Radio Range Manual

RR Version 4.0

May 2007
by Allan Greene
(Best viewed using Microsoft Internet Explorer)

  The Four-Course Radio Range

... A low-frequency guidance system to define Airways or to direct aircraft to Runways.

   

1 . . . INTRODUCTION

Airline navigation in the 1930s was a challenge. Pilots navigated by Dead Reckoning and Pilotage for daytime flights and used the airways light-beacon system for night flights. But in both cases flights were limited to good weather. Bad weather wreaked havoc on airline schedules, either grounding flights or diverting them. Passengers were unhappy, airlines were unhappy, and pilots were unhappy.

Along came the four-course radio range. This was a brilliantly-conceived system which transmitted electronic beams that an aircraft could follow without the need to see the ground. A low frequency transmitting station generated four electronic beams like the spokes of a wheel. One could adjust any beam azimuth to either point to another radio range station, forming an Airway, or to a runway at a nearby airport for instrument landing guidance. Best of all, to use the Radio Range system only a low frequency radio and a switch box were needed in the aircraft.

Although not perfect, the Radio Range system was so durable that it was the primary aviation navigation system for twenty years until well after the introduction of VOR navigation in the late-1940s. And now, thanks to designers Dave Bitzer, Alex Nicolson, Norman Hancock and Allan Greene, there is a bona fide Radio Range System for Flight Simulator pilots, too.  Version 4 of the Radio Range Project introduces over 300 stations so that the entire USA and Canada are now covered.  Additionally, selected stations over the North Atlantic and in the WW2 China/Burma/India theatre are included.  We have removed much of the difficulty of planning and flying the airways by defining and describing the vast majority of the routes in North America.  For each airway, we have specified stations, identifiers, frequencies,  courses, distances and Minimum Enroute and Minimum Crossing altitudes  in an easy-to-use tabular format. You can either print out these tables in advance or access them from the kneeboard along with station data pages to use for both planning and executing your flight.  The airplanes have been reworked to be more period-specific (for instance, the 1940 airplane replaces the ADF with a cranked-loop DF and the exterior is the old DC-3 Airways bare-metal scheme.)  Under the hood, Dave Bitzer has created a new Radio Range gauge that is more robust than the one in previous versions.  And Alex Nicolson has supplied his wonderful sceneries for the project.  This is our biggest version yet, and we are confident that it will add to your enjoyment of Radio Range flying.

Unfortunately, due to changes by Microsoft in the FSX flight simulator coding, RR4 will not work within FSX.  Also, it is only designed to work within FS9 (Century of Flight).

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2 . . . THE RADIO RANGE   

All airline pilots who flew before the introduction of VORs had to master the Radio Range. Captain Dick Merrill was such a pilot and he flew everything from the OX-5 Jenny to a Lockheed 1011 in his 45,000 hour flight career. Merrill's description of the Radio Range in Wings of Man by Jack King, is one of the best. Thanks to Alex Nicolson for bringing this to our attention.

The Radio Range by Captain Dick Merrill

. . . By later standards, ground navigation aids during this [pre VOR] era also were extremely crude. The primary navigation system was comprised of sparsely located Adcock low frequency range transmitters. Each facility consisted of four legs which could be used as "beams" for navigating either to or from a station on the airways or for shooting low approaches for landing. Each range station emitted audio signals comprised of four quadrants. Two quadrants provided a Morse code signal of "N" or "dah-dit" while the opposing Quadrant emitted an "A" signal or "dit-dah." Each quadrant overlapped precisely to provide a three degree leg or beam by meshing the audio signals of "dah-dit" with "dit-dah" to provide a continuous dash or "on course" signal.

Obviously the range stations needed to be located near major airports to provide the approach facility. The four legs of each station could be beamed in a direction to connect with other stations to form a system of "colored" airways. Amber Seven, for example, ran from Miami to Newark. A few fan and marker beacons had been installed at various locations in order to identify a specific point. Quite often the quadrants were not configured in equal sizes and were descriptively referred to as "crow foot" ranges. Since the beam fanned out three degrees from the station, and was three miles wide at 60 miles out, it was considered standard procedure to fly the right edge of the beam for precise navigation. Also, if you happened to pass another aircraft flying blind at the same altitude in the opposite direction, it was considered enough separation to prevent a mid air collision. For navigation purposes, the only way to confirm whether you were flying toward or away from the station was the use of the volume control. Each pilot developed his own individual volume level in determining a build or fade in signal strength to determine if he was flying to or from the station. There were several elaborate "orientation" procedures developed for use with the four course low frequency range should a pilot become lost. All this technology worked fine in good weather, but storms and static could make it almost useless.

Another characteristic of the low frequency range was the "cone of silence" immediately above the station, which would denote position. A typical approach involved crossing over the station initially to establish position, flying outbound several minutes on the approach leg, executing a procedure turn and precisely bracket the right edge of the beam while descending to an initial approach altitude. As an aircraft approached the station, the three degree beam was extremely narrow and practically rocking the wings would transverse the beam into signals of the opposite quadrant. The key was to complete the bracketing maneuvers far enough out to tie down a heading which would only require minor changes near the station.

When the "cone of silence" was passed, a time reference was made for minutes or seconds to go and descent completed to minimum altitude. After visual contact was established with the airport, quite often a circling approach was required to complete the landing. The low frequency range approach was a very impressive procedure and proof of pilot instrument proficiency. Senior pilots proficient with the procedure often stated, "It separates the men from the boys."

Go to http://www.avialantic.com/jking/wom.html for more info or to order Wings of Man.

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3 . . . RADIO RANGE COVERAGE 

Those moving up from Version 3 of the Radio Range System will immediately notice the greatly expanded areas of coverage in Radio Range 4.
Here are the areas where you can now fly the Radio Range System:

• All of the Continental US ... "The Lower 48"

• All of Canada

• Alaska

The download file also includes full, near-professional quality documentation, including Airway Charts, Airway Data Tables, Station Data files and Instrument Approach Plates in support of all of the above areas. Documentation details appear farther down in this manual.

But there's more, too. Alex Nicolson went above and beyond and also placed Radio Range stations in:

• Hawaii

• The China-Burma-India theatre of operation (CBI) where
  C-47s so frequently flew "The Hump" during WW2.
  • Note that the FS default airfields and Nicolson's CBI 1943 WWII
    air fields are slightly different both in positioning and appearance.

• Across the North Atlantic Ocean
  • Narsarsuaq, Greenland (Bluie West One)
  • Stornoway, Scotland (West Hebrides Islands)
  Ernest Gann, in Fate is the Hunter (a "must" read), chronicled his DC-3 flights across the North
  Atlantic in the era of the Radio Range. His book prompted the inclusion of these radio range stations.

In these last three areas you'll need to plot your own course between radio range stations, but there is some great flying available there, too. Also,
be aware that these stations are not randomly placed. Their precise location and beam information is based on extensive research by Alex Nicolson.

In every case, for full station information, look up the station names identified above in the Station Data File.

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4 . . . WHAT IS INCLUDED 

 
Here are the Radio Range highlights, but see below for more details.

The Radio Range DC-3 Aircraft
The Radio Range zip file installs a new DC-3 Radio Range aircraft in your Flight Simulator, which is a significant upgrade of the default fs9 DC-3.  The new DC-3 features improved flight dynamics as well as some important functions such as a flap limiter by Dave Bitzer which, like the real aircraft, inhibits flap extension above certain airspeeds. Three panels are selectable from the FS aircraft list depending on your choice of flight era.

The Radio Range Gauge
The DC-3 panels contain a BC-345 switch box to select either Range signals, Voice signals, or both. The Readme file also describes how to install the Radio Range gauges on an aircraft panel of your choice.

Program Files
Version 4 is a significant upgrade to the previous release.  The installation files will expand the Radio Range scenery from just the Eastern half of the US and Canada to include all of the Continental United States and Canada as well as Alaska, Hawaii, and stations in the China/Burma/India theatre of WWII, and a few others over the North Atlantic.  The installation also places the sound files into your FS required to fly the Radio Range. 

Radio Range Station Data
A Radio Range Station Document includes details important to pilots such as Station Names, Frequencies, Idents, Locations and Beam Azimuths. Of significant importance, an approach plate is also included for the primary airport nearest to each Radio Range station. Allan Greene created over 200 Instrument Approach Procedures for this project and also wrote an instruction manual on how to fly a Radio Range Instrument approach. Pilots can also access the Radio Range Station Document from the kneeboard while in flight.

Civil Airways Data
This project just wouldn't be complete without a defined structure of Civil Airways linking the stations.  In Version 4, we have added an extremely close approximation of the Civil Airway Systems of Canada and the United States.  Each airway has been defined in table format which can also be accessed through the kneeboard in flight.  Additionally Allan Greene designed Color Civil Airway System Charts for a visual overview of the Airways tables, and these are also available from the kneeboard. 

Easy Installation
Proper operation of RR4 requires that any previous RR version be uninstalled. The download includes a self-executing file to uninstall Version 3 and a second self-executing file to install all of the Version 4 Radio Range files, including full documentation, into your Flight Simulator system. Note, however, that this Radio Range is presently only compatible with FS2004.

Radio Range Forum
Thanks to Andy Hatcher, a Radio Range Forum has been in place since version 3.1. This is a great place to ask questions, exchange ideas, talk about experiences, and, in general, just learn about the Radio Range system.  It is also the place to find NOTAMS (Notices to Airmen) which identify changes to Approach Plates, airways, Radio Range Names, Frequencies,  identifiers, and position of transmitters. (Yes, they really did move Ranges around.)

http://dcascreenshots.net/rr/index.php

Presently, there are three principal topics in the Forum. More can be added if appropriate.

1. NOTAMS
   Look here for information regarding updates and release dates, changes to transmitter location, frequency, identifier, name, Approach Procedure changes, and changes to Airways.  You should check for NOTAMs prior to each flight.
2. GENERAL DISCUSSION
   Use this area to discuss anything relating to the Radio Range System,
   including questions or bug reports.
3. SCREEN SHOTS
   Post and view screen shots in this section.

Technically, the Forum is not included in the download, but it is an important part of the Radio Range System.

More Radio Range System Details
The panel gauge simulates radio-range reception from specific radio-range stations along the Civil Airways routes of the period. It is not usable on other LF/MF stations because it makes special use of the included add-on scenery to simulate the Radio-Range.

When used with the gauge the add-on scenery simulates the Radio-Range Stations. They together provide appropriate power transmitters that broadcast four courses set to the desired azimuth and with the proper A and N codes. As in the real world, the A and N sounds are at 1020 Hz. We changed the broadcast frequencies and/or Morse code identifiers of the Radio Range Stations from the original to avoid conflicts with existing fs9 NDBs.

A very special feature of the add-on scenery is visual ... Weather permitting, you can see the radio range sites with their five towers as you approach them. The towers are lighted at night for easy identification, too.

NOTE from Dave Bitzer... It was easy enough to create a steady 1020 Hz tone for the On-Beam signal, but reliably turning off that signal in fs9 was a problem. So, for the time being, the fs9 On-Beam tone is a Pulsed Dash but the interpretation of the A's or N's remains easy. We hope to be able to discover a fix to this anomaly in the future.

Historical Accuracy
Although the FS Radio Range was a technical break-through, historical accuracy received just as much emphasis. As one could imagine, the details of the 350 Radio Range Stations modeled here weren't within easy reach. Undaunted, Dave Bitzer visited the US National Archives in College Park, Maryland exhaustively to retrieve the needed information from 1944 Sectional Charts on file there.

Alex Nicolson also pored through his very extensive library of vintage aviation text books to provide accurate technical details. His excellent visual scenery files of the Radio Range Stations are also the direct benefit of his library and his research.

Al Greene made use of his extensive personal collection of WW-II era aeronautical charts to create a Civil Airway network that mimics the actual very closely.

Getting Started
The next four sections of this manual, Operation, the Training Flight, John Achor's article on flying the Radio Range based on his U.S. Air Force experience, and the Flight Planning segment should nudge you into the comfort zone of Radio Range piloting. For those whose thirst for more information is unquenchable, an extensive list of resource documents appears in the References section.

Finding the Radio Range aircraft in the fs9 Aircraft Listing
The Radio Range installation creates a new aircraft folder in the fs9 "Aircraft" directory. That new aircraft folder is named

DC3_RR4

When you are ready to fly, open the aircraft directory in fs9 (Alt–A–A). In that directory, make the following three selections:

Aircraft manufacturer
Douglas

Aircraft model
DC-3 RR4

Variation (Here you select the panel of your choice)
1940 Panel
1945 Panel
NH Panel

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5 . . . OPERATION  

In addition to the Radio Range Gauge the Radio Range DC-3 has dual LF/MF (Low Frequency/Mid Frequency) Receivers that can tune to the Radio Range frequencies. If you are using a different aircraft it must have an LF/MF receiver (from now we'll call it LF-1) that can tune the frequency range of 200 - 900 kc.

Note again that Radio Range operation is only available with LF-1. If a Radio Range station is tuned in with LF-2, it will appear as a standard NDB.

Also, if you are a purist and are flying an aircraft with Radio Range capability other than the Radio Range DC-3, be certain that your VHF NAV receivers are not tuned to any frequencies in the area of your flight to realistically fly the Radio Range. We don't want any VOR signals, ILS signals or DME readouts appearing on your panel during a Radio Range flight. GPS is definitely not OK.

As you will see in the training flight, the basic principles of Radio-Range Navigation are extremely simple. You dial in the frequency of the radio range transmitter whose beam you want to follow, using your LF-1 tuner. You listen to the Morse Identifier to make sure you're tuned to the proper station. Then, you intercept the beam and fly it based on audio feedback. If you are to one side of the beam, a Morse "N" will be heard, and on the other side, a Morse "A" will be heard. The N and A alternate between beams, and the basic rule is that "N" is always in the True North location.

The BC-345 gauge on your panel signifies that your aircraft supports radio-range navigation. This authentic looking switch allows the pilot to select the "beam" sound (Range), the Station ID (Voice), or Both. All radio-range navigation is by sound. On-the-beam navigation is signaled by a steady pulsed frequency of 1020 Hz, while one side of the beam is signaled by the Morse Code "N" repeated about 20 times per minute, and the other side is signaled by a repeated Morse "A." As in a real aircraft, the volume of the received audio presented by the gauge provides an indication of whether you are flying toward or away from the Station. To tune in a distant range station, you must turn the volume control knob all the way up, and even then, the sound will be weak, indicating the limit of reception distance. Because of the huge dynamic range of signals, when in the vicinity of a Station you must turn the volume control knob at least one-half way down (counter clockwise) to prevent audio overload, which would impair properly hearing the "cone of silence". To turn off both the range and ID sounds, select the "Voice" position on the BC-345, and then turn off the LF tuner's ID switch.  A general rule of thumb was to turn the volume down until the pilot could just barely hear the tones

The maximum volume of the beam sounds is not adjustable inside the game. If you find it comparably louder or softer than the other game sounds, adjust it to a comfortable volume with your Windows volume controls first, and then adjust the other Game sounds by adjusting the game volume controls.

The proper way to tune in a radio-range station is to select the Voice switch position on the BC-345, then tune in the proper beam frequency with the aircraft's LF-1 receiver. Note that Radio Range capability is not available with LF-2. Always confirm that you are on the right station by listening to the Morse station identifier. Then you should select "Range" to turn on the beam sound. If you can hear the station identifier, you should be able to hear the radio-range signal. However, if you are directly over the station, in the "cone of silence," you will hear neither the range tones nor the station identifier. The cone of silence over the transmitter is important as it marks your station passage. On passing the station, usually the sides of the beam you are on have reversed their N or A Morse signals. You will notice a quick dip in the signal strength as you approach the zone of silence.

In some cases, the Station Data Tables include information for NDB approaches, such as bearing, distance, and appropriate altitude information (more on this below.)  If your panel does not include an ADF indicator (which came into common use during World War II), just fly the approach by dead reckoning or, if you have a good copilot, have him back it up with a cranked-loop DF receiver.

For your convenience, the Kneeboard reference icon in the Radio Range DC-3 will call up a custom reference page with a link to the Radio Range Manual, Range Station Data, Airways Charts and Airways Data. This link will let you find the information you need without pausing your flight. There is a "quirk" in the link though, so if you want to link to other than the previous place in the Manual, you need to close the kneeboard, and re-enter it. The custom kneeboard can also be installed in other aircraft. The custom kneeboard feature is for those not fortunate enough to have dual monitors.

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6 . . . THE TRAINING FLIGHT 

In the Training Flight you will fly from Jacksonville, Florida to Miami, Florida using the Radio Range. This flight is excerpted from Air Pilot Training by Bert A. Shields, 1942.

You are advised to print the Training Flight document to have at hand during the flight. Just click the "Print" button at the top of your browser after switching to the Printer Friendly Copy.

But first, here is the PIREP information for DC-3 Airways pilots:

The PIREP number is RR00 as in RR-Zero-Zero.
Take five hours credit for the flight, 300 minutes.

Below you will find the details of the Training Flight. Here is the summary to give you the big picture.

Summary of the Radio Range Training Flight

Plan on a 3000 ft cruise altitude. Morse Code "A" is Morse Code "N" is Depart Rwy 31, Jacksonville, Florida, airport, KJAX Turn right to 140° and fly direct to Jacksonville Radio Range Station, 555 kc, "JX." Fly outbound from JX Radio Range on Leg 3, 162°. Fly the "A" Twilight Zone. Upon passing Daytona Beach Radio Range Station, 536 kc, "DB", just east of your course (and NOT on the airway), tune LF-1 to Melbourne Radio Range Station, 538 kc, "OU." Fly inbound to Melbourne on Leg 4, 162°. Again, fly the "A" Twilight Zone. Fly Outbound from OU Radio Range on Leg 2, 162°. Fly the "N" Twilight Zone. As you near West Palm Beach airport be prepared to intercept Miami Radio Range Station, 544 kc, "MM." Fly inbound to MM on Leg 1, 190°, in the "N" Twilight Zone. At Miami Range Station, turn right, land Rwy 27L of Miami Airport, about 3 NM distant. Distance ... 306 NM; Time ... about 2 Hours

Set Up the Initial Flight Simulator Conditions

From your usual "Start-up" situation, change the aircraft to the Radio Range DC-3, and select the 1945 Panel from the aircraft list ... Douglas/DC-3 RR/1945 Panel

From "Go to Airport" (Alt–W–A) go to Jacksonville, KJAX, Runway 31.

Tune your LF-1 Receiver to 555 kc.

Turn up the Volume on the BC-345 Radio Range Gauge to about two-thirds full.

Select "Range" on the BC-345 – you should hear a succession of Morse "N"s.

Select "Voice" – in a few moments you should hear the "JX" Station Ident ().

Change to "Both" – you will now hear both "Range" signals and "Station Identifier" signals.

Tune your LF-2 Receiver to Daytona Beach Radio, 536 kc, Station Ident DB. This is to verify station passage, when you will retune LF-1 to the Melbourne Radio Range Station.   Note that Radio Range operation is only possible on LF-1

Configure your aircraft as required for flight (flaps, trim, fuel selector, etc.).

Set FS Weather to "Fair Weather" under the Weather Themes category.

Save this Flight as "Range Jacksonville R31".

Should you later wish to fly a different Radio Range course, all you have to do is start with the saved Jacksonville flight, then move to the desired airfield and reset your Radio to the nearest Range Station.

If you save each profile in turn as a "Range.XXX. flight" then you will correctly have setup situations to use for the 1940 period Range Airways flights.

If you use "FSNav" or the Microsoft Game Map, once you have "Slewed" the aircraft upward to some convenient Altitude with the "Q" key you can move the Aircraft anywhere in the World. Obviously you need to set adequate Power, Airspeed and Altitude clearance unless "Paused", or still in "Slew" configuration.

This is a simple and reliable alternate to the "Create a Flight" procedure with the advantage of retaining all of your preset parameters . (Not the Radio Range Volume Control setting, however.)

Training Flight

Jacksonville, Florida to Miami, Florida. From Air Pilot Training, as noted.

The original training manual pages are transcribed below. Frequencies have been changed and some beam directions have been slightly altered to be compatible with Flight Simulator 9 and the Radio Range 4 System.

Riding The Beam

"The installation of a good radio practically solves your navigation problems, provided that you confine your flying to the established air-ways. Even in good weather, it is not necessary to watch the ground for all the minor landmarks along the course, for the radio beam will keep you on your course.

We shall make a flight from Jacksonville, Fla., to Miami, Fla. Let us assume that you have checked your weather with the Weather Bureau and have found the ceiling and visibility are above the prescribed minimum for contact flying. You would ordinarily use an aeronautical sectional chart, but you might also carry a radio facilities map, a section of which is shown in the Figure above. You should study your sectional chart until you are familiar with the terrain and have picked out the most prominent landmarks.

As noted, before taking off at Jacksonville, tune your radio to 555 kc, the frequency of the Jacksonville radio range. The signal should come in very loud because of your close proximity to the range station. However, you should wait for the identification signal, JX () in order to be positive that you are tuned to the correct station.

Consulting your chart again, you will find that the direction of the southeast leg of the Jacksonville range is 342° toward the station. Thus, the direction away from the station would be 162°M. This is the magnetic course, since all radio bearings are given as magnetic. The correct corresponding compass course can be read from the compass card in your plane. Your approximate drift can be determined by working out a drift diagram from the wind velocities as given by the Weather Bureau, or you may determine your drift angle while following the radio beam.

Make your customary take-off from Rwy 31, then turn right to about 140° and fly direct to the JX Radio Range Station, You will easily sight the Radio Range Station towers several miles ahead and the Morse code sounds should be very strong.

Once you reach the Jacksonville Range Station, at the cone of silence, you will fly outbound on the 342° Beam, which is TO the Station.  Its reciprocal is 162°, and this is the centerline of the outbound beam. Your chart indicates that you will receive an "A" signal if you are on the right side of the beam, and an "N" signal if you are on the left of it. You should fly along the right side of the beam, or in the "A" twilight zone (On course and Off course signals at equal volume). The Twilight-Zone magnetic course will be about 164°.

Let us assume that you are receiving an "A" signal. This will indicate that you are too far to the right, or southwest of your course. Change your compass course slightly to the left by subtracting 5° from your heading. If this doesn't bring you into the "A" twilight zone, subtract 5° more from your compass heading. As soon as you receive the "A" and "on course" signals with equal intensity, change your course slightly to the right, and adjust as necessary to keep the intensity of the two signals equal. Any variation in the intensity of the "A" or the "on course" signal indicates you are getting slightly off course, and you should correct for it immediately by adding or subtracting one or two degrees to or from your heading.

The same general procedure should be followed if you find yourself in the "N" quadrant when you first check your radio signals. However, in this case it will be necessary to cross the beam to reach the "A" twilight zone.

A low powered ML-type range station is located at Daytona Beach, which is approximately half way between Jacksonville and Melbourne. If you were flying on instruments, or over the top, you could tune your set to 536 kc and tune in Daytona Beach, "DB" () to check your progress along your course and ascertain your ground speed.

On passing Daytona Beach Radio, you should be able to bring in the Melbourne range by tuning your set to 538 kc and listening for the identification signal "OU" ().

The direction of the Melbourne northwest leg to the station is 162° magnetic. Note that this is one degree offset from the outbound beam from Jacksonville. However, since the beams do not align perfectly, you will usually find yourself in the "N" quadrant of the Melbourne range when you first acquire it.

Turn right 10°, cross the beam and establish position on the "A" twilight zone. Then turn left to follow the beam, 162° M, to the Melbourne Radio Range, which you will identify by its cone of silence. Inbound on the "A" twilight zone, your average heading will be about 160°.

On station passage at Melbourne range, track the 162° magnetic outbound beam. This will take you towards the West Palm Beach Airport, where you will intercept the north leg of the Miami Radio Range, . Ride the "N" twilight zone to remain on the west side of the beam, and your average heading should be about 164°.

When you estimate that you are approaching West Palm Beach airport, adjust your set to 544 kc to tune in Miami, "MM," (). If you are west of the north leg of the Miami beam, you will receive an "N" signal. You should continue on your same course until you encounter the Miami beam. This beam is 190° magnetic and your average heading will be about 188°. If you receive an "A" signal, it will indicate that you have already crossed the Miami beam, and you should alter your course toward the west to get back to the "N" twilight zone.

By referring to your chart, you will notice that the inbound direction of the north leg of the Miami range is 190° -- a dogleg course. This means that you must add 27° to your heading from Melbourne. The "N" quadrant is still on your right and so you continue to ride in the "N" twilight zone of this beam.

At the Miami Range station, turn right and proceed westward two or three miles to the Miami airport. Land on Rwy 27L.

Under ordinary circumstances, the pilot would continually refer to landmarks on the ground to assist him in piloting the airplane, but this visual reference is not necessary for navigation, since the radio facilities supply all the needed information. As can be seen by the fore-going directions, the procedure is extremely simple.

It consists merely of tuning in the correct stations and keeping on the correct side of the beam, as indicated by the aeronautical or radio-facilities charts.

All the necessary radio information is carried on these charts, including the station frequency, the quadrant-identification signal, the elevation above sea level, the identification of the quadrants, and the direction of the four beams. Any competent pilot should be able to make use of these radio facilities with a few hours' practice."

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7 . . . MORE ON FLYING THE RANGE  

John Achor, DC-3 Airways Vice President, Technical, and Training Division Team Leader, authored
Adcock Radio Range Orientation and Instrument Approaches, an article based on his personal flight experiences in the US Air Force. This easy to read document will help you master Orientation and Instrument Approach procedures. You will want this near at hand while flying.

This is an excellent tutorial for beginners and veterans alike.

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8 . . . FLIGHT PLANNING  

In the Training Flight, everything was spelled out for you. From this point on, though, the flight planning is up to you.

Here is what you must determine before embarking on a Radio Range flight. Let's assume that you are flying from Richmond, Virginia to Raleigh, North Carolina.

1. Which Civil Airway(s)?
2. Which Radio Range Stations?
3. Airway Data
4. Range Station Data
5. How should I fly each leg?
6. Quadrants - Do we listen for an A or an N?
7. At what altitude should I fly?

In addition to this, of course, you will also calculate your normal time, distance, and wind correction angle information.

A ... Which Civil Airway(s)?

The first thing any pilot does when flight planning (after looking at the destination and en-route weather of course) is to determine a route.  And since you're interested in IFR flight with the old Low/Mid Frequency Civil Airway system and not in a weather lesson, we'll assume that you're familiar with weather.  So, let's assume that you've already checked the weather  and you're ready to tackle route planning. 

It's much easier nowadays to find a suitable IFR route that will match each and every possible departure/destination pairing that one can think of.  But back in the time of the Radio Range, the challenge was a bit more daunting.  We've made it easy in this example: We're going to fly from Richmond, Virginia to Raleigh, North Carolina. 

To determine a good routing, let's look at the appropriate Civil Airways Map. A full set of charts were produced by Allan Greene and depict the Civil Airways Systems in the USA and Canada in color.  Also, they are suitable for printing on a plain letter-sized sheet of paper (some in Landscape format, some in Portrait.)  We strongly suggest that you print out all of these charts if you intend to do more than just occasionally fly the Civil Airways System. (Details and links in Section 9 below)

The chart segment above, from the Eastern US Civil Airways Map, shows that your trip from Richmond to Raleigh is served by Civil Airway Amber 7. What does this mean?  Well, in the United States and Canada, the Low Frequency Civil Airway System was divided into four colors: Amber, Green, Red, and Blue.  You can think of Amber and Green Airways as being the 'Superhighways' of the system while the Red and Blue Airways were more like 'Connector' roads. Amber and Blue were essentially North/South-oriented routes while Green and Red were generally East/West-oriented.  The color of the airway is important because it also defines your altitude rules. (More on that later.)  Now that we have a handle on our preliminary route planning, let's throw a monkey wrench (or a spanner, if you prefer) into the machinery.

B ... Which Radio Range Stations?

Ponder this for a moment: What would you do if you were traveling from Richmond to Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station in North Carolina?  Looking at the chart above, you can see that there is a slight problem. There is no Civil Airway serving Cherry Point.  How does one legally get there? From the chart you see that while there is no airway to Cherry Point, at least Cherry Point has a Range Station.  The significance of this fact is not small.  With a Range Station, there is a high likelihood that an Instrument Approach to the airport has been developed and published (this is the case at Cherry Point).  So in the event of inclement weather, you'll be able to file IFR and fly the standard Range approach to Cherry Point,  but the question still remains: how to safely get TO the Cherry Point Range Station? 

You can always fly using Contact procedures (CFR) if the weather is good, but since we're simulating IFR, let's say that the weather is solid Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC).  At first glance you might consider flying Amber 7 to Raleigh then find a way to navigate safely to Cherry Point.  Or, if you want to shorten the time a bit, file Richmond - Direct - Cherry Point.  The problem is that in both of these cases, none of the station beams align nicely (or else there would likely be an airway defined) so as to define a course that you can follow.  So, either way,  at some point in the flight, you'll have to revert to some sort of Direction Finding procedures. 

If  you're fortunate enough to have an aircraft equipped with an Automatic Direction Finder (ADF - present in the 1945 and the Norm Hancock Panels), your flight will be much simplified -- tune and identify the Cherry Point Range Station then home in on it using the needle on your Radio Magnetic Indicator (RMI).  But if you're flying an older airplane (1940 panel which has no ADF, just a manually-cranked loop DF) you'll have two more options to decide from: either plot the range beams on a chart (FS Nav works very nicely for this) and then fly the plotted beams as if they were an airway, or you can try to go direct, using the loop antenna periodically through the flight to ensure that you're remaining on course.  (We won't delve into the details of DF flying here.  Let's just say that practice makes perfect.)   Plotting the beams to form a 'Personal' Airway is not a task to be taken lightly as you'll also be responsible for determining Minimum Safe Altitudes along your route.  Let's attack that problem later.

Getting back to our original trip from Richmond to Raleigh,  the next step is to nail down the routing in more detail than simply filing Amber 7 and blasting off.  The good pilot is always prepared -- Weather, Route, Altitudes, Terrain, Fuel, Alternate Plans or, in an easier Mnemonic form: "WRATFAP are required - When Real Airmen Take Flight, Alternate Plans are required." If you go through each of these steps when planning a flight, you won't be led too far astray.  So far, we've got our weather and a sketch of the route, but we need to know the details of Amber 7.  The map gave us the overview, and the Airways Data Tables will take us the rest of the way.

C ... Airways Data

The appropriate Government Agencies of the United States and Canada made flight planning a whole lot easier when they created the Airway System from the LF Adcock Range Transmitters.  Not only did the Airways Network lend itself to safety, but it made things immensely easier on the pilots by giving them all the data they needed to flight plan and navigate.  In this version of the Radio Range project, we've attempted to recreate that information for you in tabular format.  (Yes, sectional charts would be nice, and maybe some day we'll come out with them, but for now we just have to rough it.) 

Here is an example of the Airway Data for Amber 7:

The columns (in order) are as follows: Station Name, Station Identifier, Station Frequency (kc), Outbound Magnetic Course (from the station in column one) of the beam defining the airway, Minimum Enroute Altitude for this leg segment in feet, Total leg Distance (grey column), then the Minimum Safe IFR Altitude for the inbound segment from the station on the subsequent row, and finally,  the Outbound Magnetic Course of the beam FROM the station on the  subsequent row.   Since we're going from Richmond to Raleigh, let's study that line in a bit of  detail. 

Find the line with "Richmond, VA" in the first column.  Next to that are the letters "RW".  Once you have tuned the station and listened using the "Voice" mode, you'll hear the letters "RW" sounded in Morse code about twice a minute.  To do this, you'll need the frequency for Richmond, which is listed in the next column -- 527kc. (Yes, I know some of you will have a bone to pick with me for referring to these frequencies as kiloCYCLES rather than kiloHERTZ, but in North America in the 1940s, nobody but electrical engineers had ever heard of Herr Hertz.  In keeping with the times, we'll use the obsolete measurement of frequency here -- kilocycles or kc.)

This is a good time to introduce a concept that has been taught to instrument pilots since the earliest days of radio navigation -- Tune, Identify and Monitor (TIM).  Every time you use a radio navigation aid, whether it be Radio Range, VOR, ILS, Microwave Landing System, etc., you should Tune the station, Identify the station, then Monitor the station for as long as you are using it. Thus, we would tune our Receiver #1 to 527kc (remember that the Radio Range gauge only works with Radio #1), then Identify the Morse Code using the "Voice" selection on the BC-345 Switchbox, and finally switch to either Range or Both to hear the on course tones.  But, back to planning...

We see from the fourth column (FROM) that the outbound course from Richmond is 221°. Again, this is given as a Magnetic Course, so there's no need to figure Magnetic Variation into this equation.  From the training flight, we know we'll want to fly to the right side of the beam, and we know that the beam is 3° wide, so we'll be shooting for a heading of 222° or 223°, corrected for wind.  Personally, I just figure this corrected number out as I'm flying.  I write down the Centerline course on my flight plan then just add or subtract two degrees to it and correct inflight. 

The next column arguably holds the most important number on this chart... Minimum Enroute Altitude (MEA).  Simply put the Minimum Enroute Altitude is the minimum altitude for safe flight over the airway in Instrument Meteorological Conditions, and guarantees you at least one thousand feet above the terrain or any obstruction within four miles of the airway centerline.  If there's a tower 3.99 nautical miles to the side of the airway, you can be sure (well -- reasonably sure) that we have factored that into the safe altitude.  For Amber 7 between Richmond and Raleigh, you can see that the MEA is 2000' out of Richmond and coincidentally also 2000' into Raleigh (look at the first column to the right of the grey column.) 

The sixth  column (grey) gives the total distance between Richmond and Raleigh for flight planning purposes.  If the airways align, the changeover point will usually be midway between the two.  Thus, for our flight, you'll change from the Richmond Range to the Raleigh Range about 59 nm after Richmond.  At this point, and not before, you'll need to begin a climb (or you MAY begin a descent) to the next MEA or an altitude higher. (You won't need to do this on our flight as the MEA are the same for both portions of this leg segment.)  In the event of a 'dogleg' course, where the two courses lie at angles from one another, you'll need to plot it on a chart and measure (or use FS Nav) to determine the changeover point for flight planning purposes (You can see an example of a dogleg segment from Washington DC to Richmond -- by noting that the two outbound bearings are not reciprocals of one another--  006 and 212.)

Next the MEA for the inbound segment to Raleigh, followed by the Outbound Magnetic Course of the beam into Raleigh.  Note that this OUTBOUND course is listed as 041°.  The reciprocal course is 221° (coincidentally the same as the Richmond outbound), and is the one you'll follow in to Raleigh.  This time, though, you'll subtract two degrees to obtain your course if you intend to follow the right side of the beam as it narrows into Raleigh.  Finally, on the next line you see the Raleigh, NC station name, the Identifier "DU" (for Durham - a nearby city), and the frequency of 556kc.  Don't forget to TIM - Tune, Identify, and Monitor once inflight.

IMPORTANT POINT: The only downfall in this table system is the consistent use of OUTBOUND courses.  It's pretty easy to just copy both outbound courses from the Data Table to the flight plan then, halfway between Richmond and Raleigh, be startled that your flight plan now calls for a 'one-eighty' to fly a 041° course to continue South to Raleigh!  Obviously, you'll figure this error out immediately, slap your head and do a quick mental calculation to determine the real course you want to follow -- 221°.  And you'll never forget to convert the outbound course to an inbound course.  Next, you'll probably ask why we didn't just list the inbound course...

We could have done that (and in fact, in the first iteration of the Table System we did), but quickly realized that this method only works if one is going from top to bottom on the table (Southbound in this case).  The consistent use of just OUTBOUND courses on these tables allows us to use them for either direction of flight along the Airway. So, after you've dropped off your passengers in Raleigh and head back to Richmond, you'll just read from bottom to top, and right to left.  Start with Raleigh and look to the right side of the column immediately above (on the Richmond line.)  You'll see that you need to fly 041° outbound from Raleigh then (looking across the line to the left) change over to the 221° OUTBOUND course from the Richmond Range Station.  But since you are flying TO Richmond, you'll need to compute the reciprocal and fly that course if you have any hopes of reaching your destination.  If you were going to continue on up to Washington and points north, you'd note that 006° after crossing Richmond northbound will take you to the Southwest beam of the Washington DC station.  This beam is listed as 212° and is, all together now ........ AN OUTBOUND COURSE.  So another mental reciprocal and we see a slight right turn at the changeover point to an INBOUND course of 032° is necessary into Washington.

Quickie Hint for figuring reciprocals: Rather than adding and subtracting 180 in your head, try this two step process:  With a three digit course (say 057°), either add or subtract 2 from the first digit.  Then do the opposite to the second digit. Leave the third alone.  In our example -- 057 -- ADD 2 to 0 and SUBTRACT 2 from 5.  Concatenate (computer geek-speak for connect the results) the results and you get 237° which is, miraculously, the reciprocal of 057°.  Here's another --  329°.  First subtract 2 from 3 to get 1 (that's the first digit of the reciprocal), then, do the opposite and ADD 2 to the second digit (2) and you get 4 (the second digit of the reciprocal), concatenate the 1, the 4, and the 9 and you get 149°. 

Let me say one other thing about the Airway Data Tables before we beat this horse to death.  The far right column lists VERY IMPORTANT remarks which you must follow to ensure safety.  The most important is the Minimum Crossing Altitude (MCA).  Simply speaking, Minimum Crossing Altitudes are just that - the minimum altitude at which you must cross a station to ensure adequate terrain clearance on the other side of the station.

Here's an example:

Let's say you're heading Southbound from Eugene on Amber1 happily cruising along at 6,500 feet and solidly in the clouds (a typical Pacific Northwest kind of day).  You're safely above the MEA of 5,500 feet and as we say in the biz - "Fat, dumb, and happy."  So far the ride has been nothing but occasional light chop in IMC and rain showers.  Not even a good day for Oregon Ducks to fly.  But here you are.  A quick glance at the Airway Data Table above and you note that the next segment, From Medford to Fort Jones calls for an 8,500 foot MEA.  You puzzle for a moment then recall your Instrument Instructor telling you that you may safely delay the start of a climb to a higher MEA upon passing the changeover (in this case the Medford Range).  So you go back to thinking about the new sailboat or the old car you're working on in your garage, and some time later, note that you're over the Medford Range.  Okay, time to start a climb to 8,500' -- your DC-3, heavy with fuel for the trip to San Diego, begins a ponderous climb from 6,500'.  You start humming a little tune, generally pleased (although the turbulence does seem to be getting a bit  worse than expected), when suddenly,  through a little break in the clouds you see this:

Click Here  (when you're done looking at this, click the Back Button on your browser to return here)

Good thing you popped out of the clouds when you did, eh?  Fortunately, you're able to expend a little airspeed and 'zoom' the airplane while banking to the left toward the little pass in the mountains and all is well.  But what happened?  You were on course, climbing, albeit slowly, to your MEA. Hmmmm -- you ponder....  And SNAP - the light bulb comes on as you recall your Instrument Instructor telling you that an MCA is just that -- a minimum CROSSING altitude.  You quickly check the Airways Data Table again and see the following note:

Had there been no MCA note, you would have been perfectly legal to delay the beginning of your climb until over the Medford Range Station, and safe in your assurance of adequate terrain clearance.   But as there is a posted MCA over Medford, you should have begun your climb early enough to cross Medford at or above 8,500'!  You toss a sheepish grin at your copilot wondering why he didn't say anything, and knowing you can't chew him out because you forgot it too.  Hands shaking more than just a little, you level at 8,500', trim the airplane and put the Sperry back on.  A little Irish Whisky in the cold cup of coffee on the floor to your left would sure be nice right now.

Bottom line: This should have been caught in flight planning when reviewing your route.  Plan, Plan, Plan, then plan some more.

Click Here to view the complete Airways Data Table.

D ... Radio Range Station Data

The Airways data presents enough data to safely allow you to navigate along an airway.  But it's good to know about every Range station along your route (It's also prudent.)  So while flight planning, you should gather the data for each and every station you'll encounter along your route.  Where is this data located?  In the Station Data Tables (as opposed to the Airway Data Tables above).   These tables are accessible from the kneeboard while inflight.  An alternative is to print them out, but you're on your own with that task - and you'll need a whole lot of paper.  If you do elect to print the entire Station Data file, note that it  is an html file called rr4sd.htm and is located in the  '.\_Radio_Range_Manual\RR' subfolder.

Let's take a look at Richmond first.  If you were to click on a link to the Station Data Tables below, then click on the Richmond, VA link, you would see this:

From here we learn the following information about the Richmond Radio Range:

Below this, you'll see a custom Instrument Approach Plate to the airport(s) served by this station; in this case, the Admiral Byrd Field.  All of the information necessary to safely fly and Instrument Approach into Byrd Field is on this plate.  For a more detailed discussion of Instrument Approaches, read the Instrument Approach Plates Manual which is located in a subfolder of your MSFS Installation named '_Radio_Range_Manual'.

View the Station Data Tables for the Radio Range Station details.

For the OUTBOUND leg, ADD 2 deg to the beam azimuth for your Average Magnetic Course.

For the INBOUND leg, SUBTRACT 2 deg from the beam azimuth for your Average Magnetic Course:

OK, we know to fly to the right of the Primary Beams in the twilight zone, but which quadrant tones will we be hearing?  In other words, are we skirting an N or an A quadrant?

What is the aforementioned exception?  Canada!  Likely due to the extreme Magnetic Variation experienced in Canadian Airspace, Canadian Ranges use a different rule.  There, the first N Quadrant is defined by that quadrant through which the 315° course line passes; or if the center of the beam coincides with the 315° course, the letter N is assigned to the quadrant adjacent to the west of the 315°.

The plan view of the Richmond Approach Plate shows that to fly outbound in the right twilight zone of the 221° beam we will be in the:

N quadrant.

The plan view of the Raleigh Approach Plate shows that to fly inbound in the right twilight zone of the 041° beam we will be in the:

N quadrant.

These Station Data Tables are accessible from the kneeboard while in flight, thus the pilot can determine whether to listen for an A or an N during any segment of their flight route. 

However, there are some stations which do not service any Instrument Approach Procedure, and thus, no plates have been developed.  In order to determine which quadrant is which you'll need to remember only one simple rule (in three parts):

If you are following an Odd Numbered Beam outbound, the N Quadrant is to the left and the A Quadrant is to the right, and

if you are following an Even Numbered Beam outbound, the A Quadrant is to the left and the N Quadrant is to the right.

The rule is reversed if flying inbound.

To check this rule, look below at the Richmond Station Data Table:

We're flying outbound from Richmond on Beam (Leg) #2 -- the 221M leg.  As this is an even-numbered leg, the rule is that A is on the left and N on the right when outbound.  Checking with the Richmond plan view above, we can see that the rule holds true.

The legend shown to the left from the US Civil Airways Chart defines the flight altitudes.

9 . . . AIRWAY CHARTS  

Here is an alternate method to print the colored Airway Charts.

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Here is the Radio Range Station Data.

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11 . . .   AIRWAYS DATA

As mentioned in the Flight Planning section, accurate routing is crucial to successful Instrument Flight.  In order to ensure a safe, successful flight, we have pored over several hundred vintage aeronautical charts from the 1940s and developed a Civil Airways System for Canada and the United States.  Data from literally hundreds upon hundreds of Range Stations were collected and those stations with the most impact were selected to be part of our system.  We then began to 'link' the stations, copying the routes depicted on the aeronautical charts to the maximum extent possible.  In some cases, stations that were part of airways are not included in our system -- we needed to work around these problems.  While the system we present here is not an exact match to the system that existed in reality in the 1940s in all cases, we feel it is a very close match. 

Next, we tried to come up a solution to best present the data from each airway.  A series of sectional charts was considered, but the thousand or so hours of manpower required to develop such an elegant solution would have delayed release of this package for another six months to a year.  We finally settled on the tabular format illustrated and described above in the Flight Planning Section as a stepping-stone to Sectional Charts. 

CLICK HERE to  VIEW  any of the four Airways Data Tables. 

If you wish to  PRINT  one or more of the four Airways Data Tables, click the appropriate link below:

GREEN Airway AMBER Airway RED Airway BLUE Airway

NOTE: Print these tables out in the LANDSCAPE mode. (After opening any one of the tables, go to your browser File tab, click Page Setup, then select the Landscape option.)

For those with the eyes of an eagle where smaller print is no problem, these can also be printed in portrait mode. With your browser in the portrait mode go to the File tab, click Print Preview, then open the drop-down view window and select "Shrink to Fit" (it may already be selected). Print the first page of one of the airways to see if this option is for you. You'll save quite a bit of paper.

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Not only did the Radio Range provide electronic guidance along the Civil Airways, but it also allowed instrument approaches to the nearby primary airport.

Here is a typical Radio Range Instrument Approach Procedure (IAP). It provides information for an instrument approach to Rwy 32 at Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, airport. You will find these IAPs in the Station Data Tables.

This approach plate is the starting point in a well-illustrated instruction manual authored by Allan Greene. This document provides all of the information necessary to understand and skillfully fly Radio Range Instrument Approaches.

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1. Three selectable panels customized for Radio Range flying:

   Click for a larger view.	1940 Panel
   Click for a larger view.	1945 Panel
   Click for a larger view.	NH Panel

   Which Panel is best for you?

2. Our 1940 version of the Stock DC3 panel  gives you the look and feel of the MSFS DC-3 stock cockpit and panel, but with improved gauges for better readability. It also removes the GPS and VHF NAV Radios, and adds a loop-style Radio Direction Finder on a popup panel as well as an E6B flight computer and an updated Radio Range Gauge. This panel is a good representation of what would be found in a typical 1940s domestic airliner, and is a real test of a pilot's navigational skills.
3. The 1945 version of the Stock DC3 panel  also has easy to read gauges, and upgrades the 1940 panel  by replacing the cranked-loop Radio Direction Finder with two ADFs displayed on a dual-needle RMI (Radio Magnetic Indicator -- an automatically-rotating Compass Card). The old "coffee grinder" crank-tuned radio has been replaced with state of the art dial-tuned radio with digital display, and the venerable Sperry autopilot has been succeeded by a more modern Lear autopilot.  A 'new-fangled' VHF Navigation receiver as well as a really cool ILS/VOR display head have been added for those that wish to explore navigating with the new VORs and ILSs that were coming into service in the late 1940s.  This panel is more representative of those found in the latter part of World War II, and because of the international navigational demands placed on the C-47s and DC-3s during the war, it has also been equipped with a sextant for celestial navigation.
4. The Norman Hancock (NH) panel  is quite simply the ideal for those who want to fly in a meticulously laid-out DC-3 panel with colorful, easy-to-read, authentic gauges. It includes the Radio Range Gauge, a VOR/ILS receiver, modern three-axis autopilot with altitude capture and VSI select capability, as well as a sextant, driftmeter, and an on-screen E6B Flight Computer and more.  This panel has all the bells and whistles that we have come to expect from Norm's work and offers something for every pilot.

 

5. Custom Throttles with DC-3 Auto Mixture System

   

   Installed in all three panels, this custom Throttle Quadrant includes:

   -- Cleaned up throttles.
   -- Calibrated Pitch Trim Indicator ... Set Pitch Trim at 3° nose-up for take-off.
   -- A Tail Wheel Lock indicator light was also added to the throttle console.
   -- Auto Mixture system that matches the real DC-3 mixture plus mimics the real DC-3 with detent stops.

   ... Auto-Rich for Take off, Climb and Descent.
   ... Auto-Lean for Cruise. Click the left or right side of a label to individually set a desired mixture setting.
   ... Click near the center of the label to simultaneously set mixtures for both engines.

   NOTE: Uncheck the fs9 "enable automixture" feature, so that the gauge and not the game, controls the mixture. Go to Alt-A-R in fs9 to verify this.

 


 
6. Custom Radios

   1940 Radio Panel

   Dual LF/MF Receivers with digital frequency indicators. Please note that no frequency scale will be visible when the band selector is in the Band 1 position -- just as in the default fs9 LF Receivers. This is a design feature as FS9 has no support for stations within the Band 1 frequency range. Digital Comm-1 Radio.

   
   

    

   In addition to the 'stock' tuning hot spots near the center of each crank, there are two new Hot Spots (shown at left by red and green boxes) which provide for fast-tuning of the LF Receivers. Fast tune is 10 kc steps vs. the normal 0.5 kc steps.
   

    

   1945 Radio Panel
   

   Replaced the Sperry Autopilot  with the Lear Autopilot from Milton Shupe's excellent Beech 18 aircraft.  Used and modified with Milton's permission.

   L049 Connie Radios and VOR control head used with permission from FSDZigns.

   FSDZigns also granted permission to modify the radios for Radio Range use.




 

Norm Hancock Radio Panel






L049 Connie Radios and Autopilot used with permission from FSDZigns.

FSDZigns also granted permission to modify the radios for Radio Range use.

 

 

 

 

7. Radio Direction Finding Equipment (1940 panel only)



A Radio Direction Finder has been installed on a pop-up panel and is accessible by clicking on the 'RDF' icon on the main panel.  It is depicted on the left.

The theory behind the operation of the RDF is that by rotating a loop antenna, the signal received will be weakest (nulled) when the antenna is pointed either directly toward the transmitter location or directly away from it and strongest when the loop is oriented exactly 90° perpendicular from the station. 

Antenna orientation RELATIVE TO THE AIRPLANE is displayed on the position indicator (1) and is adjusted by rotating the Antenna Position Crank (2). 

However, IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE that direction finding capability is active only when the Function Selector Knob (3) is selected to the LOOP position and not to WIRE.

The Function Selector Knob (3) determines the mode of operation of the RDF.  In the WIRE position, the RDF switches to an omni-directional antenna, effectively maximizing the signal regardless of aircraft or loop orientation. No direction finding capability is possible in the WIRE position.  In the LOOP position, the loop antenna input signal is displayed on the meter, thus enabling direction finding capabilities.

The Radio Selector Switch (4) determines which LF/MF radio receiver is is being displayed on this panel.

One other important point is that there will be TWO NULL points when rotating the Loop Antenna, one when the antenna is pointing at the station and one when pointing away from the station.  Do not forget this little gotcha!

Also, a separate Signal Strength Meter has been placed on the main panel for Radio Range navigation purposes.  It functions ONLY in an omni-directional mode and is not connected in any way to the DF Loop Antenna.

 

EXAMPLE: Use of Manual Loop




In this example, you are flying on a 090° magnetic heading in the vicinity of the Buffalo Radio Range.  The Range station has been tuned and identified, and by listening to the Course tones,  you know that you are somewhere in either the Northwest or Southeast quadrants of the station.  But for our purposes, you would like to 'nail down' your exact bearing to the Range Station.

• You move the Function Selector Knob to the LOOP position

• Ensure that the Radio Selector Switch is positioned to the proper receiver for the Buffalo Range (RDF #1 in this case)

• Rotate the Antenna Position Crank until you reach the minimum strength position on the Signal Meter (NULL signal)

• Note the RELATIVE bearing to the station on the Antenna Position Indicator -- 045° in this case

• From this, you know that the station bears either 045° or 225° from your aircraft (remember there are two null zones)

• From Dead Reckoning you believe yourself to be somewhere northwest of Buffalo, but to make sure, you take a second bearing a moment later and note that the new bearing is farther to the right of your first.  You back this up by noting that the signal strength in the wire mode is increasing (getting closer to the station). 

• From this you know that you are definitely northwest of Buffalo and at the time of the first bearing, the station's ABSOLUTE BEARING was 045° plus your heading (090°), or 135° Magnetic.

 



Your position is depicted on the chart to the left.




 

 

8. Lear Autopilot (1945 Panel)





This autopilot was original equipment in Milton Shupe and Scott Thomas' excellent Beech D-18 package.  Based on an original 1940s Lear Corporation product, it is definitely an upgrade from the Sperry autopilot installed in the original DC-3 if only for its ease of use.

Simply flip the Autopilot Master Switch (labeled AP) and the autopilot will 'capture' the current aircraft attitude and hold it. 

Successive clicks either left or right on the turn knob will increase or decrease the bank angle. Click to center the knob and the aircraft will maintain straight and level flight. 

Clicking the "NOSE" knob will raise and lower the pitch of the aircraft.  This is not a vertical velocity control, just a pitch control.
 


 

9. ILS/VOR Display (1945 Panel)
    



This control head comes to us courtesy of FZDesigns and was incorporated on their beautiful Lockheed L-049 Constellation package.  At first glance, it appears to be a simple VOR/ILS display head.  However, it has the added advantage of a Heading Pointer.  Here's how it works

Using the "SET" knob the pilot dials in the desired course which is conveniently displayed in the window at the top of the gauge.  Vertical and Horizontal bars work as in every other ILS/VOR display you've ever seen. 

What makes this instrument special is the white needle (pointing at the 11:00 position in the picture to the left.)  This needle is called the heading pointer.  It was called the "Toilet Seat" pointer in my days as a T-37 Student Pilot in the US Air Force.  If you imagine you are 'sitting' on it, facing the outside of the instrument case, you will have immediate orientation to your course.  In the case shown at left, the 270° Course TO the VOR has been selected.  The vertical Course needle is deflected full-scale to the left.  With a standard control head, you would need to take a glance at your compass and compare the aircraft heading with the course dialed in -- essentially, doing mental math.  But with the 'Toilet Seat' at a glance you can not only see that the course needle is somewhere off to the left, but that you are headed toward that course.   If you were to turn the airplane to the right, the vertical needle wouldn't move one bit, but the "Toilet Seat" would swing to the right with your aircraft heading, eventually pointing away from the course needle.

On the upper right of the instrument is a Marker Beacon which will illuminate whenever the aircraft passes over any Outer, Middle, or Inner marker. Also, if the toggle switch on the upper left hand side of the instrument is up, you will hear audible Marker tones.

Now why would we include this gauge (which in reality came from the VOR era which didn't begin in earnest for another five years?  Simply because ILS approaches were beginning to appear and we wanted to include the ability for you to fly one if desired.  A side 'benefit' is that this gauge is also compatible with VOR navigation.  Remember that this panel is designed as a transition panel -- from the height of the Radio Range to the beginning of the VHF Omnidirectional Range stations (or VORs.)

One more thing of note -- the Heading Pointer, or "Toilet Seat" has NOTHING to do with vertical path.  It is for use only with course guidance.
 

10. Cowl Flaps

The Cowl Flaps have been modified on all three aircraft so that they now induce drag, and thus affect airspeed depending on their position.

The Cowl Flap Switch also now operates correctly. For example, rotate the switch to "open" or "close" and when the cowl flaps are in the desired position, you must return the switch to the "Off" position to stop their movement.

Cowl Flap Position Indicators are below the knobs.

Few flight simulator pilots either appreciate or understand the importance of properly setting Cowl Flap positions. Fortunately, current real-world pilots at DC-3 Airways who fly both the DC-3 and other aircraft have helped clear up this issue for the rest of us.

Here is what you should know about positioning Cowl Flaps.

11. Stopwatch

    

    The Stopwatch is not only useful, but absolutely necessary for approaches, leg times, or any other short event.

    Press the top button to start or stop the watch, the button on the right to reset it.

    Elapsed minutes are also digitally displayed to the left of the start button.

    Here the timer shows 1 min and 37 sec.
    
    
    


 
12. The E6-B Pop-up Flight Computer

The E6-B Flight Computer was created by Phillip Dalton in the early 1930s. Over 75 years later
it is still a useful flight aid to many pilots. It is particularly pertinent to the era of the Radio Range
System. The E6-B is simple to learn and we think you will enjoy using it.

The front ... A circular Slide Rule to calculate Time, Distance,
Speed, and Fuel.

Panel Simicon



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The back ... Wind Calculations

The Panel Simicon looks like this.

Course 360 Ground Speed 100 Wind Mark Direction 360 speed 0 Wind Mark Direction 360 speed 0 Wind Mark Direction 360 speed 0

E6-B Instructions

Thanks to Sandy Blaize, a copy of the 1944 E6-B Instruction Manual is available, now in the Public Domain. Sandy is fortunate to have an original manual and so the copy is very high quality. This is a 124 page, 14 MB download, and you can do no better.

Dave Bitzer wrote a Quick-Start Guide that will quickly get you comfortable on the use of this E6-B.

 

13. Further details on the Norman Hancock Panel

History has shown that the only time Norman Hancock leaves a great feature off a panel is if he's unaware of it. The Radio Range NH panel is no exception and it is fun to fly. While most of the gauges on the NH panel will be familiar to you or easily understood, some deserve a bit of explanation. These are all freeware gauges available on the major archives, so feel free to install any of them on your own panels, too.

1. ... Parking Brakes

 
 
Click the Parking Brake Handle to set or release the Parking Brakes. Note that when the Parking Brakes are set (picture on left) the handle is extended and rotated.
 

2. ... Fuel Level Warning Lights

 

Panel Warning Lights indicate when fuel falls below 40 gallons in the main tanks or 10 gallons in the auxiliary tanks. Thanks to Tim Cook for this gauge. The right image announces that the fuel level in the Left Main tank is less than 40 gallons. .
 

3. ... Radio Range Indicator Lamp

 

The Radio Range panel light will glow Amber when flying in the Twilight Zone, or Green when flying On-the-Beam. The lamp is OFF when not near a beam. NOTE: The BC-345 volume control must be set at a comfortable listening level for the RR indicator lamp to function.

 

4. ... Remote Mixture Control
   



With the Remote Mixture Control, the pilot can select the desired auto-mixture setting without the need of going to the Throttle Pop-up panel.

 

 

 

5. ... Signal Strength Meter   



Low-Frequency radios in the era of the DC-3 were all analog. One "rocked" the tuning knob to center the tuning on any given frequency, listening for the loudest signal.

The Signal Strength Meter improved on this procedure: one now only had to tune for maximum needle indication.

The indication on the Signal Strength Meter also allowed one to gauge the distance ("near" or "far" only) of the station, and thus its reliability for navigation.   This meter also gives a positive confirmation of station passage -- when directly  overhead a Range Station and within its 'cone of silence', Signal Strength will rapidly drop to zero then, just as rapidly, build up to a full-strength signal.

Radios are all digitally tuned in fs9 and thus the Signal Strength Meter is no longer needed for accurate tuning. It still has value in judging relative signal strength of the Radio Range signal, though -- especially for identifying station passage by noting the cone of silence.

 

6. ... Descent Calculator

Panel Simicon

> This pop-up gauge calculates the distance in window "S" to descend from altitude 1 in window "H1" to altitude 2 in window "H2" with a descent rate shown in window "rt" and a ground speed shown in window "W."

The units to the right of each window will help you remember which parameters go into each window.

Here the gauge has calculated that it will take 25 NM to descend from 7000 ft to 1500 ft at 500 fpm with a ground speed of 135 kts.

The toggle switch on the lower right changes Metric to English units.

The lower left button enters your autopilot Altitude into window "H1" and the lower right button enters your current true speed into window "W."
 

7. ... Fuel Flow Gauge

Panel Simicon





Bob Guy's RKG FuelStat gauge monitors much more than just fuel flow.

Click Here to read the features and instructions for this great gauge.

 


 

8. ... Fuel Consumption Gauge

Panel Simicon



This gauge is useful to determine the fuel consumption of the various legs of a flight while measuring total flight fuel consumption with the RKG FuelStat above. Click the "Start" button to begin measuring the fuel used, "Reset" at the end of the leg.


9. ... Driftmeter

Ever since the early days of aviation pilots have yearned for accurate winds-aloft data. During the era of the DC-3 the Driftmeter was one answer. It didn't determine the winds aloft, but rather how much the aircraft was drifting off course due to the winds. With this information, one can easily extrapolate the needed Wind Correction Angle (and also, by working backwards with an E6B and with a known Groundspeed, an accurate value for the winds aloft.

Dave Bitzer and Pierre "Paddy" Verster designed a historically accurate replica of the Driftmeter. Like its real-world counterpart, it is only usable in VFR conditions since it depends on sighting a landmark on the ground and tracking its "movement" as the aircraft passes over it. To start, click the Driftmeter Simicon on the panel and from there the procedures are simple.

Panel Simicon


 
Note that it is important to select an easily-identifiable landmark. Here, we have chosen an athletic field, seen under the center scribe-line near the top of the gauge.

	Using the + and – keys, size the landmark to comfortably fit between the outer scribe lines. Begin with the WDA Knob set at 0 degrees.		Don't zoom in too tight; the Wind Drift Angle will be difficult to measure.
	Rotate the WDA Knob so that the Landmark slides down between the outer scribe lines.		Adjust the WDA Knob as necessary to keep the moving Landmark within the outer scribe lines.
	Nicely done! After a few tries, properly setting the WDA Knob becomes easy.		The measurement shows that our aircraft is drifting to the right, off course by 7 degrees. (A plus reading is a drift to the right; a minus reading is a drift to the left.)

Since the aircraft has drifted to the right, the wind is coming from the left. We must turn left, into the wind, to stop the drift off course. Begin with a Wind Correction Angle with the same value as the aircraft's Wind Drift Angle, but in the OPPOSITE direction, thus –7 degrees. After changing the aircraft heading by this amount, recheck the Wind Drift Angle again with another measurement to improve the accuracy. Then readjust the aircraft heading once again. Remember, the net WCA will be the sum of those two adjustments.

For those who wish to install the Driftmeter on other panels of the DC-3 era, Dave Bitzer's gauge is available on AVSIM.com. Download it here for installation in any other FS2004 aircraft of the DC-3 era.

Here is a Link to Driftmeter Manual

 

10. ... The Sextant

Once proven, the Radio Range system rapidly expanded throughout the world. However, aircraft still had to traverse large areas of the world without the benefit of modern Radio Navigational Aids. Ocean crossings were a prime example.  In those instances, aviators called upon ship-navigation techniques adapted for aircraft. Without landmarks, the navigators used Dead Reckoning (DR) and Celestial Navigation with a sextant.

The Panel Simicon looks like this.

Celestial or Astronomical Navigation provides a means of obtaining Lines of Position (LOPs) from the stars. Crossing LOPs will fix a position. It requires a chart, and a planned course on that chart, with way points specified by Latitude and Longitude, an assumed time of arrival at each way point, and stars (including the Sun, Moon, or Planets) in view.

In the 1940s, extensive tables of star positions, called Air Almanacs, were made available to air navigators to be used with sextants to obtain these LOPs. In the tables, all times involved are GMT. This data is available from the Internet in "ready to use" form. Best of all, when accessing these tables, enter any date appropriate for your flight, including the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s.

This gauge simulates the sextant, and the process by which one obtains an LOP, or crossing LOPs to establish a position, or fix. Although the sextant is installed in the NH panel, you can Download it here for installation in any other FS2004 aircraft of the DC-3 era.

You will find a comprehensive browser-based Instruction Manual in the download, including Internet references to Star Position Tables and an example flight to get you started.

The Sextant is another great feature by Mark Beaumont and Dave Bitzer.

 

14. Improved Flight Dynamics

The Version 4 aircraft contains improved and expanded Flight Dynamics over both the fs9 Stock DC-3 and the Version 3 Radio Range DC-3:

• Adjusted the lift and drag scalars for proper glide distance so that the aircraft will fly at the "endurance" power setting without stalling.
• Shortened the take-off roll distance.
• Adjusted the engine power to match climb and cruise specs.
• Adjusted the supercharger power so the Manifold Pressure begins to fall at 3000 ft rather than 7000 ft.
• Adjusted the speed increase to be more uniform with MP increase.
• Set the low fuel-pressure lights to come on at idle power.
• Matched the fuel flow at cruise with the real cruise specs.
• Increased the braking to stop the aircraft more quickly.
• Improved the stability when the flaps are deployed.
• Adjusted the fuel tank positions to meet specs.
• Enabled the pilot to see the engine and wing out the left rear window for a realistic view when in left traffic patterns.

Plus further improvements in the following Flight-Dynamics by Dave Bitzer made possible by modifying both the aircraft.cfg file and the *.air file.

• Take-off Power
• Climb Rate
• Descent Speed
• Landing Roll Distance
• Autopilot Control Range

Other Aircraft Improvements in both versions:

• An upgraded Bitzer-Beaumont Auto-Mixture Control system that accurately simulates the real DC-3 Mixture Control System.
• The Bitzer-Beaumont four fuel-tank modification which also eliminates the artificial "All-Tank" fuel feed in the default fs9 DC-3.
• Visible engine-start and tire-smoke effects.
• Cleaned-up panel bitmaps by Andy Hatcher.
• Classic or Bare Metal DC-3 Airways aircraft textures by Mark Beaumont.
• Prevention of Flaps deployment at excessive speeds. This feature exists in the real DC-3, and here are the numbers:
• 160 kts IAS max for 1/4 flaps.
• 104 kts IAS max for 1/2 flaps.
• 98 kts IAS max for 3/4 or full flaps.

So if your flaps don't seem to be lowering, better check your airspeed!

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 14 . . . CUSTOM KNEEBOARD  



The Radio Range Installation also customizes the FS9 kneeboard.  Simply click on the Reference Icon on the right border (outlined in red, above)  to bring up the modified DC3 Reference data as shown above. Select the link desired. Note that because the Airways Data and the Manual itself is hard to read in the small Kneeboard, you have a choice of using the kneeboard, or a sizeable pop-up window that can be resized, closed, or minimized during the flight. A drawback of using the pop-up is that while the game continues to run (unless you have configured the game to "pause on lost focus"), the sounds are muted on "lost focus".

Here are the features:

• Access to the Radio Range Manual
• Access to Radio Range Station Data
• Access to Radio Range Airways Data
• Access to Civil Airways Charts




 
The snapshot above shows a typical view of a portion of the station data. Scrolling down would reveal the IAP for Charlotte.

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15 . . . SOME SELECTED FLIGHTS 

More than a few of the DC-3 Airways flights are appropriate for Radio Range flight. Here are some from the "US Civil Airways" routes by Mark Thomas:

A05-02 KMDW to KSTL A05-03 KSTL TO KMEM A05-04 KMEM TO KJAN A05-05 KJAN TO KNEW A06-05 KVQQ to KATL A06-1 KBUF TO KCLE A06-2 KCLE TO KCVG A06-3 KCVG TO KBNA A06-4 KBNA TO KATL A06-5 KATL TO KVQQ	A07-02 KBGR TO KBOS A07-03 KBOS TO KEWR A07-04 KEWR TO KPNE A07-05 KPNE TO KBWI A07-06 KBWI TO KDCA A07-07 KDCA TO KRIC A07-08 KRIC TO KCHS A07-09 KCHS TO KVQQ A07-10 KVQQ to KDAB A07-11 KDAB to KMIA A07-12 KMIA TO KEYW
R14-1 KLOU TO KIND R14-2 KIND TO KMDW R16-1 KCHS TO KCAE R21-1 N96 TO KAGC R21-2 KAGC TO KDTW R23-1 KEWR TO KBUF R25-1 KDAB TO KFMY R25-2 KFMY TO KMIA R33-1 KLGA TO KCXY




Axx = an Amber Airway and Rxx = a Red Airway. Go here for more flights or more information.

Here are three flights from the American Airlines Schedule.


AA_164 KCRG to KOPF
AA_166 KCRG to KFTY
AA_203 KCRG to KFTY

These are representative samples of the available DC-3 Airways routes, not a complete list. Note that one may also fly these routes in the reverse direction, too.

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16 . . . INSTALL or UNINSTALL the RADIO RANGE SYSTEM 

  A.  Version History

Version 4.0 ... 29 April 2007

• Added over 200 new Radio Range Stations to blanket the United States and Canada including Alaska and Hawaii.  Stations added in the China/Burma/India theatre of operations for flights "Over the Hump".  Selected stations added for navigation over the North Atlantic.  Instrument Approach Procedures developed for most of these new stations
• Upgraded Radio Range Gauge by Dave Bitzer
• Civil Airways have been defined and described in an Airways Data Table accessible through the kneeboard
• Color Civil Airways Charts created for North America
• Cockpits redesigned for more 'period-accuracy' and flight dynamics improved
  

Version 3.1 ... 31 March 2006

• Added the "No ADF Gauge" Flight Option.
• Added the Radio Range Forum:

  http://dcascreenshots.net/rr/index.php

• Corrected the Quadrant Identification in the Richmond, Virginia Approach Plate.
• Corrected the Jacksonville, Florida Quadrant Designations in the Radio Range Gauge.
• Uploaded two images (in-line with the text) over-looked in v3.0.
• Added three sections to the Instruction Manual.
  • Information on the Radio Range.
  • Information on the "No ADF Gauge" Flight Option.
  • The Version History.
• Previously, on the 1945 panel, when the ADF1 on/off switch was turned off,
  the range sounds continued. Now corrected.
• Previously, on the 1945 panel, when the ADF1 on/off switch was turned off,
  the ADF1 needle continued to point toward the station. Now corrected.

Version 3.0 ... 16 March 2006

Released the first public version of the Radio Range System after nearly a year of development and several significant rounds of Beta Testing by DC-3 Airways member pilots. This release of the Radio Range System comprised over 800 files.

  B.  To Install Version 4.0 of the Radio Range System

Click here for the Readme file which fully describes the installation procedure for version 4.0 of the Radio Range System.

  C.  To Uninstall Version 4.0 of the Radio Range System

Uninstall the Radio Range System in two easy steps (three steps if you
use FSNavigator).

1. UNLINK your Radio Range Scenery Files from FS9:
   • Open Flight Simulator
   • Click on 'SETTINGS' in the lower left-hand corner of the first page
   • Click the "Scenery Library" button
   • Locate the "Radio Range" selection in the Areas list and click on it
   • Click the "Delete Area" button then click "YES" on the popup confirmation window
   • Close Flight Simulator prior to step 2
      

2. UNINSTALL the Radio Range Version 4 files the same way other programs are removed ... through the Control Panel:

REMINDER: You must close FS2004 prior to this step or all files will not be deleted.

Also, if you have installed any gauges from the Radio Range System onto other panels, you must backup those gauge files before proceeding. The uninstall program will delete all files installed by the V4 Radio Range.

• Click "Start" then click "Control Panel."
• On the pop-up panel, click "Add or Remove Programs"

• When the list of files becomes available, scroll down to the file that lists Radio Range v4.0 (make sure that you are uninstalling the correct version)

• Click that program and follow the on-screen instructions.

 

3. If you use FSNavigator, you must update its private database to reflect the deletion of the RR4 stations:
   • Close Flight Simulator.
   • Go to the Programs page under the Start button.
   • Select FSNavigator for FS2004.
   • Click FSNavDBC.
   • Click the Create database button.
   • Exit when instructed to.

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17 . . . REFERENCES 

Here are some references for those who want additional information on flying the Radio Range, including details on several orientation techniques, All of these books are long out of print but may be found either on eBay or via the book search facility at www.abebooks.com. Note that abebooks.com searches 13,000 booksellers.

1. Air Transport Navigation, Redpath & Coburn, Pitman Publishing 1943.
2. Through the Overcast, Assen Jordanoff, Funk & Wagnalls 1938
3. Pilots Handbook of Navigation, Elliott & Guerney, Aero Publishers 1967
4. Modern Airmanship, Van Sickle, D. Van Nostrand Inc, 1957
5. North Star Over My Shoulder, Bob Buck, Simon & Schuster 2002 ISBN 0-7432-1964-3
6. Practical Air Navigation, US Dept. of Commerce, 1945
7. Aircraft Navigation Manual H.O.216 USNO
8. Air Pilot Training, Bert A. Shields, 1942
9. Radio Navigation for Pilots, Instrument Flight Part Two, Colin H McIntosh,
   McGraw-Hill, 1943
10. TM-1-445 Technical Manual Instrument Flying Training, 1942.
11. Radio in Airmanship, Maj. Gen. James E. Fechet et al, National Aeronautics Council, Inc.
    New York, 1942

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18 . . . ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS  

The fs9 Radio Range System comprises over 1700 files. Obviously a system of that size can only result from the teamwork of many designers.

Here are the four lead designers and their areas of concentration:

• Dave Bitzer -- gauge concept and XML programming for many gauges (any gauge with 'DB' in its name, improvements to the flight dynamics, the first draft of the manual (and the second, third and fourth...), his HTML skills, and, in general, for being such a smart, talented guy, good friend and 'wailing wall'
• Alex Nicolson Everything you see, including all of the work on the Canadian, Alaskan, Hawaiian, China/Burma/India theatres of operation, as well as all the other Radio Range stations.  Alex designed all the scenery, selected the original locations of the stations, determined the original beam directions, and provided the resource references from his extensive library. An indefatigable scenery designer and researcher
>
• Norman Hancock -- The 'NH' panel, numerous Gauge designs, many Gauge Face bitmaps, icon construction, and some maps for the manual. Basically anything with 'NH' in it's name. Our resident graphics expert!
• Allan Greene -- Lead Project Coordinator for Version 4.  Design and production of the 250 or so Instrument Approach Plates shown in the Station Data Table.  Author of the Instrument Approach Plate Instruction Manual on the approach plates, co-editor of the Radio Range Manual, creator of the original fast-tune feature on the Coffee-grinder LF radios in the 1940 Panel, and designer of the Airways Network and all supporting charts and graphics.

Very special thanks to Douglas Dawson, Toronto, Canada, who developed the XML sound gauge and modified it so that the sounds may be dynamically changed in volume.

Hans-Joerg Naegele of FSDZigns saved us a lot of work by granting permission to use the Radios, the super-cool VOR display (with toilet seat pointer) and AP from their Connie L049. Hans-Joerg also kindly gave us permission to modify these radios for use in our Radio Range Aircraft.

Milton Shupe and Scott Thomas for their kind permission to use, and ever-so-slightly modify their excellent Lear Autopilot from his Beech D-18 Aircraft Package.

The designer of the very handy Flight Sim E-6B is presently unknown. When we downloaded this gauge it was Freeware and we assume that it still is. We ask that the originator, or anyone who can identify the originator, please contact one of the Radio Range designers (Email addresses below) and we will properly credit their fine work.

The following also deserve special recognition (in no particular order):

• John Achor for his Adcock Range how-to article,
• Andy Hatcher for the Radio Range Forum, the cleaned up panel bitmap, and technical assistance on the Radio Range tones,
• Tim Cook for technical support on the installer and uninstaller program,
• Mark Thomas who developed the original Civil Airways routes,
• Mark Beaumont for technical consultations and uploading help (and his lovely voice used in the new cockpit.)
• Rob Castrillo, real-live, current, and honest-to-goodness DC-3 pilot, for technical help relating to the real-world DC-3
• Ken Austin for his work in developing the "RDF Loop" panel
• Jimmy "Fingers" Daigneau, Joe "Loose" Foss, and Mike "No nickname yet" McCormick-- A very special, personal thanks to these guys, our Radio Range Route Check Airmen: for listening to dits and dahs for hundreds upon hundreds of hours in the development of the Airways Routings and Altitudes.  I'd phone them and thank them personally, but they probably still can't hear very well!  ;)
• Thanks to YOU for your interest in keeping this very special and important part of aviation history alive!

And most of all, our undying thanks to Charles Wood, the Founder of DC-3 Airways (The Best VA in the world) for......well, for everything!

We hope that you enjoy flying the Radio Range!

For questions or comments, we prefer that you post them on the Radio Range Forum.  This will give other pilots the benefit of your thoughts and our feedback and may prevent multiple, duplicate questions being asked of the system designers.  You can find the Radio Range Forum either by linking through the DC-3 Airways Forum or by clicking here:

RR Forum Hyperlink 

If, for some reason you'd like to contact a developer, feel free to e-mail any one of us:

• Dave Bitzer, DC3-910, at bitzer7@comcast.net
• Alex Nicolson at gpvl@shaw.ca
• Norman Hancock, DC3-134, at norman.hancock@ntlworld.com
• Allan Greene, DCA-1208, at night56owl@yahoo.com

© 2007 Dave Bitzer, Alex Nicolson, Norman Hancock, and Allan Greene. This Package and its included files are freeware. They may not be re-uploaded, modified or included in any payware or commercial package without express permission of the authors. 

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DISCLAIMER:

THE AUTHORS ARE NOT LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGE THAT MAY INCUR, REAL OR IMAGINED, AS A RESULT OF USING THESE PRODUCTS. BY INSTALLING THIS PACKAGE, YOU ASSUME ALL RISK OF USE. This entire package and all contents herein are intended solely for flight simulation use and under no circumstances shall be used for actual or planned aerial navigation.  Any such use may result in property damage, personal injury and/or loss of life.  You assume all risk for such improper use.