Performance Calculator - an up to date TOPCAT

[N2382R 49]

12 minutes ago, SAX702 said:

Per their forum, the author is looking for aircraft performance data.  It would be great for those that have such data to contribute.  

Good man pointing that out!

[Bill Griffith 160]

A great App.    I haven't figured out how to get it to see my latest Navigraph data.  It does show an expired version though.  I figure that it is me missing something. 

 

Bill

[N2382R 49]

1 hour ago, Bill Griffith said:

A great App.    I haven't figured out how to get it to see my latest Navigraph data.  It does show an expired version though.  I figure that it is me missing something. 

 

Bill

Bill no worries. It took me a minute to figure out as well. It absolutely can use the Navigraph data. It's designed to use the Navigraph data for the Aerosoft Airbus 318/19/20/21 family. Go to the Navigraph page and log in. Then manually download and install to your desktop the data from the below link (direct lead to the appropriate Navigraph page) and replace the QSimPlanner Nav Data with the one you downloaded. You can find the location of the QSimPlanner Nav Data in the settings of the app.

 

https://www.navigraph.com/FmsDataManualInstall.aspx
 

Let me know if you run into any trouble. Happy to help troubleshoot.

[Bill Griffith 160]

Thanks a bunch.  I will do that. 

 

Bill

[johnnycrockett 43]

This is actually much better than I thought it would be - great program. I'm not too sure on the calculations though - it's telling me that a loaded 744 can't take off from a 3500m runway as it isn't long enough so perhaps some config files need adjusting for weights? Otherwise great program!

[Bill Griffith 160]

1 hour ago, N2382R said:

Bill no worries. It took me a minute to figure out as well. It absolutely can use the Navigraph data. It's designed to use the Navigraph data for the Aerosoft Airbus 318/19/20/21 family. Go to the Navigraph page and log in. Then manually download and install to your desktop the data from the below link (direct lead to the appropriate Navigraph page) and replace the QSimPlanner Nav Data with the one you downloaded. You can find the location of the QSimPlanner Nav Data in the settings of the app.

 

https://www.navigraph.com/FmsDataManualInstall.aspx
 

Let me know if you run into any trouble. Happy to help troubleshoot.

Worked!  As you knew it would.    Thank you for the help with that.  It took you a minute to figure that out.  Know telling how long I would have been at it. 

Bill

[N2382R 49]

1 hour ago, Bill Griffith said:

Worked!  As you knew it would.    Thank you for the help with that.  It took you a minute to figure that out.  Know telling how long I would have been at it. 

Bill

No worries Bill! Glad I could be your guide to enlightenment.

[N2382R 49]

2 hours ago, johnnycrockett said:

This is actually much better than I thought it would be - great program. I'm not too sure on the calculations though - it's telling me that a loaded 744 can't take off from a 3500m runway as it isn't long enough so perhaps some config files need adjusting for weights? Otherwise great program!

Not sure Johnny. It does look like he only has Flaps 10 as a t/o config for the 744.

[downscc 1,327]

Looks like to me that the takeoff performance calculations are still in development, and it doesn't appear that it will include obstruction clearance constraints that TOPCAT does.... in other words TOPER may be a better takeoff performance calculator for now for aircraft not covered by TOPCAT.  Of course the route planning is a different thing altogether.

[N2382R 49]

17 minutes ago, downscc said:

Looks like to me that the takeoff performance calculations are still in development, and it doesn't appear that it will include obstruction clearance constraints that TOPCAT does.... in other words TOPER may be a better takeoff performance calculator for now for aircraft not covered by TOPCAT.  Of course the route planning is a different thing altogether.

TOPER was something I evaluated and unfortunately, as interesting as that tool looks, it suffers in that it doesn't offer runway margin numbers (unless I missed it). For the large iron I'm less worried about obstruction clearance and more about runway availability so I don't bust FARs and Operator limitations. That saidI think the overall headline is that we're in desperate need for an updated TOPCAT replacement. QSim, TOPER, etc all offer unique benefits but none are ideal unfortunately. I do think wabpro is very close on the money with what we will ultimately (hopefully) see replace TOPCAT.

That said, as far as the 737 is concerned, the output numbers on QSim for what I need are ideal and very close to actual.

[regis9 4,004]

 

4 hours ago, N2382R said:

TOPER was something I evaluated and unfortunately, as interesting as that tool looks, it suffers in that it doesn't offer runway margin numbers (unless I missed it). For the large iron I'm less worried about obstruction clearance and more about runway availability so I don't bust FARs and Operator limitations. 

Is there a resource out there with information on what minimum runway margins are normally required?  

I typically aim for no less than 500’ but that’s not based on any real world information.

[N2382R 49]

11 minutes ago, regis9 said:

 

Is there a resource out there with information on what minimum runway margins are normally required?  

I typically aim for no less than 500’ but that’s not based on any real world information.

https://www.faa.gov/other_visit/aviation_industry/airline_operators/training/media/takeoff_safety.pdf

Page 11 specifically. This is what I've used. There's also FARs out there that get a lot more technical than my paygrade.

FARs pertaining to acceleration-stop distance: https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/14/25.109

Alternatively I would think that each operator has different SOPs that define their own safety margins required .

To summarize, 1.15 safety margin for takeoff rolls and 1.6 safety margin for landing distance.

 

 

[regis9 4,004]

Thanks!

[SteveW 1,792]

I use a tool that measures how far I took to take off, I don't need to start from a standstill, i can do it from taxi speed it extrapolates back. It measures how far I took to stop without stopping, it extrapolates to the zero velocity location, I can adjust the speeds for those points. It tells me how hard I landed with another carefully extrapolated result so it's not affected by irregular fps or jerks of the controls. It tells me the exact weights, the exact fuel used, calculates the exact range based on the way I actually fly it (throttling differently each time alters the fuel used in a flight) and the fuel prediction is within a teaspoonful because it's the real measured values from those flights already done and measured. After a while I forgot to use abcd and xyz because I have all I need to understand fully the performance of the plane.

[Wolf0 31]

2 hours ago, SteveW said:

I use a tool that measures how far I took to take off...

Can you share the name and details of the said tool? It sounds interesting. Does it work with P3Dv4?