Simbrief to get new Takeoff and Landing calculator

[VHOJT]

1 hour ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

Agreed. I create my flight plans for Concorde using PFPX. I don’t use it to determine fuel load as the FS Labs Concorde has that feature depending on ZFW.

But for the PMDG737 it’s as good as it gets. Not free and no longer available to buy which probably explains why SimBrief is popular.

http://www.flightsimsoft.com

You can still buy here, Ray 🙂 

[Ray Proudfoot]

1 hour ago, VHOJT said:

http://www.flightsimsoft.com

You can still buy here, Ray 🙂 

That’s a surprise. I thought they had removed it. Perhaps it’s support that has been withdrawn.

[SimeonWilbury]

Aerosoft stopped selling and providing support for it I think

no idea what's happened with the actual devs, whether they've just stopped supporting the stuff or outright gone missing. The site still being up means they're still paying the bills for that presumably.

Edited May 21, 2024 by SimeonWilbury

[VHOJT]

2 hours ago, SimeonWilbury said:

Aerosoft stopped selling and providing support for it I think

no idea what's happened with the actual devs, whether they've just stopped supporting the stuff or outright gone missing. The site still being up means they're still paying the bills for that presumably.

They're still around - they fix things if they go wrong - e.g. weather server etc.

It's basically just a completed bit of software - no new additions.  For the most part, it is better than Simbrief.

Simbrief is useful to export the route to an aircraft that PFPX might not support.  Also offers good SIGWX overlay over the route.  Wheras PFPX has good profile view of shear/turb.

I have found Simbrief's SIGWX charts to be weirdly different from the current real-world ones from time to time.

I highly recommend PFPX to anyone looking to have absolute control over their flight plan.

For example, I can excatly set the fuel policy I want down to the last detail, including the types of reserves and flight levels etc. that I want to use in depressurised/engine out scenarious.

I can also calculate a decision point for all engines operating - a "sort of" redispatch, but without altering the way contingency fuel is calculated.  Useful when planning for Australian airlines!

[SimeonWilbury]

20 minutes ago, VHOJT said:

They're still around - they fix things if they go wrong - e.g. weather server etc.

It's basically just a completed bit of software - no new additions.  For the most part, it is better than Simbrief.

Simbrief is useful to export the route to an aircraft that PFPX might not support.  Also offers good SIGWX overlay over the route.  Wheras PFPX has good profile view of shear/turb.

I have found Simbrief's SIGWX charts to be weirdly different from the current real-world ones from time to time.

I highly recommend PFPX to anyone looking to have absolute control over their flight plan.

For example, I can excatly set the fuel policy I want down to the last detail, including the types of reserves and flight levels etc. that I want to use in depressurised/engine out scenarious.

I can also calculate a decision point for all engines operating - a "sort of" redispatch, but without altering the way contingency fuel is calculated.  Useful when planning for Australian airlines!

Yes, Pfpx is still my go-to flight-planning software, Simbrief is not a bad alternative but the additional level of customisation in PFPX was always nice, also a fan of the integration the Leonardo Maddog has with it. I'll admit I never used their weather server after the trial for that expired, saw no point when I had ActiveSky to patch in; only thing I miss is having oceanic tracks loaded in by default rather than having to pull them in manually.

Nice to know it's not abandonware, but it would be nice to have some minor updates.

Edited May 21, 2024 by SimeonWilbury

[srcooke]

25 minutes ago, SimeonWilbury said:

I'll admit I never used their weather server after the trial for that expired, saw no point when I had ActiveSky to patch in

The online weather will give you forecasts over time, missing in the implemetation for external weather engines, fine for shorter flights.

For Oceanics and longer flights consider W2PFPX , still without forecast over time but enhanced accuracy.

Edited May 21, 2024 by srcooke

[VHOJT]

 

 

2 minutes ago, srcooke said:

The online weather will give you forecasts over time, missing in the implemetation for external weather engines, fine for shorter flights.

For Oceanics and longer flights consider W2PFPX

Also you get shear/turbulence info with PFPX weather server.

Are you suggesting W2PFPX instead of ActiveSky if not using hte PFPX server, Stephen?

[srcooke]

17 minutes ago, VHOJT said:

Are you suggesting W2PFPX instead of ActiveSky if not using hte PFPX server, Stephen?

That is correct, personally I use the PFPX online services.

EDITED original post.

Edited May 21, 2024 by srcooke

[SimeonWilbury]

Does the PFPX weather service support historic weather? That's what I use for pretty much all my flights (especially long-hauls)

[srcooke]

29 minutes ago, SimeonWilbury said:

Does the PFPX weather service support historic weather? That's what I use for pretty much all my flights (especially long-hauls)

No, for that you would need ActiveSky

[IanHarrison]

On 5/16/2024 at 9:44 PM, beechcaptain said:

I think this will definitely put Simbrief at the top for my flight planning purposes, maybe even replacing my much beloved and well used PFPX+TOPCAT.  I hope the aircraft profiles are accurate.  I have found TOPER to be a bit off on their V speed calculations, as those calculated for my PMDG 737-900 are 15-20 knots higher than what the EFB and FMC calculate.  Of course, I always fall back on the EFB, but what I want primarily from a takeoff performance calculations is the calculated derate and temp.

Will eagerly wait and see.

I found TOPCAT to be quite behind the times as far as aircraft were concerned. ( No PMDG 747)

 

[787flyer]

1 hour ago, IanHarrison said:

I found TOPCAT to be quite behind the times as far as aircraft were concerned. ( No PMDG 747)

 

Yes, I am surprised Topcat is still selling because its well out of date. It hasn't been updated in years since all development ceased with that product.

I think PFPX is going the same way since I took a look at their list of supported aircraft (from their web site) and it appears a number of the latest aircraft are missing such as A32X NEO family, no B737 Max, no Airbus A220, no Embraer E2 family, no Boeing Dreamliner, no Airbus A350 etc.

 

[beechcaptain]

It's quite unfortunate that PFPX and TOPCAT are no longer supported.  They are/were some very impressive apps that contributed greatly to my flight simming experience.

 

[VHOJT]

11 hours ago, IanHarrison said:

I found TOPCAT to be quite behind the times as far as aircraft were concerned. ( No PMDG 747)

 

How is it behind the times? It calculates takeoff data for a 747-400 with up to date runways etc. Pmdg models a 747-400?

[VHOJT]

9 hours ago, 787flyer said:

Yes, I am surprised Topcat is still selling because its well out of date. It hasn't been updated in years since all development ceased with that product.

I think PFPX is going the same way since I took a look at their list of supported aircraft (from their web site) and it appears a number of the latest aircraft are missing such as A32X NEO family, no B737 Max, no Airbus A220, no Embraer E2 family, no Boeing Dreamliner, no Airbus A350 etc.

 

This bit is a shame. Third parties do make profiles for some aircraft. Maybe we should have a bit of a push amongst PFPX enthusiasts to see if anyone in community can help. I am intending to do something for the FBW A380 if/when it comes out. I've been meaning to get in touch with them for any fuel burn data they would be keen to share. Either that or it'll be an awful lot of flight tests.