Update note:

Since I originally wrote this, I have also found that it is possible to use a program called GPSout, http://www.schiratti.com/dowson.html, to operate some GPS receivers and programs with Flight Simulator.

GPSout causes the Flight Simulator position and velocity to be output through the serial port of the computer running Flight Simulator. Thus, the computer running Flight Simulator imitates an external GPS.

I have found the Garmin aviation handhelds and the free Lowrance AirMap emulators running on a second computer work. Any program that uses an external GPS input should work. The new Lowrance Airmaps may work. I have more information in Cockpit GPS which can be downloaded from the home page for this, www.cockpitgps.com.

2/13/2006 Reality XP has updated their line to include the Garmin CDI, the 430, and the ability to cross load between them. I have since updated my computer from the screenshot below and the Reality XP looks very nice.

Garmin and Apollo for Microsoft Flight Simulator

Reality XP makes it possible to have a full Garmin GNS 530, 430 or Apollo GL 50 in Microsoft Flight Simulator. It works well. If this sounds like a little bit of a sales pitch – it is. Reality XP, www.reality-xp.com, let me try their 530XP program and I like it. However, there is no quid pro quo. I think that it is a good program and would like to see it succeed. Thus, here is my quick unsolicited review.

I am not an active flight simmer. I am an airline pilot with a book on how to use GPS at www.cockpitgps.com. My interest is in finding a good tool for pilots to learn how to use GPS. When I was working on my instrument rating, many years ago, I used early versions of Flight Simulator running on the Commodore 64 at home and the blazingly fast 12 Mhz. PCs at school. Even in these early versions, I found Flight Simulators to be a very useful training tool.

GPS is tremendously useful and in many ways easy to use. However, it is also very complicated. A VOR has an OBS and a channel selector. Compare this to the many menus, functions, and data fields available on a GPS. The biggest weakness in GPS is pilot proficiency. Garmin offers an excellent free simulator for the GNS 400 and 500 series on their website at www.garmin.com. What the Reality XP product does is to interface this free GPS trainer with Microsoft Flight Simulator so that the Garmin trainer can be used within Flight Simulator. The Garmin simulator is excellent. When it is used with Reality XP, it is even better.

The only significant problem that I had with operating 530 XP is that the behavior of the main cursor knob is a little different from operating the Garmin trainer in stand-alone mode. In many ways the behavior is an improvement, but it is a little confusing if you are used to the stand alone Garmin trainer application. Read the manual, but briefly: The knob is turned with the left and right mouse keys. If you have a wheel on your mouse, this will also move the cursor knob. To activate the cursor, press the wheel. For other mouse configurations, read the manual.

I have a basic computer that will only run Flight Simulator in 800 x 600 screen resolution. In this mode, the GNS 530 is disproportionately large to the panel and blocks the other instruments needed to fly the aircraft. Each view: the outside, the instrument panel, and the GNS 530 runs in its own window. My trick is to maximize the GNS 530 so that the screen is more readable and shrink and move the instrument panel so that I can see the main flight instruments. It looks strange, but it works well.

Why not just use the Microsoft GPS?

FS 2002

MS Flight Simulator 2002 includes a GPS, why would you want to spend the money for 530XP? The GPS in FS 2002 is not like any that I have seen in any aircraft. Even worse, the GPS simulation gets some significant things wrong. Let’s say that you are flying a heading of 180 and have a severe wind from 090. Your heading, the direction you are pointing, is 180. Your track, the direction that you are traveling over the ground, is actually towards the southwest. The GPS FS 2002 reports a value for track, but it is actually the heading.

There are some ramifications to this. Using GPS you should be able to fly directly to a waypoint by turning so that your track matches your bearing. If you try this in FS 2002, you will fly a curved path. This is much like homing using an ADF, but it should not be because the GPS should use track whereas the ADF uses heading.

The GPS in FS 2002 is flat out wrong. However, Reality XP works around this and behaves properly.

FS 2004

I purchased FS 2004 because it included a Garmin GNS 500 and GPS 295. I will give partial credit to the fact that Microsoft fixed the heading verses track issue. The Microsoft implementation of the GNS 500 is a rudimentary simulation that imitates the style and some of the functions of the GNS 500. It is pretty, but it misses the mark in significant ways. The Microsoft GPS 295 has even less resemblance to the functionality of an actual Garmin GPS 295.

I will refer to the Microsoft implementation as the MS 500. The MS 500 falls well short of being a true representation of the Garmin GNS 500. If you are a casual simmer and want to play with GPS, the MS 500 is passable. However, if you want to learn how to use a GNS 500 for actual use or you are a serious flight simmer, the MS 500 is not sufficient.

I just played with the MS 500 enough to get a quick idea of the functioning. This in no way is meant to be a full listing of the shortcomings, but just a couple of quick examples.

On the GNS 500, there is a menu on almost every screen. On most MS 500 screens, pressing the MENU key will result in “NO OPTIONS.” Some of the useful options are the ability to customize the GNS 500 for airspace depictions and warnings. Other options include the ability to change the data fields that are displayed. Although the MS 500 offers airspace warnings and depiction, it does not offer the ability to customize them.
To go directly to a point on the flight plan on the GNS 500, you can cursor to a waypoint on the flight plan and then select the direct key. You can also just press the direct key and choose a flight plan waypoint from the FPL box on the direct menu. If you press the direct key one more time before pressing the ENTER key, then you will get the leg from the previous waypoint to the selected waypoint rather than from the present position. The MS 500 does not work anything like this.

John Bell
7/31/2003
www.cockpitgps.com