Favourite Planner? .rte..

[Tristan Marchent 3]

Hi All, From this post, I really want to know what I should be using to eport my route as a .rte file into the 737NGX FMC... http://forum.avsim.net/topic/340682-will-a-fsbuild-aircraft-performance-data-profile-be-available/page__view__findpost__p__2030378 I would appreciate some advice here, really want to get the fuel planning for this bird sorted! Thanks, Tristan

[Fabri91 0]

You can go on http://www.simroutes.com/fb2/ParseRoute.aspx, generate your route and download it in .rte format and some other format you might need, such as FS9 .pln format if you use radar contact. There you can also find many routes already planned.

[Rieder 3]

I personally use FSBuild2 (now on ver 2.4) to export as 737/747/MD11/J41 (MSFS), its all one selection in the program. I also select FSX (xml) and this dual exports both plans, one to the PMDG folder in FSX for the .rte plan and one to the My Documents/FSX folder as .pln. The latter means I can use the freeware Plan - G (excellent and worth paying for) to show the route and much more on a map. As the 737 NGX follows the route its mirrored in Plan - G which shows the plane and the map continually updates as it moves, with easy to plot deviations to fly manually if necessary. I wasn`t good at Geography at school so I`ll be honest, this helps me to learn at the ripe old age of 52. FsBuild is of course payware (Sim Market I think I used) and can be used with most all other popular aircraft. It takes a little setting up, especially the path of FSX and this how the PMDG routes folder is found so its crucial. I also find I have to add stuff manually to its .cfg file but once set up its very nearly perfect. Only occasional problem is correcting a deviation it sometimes makes, maybe to another country that isn`t necessary. But then Plan G does this occasionally too so it seems to be something of a common problem. Their are other route planners available but this does the job nicely for me and gets updated every so often. FSBuild from SimMarket: http://secure.simmar...fsbuild-2.phtml Plan G: http://www.tasoftware.co.uk/

[remelco1 0]

I personally use VRoute.info Premium.

[Rieder 3]

I personally use VRoute.info Premium.

I also have the free version of VRoute, very impressive, so I can imagine the Premium version.

[jmp308 1]

You can go on http://www.simroutes...ParseRoute.aspx, generate your route and download it in .rte format and some other format you might need, such as FS9 .pln format if you use radar contact. There you can also find many routes already planned.

Fabrizio, and others, When I download the SimRoutes rte file to the NGX flightplan folder it 'saves' but then doesn't show up in the folder when I try to load it from the FMC. Now I download the rte to the desktop and move it to the PMDA/Flightplans/NGX folder and it works (but it asks for 'admin permission' to move the file). Is there a way that I can directly DL from SimRoutes right into the NGX flightplan folder? Thanks in advance! Joe

[Paul Deemer 13]

I use Flighsim Commander... Awesome program because not only does it make flight plans, there are a host of other features. For example if you zoom in on the airport you got a complete diagram of the entire airport including taxiways, runways, elevation, ILS and ATC frequencies etc. Then if you logon to VATSIM or IVAO you with it you can see your position on the ground. Sure makes taxing easier when ATC gives you specific taxi instructions and your at an airport your not familar with. You can also see all the other traffic world wide and which ATC are online. There are too many extras to list so best thing to do is go to their website and see what it has to offer. I started out with FSBuild and its a quality program but FlightSim Commander offers so much more. http://www.fscommander.com/ NOTE: If you never RTFM, or are not willing to spend an hour learning from the tutorial examples this is not for you!

[Burnspot 5]

I use FSBuild 2.4 in conjunction with the Aivlasoft EFB (it can't push plans to the NGX just yet). FSBuild gives me the basic plan and EFB lets me visualize the finer details with Navigraph/FSX scenery-based plates (SIDS/STARS, weather checks). Sorting out departures, approaches and transitions is relatively painless with EFB as they match what the NGX FMC provides (all using the same airac version). It displays AI traffic, tracks your flight through all phases of the flight, tracks frequencies in use, and has charts for everything out there. I particularly enjoy being able to obtain an educated advisory on what runway(s) will be in use for landing when I arrive. Approach options can be filtered by runway and arrival direction (same for departures). EFB's processor feeds data from FSX over to the EFB display unit on my other laptop....pretty much a perfect setup IMHO. :D

[matelot2011 0]

Evening guys,I second EFB! I have only recently discovered it but it truly is wonderful. I have got vRoute, FSC9 and FSBuild but in combining these with EFB and it's visual flight following, checklists and WX, you truly do get the full works. And for clarity, I'm a qualified FAA Flight dispatcher who is using SITA and Jeppsen flightplanning software daily. Also, I'm also using Airdisplay to enable me to run EFB on my iPad. Works wonders!G

[PilotNL 9]

Jeppesen Flite Star :-) licenced IFR version at work. only lacks a good 738 aircraft file (I only found a 732 .act) Now I make the navlog with flitestar, but it could be any program (activesky, fsnav etc.) then I made a simple fuel calculator in MS Excel: climb time x 5352 kg/hcruise time x 2495 kg/hdescent time x 816 kg/happroach time x 2404 kg/h(add this together and you have trip fuel) Contingency is trip time and fuel x 5%time to alternate x 2654 kg/h30 min holding and 15 min FR x 2404kg/hthis together is reserve fuel, use a minimum of 2900kg reserve. take extra fuel if you feel you need itadd 250kg for APU and taxi fuel this is quite a good way to calculate fuel for the 738 with a take off mass of around 60t. add or substract 2% for each 10t difference. Always check your PROC page on the FMS to check if your calculation was right ;-) Cheers!!

[Flexman 30]

The tool that works just like what you would find in a real world flight dispatch service is FSBUILD. It is one of the few programs that will do fuel calculations based on air distance rather than ground distance (big difference). It even prints flight plans that look identical to the ones you'd find in a flightdeck. Then, for airport and enroute charts, there's really nothing like nDAC, from the same people that bring us monthly navdata updates (navigraph).

[vc10man 732]

I use Flighsim Commander... Awesome program because not only does it make flight plans, there are a host of other features. For example if you zoom in on the airport you got a complete diagram of the entire airport including taxiways, runways, elevation, ILS and ATC frequencies etc. Then if you logon to VATSIM or IVAO you with it you can see your position on the ground. Sure makes taxing easier when ATC gives you specific taxi instructions and your at an airport your not familar with. You can also see all the other traffic world wide and which ATC are online. There are too many extras to list so best thing to do is go to their website and see what it has to offer. I started out with FSBuild and its a quality program but FlightSim Commander offers so much more. http://www.fscommander.com/ NOTE: If you never RTFM, or are not willing to spend an hour learning from the tutorial examples this is not for you!

++1 Ditto here, although since then,I have moved on to the slightly better,IMHO, AivlaSoft EFB

[XPX64man 130]

I use FlightSim Commander 9 and it exports perfectly to all PMDG aircraft. Also to FSX or FS9.In my opinion FlightSim Commander is the best and most intuitive flight plan software on the market.What is really nice about it is that you can see the SIDs and STARs on the map route before you select one, so you can always find the best procedure. Also FSC9 uses Navigraph updates, so they match with the NGX.Also you can make a route in RouteFinder and just copy/paste the text string of the route right into FSC9, hit "Ok" and it will build the whole route.

[raknal 6]

Keep an eye out for PFPX due out prior to end of this year http://www.pfpx.com/ Richard Mawkes

[morganbass 10]

er I get my plans from EFB and then I use the CDU and input them. Thats what pilots do. i rarely save plans in the FMC as i like to input them each time ads to the immersion factor. Wycliffe