This post is not designed dig at PMDG but to hopefully enhance what i believe to be a large gap in the product (present in all top end comercial airliner paywere addons that i have seen not just PMDG but i have chosen them to be the best that i have seen so far with the 737/8/900s. The aircraft it self is wonderfull and as realistic as they come, we all know this, but what is missing is the support services that a real airline would have in place in real life, by this i mean flight planning,fueling,loadediting, all connected in to one package.great...so you have the aircraft but you are then left to calculate the rest hit and miss cos you need a flight level to get the fuel figures and fuel loaded to get fmc calculated optimum initial flight level so you end up guessing and it all gets messy, and hope for the best proberbly not getting accurate fuel loaded and flying a route that would never be taken by a real 747-400 for example.What is needed is a utility that incorporates all the issues you would need to make the flight realisticly within reason and the limitations of fs to get you ready with accurate fuel loaded by taking in to account all the variabe peramiters which affect this amount, ready for the pushback so here is my version.I have picked PMDG's next project the 747-400 as an example.With FS running aircrft/ weather / situation set up, minimize and open the PMDG 747-400 all in one utlity and progress through each step, 1. you select your aircraft varient from the menue 2. you load edit the aircraft(giving a ZFW)3. you make or import a flight plan using real world 747-400 flight plans (the usual nav data and sid /star database available for this)4. the utility will then automaticaly calculate the fuel required from the ZFW load data it already has and the flightplan data connecting with FS via fsuipc just like fs active sky to get the weather data you have set up be it realworld or otherwise, average wind speed and direction,pressure, temporature at each way point in the flight plan(with predicted altitudes based on fuel burn step climbs and initial flight level plus alternate data and the other usaul fuel burn variables which would have to be added in the normal way ei; taxi time, hold time ,extra fuel etc...etc.5. press a button to load the fuel direct in to the aircraft 6. press a button to export the flight plan into the fs flight planner for ATC purposes (an option in the aircrafts FMC to import a flight plan from the default FS flight planner or the "all in one utility". 7. finally a page where data can be added to cross check takeoff parameters, like runway length, temperature ,QNH pressure, moisture, ZFW so as to calculate derated climb figures, v speeds etc...etc.there you are ready for the push still fresh not exhausted from endless laborious calculations safe in the knowledge that you have the correct weights and fuel to get you to destination without having to panick for the last 3 hours of the flight about the ominous 0.0lbs indication at destination.just my opinion of course! : ) any improvements modifications or ideas about this utility welcomeKavan.

what you just described actually exists right now...it is called FSBuild Ver2 - I use it on every flight.it will provide all of that and more in a very professional package (except the autoloading of fuel)

Yes, I use FSBuild on every flight and it does do all the things you just asked for and does it very well. The fuel loads are dead on, and the routing is really good.Great package, and I have a fuel load loading sheet that I use to know how much fuel to put in each of the three tanks when needed.Bob

We're looking into additions like these for the 747-400, including some surprises...Sincerely,

Sounds great Marc! Also are you all working on the 747-400 now or are you patching the NG/making a BBJ ?Paul

Well thanks chaps for enlightening me on this one this is all great news i'll try fsbuild version 2 for myself and lookforwards to the 744 with its suprizes!! : )Kavan

Does sound great Marc! Don't forget to ask Ernie, the maker of FSBuild, about the latest Beta of FSBuild (works pretty well for me) which has support for Activesky 2004, where the one you get only has support for wxRE (more changed than that).Geoffrey BaleanCanberra, AU (YSCB)http://www.hifisim.com/images/as2004proudsupporter.jpg http://www.vozvirtual.org/images/pmdgforumsignature.png"Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday. All is well!"Pentium 4 2.4GHZ, P4G8X Deluxe with Broadcom NetXtreme Gigabit Ethernet, 512MB RAM, LG Flatron L1710S 17" LCD, GeForce MX440 Millenium Silver, Creative Soundblaster Audigy, Logitech Speakers, CH Yoke & Rudder, Quantum Fireballp AS30.0 - Basically nothing crash hot :)MSFS 2004 acof, PMDG 737 6/7/8/900, Activesky 2004, Flight One Cessna 152, SquawkBox 2.3 w/ guage, ServInfo 2.2, FS AutoStart, FS Real Time, FSUIPC 3.212 (unreg.:()

Although it's not an "all-in-one" program, the PMDG fuel loader in the "Downloads/utilies" pretty much does all of the stuff you're looking for. It reads the aircraft weight and balance, you provide route distance, forecast winds, flight levels, etc., it'll figure out how much fuel you need and board the fuel for you.Don't know if you've tried it or not..../r,Hawkeyeted