PMDG Navdata Glossary

NAVIGATION Data Dictionary

SUMMARY

There are two types of data used for navigation. This article isabout the AIRAC data stored in the /NAVDATA location and consists of sixfiles. One of the files, fmc_ident.txt, is a short file that simplyprovides the data dates. The other files provide airport, runway,navaid, fixes and route definition used by the PMDG FMC. The other typeof data, SIDSTARS, is not discussed in this article.

The location of the files varies with version of MSFS. FS9 uses%/FMCWP/NAVDATA and FSX uses %/PMDG/NAVDATA where % is the rootdirectory for the flight simulator.

The text files containing data used by the PMDG FMC fornavigation are defined in the following sections. Please note thatcolumn position is significant, white space must be space chars(no tab chars)

AIRPORTDATA

Filename: airports.dat

List of airports and airport coordinates listed byascending latitude.

....,....1....,....2....,KCRP 27.770361 -97.501222IIII dd.dddddd ddd.dddddd IIII        COL 1-4 ICAO code for airport dd.dddddd   COL 5-14 Latitude degrees (-Lat for South) ddd.dddddd  COL 15-25 Longitude degrees (-Lon for West)             (Note: FAA defines airport location as the centroid of the area defined             by the runway edges, and calls it the Airport Reference Point)

NAVAIDDATA

Filename: wpNavAID.txt

List of radio navigation aids containing name, id, type,location andfrequency listed by ascending latitude.

....,....1....,....2....,....3....,....4....,....5....,....6..CORPUS CHRISTI          CRP  VORD 27.903764 -97.444881115.50HCORPUS CHRISTI          ICRP ILSD 27.759597 -97.495508110.30TROCKPORT                RKP  NDB  28.090569 -97.045544391.00NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNIIII TTTT dd.dddddd ddd.ddddddfff.ffC NNNN       COL 1-24 Facility Name IIII       COL 25-28 ID TTTT       COL 30-33 Type               ILS  Insturment Landing System (Localizer)             ILSD ILS/DME             NDB  Nondirectional Beacon             NDBM NDB/Locator Middle Marker (LMM)             NDBO NDB/Locator Outer Marker (LOM)             MARI Unknown - seems to be same as MHW class NDB             VOR  VHF Omnidirectional Radio             VORD VOR/DME (no separate code for VORTAC) dd.dddddd  COL 34-43 Latitude (-Lat for South) ddd.dddddd COL 44-54 Longitude ( -Lon for West) fff.ff     COL 55-60 Frequency (MHz for ILS/VOR KHz for NDB) See Note Below C          Col 61 Class              H High Altitude/Long Range             N NDB             T Terminal/Short RangeNote: If NDB frequency is above 999.99 KHz then thefrequecy field still starts in col 55 and C is col 62, for example:....,....1....,....2....,....3....,....4....,....5....,....6..EREBUNI                 Y    NDBM 40.104053  44.4505831180.00NWhere the frequency above is 1180.00 KHz (1.180 MHz)

RUNWAYDATA

Filename: wpNavAPT.txt

List of runways and instrument approach data containingrunway location,lenght, width, elevation and ILS/LDA course/frequency.

....,....1....,....2....,....3....,....4....,....5....,....6....,....7....,....8CORPUS CHRISTI INTL     KCRP13 07508130 27.776997 -97.513328110.3012900043CORPUS CHRISTI INTL     KCRP17 06080173 27.779472 -97.496106000.0017300041CORPUS CHRISTI INTL     KCRP31 07508310 27.762189 -97.497206110.3030900044CORPUS CHRISTI INTL     KCRP35 06080353 27.762925 -97.496031109.5035200040LAMBERT-ST LOUIS INTERNAKSTL12L09003121 38.751781 -90.366294108.9012200528LAMBERT-ST LOUIS INTERNAKSTL12L09003121 38.751781 -90.366294110.1012200528NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNIIIIrrOlllllbbb dd.dddddd ddd.ddddddfff.ffccceeeee      NNNN  Col 1-24 Airport Name      IIII  Col 25-28 ICAO-code for airport        rr  Col 29-30 Runway Number (01-36)         O  Col 31 Runway Order (L C R)    llllll  Col 32-36 Runway Length (ft)       bbb  Col 37-39 Runway Bearing (mag) dd.dddddd  Col 41-49 Latitude degrees (-Lat for South Col 40)ddd.dddddd  Col 50-60 Longitude degrees (-Lon for West) Decimal at Col 64    fff.ff  Col 61-66 ILS/LDA frequency (LOC MHz)       ccc  Col 67-69 LOC course (mag)     eeeee  Col 70-74 Runway Elevation (ft MSL)         Note: The PMDG FMC will select the first record only if there is          more than one record for the runway. This is a problem at locations          where there is both an ILS and LDA at same runway, if you want the ILS          but the LDA is first (Navigraph is aware of this and usually sorts the          ILS first). See KSTL 12L above for example (108.90 MHz is the ILS)         Note: The PMDG FMC uses the above information to setup the display,          not the MSFS data. This results in variations between scenery and          panel displayed information for runway elevation and LOC course.

FIXDATA

Filename: wpNavFIX.txt

List of navigation fixes/waypoints sorted by ascending latitude.

....,....1....,....2....,...3....,....4....,....5.8750W                   8750W-87.000000 -50.00000055S11                   55S11-55.000000 111.0000000538E                   0538E  5.000000  38.0000003883N                   3883N 38.000000 -83.00000038N30                   38N30 38.000000-130.000000DOWNS                   DOWNS 38.053928 -86.251583NNNNN                   NNNNN dd.dddddd  dd.dddddd     NNNNN  Col 1-5 & 25-30 Fix Name dd.dddddd  Col 32-40 Latitude degrees (-Lat for South, sign Col 31)ddd.dddddd  Col 41-51 Longitude degrees (-Lon for West, decimal always Col 45)          Note: The duplicate name fields may be the result how the FAA          provides data, where there are many more fixes defined than provide          in the airac data. For example, most terminal data is not included.          This data includes airway crossing, radar service boundaries, etc.

ROUTEDATA

Filename: wpNavRTE.txtList of airways by sequential fixes sorted alphanumerically.

....,....1....,....2....,....3....,....4....,....5....,....6....,....7....,....8A602G 001 MOGSA 14.688333 -20.211389A602G 002 TITOR 13.000000 -18.000000A602G 003 LUSTI 12.318333 -16.483333J239 001 ATL 33.629069 -84.435069J239 002 WEONE 33.525689 -85.122247J239 003 JAMMR 33.232136 -86.942319Q10 001 ENM 62.784583 -164.487558Q10 002 ULL 63.692311 -170.470025Q10 003 JED 50.647319 20.251206V11 100 ASI -12.760556 -76.606389V11 101 AND -13.714167 -73.377778V11 102 DABUL -13.697778 -72.886667Column position is not significant. Data is provided in the followingsequence separated by one space character:      AAAA  Airway Name (alphanumeric)       nnn  Sequence Number (001 - nnn)      NNNN  Fix Name dd.dddddd  Latitude degrees (-Lat for South)ddd.dddddd  Longitude degrees (-Lon for West)          Note: The FMC uses the wpNavFIX data when you enter a fix name,           it uses the wpNavRTE data when you enter a route and checks that           the fix from where you start the route is included in the route           definition. It then populates the legs information from the route           data up to then next fix you enter.Thanks to Dan Downs for contributing this.