Hello,This is my first post here, so please bear with me. I am conducting a project for a class of mine that requires me to compare how accurately people fly according to specified flight plan. I am wondering if there are any plug-ins, or any software that allow a person to collect the flight data and performance of a pilot, and compare that to the flight plan made in FS2004, or one specified before hand. This would be best described as a virtual "black Box" of sorts. I know that FS2004 draws out the flight path on the maps that are viewed after a flight, but I need something that can measure distance, so I can compare and contrast that performance. Thanks a lot- Tobey"The Physics Monster"

...anyone?

I don't know of any way to measure the distance a virtual pilot strayed off course during a flght using the FS9 map feature, but you can,( I believe) bring up the longitude and lattitude lines on the map. Using this and, assuming your user name "The Physics Monster" truly applies to you, you should have no trouble finding the distance between two points on the map.John M

I fully understand that it is simple to calculate the distance between two points on a map using some basic middle school geometry. However, I need to collect data in 3 dimensions, and have the distance between the flight plan, and the flight path calculated continuously. Even if I were to space out the reading so that I have one reading for every 3 seconds, thats 100 calculations for that one flight. Try doing that 3 times for each run of that one flight test subject, and thats 300. I have 20 subjects. Thats 6000 geometry problems I have to do by hand, sounds ripe for human errors and, assuming that I spent a 30 secs on each calculation, do it twice for good measure, thats 4 days straight of doing nothing but math. What i am trying to say is, I need something that can measure the average distance for the entire, measuring the how far off the pilot is in terms of altitude and in horizontal distance.

I'm not at home, thus not on my FS9 computer right now, but I thought that the flight is recorded graphically for both direction and altitude. I'm sure you've looked into it, but when I get home I'll check my FS to see if it's possible and post here again if no one else has responded by then.John M

Contact the Moderator of this site : http://home.telkomsa.net/aeroworx/ The person is Johan van Wyk. They utilizes a small program during these Virtual Races that record an aircraft's track virtically and horizontically. Hope he will help you