In order for BeyondATC to work well it requires that we create a Simbrief FP, then load it using BATC.

The challenge for me is that BATC assigns takeoff & arrival runways and so far the simbrief FPs don't always match BATC.

Simbrief doesn't have an AUTO runway feature even though the ATC Help Center says it does.

I want to create the FP and not include runways, DPs or STARS. I've resorted to just entering the route manually in simbrief.

How are you using Simbrief to plan your flights with outdated navdata?

I usually check to see what runways are in active on Flightaware and use them in my SB plan.  BATC may assign a different runway but you can now request different runway as long as the runway makes sense (ie, not opposite direction, etc).

11 minutes ago, CFIJose said:

The challenge for me is that BATC assigns takeoff & arrival runways and so far the simbrief FPs don't always match BATC.

There two sides to this story.

The first is, in general Real World ATC doesn't care what Runway/SID you file. The conditions on the ground and what ATC will tell you to do will differ from filed flight plans. In this case, ATC will give you a re-route.

The second is, yeah, every now and then BATC is just WILDLY off on what runway you should be using. Usually it's the wrong direction given current wind, or too short for my airframe.

In that case, the good news is ... BATC just doesn't care. If you take off what it thinks is the wrong runway it might scold you and then go on with the fight plan.

18 minutes ago, CFIJose said:

How are you using Simbrief to plan your flights with outdated navdata?

I only enter DEP and ARR in SB, generate the flight and then let BATC tell me what to actually use. 9 out of 10 times BATC uses the same procedures but every now and then it picks others. Fine with me. Quite realistic imho. I never check what runways etc. SB is using and give full control to BATC. Makes planning extremely easy and I'm always done within seconds.

Right, ATC tells you what procedures and runways you are going to use.  Just like IRL.  Having these be different from plan and change (hopefully realistically) on the fly is the whole reason I like programs like BATC.  If it didn’t do that, I’d just not fly with atc.

2 hours ago, mistolip said:

I only enter DEP and ARR in SB, generate the flight and then let BATC tell me what to actually use.

Simbrief automatically enters a runway. Are you entering the route manually?

1 hour ago, ShawnG said:

Right, ATC tells you what procedures and runways you are going to use.  Just like IRL.  Having these be different from plan and change (hopefully realistically) on the fly is the whole reason I like programs like BATC.  If it didn’t do that, I’d just not fly with atc.

It certainly does, even if it's taking off with the wind or landing with the wind. Gotcha!

2 hours ago, BrammyH said:

There two sides to this story.

The first is, in general Real World ATC doesn't care what Runway/SID you file. The conditions on the ground and what ATC will tell you to do will differ from filed flight plans. In this case, ATC will give you a re-route.

The second is, yeah, every now and then BATC is just WILDLY off on what runway you should be using. Usually it's the wrong direction given current wind, or too short for my airframe.

In that case, the good news is ... BATC just doesn't care. If you take off what it thinks is the wrong runway it might scold you and then go on with the fight plan.

In the latest update, you can change the departure runway easily. 

2 hours ago, BrammyH said:

The second is, yeah, every now and then BATC is just WILDLY off on what runway you should be using. Usually it's the wrong direction given current wind, or too short for my airframe.

No, BATC is never off. If it gives you a runway with tailwind, it's because that's what the airport ops dictate (e.g. preferential runways, you can read that in the Navigraph / LIDO charts for example). Just like in real life (or VATSIM for that matter). So make a habit out of reading the charts to see if there's any preferential runway in place before programming the FMC. Or just listen to the ATIS.

1 hour ago, CFIJose said:

It certainly does, even if it's taking off with the wind or landing with the wind. Gotcha!

Sure, that’s part of the deal, unfortunately.  This is why nobody’s ever quite pulled off offline ATC.  And when you see the discrepancies everyone has with data sources for weather, traffic, aircraft and airports, and the fact that everybody’s favorite flight planner doesn’t read any of that data from the sim itself, (because simbrief works for more than one sim) it’s gonna happen.  Which is why the BATC developers went to great lengths to make sure everyone understood that bugs were going to happen at least 3 times while installing the product.

38 minutes ago, ShawnG said:

Sure, that’s part of the deal, unfortunately.  This is why nobody’s ever quite pulled off offline ATC.  And when you see the discrepancies everyone has with data sources for weather, traffic, aircraft and airports, and the fact that everybody’s favorite flight planner doesn’t read any of that data from the sim itself, (because simbrief works for more than one sim) it’s gonna happen.  Which is why the BATC developers went to great lengths to make sure everyone understood that bugs were going to happen at least 3 times while installing the product.

This is my first try at BATC and I'm delighted with my purchase. With this thread I was just hoping for some ideas on how to set up Simbrief to work well with BATC. I've done enough flights IRL to know how ATC works and I feel that the BATC dev team have done a great job so far. I'll continue to play around with Smbrief until I find the best way to create a flight, but I'm well aware that things can change and that's what makes this hobby even more fun.

3 minutes ago, CFIJose said:

This is my first try at BATC and I'm delighted with my purchase. With this thread I was just hoping for some ideas on how to set up Simbrief to work well with BATC. I've done enough flights IRL to know how ATC works and I feel that the BATC dev team have done a great job so far. I'll continue to play around with Smbrief until I find the best way to create a flight, but I'm well aware that things can change and that's what makes this hobby even more fun.

I fly 100% of the time with A PIlots Life. I just go into Simbrief, let it generate the flight, set my cruising altitude and send it to the sim via the Simbrief downloader. Hasn't caused a problem for me yet. 

4 minutes ago, Bobsk8 said:

I fly 100% of the time with A PIlots Life. I just go into Simbrief, let it generate the flight, set my cruising altitude and send it to the sim via the Simbrief downloader. Hasn't caused a problem for me yet. 

That's what I've done, but I found myself having to change runway departures and arrivals. Maybe is better to just create a basic airport to airport FP then add the rest at the airplane since BATC is set on telling the pilot what to do.

BTW, I use mainly G1000 & G3000 equipped jets. It's easy to add and delete waypoints, etc.

Edited December 15, 20241 yr by CFIJose

3 hours ago, Fiorentoni said:

No, BATC is never off. If it gives you a runway with tailwind, it's because that's what the airport ops dictate (e.g. preferential runways, you can read that in the Navigraph / LIDO charts for example). Just like in real life (or VATSIM for that matter). So make a habit out of reading the charts to see if there's any preferential runway in place before programming the FMC. Or just listen to the ATIS.

It is off though. Just now it tried to get me to depart off runway 4 in KDCA in an a321. It's a 5000' runway. It took the wind direction of 60 as the deciding factor and ignored the airframe limitations. I've had this happen in KDCA before.

As Bob said, in this case I can now change the departure runway.

Now, these situations are the only times I will override BATC. It's gotten a lot better about these things, but there is a disconnect still between airframe type, runway length, and wind direction.

In the Battle of the 3 ATC Armies, I'm firmly in BATC's camp. But like all software, sometimes the logic needs help/

 

I wish BATC could use Flightaware to decide runway use.