Flight Plan Sharing

[Tom Clayton]

I had an idea. No, no, you don't need to dive under your desk - this time. Since we have a thread for good destinations, I thought we could also do with a thread for full flights. So I propose attaching your zipped pln files and posting a brief description, plus any safety notes such as minimum altitudes. I'll start off with my trip from Winslow AZ to Phoenix by way of the Barringer Crater. There's not much around in the way of nav aids, so GPS is a must, and I recommend something with an autopilot. Since you'll be crossing the Mazatzal Mountains on the way, get up to a minimum of 6000' to clear. At that level, you'll still be lower than the peak off to your left. After that, you can start heading down at your discretion. Field elevation is 1135', so plan accordingly. The area around Sky Harbor is mostly flat.


Please be sure to zip your pln files, and don't upload the pln files directly.


Now for a side note... If you use Bomber12's Lat/Lon method to insert custom waypoints, they show up as "Custom" in the flightplan. But once you save the pln file, you can open it in Notepad++ and that app recognizes the xml format and color codes everything for you. You can then easily find your "Custom" waypoint and change the name. I've done that here, so the Nav Log shows "Meteor Crater" as the first waypoint.

 

[Dangerous Beans]

Sounds like a cool idea Tom.

I can't work out where they go though.

 

[Navy Chief]

I like the idea, Tom! I messaged DaleRFU, as he mentioned in the Screenshot thread about having flown the "Mach Loop". I asked him if he might share that flight plan! NC

 

[Tom Clayton]

I guess I should have mentioned how to find where they go! I guess in theory, one you click the load/save button, you could just navigate to the desktop to either load or save there. Personally, I'm using the default location. To find that spot, click the load/save, then click in the address bar of that window to see and highlight the actual path. What I did from there was to open another File Explorer window like Documents or whatever, then paste that location into the address bar and hit Enter. Once you're there, look on the left nav bar and right click on Quick Access, then pin that location to the list. On my system bought from the MS Store and using the default install location, the files are in ...8bbwe\LocalState​.

 

[Dangerous Beans]

I like the idea, Tom! I messaged DaleRFU, as he mentioned in the Screenshot thread about having flown the "Mach Loop". I asked him if he might share that flight plan! NC

I dont know of a flight plan for the loop but if you Google "mach loop route" you should find plenty of map images of it.
I must have flown it thousands of times in every sim from FS9 to FS2020 in just about every plane imaginable.
I usually take of from EGOD Llanbedr runway 18

Here a lap I did in Aerofly FS2 after messing with the terrain tools for it

 

[Navy Chief]

I found this on the VRS Forums:

https://forums.vrsimulations.com/forums/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=93&t=16487


And the download from Flightsim.com at:

https://www.flightsim.com/vbfs/fslib.php?do=copyright&fid=188452

NC

Hoping there is a way to convert the flight plan files to MSFS2020 format.

 

[Tom Clayton]

I think I may know a way. I'll play around with it later.

 

[Tom Clayton]

Here's one from the old days that I converted to the new sim. It's Tamiami to Nassau by way of VOR's. You can either fly the GPS route, or challenge yourself by pulling up the plan, writing down the VOR frequencies, then hitting reset to erase everything, then just load up at Tamiami and go, using old-school radio navigation.

 

[Tom Clayton]

Hey Chief - I just checked, and your pln files for the Mach Loop load up just fine with no modification!

 

[Tom Clayton]

Two more... Ted Stevens to Kodiak by way of VOR's, then a loop around Kodiak Island for a T&G at every strip before putting back in at Kodiak.

I really should think about actually flying these some time.