When I first load up P3D what's the first thing I always do? Well I'll tell you. The first thing I do is ask myself where am I going to fly from/to today. And I usually waste about 10 minutes before concluding....I'll fly from to and from airport that I've covered a million times before.

 

So how do you ladies and gents decide what airports you're gonna fly from and to? What factors play a part in making such important decisions? 

 

EDIT: In hindsight, I probably should have put this in Hangar Chat, as it's not just limited to P3D, so if a moderator wants to move it that would be cool.

Flying for a VA helps with those choices.  Also, a planner (I use Flight Sim Commander) lets me see where I'm starting and, based on how far I want to fly, what airports are nearby.

Hi Neal,

First stop is AWC Weather - to get a quick global snapshot of weather - so I can figure out what kind of weather I want...

http://www.aviationweather.gov/

 

One of the best things I've found to aid this process is using Alex's - Little Navmap - as the program databases all those airports that you have addon scenery for - and can display only those "improved" airports in your sim... So - given - I can't fly to default - period - as GA guy I do utilize the ORBX Freeware Improved Airports all the time and their are literally hundreds to choose from... If you're more particular - you could database and display only those you have true payware for which would narrow the selection process even more...

https://albar965.github.io/littlenavmap.html

 

Final stop is FltPlan.com - as I want real world routing and I use their fully functional EFB on my iPad (FltPlan GO) which includes geo-referenced approach plates and taxi diagrams... Also connects to FSX, P3D, and XP...

https://fltplan.com/

 

 

It's a process - but it's so routine I can do it pretty quickly...

 

Regards,

Scott

I only fly to and from payware airports. I have saved  all their locations in google maps. I load google maps and based on my aircraft " preference of the day" and the displayed airports I choose a citypair..

 

b rdgs / Dick

=

 

16 minutes ago, ricka47 said:

Flying for a VA helps with those choices. 

+1

I'm a member of the Virtual International Flying Club ( VIFC ). They have missions where after you fly the airports you receive an award. When I'm not doing that and want to pick my own flights I'll go to Google Earth and get a detailed view along with the basic weather. Google Earth also shows the regions that were bought from Orbx.

As above stated VAs are the best option.   Some VA's will have set routes, some give you the freedom to fly wherever.   Some VA's have limited aircraft, some have too many.   Some have checkrides, some don't.  Some VAs require flying on VATSIM, but most don't.  You just have to find the one that best fits your interests.  

I fly with 3 different VAs:   

One has freedom of routes and tons of aircraft.  But that probably doesn't help your issue. 

Another has realistic Euros flights, limited aircraft, has Tours which are like a set schedule of 10-20 flights visiting destinations, Flying club (single engine) flights, codeshare and a couple regionals like Nordic flights and New Zealand.  And a really good community of pilots helping each other.  

Another one is a major carrier VA so it has its realistic flight schedule including codeshares and regionals.

Since I virtually only fly online I base that decision on the availability of ATC

 

Cheers guys. Due to current personal circumstances flying online is a bit of a chore. But in the near future, joining a VA is definitely something I'll be doing.

 

@Scott, thanks for your infomative post but I think you may have picked me up wrong. I wasn't looking for advice for flight planning. I was wondering what makes people decided to fly to and from certain airports.

Hi Neil,

Oh - sorry - visualizing all my improved airports is what I use Little Navmap for... The process is how I pick my departure and destination...

Regards,
Scott

I almost always fly from the last place I landed to another airport about 1+ hours away, using either Skyvector or Plan G3 to select and then make a flight plan. Many times I use Orbx Free airports or Orbx FTX regions to fly to. 

Real world interest in a flying region usually guide my choices.  Whether it's P3D or XP11, I like to fly in mountainous regions with interesting topological feature, the PNW, Alaska, the Alps, California, Nevada, Utah and Colorado are my favorite air spaces.  I also like to fly cargo in Asia and Australia as well.  However, my biggest criterion is flight time, the airport pair must be within 2 hrs because that's all I can afford.

Over the part few months, I've compiled a 270 line spreadsheet with all real world United flights flying to and from payware scenery with aircraft that either are available or will be available. When I want to fly, I just look at it then find one that fits the time frame that I have. My general cadence is short haul, long haul, short haul, long haul, etc. it works great for someone who only flies for one airline at a time, though I am looking at making a Southwest one as I already have a ton of their destinations in scenery.

55 minutes ago, nealmac said:

@Scott, thanks for your infomative post but I think you may have picked me up wrong. I wasn't looking for advice for flight planning. I was wondering what makes people decided to fly to and from certain airports.

I basically do what Scott does (except I use windy.com to check the weather). This is both decisionmaking and flight planning for me - the tools I use to decide where to fly are also the tools I use to plan my flight. I use windy.com to decide which general geographical area to fly in and how I want fly (VFR or IFR depending on conditions and what I'm in the mood for), and I use LittleNavMap to check what addon airports I have in that area, and decide my departure and destination based on that, and what I'm in the mood for (big airports/small airstrips/somewhere in the mountains/somewhere near the cost). All of that is decisionmaking, and when I've decided my aircraft/departure/destination I just continue using LittleNavMap to plan my exact route.

I will never join a VA. This is a hobby, not a job :-)