Hello everyone,
I learned a lot since I bought MSFS, but I still haven’t figured out how to properly plan and execute a flight. I still just get off the ground somewhere and somehow manage to land somewhere else more or less safely.
It’s fun but I’d really love to know how to plan a flight with my honda-jet, determining the various waypoints, flight levels, speeds. How do I know where to start the decent so that I’m at the right level when I reach the runway. All that stuff.
Can anybody recommend a tutorial or a book?
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I’d be happy to share my recommendations.
First off, for video tutorials, I highly recommend checking out YouTube. There are some fantastic flight simulation channels that offer comprehensive tutorials on flight planning. Two channels that come to mind are “Squirrel” and “TheFlightChannel.” They have step-by-step guides that cover everything from choosing waypoints and flight levels to understanding descent planning and approaching runways. Plus, their explanations are clear and easy to follow.
If you prefer a more structured approach, there are some great books available as well. One popular recommendation is “The Pilot’s Guide to the Modern Airline Cockpit” by Stephen M. Casner. It provides detailed insights into flight planning techniques, including determining waypoints, calculating speeds, and planning descents. Another valuable resource is “Instrument Flying Handbook” published by the FAA. Although it’s more focused on instrument flight, it covers flight planning fundamentals that can be applied to any type of flying.
Besides video tutorials and books, there’s another valuable resource you can tap into: real-world flight routes. Websites like FlightAware can be a treasure trove of inspiration and learning.
Here’s the idea: Next time you’re planning a flight with your Honda Jet, take a moment to explore FlightAware or similar websites. You’ll find actual flight routes used by real-world aircraft along side data on how it was executed for you to follow along.
Remember, practice makes perfect! So, don’t hesitate to experiment and try out the techniques you learn. With time and experience, you’ll become more proficient at planning and executing your flights.
Wishing you smooth skies and happy landings!
@AdrenalTexas581
You might also look at these two threads created by MS.
Regards
The recommendations here are good! I also did an eight-part streaming series on exactly this topic, each with a ground session and a flight portion. A lot of this builds upon knowledge necessarily gained in general flight training, for which I also did a sim-oriented series (not to be confused with real flight instruction). I retained most of the VODs for these, which can be found through my Discord (link in profile).
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Thank you all for the information. So I see I’ll have to invest some time in studying and gaining experience. That’s ok, although I was hoping for some “quick and easy” solutions. My leisure time is limited. Retirement is still a few years away. But flightplanning is a very interesting thing!
When I want to fly around, I chose a departure and arrival destination. To make it more immersive I like to turn off all the pointers so its just me and my aircraft and beautiful scenery. After take-off I put on the autopilot but I noticed, all it does is go in one wide circle and at best it follows my altitude settign but it doesnt go towards my arrival point. So Im thinking, theres something Im missing because there is no purple line in my cockpit that shows destination location.
How do I set that up and is it possible to make your own flight path as in where the aircraft to fly around insted of just a straight line towards the destination? Like I want it to fly first around one city, then fly over a lake, then go towards the final point. Thanks.
What aircraft are you flying?
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Flying around is exactly ahat I want to get away from. In real life you have to plan your route, fuel, time and everything. So this is what this thread is about: flightplanning. 
Oh yeah forgot to mention: A320 Neo.
For IFR such as the Hondajet, simbrief is your quick and easy solution
For VFR littlenavmap will show airspace restrictions
Both are free
Simbrief will work most of it out for you including top of climb, top of descent, SIDS & STARS
So maybe I should checkout Simbrief. It’s especially the different altitudes and distances that are a miracle to me. Top of climb, top of descent…
SimBrief is a fantastic tool for taking the guesswork out and providing tools similar to what real pilots use, based on real-world data and procedures.
You can also follow the aircraft performance charts and figures that are found in section 5 of the airplane flight manual (AFM), or pilots operating handbook (POH). That said, depending on the aircraft, those often require quite a bit of knowledge to decipher, and they’re not always available to us.
Some of the calculations are simple arithmetic. For instance, if you know your desired rate of descent, TOD can calculated by taking the altitude to descend and dividing it by your desired descent rate, which gives you minutes to descend. You then multiply that by however miles per minute you are flying. Example:
Desired descent rate of 500 FPM (for passenger comfort in an unpressurized airplane)
Given: Top Altitude 9000’
Bottom Altitude 3000’
Groundspeed 150 knots (or 2.5 miles per min)
9000-3000= 6000 (feet to descend)
6000/500 FPM= 12 (minutes to descend)
12 mins x 2.5 miles per min = 30 (nm to descend).
So start your descent 30nm away.
Now, for a jet aircraft, descent rates and groundspeed start much higher and usually decrease as you descend into thicker air. Fortunately, we can use the 3 to 1 rule of thumb to make it even easier than using charts and/or arithmetic. This means 3nm for every 1000’ we have to descend.
So if we have to descend from 36000’ to 2000’ (a 34,000’ descent): 34 x 3 = 102 nm to top of descent.
Another rule of thumb in a jet is that your rate of descent should be 6 times your groundspeed. You combine that with the 3-1 rule to get a pretty accurate descent. In the example above if we’re cruising at 500kts gs, then our initial descent rate should be 3000fpm.
Some other common rules of thumb:
To get required descent of a known angle, use 100’ per nm per degree. For example, a 3° glideslope is roughly 300’ per NM. So if your groundspeed is 120kts (2nm per min or .5 mins per nm), then your descent rate should be around 600 FPM.
Fortunately there’s another quick rule of thumb for a 3° glideslope that you can do one of two ways:
Take half your ground speed (let’s say it’s 150kts) and multiply by 10: 150/2 = 75. 75 x 10 = 750
Or simply multiply your groundspeed by 5: 150 x 5 = 750
Hope some of these help! Otherwise SimBrief will do it far better for you. It just helps to have these in your pocket when your preflight plan doesn’t go as planned - such as when ATC gives you a different altitude, or a different arrival, or the winds aloft are not as forecast, etc.
Happy flying!
Thanks for all these rules of thumb, but I think I’ll better try Simbrief. My arithmetics skills are close to zero. I’m sort of a mathematic legastenic. Too many numbers make my mind rotate, which is not helpful while flying. But seriously, thanks a lot!