After flying the tutorial flight included with the MD-11 several times, I felt that I was comfortable enough with the FMC to try and create my own flight plan. It's certainly more complicated than I thought.So after some digging around the web, I found a few tutorials about SIDs and STARs, but found this one to be the most thorough.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJ7c-02va_gEven with that, I still lost. For instance, I wanted to fly from JFK to ORD. So I followed the video, with the exception of the flight planning website, to a tee. So first, I created and imported the flight plan to the FMC of my MD-11 (link). Then, I used the first part of the flight plan as my SID (COATE), as stated in the video. So I went to this website to find a chart, but COATE was not one of the options. COATE was also not an option in the SID menu for JFK on the FMC. So basically, this is where I am stuck. I can't figure out what SID to use in the FMC.I am relatively new to this side of flight simulation and the PMDG MD-11 is really my first serious attempt at a complex add-on, so I apologize in advance for my ignorance on this subject. Any help will be greatly appreciated.Jon Every

Take a look at note regarding COATE departures, that's why there's no SID, or the proper SID is Kennedy One.I'm not expert so I hope it helps.Regards,

Basically it's a radar vectored departure...so the controllers vector you to COATE then you resume your flight plan from there.For your purposes, there isn't a SID, just set your departure runway and COATE as your first waypoint. Once you are airborne and at a safe altitude to begin maneuvering, go direct to COATE.

Hey Jon.The video contains a few errors. For example STAR does not stand for Standard Instrument Arrival, but for Standard Terminal Arrival (Route). I am not sure about programming the STAR before take off either. But well...The problem is, that COATE is actually a fix, a waypoint if you will, and not a SID. SID and STAR names usually contain the name of a fix plus a number and (sometimes) a letter, for example BETTE 3 or GREKI 3 for JFK. COATE is part of the KENNEDY 1 departure if I remember correctly, which is basically just a "direct to" after climb out. Try to select it in the FMC and see what happens. JFK is not the best airport to practice SID. Note that the STAR is correctly denoted in your flight plan as SAYRS 2. Hope this helpsCheersP.S. : Damn, this forum is just too fast. :(

Edited November 11, 201015 yr by eddh_flyer

Wow, those were some quick and helpful responses.Thank you all very much. This clears so many things up.Jon Every

Its true, COATE is not a SID nor a STAR. A SID or STAR always ends in a number. We can go into further detail about what SID/STARs are if you want. Y'all got me!

Edited November 12, 201015 yr by yos233

This probably isn't the best SID to try out. In addition to it being Radar Vectors, if you want to fly it right, you have to turn east or south (and not north or west like you want to go), as an initial heading. Not nearly as satisying as the SIDs that have paths. (Although I will point out that at my home drome I have never once flown the entire published SID. I always get vectored to a shortcut before I hit the VOR that serves as its primary end point.

Just FYI. You can program STARS in the FMC before you leave the gate. You can also file them as part of your route. Now That isn't to say that ATC will actually give you that route but even if they gave you another STAR in lieu of the one you filed with your route, you can always punch the new STAR in the FMC before you take off. Why? Because ATC cleared for your route which includes the STAR you picked. OR SID.

You might want to fly your first few routes in Europe or South America, the reason being that most US SIDS and STARS rely on ATC to vector part of the flight, while most European SIDS and STARs connect directly, allowing you to program the FMC from runway to runway. When you are comfortable with the basics, then you can learn to deal with vectoring and programming the FMC around such things.

You'd better try airports in Europe. Since I know its procedures, I'd suggest LGRP (Diagoras Rhodes) that has an adequate number of SIDs that connect airways with fixes, exactly like you want them.

Southern and Western airports in the US are way ahead of the convoluted airspace management in the Northeast. Most all major airports now have RNAV SIDs that take you from the runway to any one of a half dozen or more enroute fixes. Look at KATL KDFW KLAS for examples. These procedures reduce controller workload, which is my theory behind why the union-conscious controllers in some places do not seem to improve their procedures. But I am just cynical by nature.

You might want to fly your first few routes in Europe or South America, the reason being that most US SIDS and STARS rely on ATC to vector part of the flight, while most European SIDS and STARs connect directly, allowing you to program the FMC from runway to runway. When you are comfortable with the basics, then you can learn to deal with vectoring and programming the FMC around such things.

Actually, most of the SIDs in the US do not rely on vectors, only the non RNAV ones. However, the vast majority are infact RNAV

Actually, most of the SIDs in the US do not rely on vectors, only the non RNAV ones. However, the vast majority are infact RNAV

Perhaps you would be kind enough to suggest to the original poster the names of two or three major US airports with SIDs or STARs that do not require vectors.

Perhaps you would be kind enough to suggest to the original poster the names of two or three major US airports with SIDs or STARs that do not require vectors.

A number of the new RNAV ones at Boston don't (see here. The LBSTA2 (currently LBSTA1), for example, is used for daytime trans-Atlantic deptartures. - Charles

Perhaps you would be kind enough to suggest to the original poster the names of two or three major US airports with SIDs or STARs that do not require vectors.

KLAX has a few RNAV stuff that is right off the runway. KSFO I believe does as well. RNAV will never require vectors. KLAX i find it a good airport to practice on. Has a lot, and I mean a lot (as they employ different ones at different times) of procedures, and none are really Tx based, so you can really practice low visibilitiy stuff without fear of flying into a mountain or your avionics not being as good as you need (you may finds some addons will not give the best of indications to fly RNAV.)