Hey all,I'd like to learn the basics of a flight from A to B using my own route. I've flown the tutorial loads of times, and whilst it's good for familiarisation it's not helped much in terms of making my own route. Is there way or palce that can explain to me how to generate a route, and how to enter it into the FMC? Something that is a bit more useful than the tutorial in explaining using my own route? I'm not even really sure how to generate a route, but I think once I've got the route making nailed, I can start to enjoy the aircraft more!Thanks :)(p.s, I am a bit of a noob. I don't really know much about IFR/vectoring etc etc. Pretty much anything more advanced than the very basics)Cheers

This might help....http://www.navfltsm.addr.com/

http://www.ivao.aero/db/route/If you have questions or need a hand, don't hesistate.Or join IVAO and learn tons more Best Regards,Bert Van Bulck

Thanks very much for the website! Only just had a chance to check this. Please could you help me a bit more? I'm looking for an easy route to setup (Bristol to Brussels) and this is what I get... Start EGGD SID WOTAN End EBBR STAR KOK Altitude FL195 to FL245 Inclusive Type High Alternate n/a Route WOTAN L9 BIG Q70 VABIK W70 KOK Please could somebody talk me through entering that into the FMC? As soon as I know how to enter that, I can start doing my own flights...But right now I'm quite confused as often I can't find the right parts of the route. I am a complete noob though...Also, how do you operate a route with ATC? I mean, ATC flying IFR often give me a direction to stay on, but surely this would be at odds with the route I've got onboard my FMC? If so, how do I go about approaching etc when I arrive?Sorry for such newbie questions, I'm trying to break through the learning curve myself but there are a few areas I am really struggling to crack!Thanks so much for your help.

Luke,Entering that route into the FMC uses the same steps as the tutorial, have you tried following that part of the tutorial again but using the route data for your Bristol - Brussels flight? The principle is exactly the same. I've just looked at the date for that route on the http://www.ivao.aero/db/route/ site and it's quite old now so some of the waypoints, airways and the SID or STAR may not be in the NGX nav data.Another site to try for flight planning is http://rfinder.asalink.net/free/, on that one you can select the same navdata as the one you've got in the NGX so there should be no problems with missing airways etc.If ATC gives you a heading instruction that differs from the route in your FMC then you will have to come out of LNAV and set the heading manually and use HDG SEL, or if they give you a waypoint to fly to use the FMC to go direct to that waypoint.Andy Lawton

You are propably better off not using any ATC until you are comfortable createing and following your own routes from end to end.

Thanks guys - which navdata do I set for the NGX? Can't wait to finally master setting up routes, then I can start to learn things properly :)

Luke,Have you considered joining a virtual airline? Most VA's have company voice channels, e.g., TeamSpeak or Ventrilo, which make explaining this stuff much eaiser. VA's can provide a wealth of information and resources for new pilots. Have a look around and see of you might find a VA that interests you. JW

Thanks guys - which navdata do I set for the NGX? Can't wait to finally master setting up routes, then I can start to learn things properly :)

Unless you've updated it, which you probably haven't otherwise you wouldn't have asked, the navdata for the NGX is Airac Cycle 1108. You can always see that info towards the top of the Ident page of the FMC CDU.Andy Lawton

If you wanted to go the payware route, FSBUILD is a great app and not very expensive either (imo). It will generate a route that can be up selected into you FMC CO route and it is compatible with all PMDG and many other addon aircraft and radar contact if you have that ATC addon. It also generates SIDS & STARS.Regards,

Thanks guys! I'll look into virtual airlines :)I've ordered a Corsair H60 watercooler which arrives tomorrow so can overclock from 3.4ghz to 4ghz, hopefully then the sim will be a bit smoother :)Ah British Airways Virtual looks amazing!

I think most of the time in the real world, pilots flying 737-800 would be unlikely to build the route in the FMC themselves, although they certainly could if they wanted.As I understand it, you put in your departure and arrival airports, you then see a list of "company routes" These are pre-built and ready to use.. You might need to modify the start and the end for the STAR and SID to suit the weather of the day (STAR = STandard Arrival Route, SID= Standard Instrument Departure, both are like mini routes that get you from or to the runway of the day to the airway of your route).There some pretty good info on here about how to, go to the internet and lift a real world flight plan route, copy that into another program where you can export it as a PMDG ready company route than you drop into your folder and it will show up in the cockpit. Sorry I cant be more specific as I cant seem to actually find the relevent websites at the moment and its time for dinner.

Hey all,Thanks for the help so far :) I'm stuck though...With my flight, using the correct dated date, I ge this route...EGGD (0.0nm) -SID-> EXMOR (27.0nm) -UM140-> SAM (104.2nm) -UM140-> DVR (207.0nm) -UL9-> KONAN (231.2nm) -UL607-> KOK (255.9nm) -STAR-> EBBR (326.1nm)So, I've inputted EGGD and EBBR, but I wasn't sure which SID to use so I went for EXMO1Z as it looked more likely to be related to EXMOR...then tried to enter UM140 on the RTE page and it said error? Wondering id someone can help me, how do I know which SID to use? Very confused!

Okay I went for an easier flight, Bristol to London...Here's the plan!EGGD (0.0nm) -SID-> EXMOR (27.0nm) -UM140-> SAM (104.2nm) -STAR-> EGKK (149.3nm)It's almost all inputted but I'm not sure how to input my approach from SAM. I've got a chart up but I'm a bit confused...Gatwick approach seems to be ASTRA...I will understand eventually..

Hey all,Thanks for the help so far :) I'm stuck though...With my flight, using the correct dated date, I ge this route...EGGD (0.0nm) -SID-> EXMOR (27.0nm) -UM140-> SAM (104.2nm) -UM140->DVR (207.0nm) -UL9-> KONAN (231.2nm) -UL607-> KOK (255.9nm) -STAR->EBBR (326.1nm)So, I've inputted EGGD and EBBR, but I wasn't sure which SID to use so I went for EXMO1Z as it looked more likely to be related to EXMOR...then tried to enter UM140 on the RTE page and it said error? Wondering id someone can help me, how do I know which SID to use? Very confused!

have alook at this guys video he explains it very well and if you search more of him he goes thru a complete start to finsh in a 747 setting up the fmc etc which is similiar principle as the ngx othe r than the aircraft