What do you use for making flights?

[Snowbird1]

A quick question session -

How do you set up your flights?

(a) Using the Flight planner?

(1) IFR Flight?

(2) VFR Flight?

(b) Using FS Navigator?

I know if you go IFR you get ATC chatter - not so with FSNav

A short answer with a note on the reason please.

Thanks

[SaVas]

I just use the default flight planner. Its one of those things that I wouldnt know if it was the real flight path of some airline or not, so as long
as I get to my destination safely Im happy.

A lot of people swear by FSNav though

[TonyH]

I generally use FSNavigator and export to FS2004 flight plan. Depending on the aircraft I'm flying I'll then import into the GPS or FMC as
appropriate.

FSNavigator gives estimated times and fuel burns. If you also run ASVe you can then import the flight plan and get forecast winds aloft
allowing more accurate time and fuel predictions.

[DBE]

First I use the Great Circle Mapper web site ==> http://gc.kls2.com/ entering 250 Kts as ground speed.

Then I add approx. 15 min. to the indicated duration.

I then load up the FS9 planner and enter an IFR flight.

That's it!

[Tipath]

I use the Flight Planner. I was counting down the days till I could order Radar Contact Ver. 4. Not so sure after reading the comments
about the poor voice quality.
Best Regards,
Tipath

[jboweruk]

All depends on how much time I have and what I'm doing. If I don't have a lot of time I sometimes just use my Beech A36 or Baron and
use the realityXP GNS530 to input my destination. If I know where I'm going before I go to the airport then I use the flight planner. I used
to use FSNav a lot, but until I get bigger planes with an FMS then I doubt if I will. As to IFR or VFR it depends on my time schedule, if I'm
tight which using FSCargo is usually the case then VFR is the order of the day, otherwise if I'm setting my own time and weather is bad it
will be IFR.

[CowlFlapsOpen]

I probably take the prize for the most complicated of the posters so far. Flight planning is part of the fun for me. I also fly light to medium GA
aircraft and rarely above FL 180 to enjoy the (BEV, FSGenesis, add-on scenery) views. So here goes:

1. My planning begins with the free Golden Eagle software for flight planning from FlightPrep (http://www.flightPrep.com I think). This depicts a VFR
Sectional-like image with all navaids, NOTAMS, Prohibited areas, J/V routes, intersections, airports, etc AND terrain data (like the default GPS).
It has a vertical information diagram so that you can see the route's track across/through mountians, airspace classes, plan descents, and--for J/V
airways--make judgments in relation to depicted MEAs. It is updated once a cycle over the internet. I look for best routes/altitudes that keep me
away from Prohibited areas, Military routes, over/below Class B, have proper separation from mountains, and make the fewest ATC changes, etc. Double
clicking Navaids and airports gives COMM and other information such as PDFs of airport diagrams and approaches etc. (Did I say this is all free! It
is a great program).

2. I copy the waypoints down temporarily and then start MSFS and enter them in FSNav. While there, I add bearing points to intersections etc. (a
nice feature of FSNav). I then print the flight plan in FSNav (so the bearing point info is handy), save it for the future, and then export it to MSFS.

3. I then load the exported flight plan in MSFS flight planner (by default it is set to IFR so I have to reset it to VFR as necessary and resave
once, a MSFS bug).

4. I then load it in ActiveSky and process it. From ActiveSky I learn the flight time (considering wind) and use this to compute fuel and ETE for
FSPassengers.

5. Back to MSFS, where I start FsP and load passengers, fuel, and ETE to destination.

6. Finally, once the avionics are on, I program the flight plan into the GPS. I do not use the MSFS GPS. All my aircraft are payware and have
alternate native GPSs or RealityXP 530s. I save the flight plan in the GPS.

In practice this doesn't always take too long because I fly the same routes over and over now that I am using FsP. So these routes are already saved,
printed, and available in the GPS, etc. I just need to load them in MSFS, the GPS, and process them in ActiveSky for the particular weather that day
and enter the information in FsP.

As I said, I like the planning aspect of flying as much as the flying itself. Trying to prepare for real world lessons in the near future.

[CowlFlapsOpen]

jboweruk wrote:
if I'm tight which using FSCargo is usually the case then VFR is the order of the day, otherwise if I'm setting my own time and weather is bad it
will be IFR.

JBOWERUK, how do you like FS Cargo? I've had my eye on it but wondered how it works with FsP.

[poden]

I just do the default flight planning. I'm pretty impressed by what "CowlFlapsOpen" does though.

[DrJimi]

I always fly big iron (PMDG 737, 738 or 744) and always IFR. Flight itself will depend on how much time I want to spend and the area I
feel like flying in -- although I fly out of KMHT a lot (my local airport). Flights are typically minimum of 60 mins or so, maybe 90-120 mins if I
have time. Last night was a 2:30:00 trip KMHT-KMCO (Southwest 737 of course).
I use FSbuild2 to plan all my flights. I'll first check if it has an existing plan, if not let it build one (specifying cruise alt and aircraft). What I
have also been doing more frequently recently is use FlightAware.com to check on real flights to/from KMHT and grabbing the real flight
plans and inputting the information (fixes, jetways, sids, stars) into FSbuild2 and it will build the plan files from that info. That's about as
real as it gets. FSbuild2 creates both my FS9 and PMDG plans (RTE & PLN files) so I can use FS9 ATC. I also have the PMDG aircraft
info loaded into FSbuild2 so it knows the aircraft performance and can thus give me reasonable estimates for flight times, fuel, etc.
FSbuild2 is payware, but IMHO the features Ernie put into it are more than worth the modest cost.

[ste9889]

Tipath wrote:
I use the Flight Planner. I was counting down the days till I could order Radar Contact Ver. 4. Not so sure after reading the comments
about the poor voice quality.
Best Regards,
Tipath

Ditto, i find the default Flight Planner ok, i just add a bit more fuel to what the flight planner says an bam, no fuel pen,lol

All The Best
Ste

[benjieGCXO]

FsNav for me and export to Flight Planner.

I don´t have an internet conexion with my FS9, so I use a little freeware program called FSMetar to have some weather change (website:
http://personal.telefonica.terra.es/web/fsmetar/) With this program I can be sure (99% of the time), by reading the destination metar, of the runway
FSATC is going to vector me when I arrive so I use the apropiate STAR procedure in my planning aswell.

Cheers

[Jetflyer]

Default FS flight planner and GPS.

[Dutch64]

http://rfinder.asalink.net/free/

Can also be used with fsbuild

[SWAFO]

Just putting in my 2 cents for FS Navigator! It really helps, and has many advatages over the default FS9 planner (IMHO).