?
When I flew this approach, I came in from the North East with AP on, and descended to 2800 about 20NM out. Selected the approach, and BROWA, and Activate, then hit the APPR button at that time. And the “GS” was then shown as active. And yes no flag other than the “GS” symbol alive on the PFD. And the plane followed the glide path to the runway without any issue.
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I saw somewhere that Navblue does offer plates so hopefully that’ll be coming to the sim with updated nav data every cycle or even every 6 months for example would be fine.
In regards to direct to I was wondering specifically about the direct to button on the G1000. But the way you described it would work as well, the G1000 is doing the same thing when you activate the approach.
So there was no glidepath indicated on the G1000 but the autopilot still captured it and flew the approach from BROWA at 2800? That’s really interesting if it did. I’ll have to give it a whirl myself and see it for myself.
Navigraph Charts is the best bang for your buck, plus it connects as a moving map and you can export flight plans to the sim. You also get access to AIRAC updates with your subscription. If you don’t want the plates but want to flight plan with procedures, LittleNavMap.
I can only imagine that not having plates and trying to fly a RNAV approach right now is highly annoying. Just tried a VFR flight, placed one fix in between departures at a point before the approach, loaded the approach from the Garmin PROC page with the transition and the AP kept bringing me back the initial fix in the FP before the procedure, twice in a row - just gave up and hand flew a visual. Really disappointed in the end product and the probably 6 months to a year we’ll be waiting for this to fully be fixed.