Any chance a controller will tell me what SID/STAR to fly? or I have to include it in the plan to have the controller direct me to that particular departure/approach procedure?, I would love to have the controller randomly tell me what procedure to fly...

to do that, i would have to record the names of every single sid/dp and star.you will have to file the sid/dp or star with your flight plan.even the star ends at the point you contact departure, you can now request every concievable approach, after contacting approach.

JD, >even the star ends at the point you contact departure, you can now request every concievable approach, after contacting approach. Wouldn't that be the SID ends at the point you contact departure? Correct me if I'm wrong, or am I losing my mind :-eekScott..

Scott,Actually, JD meant that the STAR ends when you contact Approach. You can then request an IAP to follow the rest of the STAR if there's one all the way to the runway. But have your charts at hand because you're on your own then. You can change your mind and request vectors at any point, and still declare missed approach and do it all again with a myriad of options.This is all v3 of course.

Thanks,It's to early in the morning, right after I posted my post I realized thats what I meant to say.Another Question that I have about V3. I understand that V3 has the ability to vector you to 2 alternative airports or the airport of origin. My ? is about the 2 alternative airports. Are they chosen to be the two closest to where you are or are they chosen to be able to accommodate your type of aircraft. My concern is if your flying a loaded 747 will it vector you to a suitable airport with a runway of sufficient length.Scott...

Scott,You choose the 2 alternates before you start a flight. Only with emergencies does RC choose, and then it gives you the 5 closest airports that can handle you AC class. You always have the option to proceed to your destination, return to the departure, go to either alternate, or pick from the list of 5. Very cool.I have not actually tried proceeding to my destination yet, so I can't tell you if ATC gives me an open corridor or not. I can tell you that when I am plummeting to the ground after depressurization, ATC gives me their total attention, and I have total control of what I'm doing.

Hmmm... you don't need to record each name, you can make the cotroller say 'fly the published approach'and you create a menu option where you have the approach you are 'expected to fly' text only file name that is. At the end the critique will evaluate if you actually followed that approach. Who knows, maybe someone, at a later time can record each of the names for a later implementation... think about it.. Its MUCH better to file a plan WITHOUT sids and have the controller tell you WHAT to fly so you can update the FMC when at the cockpit preparation stage, as in real life. What do you think?

in that case, you can click the flexible sid checkbox, on the departure airport, and fly wherever you want. i don't keep track of where you are flying, or why, but as soon as you are out of departure airspace, the flexible sid ends, and i start watching to see if you fly the flightplan that you filed.

Here's the latest design, all per customer requests.RC considers the beginning of a flight to be DP if the first checkpoint you put in your flight plan is 30m's (?) or less from your departure airport. You'll not be given any "fly heading" instructions from Tower, not be critiqued by RC during that phase.>>Its MUCH better to file a plan WITHOUT sids and have the controller tell you WHAT to fly so you can update the FMC when at the cockpit preparation stage, as in real life.;) When will v3 be released? When it's done. Q, not C!Doug