This is a very basic question, and it never seems to come up for discussion, so I must be missing something simple.Using the IFly or PMDG 747-400, one of their existing flight plans can be programmed into the FMC before takeoff. This is rather basic to their increased realism.After doing his though, how do you communicate with FSX ATC to let them know you want to taxi, takeoff and fly per this IFR flight plan and not use the FSX Flight Planner for your route, as the waypoints will almost certainly be different?There are ways to get around ATC of course, but none are very satisfactory if you want to truly fly an ATC controlled IFR flight plan.Regards, Thanks,Thrakete

I have been pondering this myself. It would apply to flying any aircraft with an FMC. I hope that some of the heavy iron flyers come back with some insight into this thorny issue.

Use FSBuild, and export your flightplan to both PMDG (or any other supported 3rd party airplane) and FSX.

Sounds good, but what is and where is FSBuild?Also, what about all the flight plans already included with the PDMG 747-400 and available for it elsewhere? Will FSBuild make them usable, or is this just a solution for new plans I create myself?Thanks, and sorry for not being more up on that program.Regards,Thrakete

Does this resolve the probale disparity between the FSX ATC descent instructions and the FMC TOD plan?

I doubt a RTE to PLN conversion tool exists, or it'd be pretty well-known. Many of us would like to have one.Either FS Build or an online planner which can export both formats.Another option is to pull RW flight plans off of www.flightaware.com and build them in both FS and your FMC. This is what I do. The drawbacks are it can be a bit time consuming, and you have to be sure both are exactly the same, or else ATC doesn't agree that you are flying what you think you should be. For me, the benefit is immersion. I use ASX to duplicate the weather that existed the day of the flight, which allows me use DP's and STAR's with a high degree of confidence that I am duplicating a RW flight.Regards,