Hi All,New here and relitavely new to fsx, hey is there some sort of calculator that I can use as a little gauge or something in the cockpit view that will tell me how much I need to descend per minute to ensure I dont descend to low before the airport etc, I cannot seem to descend correctly and I end up too low well before the airport, what is the easiest way I can do this guage wise etc when I am descending to the airport, I am fully concentraiting on all the other guages etc so for me at this point doing anything else is too much, just want something to assist me in the 2d view so maybe some little guage I can monitor along with everything else so I dont have to leave fsx to look at a calculator or something and then go back in.Does such a little guage etc exist or something which may help me?Many thanks is advance all.Regards

Yup, although it isn't a gauge, but you can run it on another monitor:http://en.shop.aerosoft.com/eshop.php?action=article_list&shopfilter_category=Flight%20Simulation&s_design=DEFAULTAl

Yup, although it isn't a gauge, but you can run it on another monitor:http://en.shop.aeros..._design=DEFAULTAl

His alan, many thanks..sorry its a page with many products on it, which one is it exactly....cheers

Oops, I thought the link was to Aerosoft's Flight Calculator but apparently not. Do a search for 'flight calculator' on Aerosoft's site in the little search box on the left at that link and you'll find it. Here's an enlarged screenie of it:Al

Awesome Alan, many thanks for this, I supposed if I ran full screen but windowed mode I could veiw it, does anyone know of a way to keep an external proggy such as this on top of my FSX window?Many thanks in advance

It stays visible in windowed mode if you select the 'on top' option from the system tray, but in full screen it won't be visible in FSX,. I just hit alt+enter to go into windowed mode if I want to use it. it's very handy for things such as converting fuel weights from KG into LB, gallons into litres and stuff like that when you are planning flights. Plus it does a lot of other cool things such as figuring out wind drift and all that kind of malarkey instead of having to use an E6B.Al

It stays visible in windowed mode if you select the 'on top' option from the system tray, but in full screen it won't be visible in FSX,. I just hit alt+enter to go into windowed mode if I want to use it. it's very handy for things such as converting fuel weights from KG into LB, gallons into litres and stuff like that when you are planning flights. Plus it does a lot of other cool things such as figuring out wind drift and all that kind of malarkey instead of having to use an E6B.Al

Thats awesome, many thanks for that chock.....will check it out...BTW does it give me a static reading of ALT I should be when I punch in a distance from the airport or do they work constantly?I'll go and check it out now...many thanks again

That depends on how you use it - it actually connects to FS, but it does that a bit better with FS9 than it does with FSX in my experience.Al

What a/c? Just use the FMC

Yup, you could use the FMC, but there are vast numbers of FS airliners that you can't do that in. Just a few:Simcheck A300, CS 727, 707, or their forthcoming 737-200, Flight 1 ATR-72, CLS 747-200, SkySim DC-9, any DC-3 of the many out there, the Flight 1 Comet and Connie, CLS DC-10, Aerosim L-1011, DC-8, 727, 737, 747-100 or NAMC, Addictive VC-10 or Trident, etc.Al

Even in the 767 with FMC I use the very basic formula to crosscheck: distance (NM) times 300 = required altitude (ft)As most airliners (e.g. 727 to the 777) have a similar lift/drag ratio, this formula is roughly correct for an idle descent in clean config.E.g. if you are 100NM from the airport 100x3 = 30000ft. Once you are at 50NM you should be at 15000ft. I do this check approx every 10NM and if I'm getting too low I reduce the speed by e.g. 20-30kts and if I'm too high I increase the speed by 20-30kts.(There are of course exemptions from this rule in FSX like the CS 727 which has a way too bad l/d ration compared to the real one)

Well, even this "exception" doesn't spoil people when getting close to stall speed while stating to have a "realistic" FDE, 'tested by real pilots'. ^_^Ever tried the free mod 727 FDE by the way? It's there for the number lovers and surely worth a try.However, the whole descent calculation for the non FMC equipped planes can always be done roughly by that rule of thumb you've mentioned. And if you have your groundspeed displayed (when e. g. using the Civa INS), it will also be correct since you can adjust your descend rate then, matching the ratio in regard of that speed.Since you are just following the hypotenuse of a triangle (and it's angle), it doesn't matter what l/d ratio you are flying there.Even with 'way too bad' l/d offsets the only noticeable? change towards 'the real thing' will be the pitch angle. Now there won't be many simmers around actually recognizing a mismatch there, if there is one, since we're not talking about 3 or 30 degrees there.Since you are mostly aiming for a 3 degree descent angle, you have to lose around 330ft of height with every 1nm travelled. So e. g. 1000ft loss in height will take around 3nm distance towards destination being eaten up, if you are descending with around 5 times the numerical value of your groundspeed.As said, if the INS or any other device displays e. g. 400 kts GS, your descend rate has to be 2000ft/min then. Since the GS gets lower when descending, you have to adjust that rate constantly.Being at 30.000ft and getting down to sea level will therefore mean that you have to descend at around 90nm out, with 5 times your groundspeed leading to the ft/min value.There's no penalty for any misplaced FDE there, so why mention it in the wrong context?For precision, you would always have to watch that groundspeed since the winds otherwise will destroy your descent planning more than any FDE ever could.If you want to go more scientifically precise on the descent planning while not using a FMC bird, you can calculate externally or you can use some of the addon programs to do the job of your virtual Flight Engineer.E. g. Aivlasoft EFB has some small Flight Information System running along the program, giving you distances, required descend rates and so on. You can even define at which angle you want to come in there.Here's an example shot of that small panel.Also, there's a very good and capable freeware tool available here which really allows some precise calculations while staying low on resources and costs, as it's freeware.Adacalc is an accurate aeronautical calculator:http://hsors.pagespe...fr/adacalc.html

Even with 'way too bad' l/d offsets the only noticeable? change towards 'the real thing' will be the pitch angle. There's no penalty for any misplaced FDE there, so why mention it in the wrong context?

Sorry, I didn't know that it makes no difference if you are descending at 250kts with a ROD of 1500ft/min or 3000ft/min

Sorry, I didn't know that it makes no difference if you are descending at 250kts with a ROD of 1500ft/min or 3000ft/min

Well, when quoting out of context you may actually miss some vital things.:wink:When you take your descend rate as reference value (always being linked to your groundspeed x 5), you will always descend in just the right way.So 250 kts groundspeed would always mean "descend at 1250ft/min" to achieve a nice 3 degree descent. No matter what manufacturer built your plane. For more detailed calculations, some links were given above, including some freeware.Glad I could help you.Strange to see the commercial guys blaming other devs for no reason and without being asked for it by the way. -_-What's the purpose of this "professional" behaviour?

Well, when quoting out of context you may actually miss some vital things.:wink:When you take your descend rate as reference value (always being linked to your groundspeed x 5), you will always descend in just the right way.So 250 kts groundspeed would always mean "descend at 1250ft/min" to achieve a nice 3 degree descent. No matter what manufacturer built your plane. For more detailed calculations, some links were given above, including some freeware.Glad I could help you.Strange to see the commercial guys blaming other devs for no reason and without being asked for it by the way. -_-What's the purpose of this "professional" behaviour?

I don't see anything out of context here. Not only the L/D ratio is similar on most planes but the minimum clean speed etc as well. Furthermore 250kts is the standard speed below FL100.The CS727 is the only example I know which has the L/D considerable wrong. Didn't know that it is forbidden to mention serious shortcomings.I'm sorry that I didn't buy every plane available just to check if they have properly designed flight dynamics....And what all this has to do with the fact that I'm a 'commercial' guy, I don't know.BTW, I'm working as a freelancer for different companies and so far I've done more free updates to existing flight dynamics than I've been involved in payware design.