I have an account on Simbrief (Navigraph account). I’ve downloaded the FBW A32NX (switch from Stable to Development version). I believe I’ve integrated my Simbrief Pilot ID into the FlyPad.
The flight in Simbrief had a departure and arrival runway. Departure was from EGCC runway 05R and arrival was in EGLL runway 09L.
I managed to load this Simbrief-generated flight into the FMS.
All was well shortly after take-off when I switched the autopilot on, but as I got nearer to EGLL I was no longer in NAV mode. It had changed to HDG mode and the plane just flew past EGLL and continued south.
I did notice no route displayed in the VFR map in MSFS. Also, the MCDU was showing something like ‘Enter destination info’ as I got closer to EGLL.
I am new to the A32NX, Simbrief and MCDU/FMS, but I have done a fair bit of reading on the Simbrief integration and how to load the Simbrief fligth plan into the FMS. I’d appreciate any pointers on what could have gone wrong. I was expecting a gear-to-gear autopilot flight.
I think the Simbrief import does not include SID/STARs, so you must select them in the FMC after loading the flight plan. This is what I do anyway.
If there is no STAR/Approach, I think the way the FBW is coded means it will fly in HDG mode when it reaches the last Simbrief waypoint. It requires pilot intervention to activate the approach.
Now, that said, there are a thousand people here with a lot more experience with Simbrief imports on the FBW, so all corrections to my poor explanation will appear below!
You need to program the STAR (if applicable) and the approach in the FMC. On the flight plan page, click on the LSK for the arrival airport and select the “arrival” LSK. From there plug in the STAR and approach as required.
Thanks for the replies. I’ll try to figure out the additional steps needed. There is a link on the FBW site that discusses the FMS/MCDU programming so I’ll read up on that.
Also, any SID/STAR with a transition to vectors from ATC at any point will go to into heading as well, and one would need to intervene and manually fly direct to the first waypoint on the SID or approach.
I was having a similar issue getting my head around Sim Brief plans in FBW A320 (I’m a new simbrief user and have only used it about 15 times). Aside from what others are suggesting by editing plan in the MCDU, I’ve found that you can just use Sim Brief to export a FS2020 .pln flight plan file that you can then easily import into the FS2020 world map planner, then use the default world planner to add departure gate (from the dropdown), SID and STAR to the plan very easily (and visually) then the whole route appears in the MCDU. I’m not sure of any downside to doing this way, and I know some people have a huge aversion to anything to do with the default flight planner, but it does work.
Yes, if you select them. Load the sim brief plan in to the world planner and it will likely have the runways selected there. Select SID for departure RW, select gate from dropdown (not the map) if you want to start at a gate. Select ILS approach on arrival runway and then select the STAR. Visually check it all to see if it makes sense & hit “fly” then it will all be loaded into the MCDU. If you are lucky the ILS frequency will be in there already, but if not you can add it manually. I’ve found sometimes that ILS frequency only appears “loaded” in MCDU when you are on approach but not always! & I haven’t figured out why.
Simbrief does not generate or export SIDs or STARs. That’s because they aren’t (as far as I know) part of the filed flight plan in real life, and that’s what Simbrief is attempting to generate - a copy of what a real-world filing for that route would be. IRL, I think the SID is assigned at clearance time as part of the clearance approval process, and the STAR is assigned by the area controller when the aircraft is a few hundred miles out from the destination, and is based on traffic and weather conditions at that time. ( Any real commercial pilots please correct me if I’m wrong.)
For the 32NX, you input them yourself after the flight plan is loaded into the FMS, as described above. (Truth be told, I’m perfectly happy inputting the whole flight plan myself; I import mainly to get the weight and fuel info loaded in automatically.)