Hi Captains,I have spent an important part of the day trying to put together a video for those of you having troubles preparing their flight or who just don't have an example of how to do it. I know a lot of experimented captains will read this and find it useless, however, you have to understand that there always is someone having less knowledge then you. Everytime i think about an interesting idea that may help some fellow captains in this community i just go for it. " days ago i talked with someone saying that he would be very very interested in a tutorial like this so i just did.... Furthermore i often see people asking questions about fuel planning, route planning, using several software such as FSBuild, TOPCAT etc......So here is my method, Its not absolutely perfect, and of course its not the only one ! Let me say it again : Thats just my method ! (saying this because i know some like criticizing without reasons). I remember Ryan and Dr. Vaos saying that the FMC was the best fuel calculator that one could have but since its not like that in RW ops i just don't do that, even if they are absolutely right when saying that. "Simulation" means what it means so if you want to operate the 737 and stick to the reality as much as possible i think this tuto may help you. And remember: A well prepared navigation, is a successful flight ! Enjoy captains.PS: I would like to apologize in advance for two things. First of all my mic is getting old so the sound quality is not perfect and second , english is not my first language so please be indulgent.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5GgfGgzf8s&feature=g-upl&context=G236b032AUAAAAAAAAAA

YES....YESS.....Good Job....

Thank you !

Hi Captains,I have spent an important part of the day trying to put together a video for those of you having troubles preparing their flight or who just don't have an example of how to do it. I know a lot of experimented captains will read this and find it useless, however, you have to understand that there always is someone having less knowledge then you. Everytime i think about an interesting idea that may help some fellow captains in this community i just go for it. " days ago i talked with someone saying that he would be very very interested in a tutorial like this so i just did.... Furthermore i often see people asking questions about fuel planning, route planning, using several software such as FSBuild, TOPCAT etc......So here is my method, Its not absolutely perfect, and of course its not the only one ! Let me say it again : Thats just my method ! (saying this because i know some like criticizing without reasons). I remember Ryan and Dr. Vaos saying that the FMC was the best fuel calculator that one could have but since its not like that in RW ops i just don't do that, even if they are absolutely right when saying that. "Simulation" means what it means so if you want to operate the 737 and stick to the reality as much as possible i think this tuto may help you. And remember: A well prepared navigation, is a successful flight ! Enjoy captains.PS: I would like to apologize in advance for two things. First of all my mic is getting old so the sound quality is not perfect and second , english is not my first language so please be indulgent.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5GgfGgzf8s&feature=g-upl&context=G236b032AUAAAAAAAAAA

So which Topcat profile are you using?Art Schwartz, Jr.

So which Topcat profile are you using?Art Schwartz, Jr.

Huh... i do not understand. in the tutorial, i used the 738 datas from topcat and modified the values in the weight summary section.

Love your contribution to this community, unfortunately, I don't have that skill. But thanks for sharing!

Thanks I've learnt a lot. Wayne

Huh... i do not understand. in the tutorial, i used the 738 datas from topcat and modified the values in the weight summary section.

Good tutorial. I need to use Topcat more, so this is a big help.Any chance you could post your FSBuild/TOPCAT settings? This would help me get the two aligned with the NGX values.

Guys, thx for the kind words, If you like the video, then i'm satisfied. Concerning the datas, its very simple: They are shown in the beginning of the video, pay attention. Just "Pause" the video when they are shown: Actually i started with that, because thats the key to get accurate Performances calculations and good "fuel" predictions. Let me know if you feel lost about anything !

They are shown in the beginning of the video, pay attention.

Yeah, I actually did that, but there is a big difference between FSBuild and Topcat. Notably in takeoff weight. Dud you use the default Topcat settings or some other settings? That's what I'm interested in.

Yeah, I actually did that, but there is a big difference between FSBuild and Topcat. Notably in takeoff weight. Dud you use the default Topcat settings or some other settings? That's what I'm interested in.

Hi Ed,I really don't understand what you are missing here. a quick recap:1- Modify the weights values of your "FSB_aircraft.cfg" (weights are in LBS)2- Modify Topcat values of the weight summary section ( the values in the video are in Kg)Thats it ! Thats what i'm using AAAAALL THE TIME, so you must have missed something. However in the video:- Topcat TOW was: 62638 KG- FSBuild TOW was: 62614 KGThey are the same . Difference is only 24 kg !!! even if there was 100 KG difference, it wouldn't change anything ! Thats not how you should see performances. Furthermore if you set the values the way i did it difference between Topcat and FSBuild will never exceed 100KG.Let me know if you have any difficulty.

Edited February 2, 201214 yr by bakaman

Hmm, maybe I screwed up and didn't convert to lbs or something similar. Will double check everything and try again. How about a tutorial on inputting decent forecasts next? Just a thought!Thanks once again.

Edited February 2, 201214 yr by CrashEd

Hmm, maybe I screwed up and didn't convert to lbs or something similar. Will double check everything and try again.How about a tutorial on inputting decent forecasts next? Just a thought!Thanks once again.

yup yup, make sure you are running both in the same units. wether it is KG or LBS. And i do videos on request from time to time so.... why not. I've seen many people talking about this on this forum so thats why i did this one.

Huh... i do not understand. in the tutorial, i used the 738 datas from topcat and modified the values in the weight summary section.

I'm not criticizing, there are several profiles for the 738 data; i.e., PMDG NG, iFly, etc. Which one did you use? I have been using the PMDG NG profile and it seems to be a little off. Just wondering which one you are using.Art Schwartz, Jr.

Why don't you set FSBuild to automatically read AS2012 weather info? Just set weather directory in FSBuild to "C:UsersUserNameAppDataRoamingHiFiAS2012Weather" (that's from the head, I hope it's right path) - where the "current_wx-snapshot" is. Or edit fsbuild2.cfg:[FSBUILD]WEATHERPROG=ASA[MS-FLIGHTSIMULATOR]ASA=C:USERSUserNameAPPDATAROAMINGHIFIAS2012WEATHER I think that's about it.