route planning

[hasse29 41]

Why these 2 programs? What PFPX can't do?

 

I bought EFB long time before PFPX, but I look in EFB for SID, STARS and air port maps are better in EFB.

[serviceceiling 135]

http://www.edi-gla.co.uk thank me later, chaps.  B)

[voske 34]

PFPX. The routes I get from my VA, Flightaware or www.edi-gla.co.uk. I hardly need to create any routes myself.

[BRIAN1158 1]

Try SimRoutes...its free..........or FSBuild and TopCat.............there not bad..............but not free........

[g_precentralis 191]

TopCat is not route planing tool.

[ukflight 11]

You do not class fuel calculation as an element of route planning? More of a splash and dash chap?  :wink:

[g_precentralis 191]

I'm not aware of fuel calculation capability of topcat, I tought it's performance calculator only.

[joolsd 10]

I have started using PFPX. integrated with TOPCAT. This month. 

 

Although I still have to check against past VATSIM flights other pilots have flown, for quality.  I felt on occasions that the route PFPX was giving me was slightly unorthodox.

Not necessarily wrong, but different to what people might expect.

[metalmike 34]

I also forgot to add that I put the planned route into SimBrief for accurate fuel burn calcs. It's free (aside from the Navigraph cycle I buy for it - just a few bucks) and does basically everything a payware flight planner would do. Used to use FSBuild for that, but I prefer Simbrief now.

[scandinavian13 5,192]

I've seen a couple comments in here about TOPCAT and fuel planning, so I'll insert my standard narrative:

 

TOPCAT is NOT a fuel planner.  It never has been.  The fuel ESTIMATE button is there to give you an idea of how heavy the plane might be before you get more exact numbers from a fuel planner (dispatcher, etc).

 

[joolsd 10]

TOPCAT is NOT a fuel planner.

 

 

I think people know that, they just love saying that they own it.  Even though the title of this post is route planning.

[scandinavian13 5,192]

I think people know that, they just love saying that they own it.  Even though the title of this post is route planning.

 

You'd be surprised if you look around a little.  I remember trying to stomp out the PFPX torch parties because people thought Christian was trying to get people to pay for "another program when TOPCAT already plans fuel." :rolleyes:

[Richard McDonald Woods 168]

Kyle,

 

Excellent video. Thanks.

 

I have found PFPX an excellent route planning tool. The fuel quantities and leg timings have proven very accurate, even under adverse conditions on long flights. On a recent CYVR-EGLL B772 flight, the flight times and fuel burn were almost exactly to plan.The only area where I do not feel qualified to comment is on the comparison between real world and PFPX routes.

 

As a long term TOPCAT user with the B744, I have found the fuel calculations to be fair estimates, and the takeoff and landing performances very good and helpful. I am eagerly awaiting the B777 performance models so that I can again use PFPX and TOPCAT together when planning my flights.

 

Cheers, Richard

[joolsd 10]

You'd be surprised if you look around a little.  I remember trying to stomp out the PFPX torch parties because people thought Christian was trying to get people to pay for "another program when TOPCAT already plans fuel." :rolleyes:

 

 

I think what people really meant to say was,  'I wish i knew about PFPX before I bought TOPCAT',  :rolleyes:  which might imply that their expectations of TOPCAT were wrong.

 

Not to say that TOPCAT isn't important as a take off and land performer. For more realistic TO and landing configs.  etc etc.

 

But if you want a quick and dirty flight set up quick PFPX is the way to go.

The nice thing I like about PFPX is that it gets a route together which exports out to everything in one hit. It does a lot in one programme.  So I think people are talking from a money belt point of view. And what is the most important thing it offers them as virtual pilots.

 

That said the two programmes are good at what they do.  Software can be expensive so I understand if people want to prioritize which software is more important. 

[dmwalker 601]

Happy New Year to all. I hope I'm not too late to tack on a route planning question.

 

I am trying to recreate Air Canada Flight 873 from EDDF to CYYZ on December 19, 2013. Although the particular route flown on that day was not the normal one and does not show up on sites like SimRoutes and Vataware, I still want to try to recreate it.

 

From FlightAware, I know only the route from N65W050 to CYYZ with an IMEBA2 arrival. From FlightRadar24, I can see that it was a MARUN3J departure from runway 25C.

 

I am trying unsuccessfully to fill in the waypoints from MARUN to N65W050 by matching the track shown on FlightRadar 24 with the published high altitude routes. Is there a better way to do this?

 

Thanks in anticipation.