"Realistic" ATC & FSBuild - Opinions

[Guest MikeD]

I've just bought and installed FSBuild which seems to work perfectly with the PMDG737.I have noticed however that if I just load a route into the FMC (FSbuild or otherwise) without going through the FS9 "Create flightplan" page, ATC has no idea of my intentions. Accordingly you are not automatically issued the appropriate vectors for departure or landing, you can request flight following and landing clearance of course, and you can though, fly your SIDS and STARS uninterrupted.My question then, is there a consensus on which method to follow?1. Do you use "create flightplan" regardless of how you program your Route to be issued and follow vectors? (i.e not necesarilly use the waypoints generated by FS9)2. Do you just program the FMC and ask for "departure to the north/south/east/west?I know that #1 is closer to real-world but it seems to me that ATC then ignores SIDS and STARS.OR..... 3. I totally missing another option that combines the two? Mike

[Guest ba747heavy]

>3. I totally missing another option that combines the two? Fly on VATSIM ;) Sorry, couldn't resist.Actually, when I want ATC I fly VATSIM, and when I want uninterrupted flying I do FS with no ATC. The FS ATC is horrid, so I avoid at all costs...

[Mike S KPDX 597]

Mike, I understand exactly what you are saying and this is how I set up my flights.1. In FSBuild, autogenerate your flight plan after placing the departure and arrival airports in place. FSB will seek out the best SID/STARS available and generate the route (either stored or generated on the fly)2. Review the route, see if it makes sense. Make sure your using the 737-700 aircraft type in the aircraft tab. Also, if your using an external wx program FSB will use it - check the documentation.3. Once happy with the route, aircraft, aircraft loading (via PMDG loader and correlated with the Aircraft tab in FSB), then select the Export menu and select FS9 (for FS9 ATC or RCv3 use) AND the 737 PMDG to export to.4. BUILD the flight plan. This will export to FS9 and PMDG. After FSB does this it will show you in a box exactly what it has done.5. Get into FS and create a flight. Place yourself at the airport and at your gate. Go to the flight plan screen and LOAD the flight plan that was exported by FSB. The syntax is DEP-ARR airport. FS will ask you if you want to be relocated to that airport, say NO (you have already placed yourself there)6. Load the PMDG FMS with your flight plan (again exporte via FSB), The syntax for that is DEPARR airports (no hyphen)7. Your done. When you select FS ATC you will be setup for and IFR flight plan (the one you loaded) that will match exactly the one in your FMS. At that point your good to go.

[Guest MikeD]

Thanks Mike, I think you've given me the answer..... Export to PDMG737 AND FS9 together, not just the 737.Having had FSB for less than 36 hours I didn't know you could do both.Thanks againMike.

[Guest harpya]

Mike,thanks a lot for the step-by-step explanation! I bought the PMDG737 a few days agon and am also just completing my first "solo"-flightsHowever, one additional question to you remains: Afte completing all these steps, the flight indeed continues with FMC and MS ATC in harmony. However, what should I do when I am nearing my destination and ATC comes back to life, vectoring me in its own way. Is there any way to continue with the STARs as planned? I didn't try it out yet, but could I just ignore the vectors, fly the star and still get a landing clearance when ATC finally finds me lined up with the runway on finals? Or will they just start crying, cancel my flightplan and ignore me?Thanks for any shared experience and:Merry Christmas!

[miguelpp 25]

Merry Christmas everybody.I must be stupid, but I purchased FSBild, three days ago, and still haven

[Guest Fjorko]

HiI'm in no way a real pilot, or even close to it, and i also do not have ALL the knowledge so my following explanation might be wrong...I think it is NORMAL for ATC to vector you even before you finish the star......they can see you on their radar screens and have a better picture of how the spacing within their airspace is looking. So chances are that you never "finish" your star arrival, an will need to use HDG select and Speed inputs on the MCP to complete the final part of your approach just before the ILS interception.I think that in real life ...the vectors you will get is usually close to the FMC Star that you would have followed anyway.....but i doubt whether the FS9 ATC will be that acurate anyway - but should still be good enough to give a a decent intercept for the ILS.Well as i said ...what i just said might be a whole bunch of %

[jcboliveira 1]

1 - Options, Export directories, Set FS2004 directory; 2 - Options, Settings, Exportto, click the options that you need (PMDG737 and/or FS2004 FP and/or FSNavigator) 3 - Options, Settings,Save config options4 - Restart FSBUILD (don't know if it needed but is personnal praticce)5 - Make FPAt the end you will see a dialog saying wich exports were made.Jos

[miguelpp 25]

Thank you very much, Jose.Happy christmas.Miquel Egea.

[Mike S KPDX 597]

>However, one additional question to you remains: >Afte completing all these steps, the flight indeed continues>with FMC and MS ATC in harmony. However, what should I do when>I am nearing my destination and ATC comes back to life,>vectoring me in its own way. Is there any way to continue with>the STARs as planned? I didn't try it out yet, but could I>just ignore the vectors, fly the star and still get a landing>clearance when ATC finally finds me lined up with the runway>on finals? Or will they just start crying, cancel my>flightplan and ignore me?As mentioned elswhere in this thread you would be surprised at how much vectoring in the approach phase actually occurs within the US. It is almost exclusivly done all the time. I am fortunate to be a private pilot with IFR certification and also just had a 3.5 hour christmas party over at my best freinds. He flys for Horizon Airlines (Dash8-400), with this group is are several other of my freinds which include an Alaska Airline 737 capt, an FO, a Dash8-200 FO, and several engineers that work for Alaska Airlines.As always, great fun with nothing but flying talk. I asked questions concerning airline procedures with SID/STARS. To make a long story short on 737 ops; With FMS equiped planes they will insert 'canned' routes (i.e. preprogrammed). Periodically, they will have to enter a route (about 4-5 times a year). When they do this often they just place the active runway in based on the current ATIS for their destination. Yes, they fly STAR routes (as required) but many of the STAR's are several hundred miles long. Almost always they are vectored off the star when within about 30-40 miles of the airport. Do they reset the landing runway if different - most often not. At this point it is V/S and HEADING only. Jim also stated that sometimes they dont even program in their entire route clearance (ie. terminates at the app IAF) knowing they will be vectored. But went on to say that if they feel like it, he will reset the FMS for the landing runway (once notified by ATC in the app phase) with what he calls the '3/10', a waypoint at 3000' agl at 10 miles out. Once entered, this will display the vertical nav que on the PFD and he tries to follow this using V/S - as he said, only if its slow on the flight deck.sorry about the diatribe;now: "Is there any way to continue with the STARs as planned?"yes, one way would be select another type of approach. FS ATC will clear you for that approach (with no vectoring) and tell you to contact tower when on final. At that point FS ATC will not bother you at all (in fact you can fly anywhere you want). However, if you dont do this and decide to ignore ATC, at some point you will be released from IFR and told to contact TWR, who will then also take you off the approach (unless straight in).

[lefteris 70]

"Mike S. (KPDX)AMD2100 1meg ram GF4200128"Hey Mike-how're you running PMDG 737 and FS9 on only 1 Megabyte of RAM? :-)(Couldn't resist!) Merry Xmas!

[Mike S KPDX 597]

... its wired over to my 1GB of ram via the jumper cables from my car battery. Hey, I wonder if that may have somthing to do with these high CPU temps I keep getting??ah well - I will have to think about it after I wire up this toaster to the pole mounted transformer down the street.have a nice holiday yourself.

[Guest harpya]

Mike,thank you very much for your kind and helpful reply! Merry Christmas!