Is FSBuild's fuel planner for PMDG planes accurate?

[victorlima01 2]

Hey guys. I just bought FSBuild given it's enormous popularity and the fact that I'm getting tired of spending more time to plan my flights than to fly the routes.My question is pretty straightforward: considering I set up an accurate flight plan with accurate weight loads and winds aloft/weather data, is the fuel planning utility of FSBuild going to give me a close to real-world fuel figure?So far I have been using Felice Valente's excellent fuel planner, which basically is a fast way of going through the 747 PMDG manual fuel-planning section. There are very few shortcomings to this little program imho. But I'd rather use the all-in-one FSBuild to save some time. Best Regards,Victor LimaSBGLhttp://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/800driver.jpg

[Guest Raphouille]

Hello,When using the FSBuild performance file designed for the PMDG B744, it will be very accurate.As an example, here is the datas from one of my latest longhaul flight with the "Queen" on FS:note: wind/temp data set trough Activesky.KORD-EGLLtrip fuel calculated by FSbuild: 167000Lbs/06h43trip fuel used: 163000Lbs/06h41the difference is a bit more than 2%...That's enought precise for me, at last :D Have funRapha

[victorlima01 2]

Precise enough for me as well. I believe the only shortcoming is that FSbuild does not consider a minimum landing fuel (either 19000 or 24000 lbs) which should be entered manually. I am liking the rpogram very much. thank you for the reply. Best Regards,Victor LimaSBGLhttp://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/800driver.jpg

[Guest Raphouille]

>I believe the only shortcoming>is that FSbuild does not consider a minimum landing fuel>either 19000 or 24000 lbs which should be entered manually.Correct.I personnaly enter the min ldg fuel under the Extra fuel in FSbuild and enter %5 under Reserve, wich is a standard contingency fuel (I believe).Regards, Rapha

[Guest beans]

HiI have have fsbuild 2.2 and I can't find the 'fuel utility' in it.Could you please let me know how you activate it.Thanks Tass

[ronzie 21]

On the aircraft tab choose your aircraft profile and fill in the timesin the appropriate fiels in minutes such as EXTRA, TAXI, ALTERNATE, etc. Then on the route tab do a build. On the bottom of that page is NAVLOG. It will display the results of your entries plus the enroute fuel consumption and give you the total at the top left area of the NAVLOG page. To the upper right of the NAVLOG display is a square layout of four small icons. By clicking the upper left icon it will print the navlog to your default printer giving you hard copy for your reference in "filling the tank" and references for some of your FMC entries and the list of waypoints you will fly.

[Guest beans]

Hi RonThanks for the reply-never knew about this-although I have messed about with aircraft options.Regarding the filling of the various boxes-EXTRA,TAXI...etc,when I put a figure in these boxes the 'gross wight window on R/H side of the aircraft' increases by the SAME amount as the number in the boxes-ie if I put 10 in the taxi box the GW increases by 10 as well,surely if this was a time function than the increase in the gross weight should be a multiple of this.I need to set something somewhere, but where???:-eek Please help.Also could you please suggest a site where I can find what all the various abbreveations on the navlog mean.Also which 747-400 corresponds to the pmdg 747-400many thanksTass

[Guest Raphouille]

Here, you will find many performance files for various addon aircraftshttp://www.fsbuild.com/aircraft_performance.htmlHere are some of the abreviations used in the Navlog:M/H Magnetic heading (mag cours +/- wind correction angle)M/C Magnetic courseFL Flight LevelTAS True AirspeedG/S Ground Speed (TAS +/- head/tail wind component )ZT Zone Time (I believe) = Leg TimeACTME Computed Cumulated Enroute TimeETA Estimated Time AboveATA Actual Time AboveATC The FIR (Flight Information Region) in wich you areACBO Computed Cumulated Fuel Burn offABO Actual Fuel Burn offREM Computed Fuel RemainingAREM Actual Fuel RemainingRapha

[Guest beans]

Thanks RaphealJust done the 747-400 files update-makes a big difference-alsoI have sorted the time format-I was adding it without the :.Just 2 more things and I think I will be ok1 Why do all the boxes under the landing info remain greyed out-7 of them ie (climb fuel rate,climb rate,climb rate etc)2 What format do you put the wind info in the avg route wind box,for tail or head on winds.I have tried -ve for head on but I did notice any difference in the values. looking forward to your help-please. Tass

[Guest Raphouille]

>1 Why do all the boxes under the landing info remain greyed>out-7 of them ie (climb fuel rate,climb rate,climb rate etc)You may have a look in the FSbuild2 User guide for that (page20).Basically, if there is a detailled performance file for your aircraft, these boxes will remain blank, as all the values are included in the performance file.>2 What format do you put the wind info in the avg route wind>box,for tail or head on winds.I have tried -ve for head on but I did>notice any difference in the values.You have 2 options here:1. You may enter an average value for head/tail wind50kts HEADwind -> enter -5050kts TAILwind -> enter +50I've just checked with a example, a simple route:KJFK DCT EGLL no wind 06h33 flight timeKJFK DCT EGLL -50(head) 07h19 flight timeKJFK DCT EGLL +50(tail) 05h55 flight timelooks like it works for me :) 2. I you use an external weather programm like Activesky or FSmeteo to import Wind aloft data, this filed will be automatically completed with the average head/tail wind component for your entire flight.Rapha

[Guest beans]

Hi Raphaelmany thanks for taking time to help-I think I am sorted now withwhatI require of fsbuild-all the best Tass :-)

[victorlima01 2]

I'd like to thank both Tass and Raphael. Tass for asking precisely the quesitons that were on my mind and Raphael for answering them. I just realized Tass, that ther are at least two ways to enter data on the fuel boxes under aircraft in FSbuild. One way is to enter it as time insert the colon and then the number. That will give you the fuel to be loaded for flying or taxiing the amount of minutes you inserted. The other way os to simply insert a number without the colon, which FSbuild will consider as actual fuel lbs or kgs.This is a great program! I love the way the flight log is printed as an almost exact replica of the flight releases I've seen thuis far. I've been having a good deal of fun filling out the actual winds ATA and ACTUAL FUEL BURNOFF spaces. Last time I was on a 777 jumpseat the F/O let me handle that part of flight management and now I feel much more immersed in my simming.Best Regards,Victor LimaSBGLhttp://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/800driver.jpg

[ronzie 21]

Many of your questions are answered in the FAQ section of www.fsbuild.com. The support forum is http://www.fsbuild.com/forum/viewforum.php...5eaf0da83db365dSearch the forum as I've seen the description of the headings in it in addition to what's posted below.As I recall there is more tutorial info on the site.