Good morning gentlemenCan you tell me if RC is compatible with Leonardo's MD80. The MD80's FMC cannot import flightplans from FSX at the moment, and the plans from the FMC seem to be saved in an "mdr" format read from the Maddog routes folder.Unfortunately at this time, I cannot get ATC when using the Maddog other than "flight following".I will be purchasing RC in the future but I think I'll wait for version 5.many thanksLaurie

you might want to get v4 now, so you're ready to enjoy v5 when it comes out later this year.rc only needs a .pln - if you cna make a .pln some how, you're good to gojd

Many thanks for the reply.I'm not sure how to change the format yet. That will requires some investigation,perhaps FSbuild or similar. I will purchase the RC program next week on CDthanks JDLaurie

I looked at the FSB version 2.7.3.2 I have. On the export dropdown the MD80 Maddog (Lago/LSH) is listed.You can then select both the MD80 and FSX or FS9 plans to export so your MD80 and RC will have the same plan.

Thanks Ron for the help there.I wasnt sure about FSX. It sounds like you may recommend FSB. There's a few products on the market but they dont give an adequate enough description of their abilities. Another forum mentioned FSB but I wasnt sure how easy it was to make a flight plan let alone convert to plans for FSX or indeed the MD80.cheersLaurie

FS Build is an excellent program. You can do a lot with it. It also has an auto generate option for flight plans. What I like to do is get real flight plans from www.flightaware.com and then copy them into FS Build. FS Build will build the .pln file for that flight plan. You can use the .pln file it builds to load into Radar Contact and then just manually enter the same plan into the Maddog FMS (which I prefer over using an "Import" function) and your good to go. You can also use that .pln file to load into Active Sky if you use it. Its probably the most realistic way to fly real world flights.

Maddog is on the export list on my latest version of FSB. I assume you can import it.

FSB has tutorials on www.fsbuild.com. They are a bit dated. There is also a link to their support forum.Occasionally due to duplicate navaid IDs in an autoroute you may get a stray waypoint. You can see this on the route map. In most cases you can delete this on the route grid, set the option to build from the grid, turn on your exports, and build again.If you have Active Sky running with loasded weather, FSB (if you set it up) will include winds aloft at your chosen altitude in its fuel planning. Many aircraft profiles are included but you can create your own as well.It also comes with many flight plans that you can use as an example.AIRACS at no charge for FSB are available every few months on the website.When pasting existing routes such as from flightaware.com into it, you might have to change slightly the name of a SID or STAR to match FSB's current data. For example, an Airtran route from flightaware from KATL to KMSP looks like this:COKEM4 CARPT BNA ENL IOW ALO KASPR3After pasting the above into the FSB route window field you might have to change COKEM4 TO COKEM3. Add KATL to the departure and KMSP to the destination. If you click on the SIDs for KATL is will list those in its database.Other than running AS for winds aloft, FSB is strictly preflight and does not run along with FS. There is no moving map but does the preview one I mentioned.In its setup there is a path to set to your FS installation and it automatically sets a save pasth for your FS format plans. If you use FSX and FS9 exports you can install it twice, once for each export format so the .pln gets exported to the correct place. FMC formats will get exported to the plan folder for the aircraft in use.There is a learning curve but in my opinion it is not difficult.I can't specifically endorse it blindly (I can't offer a biased endorsement), but I can say I have been quite satisfied using it. Between the navlogs produced by FSB and Active Sky 6.5 all of the information is there for the aircraft environment, navigation, and fuel planning.It takes more time to explain things than use it.While on the subject of flightaware.com it is a great source of free bundled airport diagrams and terminal procedure charts for all but the smallest FAA airports.

Thank you Ronzie for clarifying my reponse in more detail. After pasting the flightaware route, just hit the plan mode button to see if the route looks like it should. Make any adjustments, if you have to, and then uncheck plan mode and build it.

Thank you gentlemenYour responses were quite informative. I purchased FSBuild yesterday. Have problems at this stage with saving and just been on their forum to ask for assistance.Got to laugh though,I'm now continually buying this and that for flight Sim. RC is next. I live in Australia but fly in UK and Europe so scenery is next.Luckily the missus doesnt know what I'm spending.Oh oh here she comes.cheersLaurie

With FSB before saving in their format, I found it is best to be on the flightplan page under the category dropdown of user saved flights. On saving enter the flight name fffftttt (fromto) and drop the .log extension.If you are exporting to FS be sure on options tab one you have set the path to your FS root folder. After setting this go to the Options Settings tab and click SAVE CONFIGURATION. You must restart FSB before these settings take effect.I was not sure what type of saving you have difficulty with.

You need to have the directory of your flight sim folder set under Options in the Export directories tab. Its the one at the very top. If you look at the bottom click the settings tab. Scroll down and check FS2004 GPS under "Export To" and click the "Save Config Options" button. You have to close FSB and open it again for it to take effect. Then when you create a flight and hit the build button it'll automatically put the .pln file in your flight sim files directory....usually C:Documents and SettingsXXXMy DocumentsFlight Simulator Files. Then your good to go. If you want to export to additional addons check each one along with the FS2004 GPS option. I live and fly mostly in the U.S. but I have Sim Wings Heathrow and Charles De-Gaulle, Ultimate Terrain Europe, and Fly Tampa Vienna. All very good sceneries for Europe. I use Ground Environment Pro in conjunction with UT Europe. GE Pro is a world wide scenery enhancer.