Calculating correct Reserves

[Jim Erwin 7]

You can get a flight plan from Simbrief (it's free). It will also create a rte file you can load into the FMC as a company route and a weather file if you want to use it. 

 

Jim Erwin

[Budbud 227]

8 hours ago, trisho0 said:

I see now … more clear. So, I can use 85 or 220 for the T7 but which value could speed up the plane flight? I mean, which value makes it faster speed in flight?

Hello Patricio,

The higher the CI the shorter the flight time. So if you use 9999 you will get the highest ECON speed.

Between CI 85 and CI220, CI220 will give you a higher speed. but you can experiment with various other CI.

In the flight I did in simulator, I noticed that CI 85 for exemple would give you around M 0.835 in cruise while CI 300 would give you around M 0.85.

Edited June 1, 2018 by Budbud

[downscc 1,327]

14 hours ago, trisho0 said:

Oops! I am so sorry is my ignorance on Flight Plan. I thought a Flight Plan means the process of entering info into FMC like Departure/Arrival by entering ICAO and selecting sequential of waypoints. I must be very wrong I know.

Where to see the Flight Plan really? I don't see any tool in PMDG package to make Flight Plan except via FMC.

Simbrief is popular and it is free, but if you can afford the few dollars required I recommend PFPX for long haul flight planning.  This tool integrates with Active Sky (and others) such that the plan and the flight use the same weather source, and it has fairly good tools for creating redispatch plans (very important to minimizing reserve fuel requirements) and ETOPS (EDTO) planning (very important even to a four-holer on long over water flights).  The learning curve isn't too bad, and once you are familiar easy to use... I even use it for 2 hr SWA missions.  The CI you use is included in a company flight plan but in simulation you'll still be providing a number to the flight planner, or in the case of PFPX I usually dial in the target cruise mach in lieu of a CI.  Not all aircraft profiles will have a complete set of CI numbers tabulated.  Of course it, as most planner do, will export the RTE flight plan format to PMDG.

Edited June 1, 2018 by downscc

[VHOJT 172]

Surprise, surprise, I am here to say that I recommend PFPX too.  Simbrief is also good.  It depends how much control and detail you want in your flight plans.

[trisho0 23]

16 hours ago, Budbud said:

Hello Patricio,

The higher the CI the shorter the flight time. So if you use 9999 you will get the highest ECON speed.

Between CI 85 and CI220, CI220 will give you a higher speed. but you can experiment with various other CI.

In the flight I did in simulator, I noticed that CI 85 for exemple would give you around M 0.835 in cruise while CI 300 would give you around M 0.85.

Hello Bubud, really very interesting on what the CI works. More real than changing the simulator rate speed (lol). I don't understand the figure of M 0.835 and M 0.85

[trisho0 23]

11 hours ago, downscc said:

Simbrief is popular and it is free, but if you can afford the few dollars required I recommend PFPX for long haul flight planning.

Uhhh! I didn't know that Flight Plan tool …… cool. I will take a look at them. So great help from downscc …. wow!

Just took a look at both sites and found the PFPX is a subscription. I think will be a member of Simbrief and when I get more experience and learned just the Flight Plan works I probably switch to the professional X.

Edited June 2, 2018 by trisho0
changes

[trisho0 23]

8 hours ago, VHOJT said:

Surprise, surprise, I am here to say that I recommend PFPX too.  Simbrief is also good.  It depends how much control and detail you want in your flight plans.

What do you mean about control and details of flight plans? I guess a more simple easy Flight Plan will give less hardtime. I will do research over Simbrief and PFPX.

[Budbud 227]

4 hours ago, trisho0 said:

I don't understand the figure of M 0.835 and M 0.85

Mach numbers.

[BlueStar 323]

10 hours ago, trisho0 said:

What do you mean about control and details of flight plans? I guess a more simple easy Flight Plan will give less hardtime. I will do research over Simbrief and PFPX. 

One thing that folks need to realize is fuel is loaded on the aircraft by the gallon. 🙂

[downscc 1,327]

14 hours ago, trisho0 said:

found the PFPX is a subscription.

The subscription is in addition to the PFPX program, and is basically an annual fee to use their server for stuff like weather downloads. You get the first year free, and PFPX works just fine without it if you can get your weather from a different source.  The subscription is low cost and I keep it going although I import weather from Active Sky.  PFPX also uses monthly updates from Navigraph, same as PMDG (different files but same data) so not only is the planning tool using the same weather as the simulator platform, it is also using the same navdata.  I recommend Navigraph for navdata and their Desktop Charts (or cloud whichever your prefer) along with ASP4 (Active Sky for P3Dv4) so now you have charts, navdata, planning and weather all unified within your simulation.

Edited June 2, 2018 by downscc

[trisho0 23]

40 minutes ago, downscc said:

The subscription is in addition to the PFPX program, and is basically an annual fee to use their server for stuff like weather downloads. You get the first year free, and PFPX works just fine without it if you can get your weather from a different source.  The subscription is low cost and I keep it going although I import weather from Active Sky.  PFPX also uses monthly updates from Navigraph, same as PMDG (different files but same data) so not only is the planning tool using the same weather as the simulator platform, it is also using the same navdata.  I recommend Navigraph for navdata and their Desktop Charts (or cloud whichever your prefer) along with ASP4 (Active Sky for P3Dv4) so now you have charts, navdata, planning and weather all unified within your simulation.

Thanks Dan. I already have Navigraph for a year. I will check on Active Sky for P3Dv4.

I already started with Simbrief after exploring Simbrief and PFPX sites. Simbrief has a program too for loading data to simulator. I only created a flight plan TJSJ-TNCM and downloaded the PDF info. After loaded PMDG 777-200 in P3Dv4 (I have FSX and fs9 as well, same machine) I tried to enter PDF waypoints data into FMC legs page. Waypoints downloaded was TJSJ8 HAMAR2 SLUGO ULUBA1 TNCM10 and FMC said Invalid Entry for HAMAR2 and ULUBA1 I am using the latest AIRAC 1806 v1 So, I was be able to enter only SLUGO.

I will create the same Dep/Arr flight plan from Simbrief again. I might have missing something. I have to mention is my first time creating a true Flight Plan.

[downscc 1,327]

HAMAR2 is a SID (or DP) and ULUBA1 is a STAR.  You don't enter these as waypoints, they are selected from the DEP/ARR page in the FMS.  There is a SLUGO transition for HARMAR2 and a SLUGO transition for the ULUBA arrival so all you need to select for waypoint is SLUGO... easy plan to enter:  One DP, one waypoint and one arrival, make sure there's no enroute discos.

You need to get charts so you can see what the terminal procedures look like and how to connect departures and arrivals to enroute, and arrivals to approaches.

Edited June 2, 2018 by downscc

[trisho0 23]

2 hours ago, downscc said:

HAMAR2 is a SID (or DP) and ULUBA1 is a STAR.  You don't enter these as waypoints, they are selected from the DEP/ARR page in the FMS.  There is a SLUGO transition for HARMAR2 and a SLUGO transition for the ULUBA arrival so all you need to select for waypoint is SLUGO... easy plan to enter:  One DP, one waypoint and one arrival, make sure there's no enroute discos.

You need to get charts so you can see what the terminal procedures look like and how to connect departures and arrivals to enroute, and arrivals to approaches.

No doubts Dan is a professional helper and straight to the point. I am learning even more, never is late. I will grab the Charts of both airports of this Flight Plan.

[trisho0 23]

Really enjoying on how Simbrief website creates my Flight Plans as expected, more real and cool. Many thanks to Dan and all from this thread.

[berts 97]

On 6/2/2018 at 1:18 PM, Bluestar said:

One thing that folks need to realize is fuel is loaded on the aircraft by the gallon. 🙂

It all depends on what part of the world you are in and what you mean by "the gallon"; because Jet fuel can be loaded in either Litres, Imperial Gallons, or US Gallons.  Even more potentially confusing is the fuel's specific gravity which also has to be taken into account when converting the fuel load required into either LBS or KGS for use on board the aircraft.  Get any one of these calculations wrong and you might end up doing a dead stick landing somewhere!

Bertie G