Is Navigraph worth the subscription?

Hello,

Sorry if this topic has already been discussed. But can you tell me if Navigraph is worth the subscription?
Especially Simbrief data. How is flight planning more different in Simbrief with or without the subscription?

Rok

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For myself, yes absolutely worth it.

As for Simbrief with and without, Simbrief without it uses old / outdated NavData (AIRAC) information.

So when you enter your flight plan you may have procedures, fixes, etc… within Simbrief that are actually not available in the sim or your FMS, etc… as they have changed.

This may be okay if you are flying “offline” and aren’t concerned with the generated flight plan lining up perfectly with current real world data.

Where it becomes troublesome is when you fly online (VATSIM), and ATC is telling to yo fly a procedure or waypoint, fix, etc… that you don’t have because your data is outdated.

Also with the paid subscription you get the latest charts, etc…

At the end of the day, it’s nice to have the NavData, Charts, Flight Planning tools, and your third party systems (use Navigraph tools to keep the SIM, Pilot2ATC, PMDG 737, Fenix A320, CRJ, Little Nav Map, etc…) all up to date and in sync with one another for continuity sake.

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Simbrief doesn’t add SIDS and STARS IIRC. You need to add them to your flightplan afterwards - this information is in the charts. They don’t have info you couldnt get somewhere else but they are all in one place and are usually integrated into the planes there days.

And as the person above says, you get the latest AIRACs

Get it for a month and find out.

This is not correct, SimBrief absolutely adds procedures as required.

DCT to COATE leaving KTEB, flying the KAXOL2 arrival with the KAXOL transition coming into CYTZ (generated by SimBrief).

Whether that also imports into your planes flight plan is plane dependent.

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But they dont transfer when you import them to your FMC

That varies by plane.

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which one does? PMDG, Fenix and FBW dont.

Yes, if having the most up to date information is. I like simbrief as the FP is very good. It can be done in other places, skyvector, but that site has limited Europe and world information, if only in USA, then it works. You can download the FP to your desktop and print out in PDF format. I have become accustomed to simbrief, so it’s worth it for flight planning. Navigraph is working on an updated feature maps 8, which will make planning easier or at least better graphical and visually clearer.
I think working in their site is harder than some others, figuring out what to do, etc. So, watch some training videos to learn how it works. Depending on what simulators you use, several programs needed (free to download) for FP export and such.

To me, and I fly airliners 99% of the time, I would say YES, a Navigraph subscription is absolutely worth it!

Honestly, I can’t see how I’d be able to fly without it!

Sure - you can get charts for free with Chartfox, and other providers are available, like the one from Aerosoft (can’t remember the name of it right now); but bear in mind Navigraph does not only give you charts, but also updates your aircraft’s AIRAC cycles too with their Navdata, which the Simbrief website uses too. So it’s good to keep those in sync. (Simbrief does have a free option but it is out of date).

For the ease of use, and monthly updates to your navdata, which integrates into Simbrief, and for the charts themselves, it’s an absolute no-brainer and if you do airliner flying in the sim, it’s a must.

IRL this information may change on short notice. I assume most plane devs in MSFS exclude them from the flight plan input deliberately for this reason. But manually entering the correct runway and SID at startup, and STAR, approach and runway near TOD is a matter of maybe 30 seconds.

(The Aerosoft CRJs do import SIDs and STARa from Simbrief.)

I only fly offline, but I also wouldn’t want to be without my Navigraph subscription. Not so much because it matters much to me that the data is “current”, it doesn’t. But because flight planning becomes so much easier and streamlined when the date in SimBrief matches what’s in the sim and on the excellent Jeppesen charts, not to mention in Little Nav Map and Pilot2ATC.

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You are correct, Simbrief won’t populate SIDs and Stars into the nav system of complex aircraft.
Simbrief does however, include SIDS and STARS in its plans.
All one has to do is enter that provided SID/STAR information into the FMC\CDU.

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For me, Navigraph subscription is worth every penny.
First of all, I don’t have to search for charts all over the internet, sometimes charts are not readily available, or in many cases they are outdated.
Second, I update the in-sim navigational data using Navigraph, IMHO its much more accurate than NavBlue, especially in Europe and also covers some ILS approaches and even several small airports missing in NavBlue default data.
Third, I use SimBrief extensively and I can always rely on updated AIRAC when building my flight plans.
Finally, I have been testing the beta version of Navigraph Charts 8 and I can tell you that its awesome, by far much better than the current version. And there are also some great VFR features added to it.

I do not know if and when Asobo will finally decide to include the NavBlue Charts+ feature in the sim, but I never intended to wait for it. Too bad they didn’t go with Navigraph. For example, I fear that the iniBuilds A310 coming with Sim Update 11 won’t have a Simbrief/Navigraph integration, due to license limitations imposed by Microsoft :frowning:

Accurate data is also important for flying with networks (VATSIM/IVAO).

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Another vote for worth it. I’m loving the moving maps on a FireHD tablet I got for $75 on Prime Day. *Note - to get the software on a fire tablet you have to install the Google Play Store so you need to be a bit tech savvy. I also love using AviaCDU on my old Nexus 7 tablet so I have the FMC right in front of me.

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IMO Navigraph should be integrated into the base MSFS product. It’s a shame it already isn’t as it is one of the most essential tools available to the flight sim community.

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They already have a contract with NavBlue, which is why, as mentioned by others above, as some third party aircraft become mainline with the sim (such as the CJ4) Navigraph charts will no longer work in them.

Who is NavBlue? I don’t see them being an undisputed leader in the flight sim nav data, charts etc? All I am saying is that we have this great company and name that has been around the community for years provided precisely what we need and deserve it to be a part of the base product.

They’re a French company owned by Airbus.

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https://www.navblue.aero/

An Airbus company.

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