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rhodges

What do you want in a 3rd party flight planner ?

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Guest FlightPlannerProject

Hi,like many others ( http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho...id=407994&page= ) i think the built-in flight planner in FSX leaves some room for improvment. I have used FS-Navigator and FS-Commander. I think both are quite good, but i have some nice ideas that go beyond ..So, a few weeks ago i started my own flight planner project. I've just finished the code module to read all the relevant airport and navigation data from the FSX scenery files, so there are no screenshots to show yet, but i think the hardest part is done ..I would like to know what you want in a 3rd party flight planner for FSX ?

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I'd like to see real world preferred routes including TEC routes.Also, I'd like to see current NATs and polar routes.


10700k / Gigabyte 3060

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Well, for me, I'd have several ideas, but I'm sure a lot of them would be major work.I prefer stand-alone applications that don't depend on any sim to be run while planning or looking at maps. I'd buy a real world planner, except the ones I like are way too expensive. The reason I don't use the free or cheaper versions are because they only offer VFR operation. I'd like my planner to have either a VFR or IFR view for planning or just creating a better plan than FS9/FSX can give. For the most part I try to use real world plans from FlightAware, however, some airports aren't seen as much on FA. Like places in Alaska. I may want to just fly between two short locations in AK, but FlightAware may not have such flight. In these cases I try to at least observe any IAP and DP that exist.The planner should have a full map view complete with airway overlays (V and J), VORs, NDBs, and all the same data you'd see in the sim. I also think it should have a better terrain map than you will see in the sim with more detail than any of the current planners for FS. The sim would have a Profile view for terrain like the feature most real flight planners. This is where all the current FS planners fail for me. Very little provision for Map views and little or no terrain detail. This feature shouldn't be dependent on a zoom option either. I hate when zooming cancels a view or name of a placemark. These kinds of things could be detailed in user option menus.I'm of the thought that I see little need for fuel planning because most of the planes I have either came with a fuel planner or a planner was provided by a 3rd party. I realize however that a lot of people are dependent on fuel planners within their flight planner.I would think an excellent feature would be a Wx overlay. This could be accomplished by connection to NOAA servers perhaps, and would be great if one could obtain METARs/TAFs and weather status by hovering over an airport (e.g., IMC).I would pay a good deal of money provided a planner with a good map and all was created in a nice looking manner with the features described above.


- Chris

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I like the concept of its being a standalone application similar to SimCharts, so I can run it either by itself or in concert with FS.I'd like the ability to choose the departure and arrival runways. I know it's not realistic, but this is a simulator, not real life, and this would allow me to practice particular approaches, etc.. Also, there are several things I'd like to do with the information (gauge related).Thomas[a href=http://www.flyingscool.com] http://www.flyingscool.com/images/Signature.jpg [/a]I like using VC's :-)N15802 KASH '73 Piper Cherokee Challenger 180


Tom Perry

 

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I'd not use a planner which does not read, understand and display the FS air navigation and scenery databases.FSNav is pretty good in that respect - but it never caught up with the approach system in FS2004.A planner should have the ability to display and select the default approaches to any airport.

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Basically FSBuild2 capabilities for IFR/Route planning but with a new GUI and better file/saving/recalling abilities.Must support monthly AIRAC updates from NavData as well as commercial and user-based terminal-procedures updatesMust be able to scan and collect FS9/X AFD data (like FS Flight Keeper or Radar Contact)Must have all exports to all the famous addons with routinely updated export options for new addons.Must have in-flight map-display over simconnect and FSUIPC/Wide-fsMust show AI dataMust export .pln, .rte, and .xml plansMust have fuel planners and calcualations for all the famous addons or user-created calcuclators that are imported.Must parse winds-aloft data at multiple FL's over step-climb increments.So on and so forth...


Regards,
Al Jordan | KCAE

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Reggie, FS Commander parses AFD data; just so you know... It's map runs outside of FS which is nice for second monitors and so on. I like it's map with AFD and AI data but can't stand it as a planner. Routing is terribly cumbersom which is why I build 'em with FSBuild2.


Regards,
Al Jordan | KCAE

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>Reggie, FS Commander parses AFD data; just so you know... >It's map runs outside of FS which is nice for second monitors>and so on. I like it's map with AFD and AI data but can't>stand it as a planner. Routing is terribly cumbersom which is>why I build 'em with FSBuild2.What do you mean by AFD data?

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Scans bgl files according to your scenery.cfg file looking for runways, tarmacs, taxiwas, etc. Then these show up in their respective maps in FSFK and FSC. Makerwys from Pete Dowson is used by Radar contact to scan the bgl files and then uses it for vectors and assignments. Don't ask me what it stands for though, LOL. Isn't AFCAD2 essentially an AFD editor?


Regards,
Al Jordan | KCAE

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If you mean FS Commander, it uses NavData updates from a Dafif source for all the navdata and terminal SID/STAR info. The scanned AFD data produces the airports, parking spots, tarmacs, runways, etc, for display reflecting exactly what you see in FS. FSFK and Radar Contat (via Makerwys) use the same tecnique. In all three of these programs, you have to scan your scenery files first from their respective utilities or buttons.


Regards,
Al Jordan | KCAE

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Well, actually I was asking how the new application would deal with it, but really it was a generic question about how to best deal with the discrepancies between real world and FS data. I'm not sure you answered my question. Are you saying that it maps the real world references back to the FS references? For instance, if a runway changes numbers, the application is able to map the correct runway back to its FS equivalent?Thomas[a href=http://www.flyingscool.com] http://www.flyingscool.com/images/Signature.jpg [/a]I like using VC's :-)N15802 KASH '73 Piper Cherokee Challenger 180


Tom Perry

 

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Hmmm, to be honest, I've never paid that close attention to it. Although with RC, if I used Jim Vile's updated AFCAD for Anchorage, Alaska for example, with the renumbered runways, then I would get direction to the properly numbered (new) runways after letting it rescan my scenery.I'm by no means an expert at this level. Another example was Seattle renumbering the outer runway to center. An AFCAD author was quick to pickup and publish the change but the DAFIF data took sometime from each of the vendors like FSBuild2 and navdata for example. Now in FSFK or FSC, it probably shows the new AFCAD data with the new center runway when you mouse-over the airport, but the approach and ILS information was still wrong until navdata issued the correction and Jim Vile (I think) release an ILS fix which is kept in another scenery file somewhere. It's a never ending merry-go-round. The only thing that never changes is the navdata inside the FS planning tool. Sorry, I don't know if I can explain it any better than this. Basically I think the maps relfect whatever airport info it finds in your AFCADS in FS. I don't use FSC specifically for fligh-planning so I don't know if it uses AFCAD data or navdata for the plans.


Regards,
Al Jordan | KCAE

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Guest Len

Moving map accessed in FSX just like FS Navigator

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Guest rap777

Hi!Thanks for letting us know about your efforts!I would like to be able to create SID's Star's easily with user defined waypoints that can be loaded into FSX AND be able to upload (and download) from a user database... (possibly even from sources like PMDG etc.(Hope this makes sense))Regards and God blessAlfred

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