NS 430 Navigation system

This is a beta module. This module is still being developed and may still be missing some features and equipment options. It is playable and most of the content is there, but some final touches and fixes for minor bugs are still in the works. It is probably safe to buy unless you crave absolute fidelity and/or very few bugs.

[[1]]

There are modules and there are modules, and then there is this oddity. It is exactly what it says on the tin: a GNS 430 “NS 430” GPS/Nav/Comm system for the Mi-8MTV2 that gets bolted into the dashboard of your magnificent helicopter if the mission and server allows for it.

The Mi-8MTV2 is not exactly lacking in navigation and radio equipment as it is, between its R-863, YaDRA-1A, R-828, ARK-9, and ARK-UD homing receivers and its DISS-15 doppler navigator, but they all rely on the presence of the appropriate transmitters, or on accurate relative position data and somewhat careful flying. It is all (mid-)20th century tech — the NS 430 brings the Magnificent Eight into the new millennium, or at least into the 1990s, with the ability to home to more modern aviation beacons and to use GPS navigation.

It also contains navigation and terrain data and tools for planning routes between and approaches to airports, which allows for more complex navigation under more adverse conditions than the baseline instruments do.

It is a very accurate recreation of the GNS 430 (which, coincidentally, can be studied and learned in Garmin's own 400/500-series simulator app), but at the end of the day, it is just a single fancy toy for a single module. For a short while, it was also available in the L-39 cockpit, but that ability was removed as the NS 430 moved out of early beta. Now, it is “only” early access, with vague promises that it may at some point be integrated into more aircraft but with no clear answers given by anyone.

(Perhaps not entirely) coincidentally, one of the campaigns for the Mi-8MTV2 is the Oilfield Campaign, which is all about mastering the helicopter's various navigation options. The NS 430 could certainly have helped with that particular problem, but the GPS is fortunately not available there, so getting it for that reason would not work. Then again, doing so would mean that half the challenge of the campaign is removed — and the NS 430 will also not do sling loading for you, which is the other half.

Features

• Dual VHF and VOR tuning with quick flip-blop between active and preparation frequencies.
• GPS and VOR location tracking.
• Moving map display with terrain and altitude warning indications.
• Flight plan and waypoint management, including fuel planning.
• Airport, navpoint, and beacon database, including departure and approach procedures and emergency divert functionality.

Missing features

The NS 430 is labelled as “early access” in the DCS shop, not so much because of what the module itself is missing as because of what modules are missing it. Very vague rumours exist that integration with other aircraft will happen Soon™, at which point some of the capabilities of the module will make more sense, such as the VOR and COM tracking and tuning.

Links and files

• 400W/500W Series Trainer for Windows from Garmin.
• Manuals for GNS 430 from Garmin.
• DCS: NS 430 Navigation System for DCS: Mi-8MTV2 by Belsimtek in the DCS shop.

Related DCS modules

• Mi-8MTV2 Magnificent Eight