Could someone give me a concise explanation of how navigraph updates provide benefit to FSX? Isn't FSX itself static? So anything that updates your addon based on the real world still has to contend with the FSX environment which is still the same old one that existed before the update.

 

What am I missing?

The AIRAC updates are for (mostly) payware addon aircraft and navigation software that updates fixes, terminal procedures, and anything else related to navigational changes made in the real world each month.

 

Every time you open the CDU of a payware aircraft it shows you on the IDENT page which AIRAC cycle you have, with the date range.

Currently we are in AIRAC cycle 1206.

 

All VOR, NDB, hi/lo jetways, and navigational fixes are invisible in FSX anyway. There's nothing in FSX to update, it's just visual.

Everything the AIRAC cycles updates is displayed on the nav display of a payware aircraft.

 

There is a process to update the actual FSX nav database that's tied to the default Garmin GPS, but I never use it so I don't know how. The instructions are floating around these forums somewhere.

The reason you may want to use Navigraph would be 1) if you fly aircraft that have a FMC or 2) if you like to fly SIDS or STARS as per charts. PMDG aircraft have a FMC and in order to make sure your FMC data matches with your SID/STAR charts Navigraph makes this easy.

There are specific addon aircraft and some other software, mostly flight planning type, that are updated by Navigraph. These softwares will have a navigraph database that is specific to them. It does not update the FSX stock database.

Alright, thanks for the replies. I understand it now.

... and once you have your flight planning software (fsbuild in my case), your aircraft, and the charts in sync you wouldnt really need to update again unless you wanted to be up to date with current data. This is nice to do if you like to fly real world flight plans from Flightaware.

As mentioned Real World Navigation fixes, terminal procedures, VORs, Frequencies and anything else related to actual navigation is subject to change from period to period.

Navigraph tracks/provides those real world updates for sim pilots which keep sim and real world somewhat in sync.

 

The dificullties that often arrive have to do with static airport data within the sim which can contridict real world Navdata updates. AFCAD appears to be a solution for that issue.

Navigraph is most important to those of us who fly online with current charts/procedures... or if you just want to fly with current charts...

 

Obviously once in a while there's an approach in current real world to a runway that wasn't built in 2006 when the database for FSX came out... but that's pretty rare I've found.