Hi Whenever I'm flying over the atlantic, RC keeps nagging me about I'm not on the airway although I'm spot on.Why is this?Thanks!

RU.It rather depends on the waypoints you have entered into FS I think.If you use co ordinates in your FMC when crossing the Atlantic,which is what happens in real life,then you need to be sure that your FS Flight plan replicates these.Not easy in FS9.Personally I do use co ordinates in my FMCs(LD767/PMDG B747)for realism and you need to be sure these correspond to what you have in your FS Flight plan as this this is what RC uses.Not what's in your FMC. How do you plan these flights?

With FsCommander, sends me to the southern tip of Greenland (is this correct?) And how do I enter coordinates instead of 3 letter waypoints?And could you perhaps tell me a a flight plan from KJFK to EGLL so I can compare? Thanks for your help!

Depends on where you are going and the current NAT tracks in use!Greenland is often on the UK-USA routes especially to California/Vancouver etc but it varies daily dependant on the jet stream winds.In FS9 I use the waypoints available on the map but out in mid Atlantic there aren't any sadly.RC will only see the FS9 waypoints so if you add your own in the FMC(which I do) you have to be careful that your heading doesn't get too far off or you will be scolded.In FSX I think you can invent some waypoints mid Atlantic but I don't often use that sim. For KJFK-EGLL it is not often they get as far north as Greenland but sometimes they do.Depends on the winds aloft.Ideally in FS you need a number of plans to cater for the very variable upper winds over the N.Atlantic.The Great Circle route wouldn't go near Greenland but that is in a no wind scenario.Highly unlikely! Other oceanic crossings e.g. the Pacific do have waypoints in the FS9 map but the upper winds are less of a factor as a rule so you can use these most times and most will be in the FMC although there have been some changes since the FS maps were made. Some of the more expert posters on here will no doubt have better ideas but it is a very complex area of simming There is a formula for entering waypoints in the FMC.52N 40W becomes 5240N I think.The PMDG documentation covers all this. Which aircraft are vou flying and which version of FS?

With FsCommander, sends me to the southern tip of Greenland (is this correct?) And how do I enter coordinates instead of 3 letter waypoints?And could you perhaps tell me a a flight plan from KJFK to EGLL so I can compare? Thanks for your help!

HelloHave a read of page 89 onwards in the FScommander manual Try plugging this route into FScommander and select Tracks>Natrack>show routes from the top menu KJFK MERIT3.PUT YQX KOBEV 5050N 5240N 5530N 5520N RESNO NETKI OCK1A OCK EGLL Here is a rough map of a great circle route from KJFK to EGLL

I used FSBuild to enter Mad Dog's plan to build an FS9 route: [flightplan]title=KJFK to EGLLdescription=KJFK, EGLLtype=IFRroutetype=3cruising_altitude=41000departure_id=KJFK, N40* 38.23', W073* 46.44',+000013.00departure_position=13Rdestination_id=EGLL, N51* 28.38', W000* 27.41',+000083.00departure_name=JOHN_F.KENNEDY_INTLdestination_name=LONDON_HEATHROWwaypoint.0=KJFK, A, N40* 38.23', W073* 46.44', +000000.00,waypoint.1=JFK, V, N40* 37.58', W073* 46.17', +000000.00,waypoint.2=MERIT, I, N41* 22.55', W073* 08.14', +000000.00,waypoint.3=HFD, V, N41* 38.27', W072* 32.51', +000000.00,waypoint.4=PUT, V, N41* 57.19', W071* 50.38', +000000.00,waypoint.5=YQX, V, N48* 53.58', W054* 32.05', +000000.00,waypoint.6=KOBEV, I, N49* 40.12', W051* 28.00', +000000.00,waypoint.7=5050N, I, N50* 00.00', W050* 00.00', +000000.00,waypoint.8=5240N, I, N52* 00.00', W040* 00.00', +000000.00,waypoint.9=5530N, I, N55* 00.00', W030* 00.00', +000000.00,waypoint.10=5520N, I, N55* 00.00', W020* 00.00', +000000.00,waypoint.11=RESNO, I, N55* 00.00', W015* 00.00', +000000.00,waypoint.12=NETKI, I, N55* 00.00', W014* 00.00', +000000.00,waypoint.13=OCK, V, N51* 18.17', W000* 26.49', +000000.00,waypoint.14=EGLL, A, N51* 28.38', W000* 27.41', +000000.00,You can try copying and pasting it into a new word or wordpad or notepad document saving it as a text type but with the .pln extension. That should work fine with RC except for the long leg from PUT to YQX of about 900 nm. You might have to increase in RC general options the heading tolerance due to great circle navigation vs. direct that RC uses. Attached is the FSBuild Navlog:

Excuse my ignorance but do I understand that creating a flight plan with one of these add ons will then import to FS9 so that RC will recognise it?I have always used my own airways charts and the FS9 planner to do this which leaves huge gaps in the N.Atlantic compared to what is available in a typical FMC.I avoid the scolding by making sure my FMC route is pretty close to the FS9 route and as Ronzie says making sure the heading deviation tolerance setting is sufficient to cope.

Wow guys thanks for the help, really appreciate it! I'll have a go at it later this evening or tomorrow and will let you know! Thanks again!

Excuse my ignorance but do I understand that creating a flight plan with one of these add ons will then import to FS9 so that RC will recognise it?I have always used my own airways charts and the FS9 planner to do this which leaves huge gaps in the N.Atlantic compared to what is available in a typical FMC.I avoid the scolding by making sure my FMC route is pretty close to the FS9 route and as Ronzie says making sure the heading deviation tolerance setting is sufficient to cope.

HelloYes it is best to have a good planner that can handle Natracks for this kind of planning.I tend to use FSCommander , Ronzie uses FSbuild.Both are well worth the money

Thanks Mad Dog.That's certainly filled a gap in my knowledge.

FSBuild has access to on-line NATS tracks of the day and also PACOTS fixed tracks. I have not used those to autogenerate a plan since I do not do pond crossings. I have as a test pasted NATS coordinates from flightaware.com into FSBuild and as I recall onlt had to eliminate a space character to get them to work. Here is a flight aware route between KJFK and EGLL where the NATS coordinates are listed. Not all have them depending on the date/time of departure: BETTE3 BETTE ACK TOPPS YQX KOBEV 5000N 05000W 5200N 04000W 5400N 03000W 5500N 02000W RESNO NETKI LIFFY UL975 WAL NUGRA BNN1B Here's the FSBuild route editited to comply:BETTE3 BETTE ACK TOPPS YQX KOBEV 5000N05000W 5200N04000W 5400N03000W 5500N02000W RESNO NETKI LIFFY UL975 WAL NUGRA BNN1B. and the FSBuild navlog: Here is one case where this SID caused an FSBuild routing problem fixed with option 6 below. This is a navigraph problem perhaps as it originally placed ACK before BETTE then ACK again. I also deleted the backtrack to the JFK VOR which might be used only for western runway departures but not eastern. This partcular SID is a generic radar departure if you look at it at flightaware.com. I'll skip the FS9 export. FSBuild exports to a number of proprietary FMC formats such as LDS and PMDG models for import into their FMCs, and also exports in FS9/FSX and FSX XML formats for loading into RC. The product descriptions are out of date pretty much as are the tutorials but you can get an idea from the fsbuild website. It also interfaces to Active Sky using the wind data for fuel planning. Here is a hint sheet on using FSBuild (and similar planners) with RC and an FMC. Also note that the latest iteration of FSB uses navigraph data so if you subscribe to that service without additional charges you can download for your FMCs and FSBuild the same AIRAC cycle to keep all in sync for RC or other ATC application. First here is a snapshot of the current supported export formats. Pay particular attention to sections 6 and 11 below:-----------------------FSB tips: 1. Include this line in FSbuild.cfg:NAVCHKDUPDIST=100This decreases the chance of using the wrong duplicate named local (to the airport) waypiont from a nearby airport. Local waypoint names are not exclusive. It decreases the database search when it is named in the route to within a 100 nm radius of your airport. You will find these in terminal procedures such as "D" number something within a SID or STAR to define a merge or turning point. 2. When doing a Auto Generate (Route) be sure the SR (Stored Route) button next to it is "up" that is not highlighted. Auto Generate will use a stored route if found by default and most are out of date with old waypoints and terminal procedures. Having Stored Routes off forces it to search a path with fresh data. (Now off by default in version 2.4.) **REVISED 6/16/11** 3. FS Build database updates will be exclusively released through navigraph.com. It should be part of the FMC data line. For those not familiar with Navigraph each subscription term (cycle) includes multiple format downloads at no additional cost. This is very convenient for aligning FMC/navigation equipment databases with the flightplanner so among other things ATC data and your nav equipment data should match as you send a plan to ATC and then load it including terminal procedures into your FMC. The 2.4 upgrade includes the thirteenth cycle of 2010. The FSB upgrade is free to 2.x version users and is available via your order history on simmarket.com. 4. Where an airport uses specific runways for different terminal procedures select the runway using an estimate based on weather and if the runway fits your aircraft requirements before doing the Auto Generate. This helps select the correct SID and STAR for the runway and direction of departure and arrival. 5. After the Auto Generate and/or first build look at the map created to spot any obvious errors. In the route grid look for any sudden non-sensible changes in direction or extremely long legs not in the correct direction creating a zig-zag in the map. (See item 6 following to correct). 6. Be aware there is an option you can set for each session titled "Build Route from Grid Table". It does not stick between sessions. This lets you build from an edited route grid that you may have modified without recreating the table with the same error on your next build/export. For example you might wish to drop an errant waypoint when proofing the map and rebuilding. 7. Sometimes the name of a procedure (SID/STAR) does not match the name exactly in a published route and the procedure will not expand into its plan waypoints in the grid table. You can click on the arrow in the SID/STAR box to see what close name is in the FSB database. (Another reason to keep up with AIRACS.) For example KMSP has a current real such as this one: http://flightaware.c...DP/WAUKON+THREE but the FSB database only has UKN2. (It does have UKN3 now with the latest available AIRAC update). If so in the route line just change UKN3 to UKN2 so it will expand. Here's a real route from flightaware.com for KMSP to KMDW: KMSP UKN3 DBQ CVA MOTIF3 KMDW that can be pasted into the FSB route line. If UKN3 or MOTIF3 does not expand in the route grid to individual way points look in the upper part of FSB in the airport section dropping down the SID or STAR box to get the available version and substitute that label in the route line and rebuild. Note that the SID and STAR dropdowns may follow the chosen runway in certain areas. 8. Sometimes it takes a second build to get the map to move and/or magnify. The mouse scroll wheel lets you magnify. Just click on the portion of the map you want to center on and scroll to magnify. 9. If you click on a line in the route grid table to highlight it, the waypoint on the map will turn red. This is useful for finding errant waypoints that cause an error in the path. That line can then be edited or deleted and a rebuild accomplished with the build option to build from the route grid table. 10. If you are running a weather program such as active sky, first build the route in FSB exporting to FS9 using an anticipated cruise altitude and specify the nearest aircraft profile. In AS get the weather you wish to use. (I always get the weather for the zulu time of the departure in FS since time of day affects weather characteristics). Import the plan into AS via the new route button, check the altitude and choose an appropriate true airspeed in knots (this is your no wind ground speed). Process the route. When it is finished click the button to print a hard copy of all. Use this AS navlog for METAR data at both ends and winds aloft and temperature aloft that can be used for FMC data. (You'll also get your estimated average wind at your specified altitude - handy for FMC data.) Leave AS running. Now go back to FSB and your chosen aircraft profile. Enter the surface temperature from your departure METAR, then estimated total taxi time, hold time, and extra time (sometimes called discretionary fuel). Now turn on again your FS9 export along with any FMC export you might use. Rebuild and you'll see the messages regarding the export completion. On the route selection on the left which brings up your route window select the navlog tab and click the .pdf to save the navlog in a file or the print button to get a hard copy so you can easily reference the estimated fuel and other data. This estimated fuel has now taken into account your winds aloft data - no need to enter it in FSB. Now that you have the hard copy and exported your route, you can first optionally save the plan by selecting flightplan window, then clicking the category tab, then select user category. Now click file, save from the menu bar. The name you might want to embellish. Click Save Route To User Flight Plans. For another session, you can recall this working plan and just build. 11. If you are using an aircraft with nav equipment that has its own terminal data procedures in its nav equipment (think FMC) you might wish to use step 6 above to take out the waypoints of the terminal procedures keeping just the transition points and build and export with just them. This easily in most cases lets you select the SID and STAR assigned by ATC on your nav equipment by providing a clean legs list in your nav equipment. If you need ATC to monitor the waypoints of the terminal procedure than just export all. To keep ATC and you nav equipment in sync, you might consider importing the full plan into your nav equipment and not using your nav equipment procedure database. This is kind of long but through experience I've described some tricks I've used watching out for any pitfalls. Be sure to check the FSBuild forum for updates.-------------------------------

btw, my choice:copy any real transatlantic flight plan from flightaware like DLH400 or DLH 422go to simroutes.com and paste this into "generate routes"!download the flightplan in FSX-format (.pln)download the same a second time in your addon planes format like PMDG (.rte) for use in the FMC.nothing more needed, no addon program, no fsbuild or fscommander, plus 100% real life.

JoesCrewNot possible in FS9?

Works in FS9. Maybe I missed it but there was no place to enter nor did it recall cruise altitude. Does it do this if you have registered?

yeah, the missing cruise level is a bummer.so, when I first load the flightplan into FSX it shows an altidude of 6000 ft, that I always correct to something like 32000 and then save. since you should start RC last, it loads then with the corrected .flt including cruise level. works for me.