Opinion-What's the best Flight Plan software for FS2004?

[Guest allblack]

I see FSBUILD has a freeware version (1.4).Any comments on whether this is worth downloading to get a feel of it?I'm not yet sure of how big the file is....can only check so much at work!!!CheersTim

[jcboliveira 1]

FSNav does give you the directions. Notice that some airways have dash traces in one of the ends.Jos

[Martin Georg EDDF 0]

Hi,yep, FS Nav is a decent electronic map. However, for the planning process it

[Guest LLgaz]

>>>>>>>FSNav does give you the directions. Notice that some airways have dash traces in one of the ends.:)

[Guest GabrielR]

Thanks excellent thread...Now, sometimes I fly on GA Airplanes VFR, over high montainous areas, is there any software that let me plan my flights and have the terrain elevations accounted for?I know FS9 Stock will give you a terrain clearance altitude after setting up the VFR or IFR plan, but I would like to see a software that interprets the infow within FS9 (Navigational aids, airspaces, airways) and merge it with Terrain elevation info,and Landmark info (like rivers and Lakes, or even roads) to plot a "navigational Chart" like picture of the area you fly over.I do not need a moving map or a FMC or an autopilot planning software... I am looking for something we can look at on the planning phase of the flight, something that correlates, maybe not with the Real world topografy, but with FS9 depiction of the terrain.

[Guest georg]

Well I am using a kinda expensive one - Jeppesen FliteMap. Ofcourse it is not a good choice only for FS, but if you have it from real world flying then it would be the worst idea to skip it!

[Martin Georg EDDF 0]

Puh,quite difficult. In fact I think there is only a single product in the flight simmers price range (up to 40$). It

[jfri 43]

>yep, FS Nav is a decent electronic map. However, for the>planning process it

[AlaskanFlyboy 7]

I guess I'm the only psychotic one that tends to do his flight planing on paper with Expired FAA and CAP publications. :-lol----------------------------------------------------------------John S. MorganReal World: KGEG, UND Aerospace Spokane Satillite, Private 130+ hrs.Virtual: MSFS 2004"There is a feeling about an airport that no other piece of ground can have. No matter what the name of the country on whose land it lies, an airport is a place you can see and touch that leads to a reality that can only be thought and felt." - The Bridge Across Forever: A Love Story by Richard Bach

[Martin Georg EDDF 0]

>Could you tell us more about how FS Commander compares to FSNav>and FSBuild?Sorry for the late response, I overlooked the thread.You may think of FS Commander 7.2 as a standalone version of FS Navigator. It

[Guest hengchun]

Martin, does one need to purchase FSUIPC.DLL 3.0 before FS Commander works properly/best??thanks, Randy ATaiwan>>Could you tell us more about how FS Commander compares to>FSNav>>and FSBuild?>>Sorry for the late response, I overlooked the thread.>>You may think of FS Commander 7.2 as a standalone version of>FS Navigator. It

[Martin Georg EDDF 0]

>Martin, does one need to purchase FSUIPC.DLL 3.0 before FS Commander works>properly/best??>thanks, >Randy A>TaiwanHello,In case you want to use FS Commander on a second PC with FS2004, yes because WideFS 6.x is not free and you need a registered FSUIPC for it. Using FS Commander on the same PC as MSFS in connection with it (i.e. as a moving map) doesn

[Guest skywreck]

I've had FSNav and FSBuild 2 for some time.A couple of things that have bothered me aboutFSBuild are:Why on many and varied occasions has the autorouterinserted waypoints into the FP thousands of milesaway from the route.Why Navdata does not supply updates for the product.RegardsJB

[ErnieAlston 33]

>I've had FSNav and FSBuild 2 for some time.>>A couple of things that have bothered me about>FSBuild are:>>Why on many and varied occasions has the autorouter>inserted waypoints into the FP thousands of miles>away from the route.Contrary to popular belief it is not the auto router logic that is doing this.What you describe is a result of mostly SID/STAR waypoints being made obsolete by Navdata updates, because we are not able to update the SID/STAR data as often as we are the rest of the Navdata.This will occur when a waypoint ID being used by a SID or STAR has been removed from the Navdata, but there are other versions with the same identifier still in the database. Fsbuild then simply selects the closest Navaids with that identifier.Example: Waypoint 'D258G', in the database there are 4 'D258G' waypoints. One is in the UK used by the SID.The next Navdata update that 'D258G' being used by the SID is no longer available. The SID data was not updated during that period so that waypoint is now obsolete for the SID. But when you build the plan, there's still 3 other 'D258G' waypoints. Fsbuild will select the closest 'D258G' waypoint it can find. If its 2000 nm awayits still going to select it.That is the reason for what you describe, it has nothing to do with the autorouter's logic as the auto-router merely 'plugs-in' the SID/STAR. Its the Sid/Star database that tells the programwhat waypoints that SID/STAR will consist of.There are a few other reasons this may occur, that is generally the problem when we update parts of the Navdata but not all of it, some data links become obsolete.>Why Navdata does not supply updates for the product.Because at the moment we are able to provide the Navdata updates ourselves at fsbuild.com.Regards.Ernie.

[jcboliveira 1]

I'm wondering how many real FP pass the CFMU? I believe it's time to make a LPMA LOWW :)Jos