I have had the PMDG NGX 737 for quite sometime now and it is a fantastic sim,   I am not a real world pilot and having never flown a real aircraft there is one thing that concerns me about flying FSX using ATC,   after programing the flight plan in the FMC I notice that ATC in FSX seems to be unaware of my flight plan and I find myself being vectored away from the route I entered into the flight plan,   so I was wondering how real world pilots deal with this?......if they program the their flight plan into the FMC do they weave back and forth from ATC altitudes given back to their flight plan entered into the FMC?.....I just find it annoying that I cant seem to use ATC with my flight plan because they do not recognize it,  anyone else noticed this?

Hello Tacannav,  First of all you will need to sign your real name in the Posts as per the rules of PMDG.  I don't fly using ATC, so I am guessing here a bit.  I assume you are using a proper flight plan and not one made within the FSX program flight plans, this being the case, I don't think FSX ATC will recognise your flight plan but it will recognise a flight plan using the  FSX system which is pretty primitive.  You will find reading other simmers posts that most use a software download ATC and not the FSX one.  Hope this helps.  Richard Welsh.

Hello,

 

First, the real traffic part of the question.

 

When you fly for an airline, you will typically get a copy of the flightplan from the airline. There are several ways to load it into the airplane, such as keying it by hand, loading it from CO ROUTE database that is put in the airplane by mx guys, or uplinking it by AOC datalink (usually known in FSim as "that ACARS thing").

 

Meanwhile, someone in the company will use the very same flightplan to file your flight in the ATC system. What that means for you, is that when the ATC links your plane to your flightplan, they will see the very same plan you have on their screens.

 

They might still issue deviations though. You could be offered or you could request a different level for example. Your actions then vary by phase of flight and what the deviation is for (You might climb higher for a couple miles to overfly an active military area, or a weather system for example. You might then want to stay higher or go back. You might be given a reroute or a vector for avoidance, etc. This would fill a very long post in itself... if you have any further questions, ask away).

 

 

 

Now, for the FSX ATC... your best bet is to create an identical flightplan in FSX format. Some planning websites let you do that, as well as most sim-aimed planning programmes. The experience will still be limited, but ultimately better. You may also use ATC programmes such as Radar Contact. The holy grail are online networks such as IVAO or VATSIM, but the problem is, you only have ATC when there is a person online manning the ATC station... which is often not the case unless you fly within organised events.

 

 

if they program the their flight plan into the FMC do they weave back and forth from ATC altitudes given back to their flight plan entered into the FMC?

 

ATC clearances take precedent over altitudes, speeds, and headings on SID/enroute/STAR/approach charts and flight plants.(Of course you can work with ATC if your aircraft can't comply with the clearance)

ok....I see how things work now,   thanks for clearing things up guys.

I recommend using PFPX http://www.flightsimsoft.com/pfpx/ to plan your routes, it’ll produce a file that FSX’s flight planner understands, and the NGX. However, FSX’s ATC doesn’t understand SIDs and STARs and will always vector you in. I have Radar Contact, but I wish I’d bought PRO-ATC/X instead http://www.pointsoftware.de/proatcx_e/index.html as it can handle a change of runway better, similar to how it would happen in the real world. But both Radar Contact or PRO-ATC/X will understand your plan better than FSX.

Ok thomas,....I will look into those.  thanks!

There is a free alternative to PFPX which is well worth considering. Register at www.simbrief.com and the site provides similar realistic output to PFPX. It doesn't find routes, but there are links to routefinder and simroutes which find a route and generate a flight plan respectively. However if another user was previously entered a route for the city pair simbrief will suggest it to you. Both simroutes and simbrief can save the plan in FSX/FS9 format and the PMDG RTE format.

 

You can simply use sites like routefinder and simroutes if all you want it a flight plan for FSX and the NGX. Simbrief adds realistic details to the plan, such as winds aloft, ETOPS plan, fuel loading, etc.

My own methods for a perfect flight (99.9%) are Aivlasoft EFB, Opus and ProATC (I also have PFPX, but I'm still getting to grips with it) I use VAT Route or Route Finder which are accessible within EFB, once activated the route/flight plan is automatically transferred onto my FSX PC into Opus Weather I then copy this into ProATC which means my flight plan matches exactly with all my add-ons. My flights (I fly for six VA's) are perfect as I said earlier 99.9% of the time.