I have dabbled with FSX on and off for a while, but this Christmas I went a bit mad and expanded my addons. I got the following software but seem to spend hours trying to get organised before I even get into the air. What should do I do first? Load the aircraft then create a flight plan with FSC9 - am I even doing that right? I just need to get the order right in my head...PMDG 737 NGX - 600/700/800/900TOPCAT 2.7REX - Real Environment Xtreme v2.0Aerosoft - FlightSim Commander 9Aerosoft - Pro Flight Emulator DeluxeAny help appreciated,Mike

Sure! While FSX gets up and running, you can spend that time in FSC9 concoting your flight plan. Getting ready for a flight does take it's time in the RW too.Cheers,- jahman.

Thanks for the reply - and I guess you are trying to help in a flippant sort of way...Yes I do realise that planning in the RW takes time - though some of the load is also carried by others.What I was looking for was advice on the best order of utilising the addons to good effect.Thanks again,Mike

Yeah, Jahman - stop being so flippant! :(

Apologies, didn't mean to be flippant.Flight planning is sort of personal: Even airlines all have their own procedures.My suggestion (and I truly don't mean to sound flippant) is for you to get into the routine of preflight ops. Then you will start seeing what tasks can be carried out in parallel so you can save time. This all considering you have to carry out all these tasks yourself, as you pointed out.Cheers,- jahman.

Edited January 12, 201214 yr by jahman

What should do I do first? Load the aircraft then create a flight plan with FSC9 - am I even doing that right? I just need to get the order right in my head...

Decide dept/dest airportsCheck the weatherOpen FSX and load the planeCreate the flight plan and load itConfigure the plane for takeoffDeal with ATC if you are using it, if not, taxi and takeoffClimb to cruize altitudeAt cruize, sit back, relax, have a smoke, have the flight attendant get you a snack150nm out, start planning your descent and landingLand, taxi, shutdown, collect days payYour milage may vary :-)

Good advice here...and yes, as a beginner flying jets in FSX, it's quite daunting...give it 2 or 3 months, and it will be second nature...here are my general steps YMMV:1) decide on destination2) for U.S. flights get onto http://flightaware.c...tics/ifr-route/ and look up real world route for my flight...otherwise I use another site...which I can't remember off-hand.3) I launch FS Commander 9 ...create a new flight plan, enter the origination and destination airports into the plan. Then I drop the rest of the flight plan from flightaware in the middle....alternatively I add the proper sid and star in via FSC9 menu. Save the plan in FSX and PMDG formats.4) Launch weather...for me either REX or ASE2012, make sure the weather theme is loaded into FSX.5)Launch FSX...6) choose your aircraft, set time of day and season7)Go to FSX flight planner...LOAD the plan that I made in FSC9, click Ok [NOTE: this puts you on the active runway so...]8 )Go into airports, set the gate for your aircraft9) "fly now!"10)open ATC (either fsx or rc4 or voxatc etc) .. get IFR and taxi clearance.11)pre-flight config [battery on, APU on, IRS to nav, set FMC, pushback, start engines, apu off, flaps etc...each aircraft has its checklists available on the net]12) taxi, takeoff13) fly your flight.etcetcetc.... good luck to you and remember, you are learning a new tool and a new lingo ...give it some time!-Jonathan

Edited January 12, 201214 yr by gtrbarbarian

Thanks for all the advice chaps, I had pretty much given up on this topic. But now I will take on board all that has been said and try and get organised. I got PMDG P41 yesterday together with the F2Crew for it. So I'll need to chat to the Co Pilot to see if he can take some of the strain.Thanks again, Jonathan, Jay, and Jahman,I'm off to try again now,Mike