Entering routes in fmc

[Guest tomahawk_pa38]

Gerry,I can programme my FMC perfectly 99% of the time , but just once in a while I get the 'Invalid Entry' or whatever even though its a route I've programmed before OK. In my case, it looks like if you put the route in correctly the first time around its Ok - it's only if I try to modify the route that it doesn't like me putting airways in the left hand side. It will accept waypoints on the right every time though.What I have been doing lately, is always inputting the entire route inc departure and arrival info even if I have to change it later. That way, I don't have to modify the route at the planning stage and this seems to stop a lot of those error messages.

[Guest Yvon]

Hello, Thank you for this info as proof i m not the only one that meets this anomaly... so do you mean that i should enter entire flt pln inside the fmc before it would be ok to made change by switching direct navigation between wpts into route?i mean i could then be able to enter route id in matching left lsk ?

[Guest tomahawk_pa38]

Hi,don't forget to sign your name on each message - it's the rules (you can get it to this automatically).Not sure what you mean but his is what I do for EGLL - EGPF:1. Pos Init - complete as required.2. Route: Enter Departure Point EGLL / Enter Arrival EGPF3. Hit Arr/Dep - select Dep (Left hand side put EGLL) enter R/W (say 27L), then select the SID (WOBUN)4. Hit Arr/Dep again, select Arr (Right hand side), select ILS r/w 23, select STAR LANAK1A5. Hit RTE button input:BUZAD in LSK 1R (Direct will appear in left hand column).Then enter UT420 in LSK on the left, and enter WELIN on the rightEnter UN57 on left, POL on rightEnter UN601 on the left, MARGO on the leftThat

[Guest Yvon]

Hello again, Well,problem for me is is that with my flt pln lfpo/lfbd i cant insert rte un857 after PTV and the error message is not "not in data base" but "invalid entry" altough i correctly try to capture in the right left lsk .Well as i previously said i' m using fsbuild 2 and their datas may be unreliable.I m goinf to try flying btween EGGL and EGPF according to yr datas and i will see and revert if there is any anomaly in data capture. Cheers, Yvon

[Guest glenb]

Yvon,Keep in mind that when you get the

[Guest tomahawk_pa38]

Yvon,I can't get into FSBuild anymore (don't know why) so I use Routefinder but this can give varying results. For example, I'd expect the route from Bristol (EGGD) to Palma (LEPA) and from Birstol to Mahon or Ibiza to be exactly the same, but they are. Also a return flight from Paris to bristol puts a few starnge wps in - so don't rely 100% on what these are telling you.Are you sure that the waypoint you input is actually on that airway ?Another point, I've found that the FMC doesn

[Guest Yvon]

Very kind of you to send those valuable commentaries,in fact it s not a long time since i uses fmc and i therefore have plenty to learn. Yvon

[Guest Yvon]

Dave, No,i m not sure the wpts are on the airway and i should say i know some are defenitly not.Well as i previously said i m not using fmc since that long and there is so much to learn !anyway many thanks for sharing your experience in the forum . Yvon

[Guest glenlee]

Hi Yvon,I think you need to post this problem on the FSBUILD forum as it appears to be a glitch with that programme and not PMDG.I've just tried to prpgramme the route in mine and there were a couple of problems......1, the PTV SID has a waypoint in it that is 918 nmiles south east and the next one is back up near paris again!2, PTV is not on UN857, therefore the FMC is correct in telling you that there is an error.3, When you 'Show airways that pass over point 'PTV'' it brings up the closest airway - UN860 - but even that doesn't have PTV actualy in it.The route I would use is LFPG PTV9V DCT DEPOM UN857 VELIN VELIN4 LFBDIF you choose to not export the flightplan (i.e. the easy way!!) then you enter the departure and the destination, go to the departures page and choose the runway and SID and then go to the route page and enter DEPOM and insert into the right hand 1st empty waypoint box, leave direct as it is. then enter velin into the next empty box down on the right hand side (under DEPOM) and then you can enter the airway into the left hand side (in line with VELIN)Last point......PTV is not on any airway in the current airac cycle.Hope this helpsAgain!Glen

[Guest Yvon]

Hi again Glen, Yes you're right this has to be related to fsbuild and not pmdg .I was just finishing to seize datas to fly from wpts to wpts but i am going to study your own flt pln and try to fly to lfbd with it . Thanks a lot for your help. Yvon

[Guest Yvon]

Yes Glen yr plan is much better than mine!!Just one last and add question out of topic if it s not asking too much ,do you know on which map i could locate thoses points: BD011 BD090 BD040 BD060 BD035 ? i just cant find them either on approach or final charts and i do not even have their coordonates,they are just showed on the FMC rte page and on the MCP ND,the only one i can see on approach chart is BD002 along LMG4 ,they are part of my first flt pln and i m just curious to locate them . Yvon

[Guest tomahawk_pa38]

Yvon,Glen's earlier suggestion about not entering SIDs and STARs at the beginning in case the runway changes is fine (and the right way to do it) but when I was first learning this bird, i found it a lot easier to dispense with ATC and the weather and just concentrate on planning the flight in the easiest way without the complication of trying to change something in flight when I didn't fully understand what I was doing. Just a suggestion - its a good way of learning the fmc.

[Guest Yvon]

Hello Dave, Yes your suggestion is fine and your are quite right especially if your are flying this aicraft alone.You happen to see unexpected messages on the fmc during the flight and you get so busy i souhd rather say busy to understand things that atc will comme much later and i regret nothing as far as i ve heard that this option is filled with huge surprises too,so, really ,i believe i have plenty enough to deal with at present time . Yvon

[Guest glenlee]

Need to clear up my point about the SID...When you export a SID using FSBUILD it tends to send the data as individual (and sometimes very wrong) waypoints rather than a SID so I prefer to export just the simple route info in the middle and allow the FMC to use it's own data for the SIDs and STARs.A lot of SIDs and STARs in FSBUILD have odd waypoints in that are a million miles away from where you need to be. Just use them as a guide to know where to start planning your route but don't include them.Yvon, can you re-word your question about the waypoints that you can't find? I didn't understand, sorry.Glen

[jeffhunter 0]

I'm not sure I understand why, but I regularly get "not in database" errors when trying to input a fsbuild flightplan into any fmc (pmdg/lds767/MD-82/ATR). Usually, a check of fsnav suggests that the fsbuild waypoint is not on the suggested airway. I'm not sure which program is correct, but this occurs notwithstanding that each is using the same, up-to-date navdata.Jeff