Hi folks!I`ve been wondering for a long time if there is any program for FS9 that allows you to have approach plates as a pop-up window on the screen while you are flying. So as you go thru the descent phase and app. prosedures, you can read the plate at the same time.does anyone know about any freeware or shareware program like that?im am extremely sick and tired of printing page upon page ofIAP and SID/STAR plates as well as airport diagrams.And i fly all over the world so it would have made my flightsimmingmuch more easier and fun if there where any enhancements like that!thanks for helping out!Yngve

Are you thinking of something like this:http://www.ranainside.com/software_flightsim_movingmap.htmlThere are a lot of maps and charts here in the Avsim library done by Matt Fox. I'm not sure if there are approach plates, but you can even scan your own in if you are inclined to do so.Tony=http://www.flightsim-bevs.com]

If you know a little HTML or have a copy of Frontpage you can make your own little "website" that runs inside the kneeboard. For example, turn your "kneeboard_keys.htm" (in the main ../aircraft folder) into an index page full of links to your approach plates, or better yet, pages that contain your approach plates with "Back" links which return you to the index page. Biggest problem is there's no way to resize the kneeboard window, so if your plates are large .gifs, for example, you'll have to do a lot of scrolling to read them. You could resize the plates to fit the kneeboard, but they may be quite difficult to read.I developed "Livewire Kneeboard ver 2.0" for use with Livewire Airlines using this technique. Livewire kneeboard has an "Airport Information" link from which you can access Livewire's database of approach plates and airport diagrams. The plates are all in .gif format, large, and therefore require lots of scrolling.You can download a copy of Livewire Kneeboard from this link:http://www.cat-tamer.com/downloads/livewire_kneeboard_v2.zipInstall it according to the readme (just extract it to your main FS9 folder, make a backup of your original "kneeboard_keys.htm" first). Click the "A" icon to bring up the Livewire interface. When prompted for a password, type Username: Guest and Password: sammy (or join Livewire and get your own username & password). Don't worry, there's a link to the original kneeboard keys page, so you won't loose your keyboard shortcuts page.Jim

no, there is really nothing out there that works. the best case is (as stated) utlizing a web link in the kneeboard. however, you will get hammered as they tend to open PDF files. Pretty much a mess, but doable (as you will find you only will do this a few times and then give up)good luck

What I can propose is quite expensive, as it's a real-world navigation application, but it works REALLY WELL with FS2004. Furthermore, it would be GLORIOUSLY expensive to get whole-world coverage... but I'll describe it anyway, because it's so neat 8^) .I'm talking about Jeppesen Flite Deck - an IFR chart/plate display application, designed to run on any kind of PC, although it's optimized to work on the "tablet" PCs in terms of being able to control it without a keyboard.I can't remember exactly what I paid for it, but it was over $300 for a one-year subscription, for the western US only. (I originally bought it for real-world flying; it was a reasonably priced alternative to a Jepp subscription for paper IFR charts and plates, which I had subscribed to previously. I was very pleased to have the "bonus" of getting it to work with FS9.)It is designed to be driven by a GPS unit, so that you get a little green arrow that shows you where you are on the included en-route charts *and* approach charts, *and* even the airport diagrams.IF you have a second PC to run Flite Deck on, you can use Pete Dowson's GPSOUT utilitity and a serial cable to connect that PC to your FS one. This makes your 2nd PC think it's hooked up to a GPS unit, when in fact it's getting the lat/long/altitude data from FS9 on the first PC. That way, you can take advantage of the "little green arrow" functionality. Very cool!(That 2nd PC does not have to be a high-performance box by any means - almost any WinXP or maybe even a Win98 PC will do.)The only sticky wicket (other than the cost) is that it will eventually stop working due to it checking the PC date setting and deciding that it's too out-of-date to use. I get around this merely by setting the clock of my 2nd PC back to a date that makes the program happy.Dave Blevins

With Jeppesen's SimCharts 3.0 you can open a window within FS9 by using the SimTrack feature and display any approach plate or airport diagram you choose.Todd

yep, just like the PDF files.problem is having to sim in windowed mode.

"I get around this merely by setting the clock of my 2nd PC back to a date that makes the program happy." LOL:-lol yeah, computers are some funny things.thank you all for the tips. Im gonna give it all a try and then if it gets to messy i`ll check out the jeppesen alternative. I dont think ill be getting a second comp. to run as a GPS, but it sounds tempting.I hope microsoft will come to think about this in their next versions of flightsim. And they should, cause afterall theyre working together with a lot of sophisticated companys and people with lifelong experience in the aviation world. Including jeppesen as far as i know.once again thanks for helping out:-)Yngve

I use http://myairplane.com (there are other sites with similar services.Use the web broswer to open the .pdf charts outside of FS9 and read and study them as I need to. I don't need to print them because all the charts or the US are there to download and view as I need to.That has worked well for me.Programs or options that display the chart within FS9 in general have not worked well for me. For me its been better to view the chart outside of FS9.Regards.Ernie.

I use FSBrowser (http://www.hifisim.com/downloads.htm), which is another in-game webbrowser. It lets you resize the windows, which is something the kneeboard doesn't let you do.I use this for both sectional charts (http://zovirl.com/2005/maps/sectionals/SectionalCharts_2005_06_05/about) and approach plates. I got the PDF approach plates from aviationtoolbox.org and converted them to HTML, which makes them load much better in FSBrowser. I would post the HTML plates, but I don't have the whole US. If there is interest, I could try getting them...A little trick if you want to load PDF pages in FSBrowser: start adobe acrobat before you start the game. Then, PDF pages will load directly in FSBrowser and not pop-up a separate window.

Hello there,Popup approachplates are only usable if you can run them through a second monitor. Theu tend to block your outside view (if not your instruments) and if you resize them they are almost unreadable.If, however, you have a second monitor available (I make do with a small 15" tft that I bought secondhand), you can turn to the jeppesen charts. They are not very cheap if you want to have all plates for the whole world but they are of a high quality.I use them for the US and Europe and I don't want to be found out without them.happy flyingLuc 'Glaudrung' BrusselmansBelgium

http://mylog.simradar.com