adding TACAN/DME

[delta_lima]

Hello all,

A bit of an elementary question - but am motivated to teach myself proper IFR technique. Would prefer doing it in military training aircraft, and I find many either

1) lack the capability, or
2) use the Bendix radio stack.

Now with option 2, I at least get a DME for basic distance measurement. Trouble is, using the Bendix stack on 50s / 60s aircraft rather kills the immersion.

Is there a decent 50s/60s era radio stack that would have a DME readout for inclusion as a simple 2D popup? For example, I have ported over the radio stack from David Garwood's Hunters to a few aircraft for a nice 50s era radio feel to replace the Bendix radios in such aircraft as the Flying Stations Wyvern, Richardson Vampires, etc. Again, the tradeoff there was gaining a nicer period feel, but losing the DME readout.

Planes I'd target retrofitting such a radio stack to would be the Richardson Beagle, Fnerg's Firefly, Garwood's Hunter T.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

DL

[Victory103]

I'll only add that you don't necessarily need DME. The current military helicopter I fly does not have DME, although we recently have a GPS upgrade that will allow us to use that instead. As long as DME is not required for the approach, we can do most approaches to get into where we need to go.

[delta_lima]

Hello V103,

Thanks - always good to get a real pilot's perpective on these matters,

I've been using GPS all these years - so that's what I'm trying to get away from- trying to make it a bit more realistic . I'm looking for a DME popup gauge that looks realistic to the period (50s, 60s) - or ideally, a radio stack that includes a DME counter for each radio.

Thanks,

[TeaSea]

I share your frustration on period nav kit in older military a/c. DME was developed in Australia in the early 50's, so it's certainly reasonable to find some vintage radios in those a/c, but I've not seen many that do.

same deal for localizers....

[delta_lima]

Thanks TS,

Ironically, stumbling upon Derek Palmer's DH 104 Dove (which incidentally, works superbly in FSX, if you're ok with just 2D panels) revealed a separate distance counter gauge. So my question would be, if installed on a plane with both NAV1 and NAV2 radios - how would one install it so that it knows which radio is which? And would there be a way of installing 2 such counters (so they appear together) - one slaved to NAV1 and the other to NAV2 - to show the distance for each?

Cheers,

DL

[jojohnson9]

There is a 50s era freeware RadioDME gauge which is selectable to NAV1 or NAV2 DME at FlightSim.com. Search the files for "Lockheed749.zip" which contains the gauge file "L749" in the panel folder. The radios, DME, and autopilot should fit in quite will in a period panel.
Also at FlightSim is the file "FSDZL049.zip" which has the gauge file "VnConnie049" in its panel folder. The applicable gauges are similar and also work well. These gauges work very well in FSX.
I have added two of these to some of my old planes when I want both DME1 and 2.
I use both these 2D panels in my Just Flight Connies and all gauges work fine in FSX.
Hope This helps.

[srgalahad]

I haven't tried them in FSX (yet) but Ken Mitchell has many panel/radio variants available. If you want something definitely from the 60's you might try his Grumman Albatross panel which includes some very-analog radios and a 2-input DME
http://www.flightsim.com/vbfs/zview.php?fid=71827&idx=47
http://www.flightsim.com/vbfs/fslib.php?do=copyright&fid=71827

While DME has been around since the 50's it took quite a while for the civil application to have the accuracy required for use in approaches although it was accepted as an enroute aid. Most published approaches didn't include DME waypoints nor did DME Arc approaches become widespread until probably the late 70's so if you want the true 60's experience, you can pass on the DME. Prior to that, intersections and ILS reference points were obtained by VOR crossing radials or cross-bearings from an NDB. ILS/DME (with a DME co-located with the ILS transmitter) is, in that sense a relatively 'modern' concept.

[delta_lima]

thanks Srg and JJ!

I found that in the end, the Dove DME gauge was the one that blends in the best with the Hunter panel. Unfortunately, there is only 1 counter - but that's a step above where I was.

I'll keep the reference to the other two - I'll likely use them in other planes. I would never have thought to try and make a popup with just a gauge - pointing to the Connie's DME switcher was the motivator to try - and it worked like a charm indeed.

Regards,

DL