Hey, I recently downloaded the 737NG series by PMDG...The airplane is amazing I love it...But I need help with using the FMC a little...I dont know how to import flight plans into the FMC...I Have the program FS BUILD, and i downloaded the PLN2RTE.zip file....for example i would go into FS BUILD and create a flight, then i would click and drag it to the PLN2RTE program and it will change it to a *.rte file...which is good...Then im lost after that...what do i do??..I tried putting the flight in the PMGD/FLIGHPLANS folder....and then went into my FS9 and went to my FMC and went to FLIGHTPLANS and i saw it there...but couldnt do anything...can anyone plz!! help me..im deperate for help..if anyone could give me step by step instructions on how to do this i would greatly apperciate it...thxsCraig

You have odne most things right :) After you copy the .rte file into the PMDG/Flightplans folder, go into the FMC, press RTE, and then enter the name of the .rte file, less the .rte extension, and then press the LSK by the CO ROUTE entry(3L or R, don't rememeber off the top of my head). The flightplan should be loaded up into the FMC.

Ok, Will this also add ATC in the flight sim??...Cause if im doing an IFR i need ATC!!....I was just wondering if what you told me will allow the ATC to work with the Flight Plan...if not what do i do for that???ThxsCraig

Craig,If you want FS ATC, you need to do the following:Create plan in FSBuild. Export for FS2002/4, and make sure flight is in FSdirflightsmyfltsUse pln2rte and convert to .rte format. Put the new .rte file in the PMDGFlightplans folder.Startup FS and then load the NG.Then load the FS Plan via the flightplanning tabStart FSLoad the plan into the FMC.Fly :)

Ok, I get that...I didn't put this in before tho..Im sorry im killing you with questions...The FMC is sooo confusing...this is what i did...here's an example...I was doing a test flight from KIAH to KATL....I was on the ground programming the FMC and this is what I did I clicked on RTE and then I put for the "Orgin" KIAH ----and "Destination" KATL...Then I clicked on the CO ROUTE and it showed KIAH-KATL which was good...then in my EFIS screen in the cockpit it showed my plan loaded up...Then the FMC was saying something about "No Active Plan"...but it was loaded up so i went along with it...I took off and then armed the autopilot and started my climb...I went to click on the "L Nav" switch and nothing happend??? the airplanes does not follow the plan on its own...im sooo confused...Hopefull you can get this all down in one shot so i can fly this thing...sorry again for the ?'sThxs a lot tho.... :0)Craig

Craig,You close, really really close :-)When you go to the Route page, in the company route, you need to type in the name of the flight plan you are trying to load (in this case probably kiahkatl.rte). You should then get an "Activate" carrot on the lower RLSK. Select Activate and then hit the Execute button and the plan should load up in the FMC.Let me know if this helpsRegardsPaul Gollnick :-cool Technical Operations/Customer Operational SupportPrecision Manuals Development Groupwww.precisionmanuals.comhttp://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/devteam.jpg

Craig,Like Paul said you are sooooo close :) If you continue to have trouble, I suggest searching the avsim forum for my name or Tim Metzinger's name. Both uf us have created tutorials for the NG. I think if you glanced them over you will be able to fill in the gaps for the flight you are doing and you will be able to enjoy the NG to the fullest :)

Download the file named pln2rte.zip from the library. It will convert FS9 flightplans to .rte files that can be used with the FMC.Dave FisherCYYZP4 2.8 GB 478P 533 MHZ CPUP4P800S Asus Motherboard512 DDRGeforce Ti 4200/128Maxtor 80 Gig ATA 133 HDhttp://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/ng_driver.jpg

Hey Guys....Thank you guys soo much for the helpI finally got it to work!!...WOO HOO!!...but now another problem has occured...I was just doing a test flight From TNCM to TJSJ, quick east flight just to see if the planner would work..and yes it did...hitting my first way point which was TIST aka st. thomas's King internationl...As my plane was turning to intercept the VOR it kicked me out of my Flight Sim...and a blue screen came up saying my computer crashed...and something I recently download and installed was effecting it...I just hope it wasnt the 737 NG I downloaded from you guys....if so what should i do to prevent this from happening...ThxsCraig

Fred, with FSNav I export to PMDG/Flightplans. I dont have to type anything, I simply go to the FMC|Menu|Index|Nav Data and all the flight plans are listed. I press the LSK to put it in the Scratch Pad then go to the RTE page and press Co. Route. I have a few plans I that I can use over again. This no doubt would be usefull for someone flying on-line for UPS for example, who has a number of regular routes. Tim mentioned how many plans can be saved, I think it was 8?Regards

Fred"s reply to the question about ATC support for PMDG flight plans:If you want FS ATC, you need to do the following:Create plan in FSBuild. Export for FS2002/4, and make sure flight is in FSdirflightsmyfltsUse pln2rte and convert to .rte format. Put the new .rte file in the PMDGFlightplans folder.Startup FS and then load the NG.Then load the FS Plan via the flightplanning tabStart FSLoad the plan into the FMC.This would lead me to believe that most PMDG Captains don't fly with ATC support. Is this the norm? I was unaware that I wasn't supposed to expect ATC when I progammed the FMC. I've been foiled for days wondering why ATC doesn't know I have an IFR flight plan. Thanks for revealing this rather important bit of information.Terry McArthur

Fred, I have FSbuild and FSNav. If I point FSBuild to docs/settings |flight simulator Files | flightplans it dont work, it wants another folder called Pilots?So I created another folder Flightplans | pilots. When I go into "Select flight" and scroll to "Pilots" the flight is listed there, pln ext. no problem. I then noticed in the options FSBuild the path was docs & settings/Flight Simulator Files/Flight Plans/PMDG/flightplans. If you put the file converter dll in PMDG/flightplans it converts the file to .rte file format, no problem.The way FSBuild is shipped if you change the path using the browse button next to FS, it cascades down thru and changes whatever was in the Dir path for PMDG. Another words if you fix it to move the flight plan to a dir. of you choice for PMDG, and the change the path for FS2002/4, the path for PMDG changes by itself.So, if there is a way to change the search criteria for the FMC so it looks in the correct dir (being where the plan is) it would be nice. As it stands now FSBuild (finaly) creats two plans for me, 1 in the Pilots folder the other in Flight Plans/PMDG/flightplans, with the proper file formats.I want it to put em where both FS and the FMC can see em without having to move files arround by hand. I should have said above, creats 2 copies of the same plan, .rte, pln.

>Fred, I have FSbuild and FSNav. >If I point FSBuild to docs/settings |flight simulator Files | flightplans it dont work, it wants another folder called Pilots?You should point Fsbuild to yur root F2004 folder (ie the folder whether the FS9.exe file resides).Fsbuild will use your system information to find your '/Flight Simulator' files folder.The reason its wants the '/pilots' folder is that it could not find your FS9.exe file in the folder you selected so it assumes you have an earlier version of FS and thus is looking for the '/pilots' or the '/myflts' folder.>So I created another folder Flightplans | pilots. When I go into "Select flight" and scroll to "Pilots" the flight is listed >there, pln ext. no problem. I then noticed in the options FSBuild the path was docs & settings/Flight Simulator Files/Flight >Plans/PMDG/flightplans.Same issue. Since the PMDG folder resides as a subfolder in your FS2004 directoryFsbuild is looking for the PMDG folder it as a subfolder of the FS folder you specified.>The way FSBuild is shipped if you change the path using the browse button next to FS, it cascades down thru and changes whatever >was in the Dir path for PMDG. Another words if you fix it to move the flight plan to a dir. of you choice for PMDG, and the >change the path for FS2002/4, the path for PMDG changes by itself.This is correct.The reason for this is that you do not have to separely define a folder for FS, then define another folder for PMDG. Fsbuild knows where PMDG resides within your FS9 tree.For example if you set your FS folder. then you later on get FSNavigator. You do not have to tell Fsbuild where FSNavigatoris located. Because FSNav resides as a sub folder in your FS tree. Same for PMDG,PSS, etc, etc. One setting for all instead of separate folder settings for each.>I want it to put em where both FS and the FMC can see em without >having to move files arround by hand. I should have said above, >>creats 2 copies of the same plan, .rte, pln.The way to do this is to select your root FS9 folder on the Fsbuild export options page.Regards.Ernie.