4 minutes ago, El Diablito said:

Was this the case before the EFB also? Would've been nice to know this all along 😆

I'm assuming it's because of the latest movement of systems by NOAA and it hasn't always been like this? Surely that's a major flaw in how the sim pulls data if that's the case.

Just as an aside, would this be true for pulling winds in the FBW also when operating 2/3 hr flights or is this just PMDG specific?

It's got nothing to do with the NOAA. It's the way PMDG imports wind and route data by using the files downloaded from Simbrief. The EFB does the exact same thing like the Simbrief downloader.

I've never flown the FBW but I would assume they pull the data straight from Simbrief without any file on your drive as a middle man.

Edited November 1, 20232 yr by threegreen

4 hours ago, ailchim said:

The American agency that publish weather data has recently moved their files

PMDG takes wind and other data from Simbrief but not "American agency" directly.

Interesting. So at ths point the only way to get accurate, real-time winds in the PMDG is to leave the sim, edit your original flight plan in simbrief, re-generate, go back to the EFB in the sim, recall your flight plan and go again.

To be fair, that's a non-runner for me. I think I'll stick with whatever the original winds were, the differences are prob so minimal it's not worth even thinking about.

I will do it all during pre-flight though in future, just to change it up and at least get a more accurate plan from the get go.

10 minutes ago, threegreen said:

I've never flown the FBW but I would assume they pull the data straight from Simbrief without any file on your drive as a middle man.

I guess I'm confused why this is such a big deal for the PMDG then. Just use the winds in both aircraft that are generated in the OFP and go about your day. No need to split hairs about wind changes that may or may not have happened. 

3 hours ago, El Diablito said:

Makes sense, so why is it part of SOP for Ryanair then?

I might start entering them during pre-flight as part of my own procedures from now on anyway, seems I might be in the minority but I like the idea of adding to my pre-flight workload by pushing lots of buttons in the cockpit, rather than having some app do it for me, increases the realism.

Uh didn't you just say the opposite, that the video you watched said they only requested the descent winds during the descent prep in cruise?

3 hours ago, threegreen said:

I disagree here. It may be different per SOP/airline what's recommended or required but you generally want to complete as much as possible during preflight, including the entire FMC setup (with the exception of some items like landing Vref). Without descent winds there isn't going to be an accurate descent calculation and no accurate fuel estimate for the destination which is a critical value that's observed throughout the flight. Especially in strong winds on descent, but generally in all cases you want to have an accurate path and predicted fuel value from the start to check against the OFP, even during preflight. A big discrepancy would indicate wrong data in the FMC, which can't be checked if the projection is off anyway due to missing winds. That's SOP at least at one airline I know of. Before descent the winds may be updated if necessary as there is new data every 6 hours from 0000Z, so if one of those time points has been passed it makes to update the winds.

Yeah I was just trying to give a reason why it could not be SOP in some airlines, answering to El Diablito's video. What you say makes absolutely sense and is prudent (and the correct thing to do IMO).

2 hours ago, threegreen said:

Yes. The EFB downloads a file containing a weather time stamp and that's what's loaded into the FMC. In order to update winds you'll a new file containing new wind data (if it's been update in the meantime).

The winds aloft forecast from the GFS model (which is what Simbrief uses) is only updated every 6 hours. Depending on how close you were to the beginning of a new forecast cycle when you generated your flight plan, you may (or may not) get different winds if you update the SB flight plan again while you are in flight. 

The descent forecast winds may be updated more often - I am not sure.

28 minutes ago, Fiorentoni said:

Uh didn't you just say the opposite, that the video you watched said they only requested the descent winds during the descent prep in cruise?

Yeah, I was asking why is it SOP for Ryanair if it's really important to calculate the correct for fuel and descent etc before take off, as ThreeGreen has mentioned.

The flight he showed this procedure on was Stansted to Dublin. A flight time of around 50 mins. In a situation like this surely it would make more sense to enter everything pre-flight but I guess not in their case.

14 minutes ago, JRBarrett said:

The winds aloft forecast from the GFS model (which is what Simbrief uses) is only updated every 6 hours. Depending on how close you were to the beginning of a new forecast cycle when you generated your flight plan, you may (or may not) get different winds if you update the SB flight plan again while you are in flight. 

The descent forecast winds may be updated more often - I am not sure.

It would be nice to know when this cycle begins/ends! 🧐

8 hours ago, SquadronLeader said:

I have planned a route with Simbrief and downloaded the flight plan and weather file to their respective folders in the PMDG work folder.

You no longer need to download a FP from Simbrief and place it into the folder.  Just plan a flight in Simbrief and when you're in the 737, press 'import from Simbrief' on the new EFB.    That then pulls the FP from Simbrief in the background, and it'll be ready to open in the FMC.

Edited November 1, 20232 yr by JYW

19 hours ago, El Diablito said:

It would be nice to know when this cycle begins/ends! 🧐

0000Z

0600Z

1200Z

1800Z

19 minutes ago, JRBarrett said:

0000Z

0600Z

1200Z

1800Z

Makes sense, Jim. Cheers.

Cruse winds can be loaded on FMC LEG page. For descent it's a DES -> Forecast page. How to load climb winds??

11 minutes ago, Vitold69 said:

Cruse winds can be loaded on FMC LEG page. For descent it's a DES -> Forecast page. How to load climb winds??

You can't.