Sir,

 

You're suggesting I haven't utilized your program to calculate fuel. In point of fact, sir, I have. As stated above, it works well with mundane aircraft but I found it lacking when coupled with complex third-party aircraft. Specifically, I found FSBuild was FAR more accurate when planning a flight with the LDS 767. Also, thank you for the reference page. However, could you point me to the location of the products manual?

 

"IF works out fuel based on the fuel your aircraft uses when you fly it. But do you add 25 galls when a full tank holds 30? No. Fuel is recorded and planned for, not guessed."

 

I fail to grasp your point. I add as much fuel as required to safely reach my destination while adhering to SOPS, FAA requirements and the physical limitations of the aircraft. To me, that's a part of flight sim experience; I don't think I'm the only one who feels this way. In a sense, all fuel calculations are "guesses" based on available data.

 

"kingm56 Actually I've got absolute proof that molleh desires absolute realism and regularly offers input to the IF project"

 

It's not my intention to debate Molleh's simulation requirements. As someone who enjoys maximum realism this program does not meet MY needs.

 

"It does not stop you using AS, many IF users have AS, IF does not stop you manually planning, if you want to"

No it does not, which is why I don't need IF. Simply put, other programs do these things better. So, what incentive do I have to employ IF? To me, what remains is not worth the $50.

People, let's not let this friendly discussion get out of hand. kingm56 is not going to be convinced to like the product so it should just be left at that.

I did enjoy the “front-end” aspect of IF, but was able to replace it with a freeware version, which I actually like better:

 

 

http://library.avsim...#38;DLID=172983

 

Just had a look at that, looks great and does most of what I want. I like to fly into new airports in mountainous area's - so between that, Google Earth and Destination Finder I should be well sorted........,

 

G

Sure molleh, understood.

 

For anyone looking in, IF's fuel calculation is Abolutely Correct and there are good reasons for it if you get into it you will pick it up. You can use the Fuel Report in sim and after in the Assessment and learn to set the range appropriately and get into the aircraft and your technique, you can't say that about any other fuel planner. I regularly fly the PMDG 747s and get it down to the nearest gallon and within a minute of ETA, it's part of the fun of IF that is open to fair and honest scrutiny.

You make a lot of judgements and cast a lot of fixed opinions, which often seem quite far from reality.

 

IF really improve realism. Example: Loading a flight and having information such as the current destination airport's active runway sitting in your kneeboard. Most real world pilots will know their destination active before leaving (even though it may change), FSX cannot tell you this within a loaded flight while you're sitting on the ground at your origin airport- and not a single one of the "better" addons you talk of can do it either.

 

This is the 2nd example of a unique feature in IF, that we have given you. But your mind is fixed about this addon. You are of course entitled to your opinion, but why are you spending so much time talking negatively about this add-on here?

 

Is your apathy and negativity about IF not simply a case that you made a bad choice and bought a product that is not in any way suited to you, your requirements or your preferences ?

 

I'm sorry, but I had to laugh while reading this post. You do realize that you're conducting yourself in the same manner in which you accuse me of...right? You're making a lot of "fixed opinions" too. Additionally, who’s “reality” are you referring to…yours? Is that the only “reality” readers of this thread, or perspective buyers, should be concerned with?

 

" Example: Loading a flight and having information such as the current destination airport's active runway sitting in your kneeboard. Most real world pilots will know their destination active before leaving (even though it may change), FSX cannot tell you this within a loaded flight while you're sitting on the ground at your origin airport- and not a single one of the "better" addons you talk of can do it either"

 

You're correct most pilots know the active runways prior to taking off. However, said runway change prior to reaching the destination based on the wind changes, this happens all the time. Additionally, I use a lot of programs that notify me of the active runway “while the aircraft is still on the ground.” For example, TOPCAT or ISG1 will provide you with this data. Simply download the latest wx data, from multiple weather engines btw, and presto, you have the active runways. Radar contact, PFE, and PRO ATC users can simply mandate the runways without regard to weather conditions…if that’s your thing. AS2012 users can force the weather conditions to the destination airports to dictate the active runway remains the same. So, there's not one "single" add-on that supplies this information, but MULTIPLE selections to choose from; IF doesn’t have the “corner” on this as you suggest.

 

“This is the 2nd example of a unique feature in IF, that we have given you. But your mind is fixed about this addon. You are of course entitled to your opinion, but why are you spending so much time talking negatively about this add-on here?

 

Are you referring to the random airport generator? My opinion is just that, my opinion. I have spent as much time here giving my OPINION as you have. So, I could ask you a similar question? Why are you spending so much time talking about this product?

 

“Is your apathy and negativity about IF not simply a case that you made a bad choice and bought a product that is not in any way suited to you, your requirements or your preferences?”

 

 

Because you and I don’t agree, you cast my post as negative in nature…pretty short sided, no? However, you’re correct in that this product does not meet my requirement or preferences…I believe I stated as much. Is it your position that we should only post opinions pertaining to a products “greatness?” Ironically, I purchased the product based on the posts from this thread, which is now well over a year old; there were no reviews at the time and demo is very limited. I wish there had been someone who offered a counter viewpoint and saved me some time and energy. I am simply offering my opinion so others can make a more informed decision. Again, I’m not telling anyone NOT TO BUY this program. Point of fact, I believe it has its market and adds value…just not for me. I hope that's ok with you.

 

 

No worries Steve and kingm56, sometimes it all comes down to "different strokes for different folks." If you are happy as can be with the way you already flightsim, more power to you!

 

edit: I do have to add one thing though. Comparing Ideal Flight's weather generator the 6 or 7 radio buttons in FSX's default weather themes is quite frankly, ridiculous.

 

Sir, that's the only point I was trying to make...it's not for everyone!

 

Not as ridiculous as comparing IF10 weather themes to REX/HiFi products...

Before the popcorn gets passed to me I'll add my 2 cents here. First off, Ideal Flight is a great program and a very worthy effort has been made in it's development. That being said, I'm not sure I'll be able to incorporate into my flightsim experience. I have so many addons that I feel that I don't have any more time to spend on preflight preparation. I understand that IF ideally SAVES time in flight preparation but this is not my experience so far. I also still don't quite understand how setting up the flight route can be compatible with FS COmmander which is a must for me. I still may buy IF but still deciding. And as far as fuel calculation goes, I haven't seen any program get it right so far. I'm also hesitant to run IF because of the workload I'm putting on my computer. I'm not sure if it is wise to run yet another program as I see on the task manager that Im using nearly 5 gb of ram! The IF uses about 31,000 kb or so while running. Not sure what this means but it appears to use the same amount of resources as other addons. This may increase my chances of getting that OOM message after a long flight. I have many many addons running at the same time as FSX. Again, Im still undecided. Here. Take the popcorn. I'm stuffed.

Don't worry about IF using too much resources, RAM or CPU, since it doesn't, and anyway all programs get allocated loads or RAM automatically by Windows, let's not get too technical about that but it does not mean it contributes to the OOM error achievable with FSX overloading objects. IF has so far been perfectly compatible with everything, and it won't eat your fps, it was made to be that way.

And as far as fuel calculation goes, I haven't seen any program get it right so far...

 

If you place your aircraft in cruise at the altitude and speed you desire (for the fuel calculator / Aircraft Flight Parameters page) and say you have a regular load, get it flying steady, then pull down the menu and choose "Fuel Report".

 

It will give you the "Range" of the aircraft. Set that value into the Flight Parameters page and make a new route. You will have a very near perfect estimate, plus your reserve is based on the same burn rate.

 

Now do the flight. After the flight the Assessment shows the fuel used and from that you can make a better judgement of the Range value.

 

When you fly the route stick to the climb, speed, and descent rates (you set before building the flight), it only shows fpm but it's always the same as long as you fly the same way. From there you really do know the amount of fuel you will be using when you generate the next flight.

 

You can go through a rigorous fuel calculation and double check against the accurate IF one. It's more fun because you get to know the performance of the plane, especially when you start playing with speed and climb rates.

 

Many thanks indeed for having a look at IF and bringing it all up again here. For those that have IF, there's a shedload of stuff coming soon.

 

Steve

"f you place your aircraft in cruise at the altitude and speed you desire (for the fuel calculator / Aircraft Flight Parameters page) and say you have a regular load, get it flying steady, then pull down the menu and choose "Fuel Report"."

 

just tested it whilst flying, another little gem..

Hey zoran

 

We could get a fuel report during taxi, climb, cruise, descent, and approach and make calculations from that. Instead IF monitors the flight and presents a full report at the end of the assessment. All you need to do is check the report and make the Range setting so the next flight is based on that. If you climb and descend the same, it does not matter if the next route distance is different. If you change the ascent, you will see the Range alters slightly and so on.

 

After a few flights you start to become very familiar with the aircraft’s performance and find the Range setting hardly need change much but you learn that.

 

Weather, load, and the way you fly are used to make the fuel prediction, more importantly, IF does not refer to a table of manufacturer’s specifications. Instead IF tests the simulated model in the sim. Aircraft devs using IF for testing are able to get their fuel consumption settings perfect.

 

Phillip says ”I haven't seen any program get it right so far”, used properly IF will do it.

 

 

Also I would like to note that kingm56 offered some nice input over on the codelegend forums and true to Ideal Flight I've uprated the program so the plane can always have tanks set to any desired amount, rather than use the FSX Fuel menu.

 

I think IF10 is one of the most useful utilities out there for FSX.

 

As has been said already, the flight generator allows you to plan flights to airports you may never have known about otherwise. You can set up various parameters such as direction from origin, distance or flight time and it will give you a choice of possible destinations. Great for those of us who can never decide where to fly or wish to explore.

 

One of the unsung features of IF10 in my opinion is the weather generator. I spend lots of time without a net connection and as such the likes of AS2012 are not really a viable option. Of course I can download and save archived weather but this is a very tedious and long winded process in ever since ASX. In IF10 I can specify general weather conditions of my choice and let IF10 do the rest. I don't have to fiddle with lots of weather options, just set a few parameters I wish and away I go.

Many thanks EngineRoom. Time moves quickly in FSX development and so every aspect of the weather engine has been overhauled and performance improved. Fans of IF’s weather engine are in for a real treat with version [sf] out soon in the new year, there’s more about that on the forum over at the codelegend site.

Having been into flight sims since the days of the Commodore and the Amiga, I've lived through, let's say, the pioneering days of flight sim, and I fully appreciated the hard work and dedication( it's definitely not for the money exclusively) that these (mostly) one man developers put into their software.

This is why it pains me, from time to time, to read whiners complaining about practically everything.

 

As a very early user of IF, I quickly recognized both the potential of this great utility and, most importantly, the need to provide solid and patient feedback to the developer. I purchased the software and worked patiently providing feedback to a work in progress that I knew would be a major force in the fs add on category.

 

Over the years, I've grown tired of having one add on on top of another until I am afraid to start the sim because of the time it takes to get everything going.

Now with my busy schedule, IF gives me a one button solution to my flying needs and my search for variety of regions and airports. I just love the flight planning and weather features, and even the AI that is made just for my airports.

 

The author is deeply devoted to a product that will stand out in its class for a long time.

tc

FMC Flight Plan Support coming very soon:

 

 

:p0502:

...especially when utilized with high fidelity aircraft equipped with an FMC...

…"The Leading Autoplanner" - I dispute this, FSbuild and/or FSC9…

…"Precise ETA and Fuel" - In my experience, FSBuild is far more accurate

 

Hey kingm56

 

The few FMCs that need special plan files have been covered in an inexpensive upgrade pack coming soon. Automatically export as many .rte v1/2/3, .rt2, .fltplan, fs9.pln, and other file types as required. Monster IF routes ready in the FMC. More about the update [sf] will be announced soon.

 

At the moment if you use an AIRAC Cycle you open the plan in IF and the route is built from the data, all well and good but could be improved. In a future upgrade soon after [sf], IF will allow you to choose an AIRAC Cycle and continue making plans as usual. Also the runway picker will allow the choice of departure/approach, and SID/STAR if available. IF is unmatched at automatically generating routes properly following the airways. It will do this across continents, and make routes over 10,000 Nm; 777 here I come!

 

I’ve had a letter from a pilot says the ETA and Fuel calculations are unmatched, and constantly come in within a couple of minutes of real world flights as they happen on FlightAware. Ideal Flight even knows about your rough handling of the plane and increases the fuel requirement – unmatched. You need IF’s fuel calculator if you have to organise fuel with a teat pipette.

 

…I keep getting "TRAFFIC" alerts in the NGX…

…manually change your loading…

 

Hey G,

 

The tcas traffic warning has been fixed.

 

Once you opened a plan file, make the changes to the load and rebuild. The new version [sf] out shortly allows you to set loads before or after the sim is running, or not at all, but the flight is calculated for the load to be entered by the load manager like with an A2A.