Hi everyone,
A while ago I started building WingRally, a browser-based personal dispatcher for Microsoft Flight Simulator.
The idea came from a very simple problem: I would often have an hour or two available to fly, but no clear idea where to go. I would then spend far too much of that time browsing maps, checking airports and inventing a route instead of actually flying.
WingRally works the other way around.
You choose things such as:
- your aircraft;
- how much time you have available;
- departure area;
- VFR or IFR;
- desired difficulty;
- and how much of the mission should be revealed in advance.
WingRally then creates a mission that fits those constraints.
One of the features I personally enjoy most is the dispatch mode. You can:
- reveal the complete flight immediately;
- hide only the destination;
- or use Blind Dispatch, where much more of the mission remains a surprise.
The aim is not to replace detailed planning tools such as SimBrief. WingRally is more about answering what to fly and why. Once you have accepted a mission, you can still use your normal planning workflow.
Since I first started sharing WingRally, it has also been covered by simFlight and MSFS Addons, and it is now listed in Flightsim.to’s Websites & Online Tools section.
WingRally is still actively being developed, and the core version is free to use:
I would particularly appreciate feedback on:
- whether the generated flight times feel realistic;
- whether the mission variety is sufficient;
- whether hidden-destination / Blind Dispatch adds something enjoyable;
- which features would make you come back regularly.
Thanks for taking a look. Constructive criticism is very welcome.
I took a look, and was a bit disappointed to find that it suffers from the same problem nearly every career/mission addon does: It does not support the planes that I want to fly. I fly GA largely, and often less common aircraft (the new Pietenpol Air Camper, for instance.)
While everyone is vying to make some flavor of this app, some consideration should be made for not repeating the mistakes of the past (FSEconomy, looking at you) when it comes to unsupported aircraft or long delays in adding support for aircraft.
I have my own version of this type of app (personal, just for a friend and I) and we solved this by letting the user register any aircraft, then pulling some information via SimConnect to help determine what kind of routes are possible with it. If the idea of WingRally is to be competitive, I can see locking it down. If it’s just aiming to be fun, there’s nothing less fun that not being able to log a flight because the app doesn’t support it. Been there, done that way too many times with apps of this nature.
Best of luck and I’ll keep my eyes peeled if you have or find a solution to this in your app! I really like the hidden destination and blind dispatch ideas.
Thanks for the honest feedback — and I think your criticism is fair.
WingRally currently builds its aircraft list mainly around SimBrief-supported types. That provided a useful starting point, but it should not mean pilots must wait for WingRally or SimBrief before they can fly an uncommon GA, vintage, experimental or newly released aircraft.
I don’t want WingRally to repeat that familiar “unsupported aircraft” problem. My intended solution is to let users create their own aircraft profile using a few practical values such as cruise speed, endurance/range, runway requirement and suitable surfaces. WingRally could then use it for mission generation, PLN files and the logbook. SimBrief would remain optional where a compatible type or airframe exists.
Longer term, the planned PC Bridge could recognise the active aircraft through SimConnect and help prefill or refine those values. User-entered aircraft support should remain part of the useful free foundation.
The Pietenpol Air Camper is a perfect example of why this is needed. I’d be very interested in having you test this workflow when it is ready.
Thanks again—and I’m glad you like the hidden destination and blind dispatch ideas!
Thanks again for raising this — your criticism was fair, so I’ve now implemented the first version of custom aircraft support in WingRally.
Pilots can now add an unsupported aircraft themselves instead of waiting for it to appear in the WingRally or SimBrief catalog. You enter a few practical planning values:
- manufacturer, model and optional variant;
- normal cruise speed and practical range;
- minimum runway length;
- suitable runway surfaces and flight rules.
WingRally immediately uses these values for route selection, runway checks, mission generation, PLN export and the personal logbook. SimBrief mapping is optional, so uncommon GA, vintage, experimental and newly released aircraft can still be used without it.
A custom aircraft remains private by default, but the pilot can optionally submit it for review. Once approved, it becomes available in the community catalog so other pilots don’t all have to recreate the same aircraft. Later corrections follow a controlled review process as well.
The SimConnect-based PC Bridge is still a future step, so aircraft values are currently entered manually. However, the important part is now live: pilots no longer need to wait for WingRally or SimBrief to support their aircraft.
This is available now in WingRally v0.15.0. I’d still be very interested in having you try it with the Pietenpol Air Camper—or any other unusual aircraft you fly—and hearing whether the fields and generated missions feel right.
Your post genuinely helped shape this feature, so thank you!
You can now also choose what kind of published ATC facilities you want WingRally to require when generating a flight:
No preference, Tower, or Tower + ATIS.
WingRally applies that requirement to departure, destination and tour stops, and shows the published airport frequencies directly with the flight.
After generating a SimBrief briefing, WingRally can also display the SimBrief navlog route alongside the original WingRally route, so you can switch between both on the map and see what SimBrief actually planned.
