I mainly fly the PMDG 737 NGX. Lately I am flying it a bit more realistic and hence I had a look at TOPCAT. Now I wondered... why should I get it? The FMC will calculate ZWF, CG, take off speeds and landing speeds for me so... why should I bother with TOPCAT? I usually take off with fill throttle and I never have a problem with it and I also never have a problem with landing. I had a look at the TOPCAT manual and it looks interesting and detailed but I still wonder why people use it... Is it because it is more realistic? Because as far as I can tell I don't really NEED it... Or is there a reason for using TOPCAT that I overlook?

 

Just curious. ^_^

It will calculate the derated thrust (TO1 or TO2 and assumed temperature), based on your a/c weight/runway/weather. So more realistic than using full throttle.

You don't need it for takeoffs alone, it does some more than that which is overkill for me. I didn't buy it because of the lack of support for most recent addons.

 

Personally I prefer a single tool for all of my airliners. Unfortunately Topcat only supports the NGX and MD-11 in my hangar.

 

The free Utopia however works with all my airliners. It does these things for me:

-shows runway lengths for any airport

-auto calculates headwind/tailwind component for any takeoff

-inputs weather data automatically into the takeoff calculation

-gives me a derate and assumed temp

-tells me if the takeoff is performance limited and a bad idea.

 

I feel alot of people don't use Utopia because either they don't know about it, or they don't have it setup properly.

 

It gives me everything I need that is missing from FSBuild for entering into the FMS/FMC/MCDU. I even us it on descent to match the runways to the wind on the ATIS and check they are long enough, before I even look at any charts I've chosen the runway if no ATC.

 

It doesn't come with every profile you have to find some throughout the interwebs of various FS forums but I will send my collection of profiles if anyone needs.

 

Also note you can update the runways data by copying a file from the navigraph updates so it always matches.

Ok... well, since engine wear isn't simulated and fuel is free in FSX, I suppose it simply is one of those 'nice because it's a bit more realistic' addons but not an addon that really helps me a lot, specially since the PMDG 737 NGX shows me the most important things itself already... ^_^

 

I like realism but I don't take things too far: for instance I usually simply guess fuel, also because my flights are usually quite the same when it comes to distance and cruise alt. I used the online fuelplanner last week and ended up using reserves... I like my guesses more. (Payload is always random for me although I click that random button again and again until the load is above 70%, just because I like it).

It took me a while to get a happy balance where realism doesn't inconvenience me.

 

FSBuild helped alot with that since once you have a fuel profile, it calculates the fuel at the same time as exporting the flight plan. It does only work with ActiveSky or REX not Opus though when I last checked. Although you could add a "weather reserve"

 

I always use random payload too, that is realistic to me more than making something up - its like someone else is giving it.

just wait till pfpx comes out than you have everything in one program flight progrming and top cat included

just wait till pfpx comes out than you have everything in one program flight progrming and top cat included

Only if you already own TOPCAT AFAIK...

Only if you already own TOPCAT AFAIK...

 

Correct. From the site:

 

• Take-Off and Landing performance calculation (requires a full version of TOPCAT, partly working)

 

PFPX is btw another addon of which I think: do I need all that...

...PFPX is btw another addon of which I think: do I need all that...

 

Yes! Have you seen the preview? If you want to plan anywhere near realistic for NGX, this is the add on. The other good news about it nearing release is that the developers have said they will go back to TOPCAT and add some of the more recent aircraft (i.e. PMDG NGX)

If you want to plan anywhere near realistic for NGX, this is the add on.

 

I use real world flightplans which I can download for free... Can't get any better then that, imho. ^_^

I like realism but I don't take things too far: for instance I usually simply guess fuel, also because my flights are usually quite the same when it comes to distance and cruise alt. I used the online fuelplanner last week and ended up using reserves... I like my guesses more. (Payload is always random for me although I click that random button again and again until the load is above 70%, just because I like it).

 

Let the NGX's FMS do the fuel planning, you can add winds/ISA dev etc and it does a pretty damned good job at predicting fuel consumption (as you would expect). I like to plan my fuel outside of FSX but I always check the FMS after it is fully programmed to confirm my figures and make adjustments if need be.

 

As for derated thrust, yes we don't pay for fuel and don't have to worry about wear and tear costs but I like derates mostly for the fact I like to use my more of the runway on takeoff rather than rocket by V1/Vr and taking off only halfway down the runway. Realism factor doesn't hurt either.

 

Truth is I even like using cut back thrust after takeoff and then clb 2 just so I have more time to look around while at lower altitudes.

Topcat is also useful when lets say on vatsim you have a runway change which happens to be shorter, you can quickly check with topcat what your limit is and what thrust setting you will need for that new runway, or if infact you are unable to use the runway altogether. The NGX FMC does calculate performance but it cant tell you if you are weight limited for any particular runway, TOPCAT does.

 

Alex

I use real world flightplans which I can download for free... Can't get any better then that, imho. ^_^

 

Let me in on the secret for where you get flight plans with optimized flight levels and routes for current winds aloft, weather based enroute alternates, full ETOPS compliant contigency fuel planning, cost index and bias based fuel burns and routes for destination and enroute alternates. Yes, technically you can do all this by hand. However, it is quite tedious to say the least and requires many, many charts and tables...not all of which am I aware are available to the flight simulator community.

I use Topcat because I find that it is the only program that will accurately work out the fuel for my queen whenever I do a transatlantic for Virgin Virtual group. Anytime I use anther fuel planner, it either over estimates by a massive amount or it underestimates, and its not nice having to glide to the Azores because a fuel planner on the internet couldn't accurately work out the proper amount of fuel you needed for the trip.

OK...this is a subject upon which I have a lot of real world experience, as a dispatcher.

 

It comes down to how much realism do you want in your flight sim experience? If you are interested in "getting it right, e.g., making sure you have the right weather, the right performance calculations, the right speeds, the option to change runways on the fly with realistic data, then TOPCAT is THE performance tool, period full stop. In RW operations, we use a program that calculates these performance factors that do affect how much payload and fuel we can accept for a particular mission. PFPX is going to be a non-professional version of LIDO (it is the software upon which it is based and I'm pretty sure will feature the LIDO navigation data vs. Navigraph, if my crystal ball is any good). It is going to be a game changing product in the context of applying real world flight planning techniques to flight simulation.

 

The current set of tools that are in the market today are not even close to what PFPX will be able to do (if it does as advertised) and at the moment, the ONLY product that comes reasonably close is FSBuild and that program has problems in that it does not pull GRIB winds into the cruise calculations, so the fuel burn can be off by a lot. However, if you are looking for a basic flight planning tool, that will do fairly well.

 

However, if you are intending to get full use out of the Simulation and get "as real as it gets" then two things need to happen: 1) We need a better flight planning tool with takeoff and landing performance data. TOPCAT is pretty limited, I agree, but hopefully, if Airbus performance data can be included in PFPX, so too can it be included in TOPCAT. It's hard to do because Airbus performance data is a pretty complex set of data and is not readily available on charts like the Boeing data available (hence the trend toward Boeing equipment in TOPCAT). 2) People need to learn more about dispatch, what it is, why it exists and why it is important to flight operations. It's one thing to get into an NGX and take it flying. It's quite another to understand how the machine works, the systems, the performance required to properly and safely operate it and of course, weather, route and fuel planning.

 

Maybe I should write a book.... :-)

 

All the best,

Dave Lamb

FAA Licensed Aircraft Dispatcher