Now that FS2020 is beginning to settle into some sense of normalcy I've been thinking about the tools I use. I tend to lean on Sim-Brief, but am open to other suggestions on flight planning (I miss EFASS). I currently pay for Navigraph FMS so I could get their upgrade to add in Charts, but I wonder if people think that's just throwing money away since most of those charts can be gotten for free. I do find I scramble slightly during some flights trying to find what I'm looking for on AirNav. I fly 99% of my flights in the continental US, but sometimes fly in the Caribbean islands and RARELY in Europe. 

I'm currently flying the KingAir, but will shift to a Dash-8 or CRJ once either is available. 

Does anyone use Navigraph's flight planner? I see videos for it, but never see anyone actually discussing it.

I love it. couple that with Navigraph Simlink and you have a great moving map utility also. Plus you can overlay your SID/STAR/APPROACH charts right over your route map.

Vic

I've been using it in conjunction with Simbrief.  I mostly did it for the charts even though the US stuff is all on Skyvector.  I avoided paying for charts like Navigraph forever but finally broke down and decided to try it for a month.  I might not be shutting the sub off lol.  So originally I was creating plans in Simbrief then importing to the Charts app (it can bring down your last created one) and using it for flight following on the map etc.   That's fine, but I saw a video on how to do planning with it and now I've switched it up a bit. 

Now I do the planning in their Charts app and paste the result into Simbrief to get the altitude, fuel, etc. side of it.  The nice thing about using their app is you can visually see how the SIDS, STARS, and approaches all link up with your flight plan to help you see which is best to use vs just blindly using the routes that might be suggested by Simbrief.  Also you can overlay those charts on your route so as you're flying you can still see the chart info.  Skyvector can't do that for example.  

I should add however that one of the main things that got me looking at using it was that I was doing a lot of flying outside the US when I  jumped back into simming with this version of flight sim as I was getting on late at night (10 or 11pm Pacific) and wanted to fly real time and real weather but during the day to take in the scenery which meant not flying in the US.  I've randomly found charts for some of the places but not reliably etc.  Yeah I could just blindly put in something in the Sim's flight planner (which I did for about 10 days), but I realized I wanted more.

FltPln Go has the US and Canada pretty well covered for the charts and moving map, but the Windows app has been discontinued, leaving just IOS and Android for a sim connection.

I plan to switch my Navigraph sub to just data. Haven’t tried the flight planner.

I think Navigraph is worth it.  Since converting to them about a year ago, it is just like having an assistant in the cockpit with me.

Good summary of the basics of Navigraph.

 

2 minutes ago, MartinRex007 said:

Good summary of the basics of Navigraph.

That was the video that made me finally break down and do a month subscription as a trial for myself a week ago.

About $10 / month for everything they offer. I have it sub'd now. But, one can discontinue and resume the subscription at will without any penalty. That's a nice perk.

Edited September 15, 20205 yr by RichieFly

1 hour ago, diajohn said:

I think Navigraph is worth it.  Since converting to them about a year ago, it is just like having an assistant in the cockpit with me.

That's a major recommendation... 

I did just trip over a thread that says if you add the FMS data to FS2020 specifically that it dramatically slows the load time of the sim. I guess that's not entirely surprising, but then again it is. The data in the sim now may be suspect, but in about 30 flights so far in the US I've yet to run into a route I couldn't match correctly. Strange.

Here is Navigraph used in VFR flight. Just posted yesterday.

 

1 hour ago, Agrajag said:

I did just trip over a thread that says if you add the FMS data to FS2020 specifically that it dramatically slows the load time of the sim. I guess that's not entirely surprising, but then again it is. The data in the sim now may be suspect, but in about 30 flights so far in the US I've yet to run into a route I couldn't match correctly. Strange.

You have to remember that the beta has only been out for a few days. Given some more development and a better SDK, I think they will be able to reduce the delay. 

I didn’t think I’d need it after MSFS2020 released so I canceled my subscription. However NAVBLUE is not even a quarter of what Navigraph is. Needless to say I quickly resubscribed. 
 

their apps are bar none and now they are testing inserting the data directly into the sim updating airport frequencies and all makes it even better. 

Do you need Navigraph charts/subscription if you have a foreflight subscription? Or, is having Navigraph data much better than the default navblue data? I need some recommendations. Thanks. 

5 hours ago, diajohn said:

I think Navigraph is worth it.  Since converting to them about a year ago, it is just like having an assistant in the cockpit with me.

Well said! I don't fly that much, but its perfect to have the charts app serving me the charts,  moving maps, highlighted route, sids and stars on enroute charts etc. on a silver plate. No fuzz - more time spent on flying!