I’m using this: VAS Airplane Toolbox - Utilities - X-Plane.Org Forum it seems to be working just fine until we get the EFB.
Is this really the case? So every NAV and ILS frequency needs to be entered by hand? Yikes. High amount of workload for a single pilot (or does the sim offer the option to have your virtual co-pilot do all this)?
On a work-load related note - is there any way to import the aircraft weights, fuel load, etc in a way similar to what the Aerosoft CRJ does (just enter the fuel / pax / cargo numbers in the EFB and then hit “import” and it automatically loads everything into the FMC)? Or does all of this have to be manually entered prior to each flight. I’m thinking about buying this sim but the thought of spending 30 minutes doing manual data entry before I can even pushback is a bit of a turn-off. My sim time is typically limited.
It’s really not that difficult to enter ILS/VOR freqs in the sim as a single pilot, especially if you’re not flying with failures enabled. Just need to develop some good habits and maintain situational awareness as you progress through the flight.
As for payloads, this is NOT automated but it’s not hard. There are a couple of ways to do it, but the easiest/simplest way to do weights/payload for now (pending an EFB) is to go to the Fuel page of the FMC (Menu → FS Actions → Fuel) and enter your block fuel from your Simbrief plan. This will automagically load the plane instantly with your planned fuel.
Next go to the Payload page and enter the ZFW from your Simbrief plan. Again, this will instantly and automagically allocate weight between passengers/cargo as needed to match.
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So I’m guessing that using Simbrief is pretty much mandatory? Does the sim have the ability to save flight plans somewhere so I don’t have to deal with Simbrief or manual entry for every flight? Sorry for all the questions, my only airliner sim experience is with the CRJ, which apparently is a bit more automated than the RL 737 and also has some shortcuts to save time while getting set up for a flight. Not complaining, just trying to make a purchase decision based on my specific needs (typically no more than 1.5 hrs available for a flight sim session, which works out ok with the CRJ but I’m starting to have doubts about if it’s feasible with the 737. Thanks for the good info!
No, it’s not mandatory. If you want, you can program your entire flight plan into the FMC from takeoff runway to landing runway and every waypoint in between. It’s just tedious. Simbrief makes it really easy, and if you use the Simbrief downloader and get it setup right the first time, it will save the files right into the correct directories so in the plane you can just enter your departure and arrival airports and load up everything else.
That said, if you DO enter everything manually, you can actually save the flight plan from the FMC, which will create a file you can load up again later if you want.
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I don’t have the CRJ but I find the 737 generally quicker to setup and get going than the Fenix A320 (only a few minutes). I use Simbrief for both, and while it’s not quite as well integrated into the 737, using the downloader makes it nearly seamless. 1.5 hours is plenty of time for a flight if you’re expecting 45-60 minutes in the air (or a bit more if you increase the sim rate). Having to manually enter the ILS frequency is a non-issue if you have a good approach workflow.
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That’s plenty of time. If you want to save time and you usually use the state shortcuts in the CRJ (cold&dark, Turnaround etc…), you can certainly do that with the 737 on the FMC (and in the future on an EFB). In fact, you can turn on the FMC without the need to turn on the battery and load the state you want just like you typically do on the CRJ’s EFB.
The only “extra” step you might want to do with the 737 in terms of flight preparation is entering the ILS frequency manually on both NAV radios and setting the course knobs, which takes 60 seconds 
So no worries i say, you’ll be fine.
And in terms of the FMC’s workflow, i think you’ll feel right at home coming from the CRJ, hence i find the 737’s FMC to be “closer” to the CRJ’s than the Airbus in terms of fonts/workflow etc…
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Just a tip in case you do not know: The simbrief downloader app will download these files (rte, pln, etc) to these folders automatically whenever you generate a simbrief flight plan.
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Yeah, I’ve been using that app for a while now. It’s nice, but it just makes things redundant. Like when I was flying Airbus for the last 10 flights, my PMDG folder is filled with those 10 flights that I didn’t do in the PMDG, so I still need to manually clear things. Otherwise I’ll have to disable/enable each time, which is a lot more effort to do than to simply just download the files whjen needed.
You can easily choose which file to be copied so that your flightplan folder only contains the one’s you want
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I know… I have the FS2020.PLN files to go into one folder, and the PMDG .RTE file and .WX file to go their respective folders. But my point still stands, if I generate OFP for an Airbus or any other aircraft, the app will still download all 3 files and place them to each respective folders. Because they will be set to be automatic.
If I disable the PMDG to be downloaded from the app, then I can’t get it to automatically download the files if I generate an OFP for PMDG aircraft unless I enabled it again.
At the end of the day, it’s still a balancing act. Do we just keep all 3 enabled, and let it download everything everytime, and only do the occassional cleaning up every now and then. Or do we enable the PMDG everytime we want to fly the PMDG and disable it everytime we want to fly other aircraft. But that’s still the same effort as manually downloading them anyway.
Unless if we can tie the downloader app to a specific airframe. That if you generate an OFP based on the PMDG airframe, it will download all 3 files. But if you generate OFP from other airframe, it would download only 1 file.
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Ah, I see. I was replying to an earlier post before the topic turned to the files downloaded.
Personally, I have about 8 files downloading each time for different planes and Navigraph. Most of them are very small. After months and months of that, they all take up just a small amount of storage so it’s OK on my system.
-Joe
I don’t think the amount of storage is the issue here. It’s the number of files. Once you have downloaded like hundreds of flight plans over the course of your flight simming, the PMDG .RTE list will have hundreds of them in the CDU, and when you want to request the flight plan, you’ll have to go through the entire list to find and choose the correct one you want.
So regularly cleaning up is not about saving up storage space. It’s about keeping the list clean, compact, neat and easy to choose.
It would be nice if the app has an option for us to “clear” previous flight plans from the active folder. That way, we only have one active flight plan files at any one time. And also a button to manually clear all inactive flight plans from the folders of your choosing.
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Have you tried going into the RTE page, entering your Departure and Destination airports and then hitting REQUEST? I guess if you have numerous plans between the same two airports that might be an issue but otherwise it would wok.
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I never tried that, but I assumed it won’t work. Because as soon as you pick the REQUEST, it will overwrite everything that you input before hitting the request anyway. But I guess it’s worth a try for my next flight. Thanks.
What else would have overwritten? It only loads the RTE file, so nothing else will have changed regarding your fuel, passenger and cargo weights.
I tried putting my flight number in before I press the REQUEST. When the .RTE file was loaded, the flight number was cleared and I had to enter the flight number again before pressing the EXEC button.
Funny you mentioned about fuel, passenger, and cargo weights. I kind of wish that when you request the file, it would also load the target fuel, pax, and cargo weights so that I don’t have to manually enter the values in the Ground Services page.
Well, the solution for that is simple: enter your flight number and departure runway AFTER you request the route.
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Yes… that’s what I’m doing… But you were asking about whether the RTE file is overriding something that was entered before. I’m merely providing you with the example that there are some fields that the RTE request does override.
This is a pointless discussion, I’m not having any issues… They’re just mild inconvenience, that’s all.
You only get G/S indication when doing an ILS approach. RNAV approaches are flown in LNAV/VNAV.
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