Hello I'm back and hope fully with a bit less confusion than last time. (hehe) Anyway on to the point...I was looking at the lesson material I downloaded from the precisionmanuals site and on page 1-10 in the first paragraph it talks about downloading SID/STARS and NAVDATA. I am confused about what I am supposed to download from the navdata.at site. Also does the information need be placed into a directory where the PMDG sim runs from?I realize both sites have SID/STARS and that I only need one set of those files. I have the SID/STARS from www.planepath.com loaded into the proper directory. I guess the question is what is the NAVDATA at www.navdata.at? Is it just printable charts and other printable info for any give flight I intend to make or is it a data file to drive the sim?While I am on this subject I am looking for a fairly complete set of routes so I can pull them up in the FMC make a few small adjustments and take off. I find the FMC data entry a bit bothersome since I have to use the mouse to load every single letter (must be getting lazy LOL).I know im annoying but what could you expect form a newbie although it's a bit refreshing to be able to be a newbie at after passing my mid fifties.You all are the GREATEST!Monty HowardTampa

Planepath.com has SIDs and STARs for the USA only, I believe. navdata.at has user-defined SIDs and STARs for airports all over the world. You can either download them one at a time or all-in-one. Extract them to ...Flight Simulator 9PMDGSIDSTARS. Best to back up old files first.If you do this while the sim is running, you need to switch aircraft and then back to a PMDG aircraft for the FMC to update its database.I usually plan my route, then get the latest relevant SIDs and STARs from navdata.at, then start FS9.Re. entering data into the FMC with the keyboard... if you click on the small vertical bar to the right of the FMC keyboard, the letters KBD appear on the FMC screen and you can type directly into the FMC scratchpad using your keyboard. Remember to click again to turn this off when you're done, or the FMC intercepts all keyboard entries.From the FMC RTE page 1 (if I remember correctly) you can save the route you entered, so you don't have to enter it all next time you fly that route.Rob

Thank you very much!Later after posting I sort of figured out what was going on with SID/STARS and the two web sites. Plus additional site that may offer even more data as needed.I did not know about clicking on the FMC since I haven't read the FMC part of the manual yet. This is a lot of work but that's fine as long as I turn out to be an effective pilot. :-)Monty HOwardN9ZN/Tampa Florida