Dear All,I use FSNav for my flight planning and import this into the FMC. I am aware that it is not always advisable to put all of the route (star) into the FMC due to weather changes/runway changes at destination. However, the STARS in FSNAV do not seem to be the same as those in the FMC. Secondly how easy is it to see the route when nearing the airport on the display. I seem to be getting in a real mess anf flying another 40miles back from the airport to rejoin a new STAR.Should my last waypoint be 40 miles from the arrival airport? Should I then select the airport and relevant STAR? How do I know that this is the correct STAR for that route. Err I dont have any charts yet!Any help on procedures would be greatly appreciated. ThanksAndrew

>Dear All,>>I use FSNav for my flight planning and import this into the>FMC. I am aware that it is not always advisable to put all of>the route (star) into the FMC due to weather changes/runway>changes at destination. However, the STARS in FSNAV do not>seem to be the same as those in the FMC. Secondly how easy is>it to see the route when nearing the airport on the display. I>seem to be getting in a real mess anf flying another 40miles>back from the airport to rejoin a new STAR.>>Should my last waypoint be 40 miles from the arrival airport?>Should I then select the airport and relevant STAR? How do I>know that this is the correct STAR for that route. Err I dont>have any charts yet!>>Any help on procedures would be greatly appreciated. >>Thanks>>Andrew>A STAR is a preplanned instrunent flight rule (IFR) air traffic control arrival procedure published for pilot use in a grphic and/or textual form. STARs provide transition from the en route structure to an outer fix or an instrument approach fix/arrival waypoint in the terminal area.With that said, flying away from the airport to join a STAR won't happen in real flying. Use common sense. Get some STAR, SID and Approach charts and plan your flight better. Use the PLAN view on the EFIS control panel and STEP through your waypoints on the LEGs page of the FMC. Insure you don't have any back tracking legs. Delet them if it doesn't make sense. Usually ATC asigns a STAR that begins somewhere between the departure airport and the destination airport. It is possible though for a STAR to end pass the destination airport such as if the STAR your on arrives from the east and the airport is landing to the west.Floyd

Dear Floyd,Thanks for the reply, soemtimes I do look through the STARS for a suitabe arrival route and then delete the backtracking ones...then sometimes I'm left with just the rwy waypoint! Better planning I feel is necessary. Where can I get the charts that show the transition, I have airport charts and some ILS charts but not enroute or arrival ones?Thanks once againAndrew

Hi AndrewI find that FSNav may not always match perfectly but will usually give me a pretty good idea of which STAR to choose, at least as a first option. Once I've put the route into the FMC I switch the display to PLN mode, set the range to 5 or 10 miles, select the LEGS page on the FMC and then STEP (LSK6R) through the plan. I find that any anomalies are pretty easy to spot this way.HTHPaul Croft10 miles SE of EGLL

Search the Internet for a free chart source. I think Jepps sells STARs, SIDs and APP charts on CDs for a reasonable price.Floyd