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el_kab0ng

What resources do you use to make your flights?

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I've been an avid simmer for awhile now and have collected quite a few resources to use when planning and executing a flight. I know there are several applications that augment alot of the sites I list here, but if you don't want to install (and pay for) apps on your simming box, these sites allow you to plan your flight on paper with ease. I'm hoping by starting this thread other new pilots will spare themselves countless hours in locating resources to help them navigate the skies. I'm also hoping that some of you old timers will share your resources as well in a collaborative effort to help the community.1. Flightaware.com - the absolute very best place to find REAL WORLD flights and flight plans. Want to see all the departures and arrivals at your home field? This has it! Need to know current weather conditions? Yup! I use this resource as the inspiration for all my flights. About the only thing it does NOT have is a textual representation of ATIS at the airports you're looking at.2. Simroutes (http://www.eleventhstreet.com/fb2/ParseRoute.aspx) - Another excellent resource to use when planning your flights. After checking a real world flight to mimic on Flightaware, I immediately plug the flight plan into the simroutes creator and export it to FS9 for my AC that do not have an FMC. It calculates flights with SID/STARS, making departures and arrivals much easier.3. Free Online Planner (http://www.flightsimaviation.com/_flight_planner.html) - I use this site as a 3rd resource for flights which have no flight plan defined by Flightaware. This is a great resource for when Simroutes is down or when I want to craft my own flight plan rather than copying a real world flight.4. Destination Finder (http://library.avsim.net/download.php?DLID=114647) - I typically don't use client based applications because of the overhead involved, but my hat is definitely tipped to Martin for this one. One of the biggest challenges for an amateur sim pilot is deciding where to fly to. This little app allows you to calculate every airport within a customized range from any airport you tell it. Complete with ILS and RWY types, this application makes deciding where to fly to extremely easy.

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I've written a program that scans AI flightplans.txt files and finds flights that depart from the airport I'm at and meet time criteria (for instance, arrives between 11:00 and 13:00 my time). The program then displays all of the flights in google earth and allows me to either take a random flight from the set or select a flight.The program also allows for a sequence of flights, if they meet the time criteria (eg, Lufthansa A320 from EDDF to LIRF to EDDF).It's pretty neat, but it's only in console form at the moment. If people are interested in this sort of thing, I'll wrap it with an interface and try and get it online.Bryn.


Streaming at twitch.tv/brynmwr

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I have flown for quite some time with the Virtual Pilots Association, which offers their members to fly real-life flight routes. They have a great interface for finding, selecting, planning and reporting flights.Other than that, my sequence of operation and the list of apps is as follows:- Select a flight (for example EDDM->LIMC)- Start up Active Sky and select day/time to retrieve weather- Plan flight with FS Build using Active Sky weather and print out NavLog- Import generated flight plan into Active Sky and print out route and winds aloft- Export weather influenced textures from Active Sky to FS- Export terrain textures from Ground Environment to FS- Start FS, about 20 minutes before departure time- Use either FS2Crew or FSPax for preflight, cockpit, passenger interaction- Start up AISmooth- Sometimes on FS9, use FS FlightKeeper to track and log flight- Fly (Duh!), Ultimate Traffic provides the trafficPat

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Guest Reed203

Routes off flightaware and then manually entered into the FMS of the plane I am flying. Charts from flightaware mostly but if im doing a leg outside the US I get the charts for that airport from a Vatsim ARTCC or the Vatsim Chartfinder. If they dont have them I usually revert to my Simplates. The one problem with Simplates though is not all the charts for airports outside the US seem to be included. Especially SIDS and STARS.

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Does anyone use any sort of ATIS service for their flight preparations to simulate real runway situations? I know simmers can guesstimate an airport's departure rwys based on wind conditions found on flightaware, but airports like KADS' have day/night operations which are pretty consistent with which rwys are used for departures and don't always match wind conditions.

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Guest Reed203

Some airports have a phone number you can call that is ATIS. Its the same ATIS over the radio only its on the phone. Under the ATIS information in airports on airnav.com, it will list the number to call if the airport has the service.

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> 2. Simroutes> (http://www.eleventhstreet.com/fb2/ParseRoute.aspx) - > [...]> arrivals much easier.This one above seems to be a really nice one =:|I Type in EDDI and EDDF, it recognise the icao correctly as Berlin and Frankfurt but after clicking 'generate' I get a plan from KLAX TO KSFO :-(EGLL - EDDH result KLAX - KSFOEHAM - LIRF result KLAX - KSFOI really appreciate patriotism, but this on's going a little to far...Maybe I did something wrong?Mick!

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You must have... I put in the same two ICAO codes as you and clicked generate and got the proper route.Departing ArrivingEDDI - Tempelhof (163' MSL) (EDBB) - Berlin FIR ArrivingEDDF - Frankfurt Main (364' MSL) (EDFF) - Frankfurt FIRSince there are no SID/STARs for either airport, what additional routing information did you use?

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