I want to collect together the options that people might have for planning their flight route.How do you create a flight route from scratch to having it available in your FMC?What problems do you have in doing this, and how do you get around them?Many thanks for your suggestions,Regards, Richard

VRoute Premium here, simple and powerful.

fltplan.com is one of the best.Regards,jack

FSBuild for me, looks rubbish but gets the job done. Can be a bit irksome with nats but ok when you get used to it.John E

I use FSBuild in spite of itself... but I use it primarily as a file converter to end up with both pln and rte formats. Otherwise, I prefer manual flight planning. Always have. When I plan the route I become acquainted with it at the same time. But then I like charts.

I used to have FS navigator and I liked it a lot. I don't have it anymore. I liked the ability to just drag the waypoints around on the screen.Lately I have been using FS Build. Not the most visual but it works ok, and it direct imports to PMDG and FS2004 (not sure about FSX).I don't have a high end computer and only sometimes have high speed internet access, so something I can use offline is important to me.For the PMDG aircraft (747, 737 and MD-11), I use route finder and then take that data to put into the FMS of the aircraft.I'm always in the market for a new flight planning software, or so it seems. I have not found one yet that I am 100% happy with and say "this is the one".Regards,Jim

VRoute.I used Rotefinder before, but it started giving me strange routes.Ex I was going from Frankfurt to JFK, but the flightplan sended me south, all the way to Cape Town and beyond! (Imagine the suprise I got when I returned after 8 hours of school LMAO)

FS Navigator- simple and clear but yet powerful- has anything an FS fight planner should have- the navdata (AIRAC) is updatable every month- you've got all needed navigational information including lower and upper airways- you can watch multiplayer aircraft in real time (great for VATSIM flying)- with one click you can export your flightplans to FS9, PMDG, Level-D and FSInn formats- you can measure flight time and distance- it's all projected on a zoomable world map (including physical elements like rivers and mountain tops)- it works within FS (one click to open, one click to close)- doesn't hit FPS- and surely some more features I forgot to mention here :(

VRoute.I used Rotefinder before, but it started giving me strange routes.Ex I was going from Frankfurt to JFK, but the flightplan sended me south, all the way to Cape Town and beyond! (Imagine the suprise I got when I returned after 8 hours of school LMAO)

Hi (?)Have you enabled NATs?It happened to me , until i enabled it. Since then ,no problems... Best.Miquel Egea.

FSBuild works great for me. I locate the flight I want to make using FlightAware, open FSBuild, enter in departure and destination of flight chosen. Then I copy and paste the route from FlightAware into FSBuild, select aircraft, enter aircraft weights, (DOW and Payload), build the plan and it will give you the route, ZFW, fuel load etc. When using with ActiveSky. it will also give you the winds-aloft component. You can customize the plan as you need including adding/change the SIDs and STAR. Takes a few minutes to complete a flight plan, but it is "realistic" and works great. I use it with PMDG MD11, 737-700 and 747, LevelD 767 and stock aircraft.http://flightaware.com/http://www.fsbuild.com/Horace Riley

FSBuild works great for me. I locate the flight I want to make using FlightAware, open FSBuild, enter in departure and destination of flight chosen. Then I copy and paste the route from FlightAware into FSBuild, select aircraft, enter aircraft weights, (DOW and Payload), build the plan and it will give you the route, ZFW, fuel load etc. When using with ActiveSky. it will also give you the winds-aloft component. You can customize the plan as you need including adding/change the SIDs and STAR. Takes a few minutes to complete a flight plan, but it is "realistic" and works great. I use it with PMDG MD11, 737-700 and 747, LevelD 767 and stock aircraft.http://flightaware.com/http://www.fsbuild.com/Horace Riley

hello, i find rfinder.asalink.net to be very good as it covers world wide routes and on this web site, there is a free edition, just click it and away you go. richard welsh.

I use Flight Operations Center. As close to a professional flight dispatch program that is available for simmers. The program provides exceptionally accurate flight plans based upon the PMDG MD-11 fuel burn. There is a detailed FOX file for the MD11. The fox file contains hundreds of data points for calculating estimated fuel burn. The program downloads real weather and calculates the flight plan with detailed way-point data.http://www.danur.com/FOCfeatures.htmIt has a fairly steep learning curve and not for the pilot who wants to type dep/arr hit build and fly. :) Sometimes I enjoy constructing a route and then use FS Flight Keeper to log the way-point data. It's fun to compare planned to actual. I find it very accurate concerning flight times etc. Bob..

I normally use a mixture of rfinder.asalink.net and Navigraph's NDAC software.I really do wish we could view the NDAC Charts from within Flight Simulator.

I use some ...- FsBuild 2.3- Routefinder free......

I use Danur Flight Operations Centre as well. It is definitely, from what I can see, the closest thing you will get to a real dispatch suite. It has a little bug or two, which can be overcome fairly easily. It provides accurate fuel burn, as well as decompression planning/EROPS, equal time points, re-dispatch etc. It's a great program, and the learning curve a little steep, but it's worth it.CheersRudy