Flight Planning

[Guest alextooi]

Dear PMDG user, Well, I'm seeking help from this forum about flying IFR with PMDG.(Assume I'm beginner). Okay, I start the flight at WMKP (Penang/Malaysia) because this airport is not that busy, eventually will takeoff at runway 4 without any STAR/SID. Later I program the FMC route, when I select the arriving airport Singapore Intl airport (WSSS). How can I know, which runway/STAR/TRANS to be use for landing. So, my question are:1) Should I temprarory put in any runway/STAR/TRANS at WSSS?2) Or should I just put blank, but this will be affected my descending profile & may not have enough time for descend to intercept the ILS landing.3) As far as I know, MSFS2004 never direct the plane descend to any STAR & transistion point, so should I follow the IFR ATC according to the heading? This will be very unuseful, even the add on plane have full functional FMC...? (Or just happened to asia airport at MSFS)B/Regards...Alex Ooi

[Guest _sebastian_]

Hello Alex, welcome. Please read my answers below.>(Assume I'm beginner). Okay, I start the flight at WMKP>(Penang/Malaysia) because this airport is not that busy,>eventually will takeoff at runway 4 without any STAR/SID. > Later I program the FMC route, when I select the arriving>airport Singapore Intl airport (WSSS). Good point. No need to follow a SID if the airport is unvisited by much traffic. However you must always set up the route in the FMS BEFORE take-off when flying IFR as this is the route you have to file for beforehand and obtained clearance for by, well, Clearance.>How can I know, which>runway/STAR/TRANS to be use for landing. When it comes to runways the short answer is you don't. You can get clues from reading the METAR report for the airport you are flying to, but even this is no sure indication of what the active runway is. Maybe there are two or more parallels, maybe one of these is an ILS PRM where priority will be afforded to aircraft that are equipped to follow the procedure, maybe the traffic requires the use of two runways intersecting each other at some point etc. etc. ATC even tends to 'rotate' the active on a planned time basis for noise abatement reasons so that no single neighbour has to listen to airplanes during the course of one whole day, or at the same time every day during a whole week. So you see, there really is no way to be sure which runway to use in advance. If a strong wind exist over the airport this of course can put you ahead in the betting game, especially if there are no parallel runways, but the weather may change before you get there and even in a safe bet scenario the situation may chance rapidly. It is not considered good piloting to have one's mind set for any particular runway before ATC tells you which one to prepare for.What you DO KNOW are the STARs, however, so feel free to choose one that looks reasonable coming from whatever direction you do. Some STARS are bound to specific runways, but they are made for peak situations, so when traffic is high it is generally safe to enter one (ATC permitting of course). At this point of your flight, ATC will most likely have issued vectoring or STAR clearance to you. If they haven't you must enter a predefined holding point, and stay there until they do. Oh, and remember, a TRANS can be entered at any waypoint you wish. >1) Should I temprarory put in any runway/STAR/TRANS at WSSS?Runway - noSTAR - yesTRANS - if you wish>2) Or should I just put blank, but this will be affected my>descending profile & may not have enough time for descend to>intercept the ILS landing.It's a good idea to set up the FMS for a specific STAR. Otherwise the TOD will take you down to early. Later, when ATC directs you to a certain STAR you are already flying low in dense air, thereby burning more fuel than necessary.>3) As far as I know, MSFS2004 never direct the plane descend>to any STAR & transistion point, so should I follow the IFR>ATC according to the heading? This will be very unuseful, even>the add on plane have full functional FMC...? (Or just>happened to asia airport at MSFS)You are right. The MSFS ATC only issues vectoring and not SIDs/STARs/TRANS. Your only option is to disregard the ATC or to fly online at VATSIM/IVAO or some other network that offers simulated ATC by real persons. When you come to terms with the NG I can highly recommend this next step in your 'flying carreer'. It is great fun and the stress factor is multiplied by ten when flying with real folks :-)/sebastian

[CPA156 0]

AlexHere is a website from the airport authority in Singapore. When on the site click the link for 'Aerodromes'..........and then click on WSSS. There will be all the charts for Singapore.http://www.caas.gov.sg/caas/level3_externa...D=1112626182491Regards Patrick

[Guest alextooi]

Thanks all....Alex Ooi