With the imminent (hopefully!) arrival of the NGX, I'm looking at what external tools I can use that will make flight planning and its execution more realistic. At the moment FSX is very weak on flight planning. For instance the flight planning tool is pretty simplistic and there is no virtual 'dispatcher' to issue you with fuel/load-out charts or any kind of operational flight plan. Secondly, the whole weather system is quite simplistic, and again you don't get accurate weather reports such as METAR/TAF, significant weather charts and decent wind information (as far as I'm aware).I guess my question is, what tools exist to give me this information? From flying the 738NG in FS9, I've discovered that the following information is useful for a more realistic experience:- Route planning: Legs information and route map- Weather data: METAR/TAF data at departure and arrival airports, wind charts, SWC, TOC wind & temps, decent/approach wind data- Loadout: Loadout and balance sheet, estimated TOW/LW- Fuel calculation: Accurate to planned route- Derate and temperature (SELTEMP) information, TODA- V speeds, V refIs there any one program that would supply me with all of this information? I have FSBUILD and I find it quite useful for flight planning, but haven't used it for much else. I've also heard about TOPCAT. Will this do most of what I've listed above? Will it give me enough weather/wind information. I have REX2.0 and Active Sky X, which I plan to use to give me real-time weather for all flights...Any advice would be gratefully appreciated.

Sounds like you'd like the TOPCAT addon:http://www.topcatsim.com/It's got pretty much everything you mentioned.

For the weather:Active Sky combined with REX 2.0 should be fine. I use that too and I'm happy with it.Route planning, mainly for Europe and a bit of CIS:First I check if there is a route in the IVAO route database: http://ivao.aero/db/routeOr I check the VATSIM database: http://www.vatroute.netIf I can't find a route there I make one myself.First I use http://rfinder.asalink.net/free to calculate a route. Then I check that in the CFMU flightplan validator (structured editor)I fix the errors using some enroute charts. You can find them in different places, for Europe the EAD database is usefull. http://www.ead.euroc.../index.php.htmlBut you need to register a free account to use it. For Russia, you can look in the Russian AIP: http://www.aviadocs.net/aip.htmlFor the US you have www.skyvector.comThen, when the flightplan is validated, I use the ICAO flightplan format (found at the bottom) and enter that in the flightplan visualizer at http://www.blitzplan.deIt gives you good situational awareness. Besides that, it calculates a reasonable accurate flight time (if your entered TAS is correct, AND you need to enter knots and feet, departing from CIS that means that you have to convert Metric units to Imperial ones!).Fuel planning,With that flighttime I can calculate my fuel planning by hand. I will give you an example for a 3 hour flight in a B737-800. Off course I use metric system.Fuel consumption per hour is approx 2400kg3 hours * 2400kg = 7200kg5% contingency fuel* = 360kgholding 30min** = 1200kgalternate 30min***=1200kgminimum reserve****=1200kggives the total take off fuel: 11160kg. If the plane is heavy I add a bit to get a nice number, so maybe 12000 or 12500kg. Also, if you plan to push it at M082 at a low cruise altitude, add a little bit. Then you need some taxi fuel, 300-800kg, for EHAM 36L you take 800kg, for LOWI 300kg and for LSZH 500kg should be fine. Just as an example. 100kg more or less isn't a big problem.So I would load up with 11600 if not too heavy increasing to 12500 when a bit heavy.*5% contingency fuel according to ICAO regulations. This is extra enroute fuel, in case you have worse wind as expected, have to navigate around some weather or whatever. Can be reduced to 3% if you use enroute alternates.**holding fuel for a 30 min hold at destination. I always take this, but if you expect a lot of holdings you should add a bit.***Alternate 30min. 30min is just an example, just look for an alternate and see how fast you can make it there, even with some traffic. So, when the alternate is far away you might want to add a bit here.****Minimum reserve fuel, or minimum landing fuel. You MUST have this fuel onboard when you land. Maybe US regulations are different, but ICAO regulations say 45min for props and 30min for Jets. Then you should realize that it's not 100% accurate, but this method works fine for me. I manage to get pretty good results. First five times take some time, but once you have done it a few times it gets faster and faster. I also think that it gives you a better feeling on how much fuel you need instead of just copying numbers from TOPCAT.For B737-800 use 2400kg/hrFor T154M (Project Tupolev) use 5000kg/hrFor MD-11 I think somewhere about 8500 to 9000kg/hr but I'm not sure. Should test that but I didn't fly that bird for some time.Load-sheetI estimate a pax number, then multiply them by 75kg. For luggage I use pax number multiplied by 20kg.Performance calculationI don't calculate a flex temp. Or I just select something what I like (45 celcius or something), or for short runways I don't enter a flex temp.Vspeeds are calculated by FMC, or I use the table (with the Tushka).So, if you have any questions, just ask me.And don't blame me for my English. It's 0050 here and I spoke German (also not my Mothertongue) all the time today, so it's just a mess in my head...Dion Mollert

Sounds like you'd like the TOPCAT addon:http://www.topcatsim.com/It's got pretty much everything you mentioned.

+1 for TOPCAT. It is fantastic. You can print up the loadsheets, let it calculate for you de-rated or assumed temp takeoff, get landing data to plan on how much runway you are going to need to land and plan the autobrake usage accordingly. A great program, I can't recommend it enough. And once you buy it, you can update it for free whenever a new version comes out, which is quite often btw. Always adding new aircraft.

Two top programs are Topcat and Vroute premium. I first use Topcat to decide pax and cargo (randomly choose). But instead of using their fuel planner use Vroute's as It's really accurate because it takes cruise ALT, wind, and payload into consideration adding contigency and all that aswell. Choose ya plane, payload, ALT airport, FL, and it says how much fuel you need. I then enter that value into Topcats fuel manually. Use Tcat to transfer the payload and fuel to my plane on the tarmac. Now I go back to Vroute and Export my flight plan into my planes FMC( like I'm the company route guy). I finally generate a Flight progress card from Vroute and that is basically I believe what real pilots get. Having all I think, vital information for this particular route. Like the coordinates of each way point and expected fuel at each waypoint. Now hop in the cockpit and start pilot duties.

TOPCAT is great. For routes, simroutes.com, vatroute.net and rfinder.asalink.net are all great. For weather, aviation weather.govFor realism, VATSIM.

For realistic flightplans: flightaware.com (only from - to USA)Peter AertssenAmsterdam

Active Sky, TOPCAT, and FSBuildFull set of flight docs at your fingertips!!!!!

TOPCAT is still the best addon what about preparing your flight but don't forget (and it seems a lot of users do), it is NOT a flightplanner. They are developing a very detailed one, still in alpha. Christian wrote in his forum that it "could" be for January, screenshots see TopCat FP on FB.

TOPCAT is beyond worth what little you actually pay for it, and it's a lifetime license, too (upgrades/updates are free, essentially).I'll have to look at VRoute.As a side note, Flightaware actually has limited coverage over in the UK and Australia I believe (not just to/from the US).

I have bought the premium version of vroute not that long ago, and I love it! It gives you Vatsim pilot and controller info. You can do flight planning all the way from payload to fuel to route planning, and then export that into a dispatch sheet or the FMC if you don't want to program it yourself. It also gives you weather maps, METARs, TAFs. It is very inexpensive, and the interface is very easy to understand and user friendly. It is updateable via navigraph too. One of my favorite things is that when you input a route, it makes available all of the charts for your use! (sid, star, minimums, aiport diagrams, enroute, many more) You can choose your route from a database of common routes or FAA preferred routes using the search feature where you put in the departure/arrival airport and it pulls up those routes. If you want to make your own route, that is fine too! It lets you put in waypoints, stars, etc. for your own route. Here are some pics: Overall, I highly reccomend it!Vatsim Info - (you can even book your vatsim flight right from vroute)Here I am looking up common or FAA preferred routes between KDFW and KATL using the route search feature.This is the route I selected. Note that I can see the METAR/TAF as well as some options for alternate airports. I can also put in the alternate manually if the preferred alternate is not displayed.Waypoint Info PageFuel Planning for my flight. Note that I can actually select the aircraft that I want. In this case that is the PMDG MD-11.Here is a loonngg list of charts available for this flight.This is the export page. This is where you export the information that you've entered on the previous pages to a dispatch sheet, called the flight progress card. You can also export the data to the FMC format for PMDG aircraft. This is usefull if you dont want to have to type in all of the waypoints, sids and stars in the FMC. I however enjoy doing this manually and thus dont use that feature very much. But I DO use the dispatch sheet on every single flight, because it is great and gives you places to write down clearences, atis info, etc.Finally here is the dispatch sheet. All in all, it is a great product that is well designed and has many features. It is well worth the $30 USD paid!Take Care!

Many many thanks guys, this is excellent information. In particular Dion's very detailed post and those of you who have posted links, images and advice.I think I'll grab a copy of TOPCAT to use alongside doing my own calculations. It's good that both TOPCAT and Vroute work alongside Active Sky. That guarantees that what you plan for will match the weather in the sim. Nice.I like the look at Vroute for flight planning and fuel calculation. Very useful indeed. I see that the Topcatsim guys are planning their own version of this which also looks pretty impressive. If it's available soon I may hold out for that and make a decision between the two. Can Vroute calculate performance data as per TOPCAT??I think I have a lot to learn when it comes to flying realistically, but it is the next step for me I feel.

Hi everybody,as someone who likes flight planning almost more than actually flying (long time foc-user) the upcoming topcat flight planner looks quite interesting. here is a link to some pics: http://forum.eulenandfriends.de/index.php?page=Thread&threadID=6186bye,martin

Hi everybody,as someone who likes flight planning almost more than actually flying (long time foc-user) the upcoming topcat flight planner looks quite interesting. here is a link to some pics: http://forum.eulenandfriends.de/index.php?page=Thread&threadID=6186bye,martin

For those of you who go to the link above and do not speak German:

Bei Facebook wurden soeben bei Topcat auf dem Profil neue Screenshot von einem neuen Flightplan Tool veröffentlicht. Ich habe mit jemanden in Facebook gesprochen. Christian war es nicht. Das Programm soll bis spätestens Weihnachten fertig sein und enthält auch aktuelle AIRAC´s. Zwar nicht über Navdata, aber sie haben ihre eigene Quellen.Hier mal ein paar Bilder.

I'm so glad I actually took German in high school and college...Translation:TOPCAT has just posted pictures of their new flight planning tool on their profile on Facebook. I have spoken to someone in Facebook, but it was not Christian [Christian Grill - one of the creators of TOPCAT]. The program is expected to be completed no later than Christmas, and also includes the current AIRACs. Although it isn't from NavData, they have their own sources. Pictures are below: [refer to link above for the pictures]

Thanks for the translation. I hope their estimation of its availability is somewhere close to being accurate.