B744 Fuel Planner - Beta Testers Needed

[Sartanius 399]

In order to help me learn programming in Visual Studio 2005 I chose to create a B744 Fuel Planning utility. I realize there are other utilities for planning fuel loads for the B744 but I needed something useful to help me sink my teeth back into programming and this little project fit the bill nicely.If anyone reading this would like to give my utility a try I'd like to open it up to a select few initially to get some feedback on the implementation. Please PM me here at Avsim with your email address and I'll send you a link to the setup file.The fuel planner is based on data supplied with the PMDG 744 series aircraft. I've tested the utility and it estimated adequate and accurate fuel quantities for the many flights I've planned in the PMDG 744X. Note that it currently only calculates fuel quantity in "lbs". If there's interest I will add a capability to calculate in "kg" as well.Thanks... and Merry Christmas!DougDell XPS 720H2C (3.73GHz) | 4GB DDR2 @ 1066 | 300GB RAID0, 10k RPM (C: ) | 500GB (D: ) | 2 x 768MB nVidia 8800GTX (FW 169.25b) | SB X-Fi Sound | MS Force Feedback 2 | Vista Ultimate | DirectX 10.0

[BAW277 1]

Hi Doug,does it only work for Fs-X?If also for FS9 i would love to give it a try!BestHolger

[Sartanius 399]

Hi Holger,No, it works for the PMDG 744 no matter which version of FS you're using. The fuel planning tables for the "Queen" are the same for FS9 and FS10.Send me a PM with your email address.DougDell XPS 720H2C (3.73GHz) | 4GB DDR2 @ 1066 | 300GB RAID0, 10k RPM (C: ) | 500GB (D: ) | 2 x 768MB nVidia 8800GTX (FW 169.25b) | SB X-Fi Sound | MS Force Feedback 2 | Vista Ultimate 32 | DirectX 10.0

[ChuckB 0]

I'd love to try out your utility Doug.FSX for me? Not quite yet!ChuckC-130E/H/H1 Flight EngineerDyess AFB, TXAMD 64 4000+ASUS A8V Deluxe 2.0 gig DDR400 Corsair TwinX 3200XLC2ProWD 120 gig HDDWD 80 gig HDDTwin WD 160 gig SATA HDDsSB Audigy 2GeForce 7800GS OC 256CH Products USB Yoke, Pedals, Throttle QuadWindows XP Pro SP2

[Sartanius 399]

Hi Chuck,I've had issues this morning with another user who was having difficulties running the installer due to the ClickOnce security features built into .Net Framework 2.0. We've not yet determined where the problem is but you're welcome to give it a try. Please send me a PM here at Avsim with your email address and I'll send you a link to the setup.exe.Merry Christmas!DougDell XPS 720H2C (3.73GHz) | 4GB DDR2 @ 1066 | 300GB RAID0, 10k RPM (C: ) | 500GB (D: ) | 2 x 768MB nVidia 8800GTX in SLI (FW 169.25b) | SB X-Fi Sound | MS Force Feedback 2 | Vista Ultimate x32 SP1 RC1 | DirectX 10.0

[ChuckB 0]

PM sent Doug, thanks.FSX for me? Not quite yet!ChuckC-130E/H/H1 Flight EngineerDyess AFB, TXAMD 64 4000+ASUS A8V Deluxe 2.0 gig DDR400 Corsair TwinX 3200XLC2ProWD 120 gig HDDWD 80 gig HDDTwin WD 160 gig SATA HDDsSB Audigy 2GeForce 7800GS OC 256CH Products USB Yoke, Pedals, Throttle QuadWindows XP Pro SP2

[Sartanius 399]

I've had two beta testers report back their findings. One has had all kinds of problems with both the install and application and the other has had no problems at all. Both are running WinXP SP2. There are two others I've sent links to that I have yet to hear back from.So, mixed results at this stage. If anyone else is interested, please send a PM with your email address.Thanks!DougDell XPS 720H2C (3.73GHz) | 4GB DDR2 @ 1066 | 300GB RAID0, 10k RPM (C: ) | 500GB (D: ) | 2 x 768MB nVidia 8800GTX in SLI (FW 169.25b) | SB X-Fi Sound | MS Force Feedback 2 | Vista Ultimate x32 SP1 RC1 | DirectX 10.0

[johnk51 2]

Is this for both the passenger and cargo 744? The one I've been using sometimes gives me over weight for the cargo.

[Sartanius 399]

John,Yes, the latest version (1.3.x.x) will allow fuel calculations for both the pax and cargo series aircraft. When I first sent this out for testing it was only for the pax version and one of the testers asked if I could add the capbility to do either. I finished that update last night. The only significant fuel system difference between the two aircraft is the basic operating weight. The cargo version is lighter. There may be some other subtle differences but I'm not aware of them.I believe you are the one I received an email from with your email address so I'll be sending you a link to the utility.So far only one tester has had a problem. All the others have installed it and run it with no problems. Thanks for testing this for me!DougDell XPS 720H2C (3.73GHz) | 4GB DDR2 @ 1066 | 300GB RAID0, 10k RPM (C: ) | 500GB (D: ) | 2 x 768MB nVidia 8800GTX in SLI (FW 169.25b) | SB X-Fi Sound | MS Force Feedback 2 | Vista Ultimate x32 SP1 RC1 | DirectX 10.0

[Guest Eek]

>I realize there are other utilities for planning fuel loads for the >B744 but I needed something useful to help me sink my teeth back intoThere are no utilities for the cargo version, that I'm aware of. Is you're planner for cargo? If not, would you consider making one? I'd be glad to test it for you.:-kewl EwingKATLAlcohol, Tobacco and Firearms should be a store, not a government agency.MSI K8N Neo2 PlatinumAMD Opteron 185 2.6 Ghz Dual Core2GB Kingston HyperX (2X1GB) Dual Channel DDR 2-3-2-6 @ 1TXFX nVIDIA GeForce 7900 GS 256MB DDR3 AGPSound Blaster Audigy LSSilverStone Decathlon 750W +12v@60A +5v@30AFS9 on WinXPPro (SP1)

[Sartanius 399]

Yes Ewing... I added the cargo capability last night and posted the update to my server. You are certainly welcome to give it a shot. You'll be the first to try it with XP SP1 so it'll be interesting to see how that works out.Send me a PM here at Avsim with your email address and I'll send you back the instructions.And thanks for helping me test the tool!DougDell XPS 720H2C (3.73GHz) | 4GB DDR2 @ 1066 | 300GB RAID0, 10k RPM (C: ) | 500GB (D: ) | 2 x 768MB nVidia 8800GTX in SLI (FW 169.25b) | SB X-Fi Sound | MS Force Feedback 2 | Vista Ultimate x32 SP1 RC1 | DirectX 10.0

[Guest Just747-400]

Doug,I would join this but for me to be of any help I will need to have all this data in KG versus LBS, most airlines use KGS and also I can compare all the numbers that come out from your software with the numbers we get from our dispatch.

[Sartanius 399]

I appreciate your comments Alex. It'll take some time to add "KG" capability to the tool but I'll start on the update right away.I bit of additional info here... since I don't have all the proper fuel burn calculation algorythms used by Boeing in a "real" fuel planner I have had to interpolate based on data in the table PMDG supplied on page 2-7 in the revised AOM. I created a database along those lines but added values for Trip NAM at every 200NM vs. the 400NM increments supplied in the table. That being said, a user of my tool can only select a route distance to the nearest 200NM instead of entering the exact route distance.If this does not supply the accuracy needed (or expected) by users of the PMDG 747 series then the tool may be of no use to some folks. I believe it does a great job for my standards, but there are likely much higher standards out there in the community. I'll have to get a lot smarter to make a tool that gives exact fuel calculations for precise route distances.DougDell XPS 720H2C (3.73GHz) | 4GB DDR2 @ 1066 | 300GB RAID0, 10k RPM (C: ) | 500GB (D: ) | 2 x 768MB nVidia 8800GTX in SLI (FW 169.25b) | SB X-Fi Sound | MS Force Feedback 2 | Vista Ultimate x32 SP1 RC1 | DirectX 10.0

[Guest Eek]

>Yes Ewing... I added the cargo capability last night and>posted the update to my server. You are certainly welcome to>give it a shot. You'll be the first to try it with XP SP1 so>it'll be interesting to see how that works out.>>Send me a PM here at Avsim with your email address and I'll>send you back the instructions.>>And thanks for helping me test the tool!Sent you a PM. Thanks for making this!EwingKATLAlcohol, Tobacco and Firearms should be a store, not a government agency.MSI K8N Neo2 PlatinumAMD Opteron 185 2.6 Ghz Dual Core2GB Kingston HyperX (2X1GB) Dual Channel DDR 2-3-2-6 @ 1TXFX nVIDIA GeForce 7900 GS 256MB DDR3 AGPSound Blaster Audigy LSSilverStone Decathlon 750W +12v@60A +5v@30AFS9 on WinXPPro (SP1)

[Guest navid]

HiI would like to try this too.Pm sent.Cheers