Plan G Manual

TA Software
VFR Flight Planning for Microsoft Flight Simulator
PLAN-G USER MANUAL

Authors: Peter Dodds, Chester U.K. & Jeff Schallenberg, Mont Saint-Hilaire, Qubec, Canada Manual Design & Editor: Peter Dodds, Chester U.K.
Plan-G User Manual Version 2.05 March 2011
Copyright2011TASoftware Allrightsreserved.Anyunauthorisedduplicationofthispublicationisprohibited. WrittenpermissionisrequiredfromTASoftwarefortheduplicationinpartorinfullofany itemsherein.

Plan-G User Manual Version 2.05 March 2011
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CONTENTS
1 2 3 4 5 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................1 FEATURES......................................................................................................................2 PREREQUISITES.............................................................................................................3 INSTALLATION ..............................................................................................................4 FIRST RUN .....................................................................................................................6 5.1 5.2 5.3 6 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 7 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 8 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 Single PC ...........................................................................................................6 Networked PCs.................................................................................................6 Has it Worked? .................................................................................................6 Google Maps Options ......................................................................................7 The Quick Access Toolbar..............................................................................7 The Ribbon Menu Tabs ...................................................................................8 The Main Window ............................................................................................9 The Overview Map...........................................................................................9 The Expander Panel ........................................................................................9 Tool Tips ...........................................................................................................9 The File Tab ...................................................................................................10 The Home Tab ...............................................................................................10 The Map Tab...................................................................................................10 The Data Tab..................................................................................................11 The View Tab .................................................................................................11 Ribbon Auto-Hide ..........................................................................................12 New..................................................................................................................13 Open ................................................................................................................13 Save As ............................................................................................................13 Help .................................................................................................................14 Options ............................................................................................................14 8.5.1 Locations.............................................................................................15 8.5.2 Units ....................................................................................................19
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HAVE A LOOK AROUND ...............................................................................................7
THE RIBBON MENU TABS...........................................................................................10
THE FILE MENU IN DETAIL ........................................................................................13
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8.5.3 Sounds .................................................................................................19 8.5.4 FS Connections...................................................................................20 8.5.5 The GPS Panel....................................................................................21 8.5.6 User Aircraft.......................................................................................22 8.5.7 Traffic .................................................................................................23 8.5.8 Weather ..............................................................................................24 9 THE HOME RIBBON IN DETAIL ..................................................................................25 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 9.7 9.8 9.9 9.10 9.11 9.12 9.13 9.14 9.15 9.16 9.17 10 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7 10.8
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Find..................................................................................................................25 Print.................................................................................................................26 Start Position .................................................................................................26 Altitude ...........................................................................................................27 Airspeed ..........................................................................................................27 Winds ...............................................................................................................27 VFR/IFR ...........................................................................................................27 Quick ...............................................................................................................27 Reverse............................................................................................................28 The Edit Button .............................................................................................28 The Frame Button .........................................................................................28 Copy Route .....................................................................................................28 Range Rings ....................................................................................................28 Bookmark ........................................................................................................28 KML ..................................................................................................................29 Connect/Disconnect .....................................................................................30 Map Panning Control.....................................................................................30 User Configured Settings .............................................................................31 Reset Display Defaults..................................................................................31 Airports ...........................................................................................................32 Navaids............................................................................................................32 Airspace ..........................................................................................................34 User Waypoints ..............................................................................................35 Reset Defaults................................................................................................35 Fix Overlays....................................................................................................35
THE MAP RIBBON IN DETAIL.....................................................................................31
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THE DATA RIBBON IN DETAIL...................................................................................36 THE VIEW RIBBON IN DETAIL ...................................................................................37 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.5 12.6 Plan Elevation Tick box................................................................................37 Map Graticule.................................................................................................38 Map Overlays..................................................................................................38 Expander Icon ................................................................................................38 Alternative Zoom Controls ..........................................................................39 Keep Window on Top ....................................................................................39 Plan..................................................................................................................40 Weather ..........................................................................................................41 GPS Panel........................................................................................................41 A Special HSI ..................................................................................................42 13.4.1 The Wind Arrow.................................................................................42 13.4.2 Direction Indicator ............................................................................42 13.4.3 Course Deviation Indicator ..............................................................43 13.4.4 Automatic Direction Finder .............................................................43 13.4.5 Descent Profile Indicator .................................................................43 13.5 13.6 13.7 13.8 Traffic .............................................................................................................43 Trail Analysis..................................................................................................44 Aerodrome......................................................................................................45 Information.....................................................................................................45 Right-Click on the Map .................................................................................47 14.1.1 Create User Waypoint ......................................................................47 14.1.2 Spot Elevation....................................................................................47 14.1.3 Display and Hide Range Rings .........................................................47 14.1.4 QDM Range and Bearing ...................................................................48 14.1.5 Lock Info Panel ..................................................................................49 14.2 Right Click on an Airport..............................................................................49 14.2.1 Start Flight Plan at Airport..............................................................49 14.2.2 Select Airport as Alternate..............................................................50 14.2.3 Show Airport Chart ...........................................................................50
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THE DATA EXPANDERS ..............................................................................................40 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4
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CONTEXT MENU OPTIONS.........................................................................................47 14.1
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14.2.4 Instrument Approaches ....................................................................50 14.2.5 METAR..................................................................................................51 14.2.6 Other Selections ................................................................................51 14.3 Right-Click on the Plan Expander............................................................52 14.3.1 Set This as the Active Leg ...............................................................52 14.3.2 Centre on Map....................................................................................52 14.3.3 Move or Delete Waypoint.................................................................52 14.3.4 Cross References ...............................................................................52 14.3.5 Add Alternate.....................................................................................54 14.3.6 Set Author...........................................................................................54 15 FLIGHT PLANS ............................................................................................................55 15.1 Creating a Flight Plan Graphically .............................................................55 15.1.1 New Flight Plan .................................................................................55 15.1.2 Flight Conditions ...............................................................................55 15.1.3 Departure Airport..............................................................................55 15.1.4 Continue to Add Waypoints .............................................................56 15.1.5 Start Position .....................................................................................57 15.1.6 Vertical Navigation ...........................................................................58 15.1.7 Notes ...................................................................................................58 15.1.8 Save your Plan ...................................................................................58 15.1.9 The Reverse Button ..........................................................................58 15.2 Creating a Flight Plan by Data Entry .........................................................58 15.2.1 Inserting Waypoints into the Tabular Plan ...................................58 15.2.2 Notes ...................................................................................................59 15.2.3 Save Your Plan ...................................................................................59 15.3 Vertical Navigation .......................................................................................59 15.3.1 User Defined VNAV Profile...............................................................59 15.3.2 Default VNAV Profile ........................................................................60 15.4 Modifying Existing Flight Plans ...................................................................60 15.4.1 Adding a New Waypoint to the End of a Plan ..............................61 15.4.2 Inserting a New Waypoint................................................................61 15.4.3 Inserting a Waypoint into the Tabular Plan .................................61 15.4.4 Moving and Deleting Waypoints......................................................61
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15.4.5 Save Your Edited Plan ......................................................................62 15.5 16 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 16.5 16.6 17 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 17.5 17.6 17.7 17.8 18 18.1 18.2 19 19.1 19.2 Using the Edit Button ................................................................................62 Creating User Waypoints..............................................................................64 Adding a New User Waypoint to the Flight Plan......................................66 Modifying User Waypoints............................................................................66 Deleting User Waypoints..............................................................................67 Managing the User Waypoint Database .....................................................67 Importing and Exporting Records ...............................................................68 Preparation.....................................................................................................69 The Scenic Route...........................................................................................70 A Little Stick of Blackpool Rock .................................................................72 Controlled Airspace ......................................................................................73 VNAV Profile...................................................................................................75 Notes ...............................................................................................................76 Alternate.........................................................................................................76 Lets Go Flying...............................................................................................77 Flight Data Transfer......................................................................................79 Communication Protocols............................................................................80 Connecting to FS9 .........................................................................................82 Connecting to FSX with SimConnect..........................................................83 19.2.1 Connection Using Pipe......................................................................84 19.2.2 Connection Using IPv4 ......................................................................84 19.2.3 Connection Using IPv6 ......................................................................85 19.3 20 20.1 20.2 Connecting to FSX with FSUIPC ..................................................................86 First Find Your Sim........................................................................................88 Connecting to FS9 from a Networked PC..................................................88 20.2.1 WideFS.................................................................................................89 20.2.2 Connection Steps...............................................................................89
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User Waypoints ..........................................................................................................64
AN EXAMPLE FLIGHT PLAN .......................................................................................69
CONNECTION TO FLIGHT SIMULATOR ....................................................................79
FLIGHT SIMULATOR AND PLAN-G ON THE SAME COMPUTER ..............................82
FLIGHT SIMULATOR AND PLAN-G ON A NETWORK ...............................................88
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20.3
Connecting to FSX from a Networked PC with SimConnect ..................90 20.3.1 Creating a SimConnect.xml file for the IPv4 Protocol................90 20.3.2 Creating a SimConnect.xml file for the IPv6 Protocol................91 20.3.3 Modifying an Existing a SimConnect.xml file ...............................93 20.3.4 Configure the SimConnect Settings in Plan-G..............................93 20.3.5 Connected ..........................................................................................95
20.4
Connecting to FSX from a Networked PC with FSUIPC ...........................95 20.4.1 WideFS.................................................................................................96 20.4.2 Connection Steps...............................................................................96
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MORE ON SIMCONNECT .............................................................................................98 21.1 21.2 Example 1 .......................................................................................................99 Example 2 .....................................................................................................100 Appendix 1 Table of Illustrations .............................................................102 Appendix 2 Support ..................................................................................105 Appendix 3 Solve the Script Error Issue................................................105 Appendix 4 List of Beta Testers .............................................................106
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APPENDICES ..............................................................................................................102 22.1 22.2 22.3 22.4
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INTRODUCTION
PlanGisthefirstFlightSimulatorplanningsoftwaretooltousetheacclaimedand versatileGoogleMapsmappingtool.Hitherto,theinbuiltplannerandthirdparty externalflightplannershaveextrapolatedgeographicdatafromtheSimulatorprogram itself,withthelimitationwhichthatentails.Now,anygeographicalfeaturewhichexists inthevastglobalmappingsystemofGoogleMapscanbeincludedinyourflightplans. PlanGaddsoverlaystoGoogleMapspertinenttoFlightandFlightPlanningAirports, ControlledAirspace,ProhibitedandRestrictedAreas,InstrumentApproachPathsand manymore. FlightPlanscanbegraphicallymodified;adding,deletingordraggingwaypointstonew positionswiththemouse.Userdefinedwaypointscanbecreatedontheflyasyou buildaplan. PlanGrunsasawebstyleapplicationusingitsowninbuiltInternetExplorerbrowser.
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FEATURES
GoogleMapsinterfaceforrichtopographicalandsatellitedetail Showsairspace,airportsandnavaidsonthemap(fromFlightSimdata) Configurablelevelsofdetail(objectsdisplayed)foreachzoomsetting VerticalRoute(requiresadditionalDigitalElevationModel(DEM)download) FullyeditableplanscanbesavedinFSXorFS9formatorinPlanGsownformat ExistingFSplanscanbeloaded Flightplanscanbereversedattheclickofthemouse FlightPlanscanbeannotated,andwaypointscrossreferencedtogroundbased radionavaids. EithermaporPilotsLog(PLOG),orboth,canbeprinted Customisabledatabaseofuserwaypoints,VisualReferencePoints(VRPs), airstripsetc.Manyusefulwaypointsareincludedinthedownload. AdditionalUserWaypointcommaseparatedtextfilescanbeimported. SynchronisedconnectiontoFSXorFS9 Aircrafttelemetry,aircraftflighttrails,traffic,weatheretcavailablewhen connectedtoFSXorFS9 Savedflighttrailscanbedisplayedforlateranalysis ConfigurableRangeRingscanshowdistanceorflighttime Displayinstrumentapproachesandlowaltitudeairways DisplaycurrentweatherforknownweatherstationsinTAFandMETARformat evenifnotconnectedtoFS OverlayGoogleKML/KMZfiles CanberunonasecondmonitororonanetworkedPC.
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PREREQUISITES
Tofunction,PlanGrequiresthat.Net4.0ClientProfilebeinstalledontheusersPC.Ifit isn'tinstalledonyourPC,itisdownloadedautomaticallybytheinstallationprogram, andtheuserdoesntneedtotakeanyaction. PlanGalsorequiresanactiveInternetconnectiontofunction.
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INSTALLATION
InstallingPlanGissimplicityitself.DownloadthelatestversionfromtheTASoftware Forumhttp://www.tasoftware.co.uk/forum.Unzipthedownloadedzipfiletoa temporaryfolderofyourchoice.Threefileswillbeextracted:setup.exe,setup.msiand aReadMe.txtfile.Runthefilesetup.exebydoubleclickingthefilename.Thiswill installPlanGinafolderwithinthestandardProgramFilessystemofWindows,e.g. C:\ProgramFiles\TASoftware\PlanG Wheninstallationiscomplete,thefamiliaryellowaeroplaneiconwillbeplacedon yourdesktop,whichwhenclicked,willthelaunchtheapplication.
Figure 1 The Plan-G User Interface at Startup
Ifyouhaveinstalledversion0.9ofthissoftware,youcaneitherdeletetheprevious versionfoldercompletely,oryoucanifyouwishleaveitonyourPC,asitwillnotcause Version2.0andlatertomalfunction. TouninstallPlanGfromVersion2.0onwards,youneedtouninstallitfromtheWindows ControlPanel,(InWindowsXP:Add/RemovePrograms,inVistaandWindows7: Programs/Uninstallaprogram).Normallyitwillalsobenecessarytouninstallprevious versionsbeforeinstallinganupdatedone.TheReadmefileincludedwiththedownload containsanappropriatewarningifthisisneeded. TheseparateaddonwaypointpacksavailableforVersion0.9havebeenexpandedand includedinVersion2.0,sothereisnoneedtoreimportthemintotheUserWaypoint Database. IfyouhavecreateduserwaypointsinanearlierversionofPlanGthatyouwanttokeep, thenbecauseofstructuralandcontentchangesinthedatabasefromearlierversions,
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youmustexportthemtoaCSVfile,(seeSection16.6)BEFOREinstallingthenewversion ofPlanG,thenreimportthemonceyouhaveinstalledthenewrelease. UsefulTip:WhynotkeepabackupofyourUserWaypointsasaCSVfileanyway,ina separatefolderfromPlanGtoavoiditbeingaccidentallyoverwrittenwhenyouinstalla newversion?Youcouldmakeitpartofyournormalbackuproutine,whichofcourse youhave! Witheachnewversion,youwillneedtorebuildthemaindatabase.Awarningmessage tothiseffectappearswhenyoufirststartPlanG.However,manyothersettingsare retainedbetweenversions,suchasthelocationsoftheimportantfilesPlanGneedsto access,(SeeSection8.5.1)sothereisnoneedtoreenterthem.
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FIRST RUN
ThefirsttimeyourunPlanGyouwillbepromptedtobuilditsinternaldatabase.Once thedatabasehasbeencreatedyoucanexploreatleisure.
5.1
Single PC
TobuildtheinternaldatabasewithPlanGandFSonthesamecomputer,gototheData menuandclickontheBuildFSXorBuildFS9icon.IfyouhavebothFS9andFSX installed,youmustbuildthedatabaseforbothSimsseparately.Youcanthenswitch betweenthemandPlanGwillloadthecorrectdataset.
Figure 2 Database Build Options
Intheexampleshownabove,onlyFSXisinstalledonthatPC.
5.2
Networked PCs
IfFSXorFS9isinstalledonaseparate,networked,computertoPlanG,youmustfirst followtheinstructionsinSection8.5.1belowtosetupthelocationsinPlanGsothatit knowswheretogetitsFlightSimulatordata.Onceyouhavedonethis,PlanGwillbe abletofindthedataitneedstobuildthedatabasefortheappropriatesim.Youcan evenhaveFSXononePC,FS9onanother,andPlanGonathird.Aslongasthe locationsaresetcorrectly,PlanGwillbuildthedatabases. BuildingthedatabasesisnotthesameasconnectingPlanGtoyoursim.ToconnectFS toPlanGfollowtheinstructionsinsection20FlightSimulatorandPlanGonSeparate Computers.However,youmusthavefirstsetthelocationsotherwisewhenyoutryto connectFStoPlanG,youwillgetanerrormessage.
5.3
Has it Worked?
OccasionallyPlanGwillappeartobuildthedatabaseveryquickly.Thisusuallymeans thatthebuildhasfailed,andyouwillhavetobuildthedatabaseagain.Youcanquickly checkwhetheradatabaseexists,becauseanycurrentdatabasesavailableareindicated bytherelevantdatabaseiconbeingastrongcolour;blueforFSX;greyforFS9.Ifeither simisnotinstalled,thenthedatabaseiconforthatsimwillbeapaleblue(forFSX)ora palegreyforFS9.
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HAVE A LOOK AROUND

Mostofthescreenisoccupiedbyamap.IfyouhaveusedGooglemapsbeforeitwillbe quitefamiliar.TopleftaretheGoogleMapspanandzoomtoolsandtoprighttheusual Googlemapsoptions.
6.1
Google Maps Options
Figure 3 The Standard Google Maps Tools are used
MapThisdisplaysroads,riversandstreetnamesifyouzoominfarenoughetc. Satellite Obviouslythisdisplayssatellitephotographsofthewholeearth,althoughasyouzoom in,thelevelofdetailavailablevarieswidely.IntheUK,youcaneasilyidentifyindividual buildings. Hybrid Streetnamesandtownnamesareoverlaidonthebasicsatelliteviews. Terrain ThisviewisprobablythemostusefulforFSpilotsasterrainclearanceandidentification ofhighgroundisimportant.Towns,roads,riverslakesetc.,areshownminimally. Contoursareshownat200metreintervals. Earth IfyoualreadyhaveGoogleEarthinstalledonyourPC,thenitcanbeaccessedfromthis option.IfyoudonothaveGoogleEarthinstalled,thenclickingthisoptiondisplaysa prompttoinstalltheGoogleEarthPlugin.
6.2
The Quick Access Toolbar

Bydefault,thistoolbarcontainsthreeitems.However,ANYbuttononanyofthe ribbonscanbeaddedtotheQuickAccessToolbarbyrightclickingandselecting'Addto QuickAccessToolbar'
Figure 4 Quick Access Toolbar
Thedefaulticonsare,fromtheleft: TheYellowAeroplaneiconmoves,resizes,minimisesormaximisesthewholePlanG window.
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TheBlankPageiconclearsanyelementsofaflightplaninmemory,allowingafresh start. TheDownArrowIconclickingthisicondisplaysasmalldropdownmenuwithsix options.Inthepicturebelow,anadditionaloption,SaveFlightPlanhasbeenselectedas wellasthedefault,andtherelevanticonisshownontheQuickAccessToolbar.
Figure 5 The Customise Quick Access Toolbar Dropdown
InadditiontothefiveQuickAccessToolbaroptions,theQuickAccessToolbaritselfcan beshownbelowtheribbonratherthanaboveit.WhentheQuickAccessToolbaris belowtheribbon,thefinalitemonthedropdownchangestoShowabovetheRibbon, asyoumightexpect. Theribbonbarcanbeminimisedbydoubleclickingononeofthefourribbontabs (Home,Map,Data&View).Torestoretheribbonbar,doubleclickagainanyof theribbontabs. TheFiletabisaspecialcase.Doubleclickingonlyopensandclosesthefilescreen.In thisandinotherways,itfunctionsdifferentlyfromtheothertabs. Theribbonbarfunctionsarenotneededatalltimes,sominimizingtheribbondoesnot necessarilyreduceyouroptions,butcanfreevaluablescreenspace. Theribbonscanalsobeautohidden.Atthefarrighthandendofeachribbonisa smallarrowiconwhichwhenclickedhidesnotonlythecurrentribbon,butthewhole ribbonsystem.WhenyouclickoneoftheMenutabs,theribbonisdisplayeduntilyou clickonthemaporexpanderarea,whenitisautomaticallyhiddenagain.
6.3
The Ribbon Menu Tabs

TherearefiveTabs,eachofwhichwhenclicked,revealsitsownRibbonMenu(except Filewhichopensapagewithasidebarmenu).
Figure 6 The Menu Tabs
TheribbonmenuscontrolalmostallthefunctionsofPlanG.
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6.4
The Main Window

WhenPlanGstarts,themainwindowdisplaysaGooglemapofthelocationwhereyou werewhenyoulastexitedtheprogram,andatthesamemagnification.Featuresare displayedinaccordancewiththeuserdefinedoptionsontheMapribbon.
6.5
The Overview Map

Atthebottomrightofthemainscreenthereisasmalloverviewmapwithamoveable rectangularhighlight.Asyoumousedragthehighlightabout,themainmapdisplay followsinsynchronization.Thisprovidesaquickmethodofadjustingtheareaviewed. Itcanbeminimizedbyclickingthelauncherbutton(thesmalldiagonalarrowbox)inthe bottomrighthandcorner.
6.6
The Expander Panel

Thispanelprovidesinformationonarangeoftopics: Plan: Weather: ThetabularPlanitself, WhenconnectedtoFSshowstheFSweatherforthenearest weatherstationtotheaircraft,andtheenrouteweather.This FSweathermayofcoursebeexternalrealweather,depending onthesourcebeingusedbyFSitself. Displaysfiveofthestandardsixpackflightinstruments whicharefitteddirectlyinfrontofthepilotinmostmodern aircraftbeforetheadventofglasscockpits.Themissingone istheAttitudeindicator. Displaysuserselectablepreviousflightsasatraceacrossthe map, IfyourightclickanairportonthemapandselectShow AirportChartfromthedropdown.Theaerodromechart, runwaysandtaxiwaysisdisplayedbeneaththeAerodrome tag.
GPSPanel:
Trail: Aerodrome:
Displaystextualdataaboutcontrolledairspaceandother details. Oncethedatabasehasbeenbuilt,thedefaultviewshowsthemenuoptionsonthe Hometab.
Information:
6.7
Tool Tips
Ifyouhoverthemouseoveranysymbol,menuoption,tickbox,radiobuttonor aeronauticalfeatureonthemap,(oranyoftheGoogleMapstools),acontextsensitive tooltipisdisplayedbrieflydescribingtheitemsfunctionoridentity. Ofcourse,manyareobvious,butitsurprisinghowusefultheycanbewhenyourmind goesblank(asitwillsometimes,fearnot!).
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7
7.1
THE RIBBON MENU TABS

The File Tab
IfyouclicktheFiletab,thenvarious filehandlingandsetupfunctionsare available. ThedefaultviewisoftheOpen function,with,ontheright,alistof eightofthemostrecentflightplans opened,butwithlinksalsotowhere alltheplansarestored,My documents\FlightSimulatorforFS9, orMyDocuments\FlightSimulatorX Files.Aredcrossiconontherightof eachoftheeightmostrecentflight planswilldeletethatentryfromthe list,butitdoesnotdeletetheflight planitself.
Figure 7 The File Menu Page
7.2
The Home Tab

SelectingtheHomeTabdisplaystheHomeribbon,whichcontainsasignificantnumber ofoptionsdescribedfullyinsection9below.
Figure 8 The Home Ribbon
7.3
The Map Tab

SelectingtheMapTabdisplaystheMapribbon,whichshowstheitemswhichare displayedasstandardateachscale(levelofzoom)ofthemap.Itisuserconfigurable, butthemoredetaildisplayedatthelowerzoomlevels(moremapdisplayed)themore clutteredthedisplaywillbeandtheslowertoloadandrefreshfollowingchanges.Ifthe userselectstoomuchdatatobedisplayed,PlanGcansometimesdisplayanerror message. Themapsettingsaredescribedinmoredetailinsection10.
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Figure 9 The Map Ribbon
7.4
The Data Tab

TheDataTabdisplaystheDataRibbonwhichallowsyouto CreatethedatabaseforeitherFS9orFSX,and Selectwhichsimulatorversiondisplaysonthemapandforwhichyouwishto createaplan.
ManagetheUserWaypointdatabase. Theseoptionsareofcourseonlyavailableforthesimulatorversion(s)youhave installed. Anycurrentdatabasesavailableareindicatedbytherelevanticonbeingastrongcolour; blueforFSX;greyforFS9.Theiconsareshowninthesamecolours,butfadedifa databaseisunavailableforthatsimulatorversion.Whicheversimulatorversionis runningisshownwithanorangebackground.
Figure 10 Data Ribbon
Furtherdetailsofhowtousetheseoptionsisgiveninsection11below.
7.5
The View Tab

Theviewtabdisplaysoptionstocustomizesomeelementsofwhatyouseeonscreen. Mapoverlaysandthemapgraticulecanbeswitchedofftoimproveclarityandspeed maprefreshrate,forexample.Therearealsothreecustomisablefixedzoombuttons forquicklyselectingafavouritezoomratio.Onsmallerscreens,notallthedata expanderscanbedisplayed,anddataatthebottom,suchasairportdetails,sometimes fallsoffthebottomofthescreen.Customisingtheexpandersyouwishtohideor displaycanhelpinthisrespect.
Figure 11 The View Ribbon
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7.6
Ribbon Auto-Hide
Atthefarrighthandendofeachribbonisasmallarrowiconwhichwhenclickedhides theribbon(whicheverribbonyouareviewingatthetime).Ithidesthewholeribbon system,notjusttheoneyouarecurrentlyviewing.WhenyouclickoneoftheMenu tabs,theassociatedribbonisdisplayeduntilyouclickonthemaporexpanderarea, whenitisautomaticallyhiddenagain.Ahotkeycombination,CtrlF1,isalsoavailable, whichtoggleshiddenordisplayedmode. IfAutohideisenabled,Theribbonisautohiddeninthiswayonfirstinstallation.
Figure 12 The Minimise Ribbon icon and Tooltip
Doubleclickinganyofthetabswillalsoautohidetheribbon.Doubleclickingatab againwilldisplaytherelevantribbonandswitchofftheautohidefeature.
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THE FILE MENU IN DETAIL

Thisisntastrictlyaribbon,butapagewithaverticalsidebarmenu.Thepagedefault functionistodisplaythelasteightflightplanscreatedoropened.Anyoftheseeightcan bedeletedbyclickingontheredcrosssymboltotheright.Thatwilldeletethatentry fromthelist,butdoesnotdeletetheflightplanitself.Thesidebarmenuoptionsare describedindetailbelow.
8.1
New
SelectingNewclosesthemenuandreturnstheusertothemainmapwindow,where anewplancanbecreatedasdescribedinSection15below.
8.2
Open
Selectingtheopenoptioninitiallydoesnothing,because,asitisthedefaultFile pageasmentionedabove,itisalreadyeffectivelyselected.Theusercanselecta recentlycreatedoropenedflightplanfromthelist,orselecta.PLNor.PLGfileby clickingontheappropriatebrowserlinkatthebottomofthepage.Clickingthelink opens,bydefault,theFlightSimulatorFilesfolder(forFS9users)orFlightSimulatorX Filesfolder,locatedinMyDocuments(WindowsXP)orsimplyDocumentsin WindowsVistaorWindows7. DependingonwhichBrowseforexistingfileslinkyouhaveselected,thewindow openswithonlythe.PLN,or.PLGfilesshown.Youcanswitchtotheotherfiletypefrom withinthatselectionwindowifyougotitwronginitially,asthereisaselectionboxin thelowerrightborderareaabovetheOpenbutton. Ifyoustoreflightplansatsomeotherlocation,youcannavigatethefilebrowserthere, usingtheusualWindowsmethodsdependingonyourOperatingSystem.PlanG "remembers"whereyousavedthemostrecentsavedFS9and/orFSXflightplans,and willopenthefilebrowseratthatfolder,soyoucanselectapreviouslycreatedflightplan fromthere. Oncetheflightplanisloaded,PlanGwillchangeitsmaplocationanddisplaythelegs andthewaypointsofthewholeofyourselectedflightplan.
8.3
Save As
TheSaveAsoptionallowsyoutochoosewhethertosavetheplanasanFS9flightplan (.plnfile);anFSXflightplan(.plnfile);orasaPlanGextendedflightplanformat(.plg) file,ortosaveaplanwithadifferentname.PlanGspecificfeatures(passingaltitudes, notes,crossreferencesetc)arenotsavedin.PLNfiles.Youmustsavea.PLGifyouwish topreservethisextrainformation.However,PlanGformatfilescannotbeusedinthe FSFlightPlannerorthebuiltinFS/GarminGPSunits. Note:thattheFS9flightplanningtooltreatsuserwaypointsasintersections.Although userwaypointscanbeaddedtoFS9flightplansinPlanG,theycannotbeaddeddirectly toaflightplanwithinFS9.
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Figure 13 The File Options
8.4
Help
ThefirstoptionontheHelppageprovidesinformationaboutthecurrentbuildofthe programandthelastgivestheusertheopportunitytoautomaticallycheckforupdates tohiscurrentversion. ThesecondoptionopenstheAdobeAcrobatformatPlanGUserManual(this document).Ifyoucantfindwhatyouarelookingforthere,thenthethirdoptionisa linktotheTASoftwareforum,wherealltheexperts,includingTimArnot,thePlanG creator,arereadyandeagertosolveyourproblem.
8.5
Options
SelectingOptionsopensanOptionswindow,withasecondsidebarmenuwhichgives accesstoninedifferentdialoguepanes.WhenyouopenPlanG,thefirsttimeyouvisit theFile/Optionsmenuselection,therighthandareaofthepageisblank,andremains so,unlessyouselectoneofthenineoptions.PlanGkeepsopenthelastselectedpane forthedurationofthePlanGsession. Theoptionspanesarereasonablyselfexplanatory.Defaultvaluesareincludedwhich canhelpdecideappropriatevalues(AIaircraftrefreshrateof600(seconds)isntgoing tobeterriblyusefulforexample. Youmaynotwishtochangethedefaults,butwhenthingsgetbusy,forexample,you candeclutterthescreenbyswitchingoffAI,orparkedaircraft,orlimittherangewithin whichtheyareshown.IfyouwanttoseeyourownaircraftwhenPlanGisconnectedto FlightSimulatoryouclearlyhavetohavethefirstboxtickedinUserAircraft,butthere
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maybeoccasionswhenyouonlywanttoseeeveryoneelse.ThiselementofPlanG allowsyoutochoose. Thenineoptionsare: Theoptionsaredescribedindetailbelow. 8.5.1 Locations A) Single Computer TheLocationsmenuoptionallowsPlanGtolocatetheFSfilesitrequiresinorderto builditsinternaldatabaseofairportsandnavaids,andtocommunicatewitha runninginstanceofFlightSimulatoroneitherthesamecomputeroranetworkedPC runningFS. Locations Units Sounds FSConnections GPSPanel UserAircraft Traffic Weather General
Figure 14 The Locations Page
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Figure 15 Browsing for the Location of FSX
ThetwodirectoriesPlanGneedstoknowaboutare: ThemainFSdirectory,(bydefault,C:\ProgramFiles\MicrosoftGames\(FS9orFSX), butoftenchangedbyFSusersduringFSinstallation,e.g.E:\FSXshowninFigure15 above). ThedirectorycontainingFS'ssceneryconfigurationfile(scenery.cfg). ForWindowsXPusers,thisisusually C:\DocumentsandSettings\<username>\ApplicationData\Microsoft\FSX ForWindowsVistaandWindows7users,thisisusually C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\FSX. Inmostcases,thesedirectorieswillbeinthesedefaultlocations,andPlanGwill beabletoautomaticallylocatethecorrectlocation,butifyourFSinstallationdiffers fromthedefault,youmayneedtopointPlanGatthecorrectlocationsonyourFS PC. ThesceneryconfigurationfileC:\ProgramData\Microsoft\FSXscenery.cfglinksPlan Gtothedefaultsceneryandanythirdpartyairstripsceneryyouhaveinstalled. MakesureyouhavesetyoursceneryproperlybeforerunningtheFSXBuild databasefunction,inordertomakesureallairstripsaredisplayed.Becarefulnot
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topointPlanGatthescenery.cfgfiletobefoundintheFSdirectoryitself.Thisisan FSgeneratedbackupcopyandisoftennotuptodate. B) Networked Computers ThesimplestwaytosetPlanGtofindanetworkedcomputeristomapaNetwork drivetothelocationofFSX.EXE.Tomap(createashortcutto)anetworkdrive,do thefollowing. WindowsXP 1. OpenMyComputer 2. ClicktheToolsmenu,andthenclickMapNetworkDrive. 3. IfyoudontseetheToolsmenu,pressALT. 4. IntheDrivelist,clickadriveletter.Youcanchooseanyavailableletter.Starting fromZ:andworkingbackwardsisrecommendedfornetworkdrives;onlytoavoid confusionwiththenormalharddisks,DVDdrivesetc.,whichstartfromC: 5. IntheFolderbox,typethenetworkpathofthefolderorcomputer,orclick Browsetofindthefolderorcomputer. 6. Toconnecteverytimeyoulogontoyourcomputer,selecttheReconnectat logontickbox. 7. ClickFinish. WindowsVistaorWindows7 1. OpenComputer 2. ClickMapNetworkDriveontheCommandBar. 3. ContinueasforWindowsXP. Yourcomputerisnowconnected,ormapped,tothenetworkdrive. Soonceyouhavesuccessfullycreatedanetworkdrive;sayZ:\whichpointstothe networklocation//MyFSXPC\C:\ProgramFiles\MicrosoftGames\FSX,youonlyneedto enterZ:\intheFSXProgram:dialoguebox. IntheexamplepathaboveMyFSXPCistheNetworknameoftheFSXPC,createdwhen yournetworkwasfirstsetup.(OfcourseyoumustusethenetworknameofyourFSX PC).YoucanrepeattheprocessforanothernetworkdriveY:\topointtothelocationof FS9,ifyouhaveitinstalled.ThelocationofScenery.cfg,isusuallythesameNetworked driveasforthemainFSprogramlocation. Youcanofcoursesimplyenterthefullpathtotheselocations,butitismoreproneto typingerrorsthanthenetworkdrivemethod,althoughPlanGdoesrememberthem betweensessionsandbetweenprogramupdates.OtherFSapplicationscanalsooften makeuseofnetworkdrives. ThedefaultpathsinWindowsXPandWindowsVistaaredifferent,sobecarefultomap tothecorrectlocation.UnlikesettingupLocationsonasinglePC,PlanGcannot
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automaticallyfindFSXonanetwork,soitisimportantthatyoupointPlanGatthe correctlocationsonyourFSPC. SomePCswontrevealthetargetofthenetworkeddrivetoPlanG(andother applicationsitisntaPlanGproblem).TheonlysolutionofwhichTASoftwareisaware istogoto(My)Computer,locatethenetworkdriveandopenthatdriveinWindows Explorer,i.e.justopenthefoldertoviewthecontents,nomorethanthat.Youcanthen closethewindow.Oncethatisdone,PlanGwillbeabletofindyournetworkeddriveby itsdriveletter.TheproblemhasonlybeenidentifiedinPlanGwhenbuildinganew databasefollowinganewrelease.Oncethistrickhasbeendoneonce,PlanGalways doesseemtobeabletofindthenecessarydriveanditsdatabasewhenyoustartitup afterwards.
Figure 16 FSX and FS9 Locations using Mapped Network Drives
TheAdditionalSceneryLocationsboxenablestheusertoincludescenerywhichhas beenremovedfromthescenery.cfgfile,butthefilesthemselvesarestillinplaceonthe system.Somescenerymanagersswitchsceneryentriesinoroutaccordingwhichregion isbeingused,andthereforethescenery.cfgfilemayneveractuallycontaintheentire scenerylibraryatanyonetime.Byspecifyingadditionallocationsinthisbox,whichare tobeaddedtothedatabase,theusercanhaveacompletelistofalltheirsceneriesin PlanG.Inaddition,thislistcanbeusedtoovercomeproblemscausedbydifferent networkmappingswhenbuildingthedatabaseacrossanetwork. ClicktheAddbuttontoopenafilebrowsedialog,andselecttherequiredsceneryfolder thatisthefolderwhichcontainstheScenery(andusuallybutnotalways)the Texturesubfolders.ClicktheDeletebuttontheonecontainingtheredXonthe leftoftheentrytodeletethatentry.
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8.5.2 Units Becausedifferentnationalitiesusedifferentmeasuringsystems,especiallythe differencebetweentheUSA/CanadaandEurope,inordertobeasuniversalaspossible, PlanGcandisplaymeasurementsinStatesideunits(feetandinches/Hg);Britishunits (metres/millibars)orEuropeanunits(Metres/Kilometres/Hectopascals).Europeuses Hectopascalsforatmosphericpressure,butthesearenumericallyidenticaltomillibars. UnitscanbeselectedforRunwayDimensions,SpeedandDistance,AltimeterSetting, TimeandDate,forEnglish,American,orEuropeanpreferences.Therestoftheworld tendstoadoptoneofthesethreesystems,althoughPlanGallowsyoutoselectanon standardhybridifyouwish.
Figure 17 The Units Page
ThedefaultsystemusedistheEnglishsystem,withlocaltimeanddateusedinthe printableNavLog.Justclicktherelevantradiobuttontochangeasetting.Settingsare rememberedbyPlanG,soitwillprobablybeaonceonlyoperation. 8.5.3 Sounds Youcanchoosetoplayalertsoundsforthreesituationswhereyourattentionis primarilyonanothertask. 1. VNAVProfileAlerts:Thealertsounds: 2. 3. OneminutebeforeTopofDescent,and Whenyoureach500ftaboveyourtargetaltitude. WaypointAlerts:Waypointalertssoundapproximately30secondsbefore reachingawaypoint. MinimumsAlert:Thissoundisplayedonfinalapproach,200ftabovetheairfield elevation.Itisnotsetbydefault.
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Figure 18 Sounds Page
YoucanaccepttheWindowsdefault(illustratedinFigure18above)orchooseyourown, aslongasPlanGistoldwheretofindit. 8.5.4 FS Connections Thereareanumberofimportantconfigurationoptionswithinthistab.Theyare explainedindetailforthevariousconnectionoptionsinSection17ConnectiontoFlight Simulator.
Figure 19 FS Connections Page
Thefollowingtwotablesareasimplesummaryofthemostcommonlyusedofthose optionsforFS9andFSX.
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FS9 Connect with Network Mode FSX Computer Server Port/Pipe
FS9 & Plan-G on same PC Auto/FSUIPC Not used Not used Not used
FS9 & Plan-G on network FSUIPC Not used Not used Not used
FSX Connect with Network Mode FSX Computer Server Port/Pipe FSX & Plan-G on same PC Auto Not used FSX & Plan-G on a network with SimConnect Auto or SimConnect IPv4 (Win. XP) IPv6 (Vista/W7) IP Address (192.168.0.2 etc) Value must be same as SimConnect.xml Range 4500 to 4510 Value must be same as SimConnect.xml FSX & Plan-G on a network with FSUIPC FSUIPC Not used
localhost
Not used
Not used
Not used
Note:IfinstallingFS9&PlanGonanetwork,youneedPeterDowsonsWideFS,aswell asFSUIPC.TherearemoredetailsaboutWideFSinsection20.2.1. 8.5.5 The GPS Panel TheGPSPaneloptionallowsyoutoconfigurethevirtualUserAircraftinstrumentpanel thatappearswheneverPlanGisconnectedtoanactiveFSsession(SeeSection13.3).
Figure 20 GPS Panel Configuration Page
Max Airspeed Determinesthedisplayedrange(0to<value>)oftheAirspeedIndicator.
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CDI Sensitivity ThisisthecoursedeviationthatcanbetoleratedbeforePlanGwillupdatetheCDIbar. Choicesare(deviationfromflightplantrack): Auto 5nm 1.25nm 0.5nm
VNAV Targets\VNAV Profile VNAVstandsforVerticalNavigation,morefamiliartothosewhoflyhighandneedto planhowtogetdown,thantheVFRflyercruisingat2000feet.IFRpilotsmustdescend ataratenotlessthan500feetperminute,sotheprofilevalueisimportanttoo.These parametersdeterminewhereandwhenPlanGwillissueitspopupwarningwindowsto alertthepilottohisprogressalongtheplannedroute. Waypoint/ETE Display ThesetwoselectionsdeterminetheadditionalinformationPlanGdisplaysatthetop andbottomoftheGPSpanel.Choicesare: DistancetoWaypoint ETE(EstimatedTimeEnRoute)toDestination(howlongwillittakefromhereto gettothefinaldestination) TimetoWaypoint HeadingtoWaypoint
8.5.6 User Aircraft Thispagesetsupoptionsaboutyourownaircraft.Firstlyyoucanchoosewhetherto displayyourownaircraftornot. Youhavetheabilitytoshowyourflighttrailortrackmadegood(whatitiscalled dependsonwhoyoutalkto).Youcanchangethecolourandlinewidthifthedefaults arenottoyourliking.Youcanalsorecordandsaveyourtrailforfutureanalysis. Practicethoseoverheadjoinsorproceduralturnsandthenseewhatflightprofileyou actuallyachievedagainsttheneatversionontheapproachchart! NotethatflighttraildisplayandrecordingisselectedOffbydefaultwhenPlanGis firstinstalled. Thethreeradiobuttons;Free,SyncandLockdescribehowtheyellowuseraircraft behavesinrelationtothemap.Thesefunctionsarealsoavailableandtheoptioncanbe changedfromtheHomeribbon.Thetooltipsdescribeexactlythebehaviourineach case.
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Figure 21 User Aircraft Options
Free:TheMapanduseraircraftarenotsynchronized.Youcanmovethemapwherever youlike,anditwon'tbesynchronisedwiththeplane.Ifyoudontmovethemap,the planewillflyofftheedge(andwillneverbeseenagain.) Sync:TheMapwillmoveasnecessarytoensuretheyellowaircraftremainsvisibleon screen.Youcanmovethemap,butitwillrecentreontheyellowaircraftwhenitis refreshedafewsecondslater(10secondsisthedefault,butitcanbechangedintheFS Displaywindow.)Ifyouleavethemapalone,itwillstaywhereitisuntiltheplane reachestheedge,whenitwillrecentre. Lock:TheuseraircraftstaysinthecentreoftheMap.Themapisrecentredontheuser aircraftateveryrefresh.Theaeroplaneeffectivelystaysinthemiddleofthemap.This candegradePlanGsperformanceonsomelesspowerfulcomputers. IftheUpdateTASfromFStickboxisticked,andifaflightplanisloaded,andifPlanG isconnectedtoFS,thenPlanGshowsthetrueairspeed(TAS)intheAirspeeddropdown (accessedfromtheHomeRibbon),takendirectlyfromFS.Theuserwillhaveenteredan estimatedindicatedairspeedintheAirspeeddropdownwhilecompilingaflightplan, butiftheUpdateTASfromFStickboxisticked,thatvalueisreplacedbytheTASfrom FS.Effectivelytheflightplanisupdateddynamicallyduringaflight. IftheShowwaypointalertstickboxistickedanalertisdisplayedbeforereachingthe nextwaypointonyourflightplan. 8.5.7 Traffic ThispagesetsupoptionsaboutotheraircraftwhenconnectedtoFS.Thesemaybe aircraftartificiallygeneratedbyFS,(knowngenerallysimplyasAI)orotheraircraft beingflownonamultiplayernetworksuchasVATSIMorIVAO,whenyouareloggedin tooneoftheirservers. FirstlyyoucanchoosewhethertodisplayAI/multiplayeraircraftornot.Youcandecide therangebeyondwhichtheywillnotbedisplayed,andiftheapronisfullofaircraft,you canturnoffShowParkedaircraft,byuntickingtherelevanttickbox. Inthesamewayasforyourownaircraft,youcanshowtheflighttrailforeachofthese. Youcanchangethecolourandlinewidthifthedefaultsarenottoyourliking.Youcan
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alsorecordandsavethetrailsforfutureanalysis.Seethechaosyoucausedploughing throughHeathrowsClassAairspace,VFRinyourmicrolight,forcingallthoseIFRgo aroundsandabortedtakeoffs!!!!
Figure 22 Traffic Options
Note:AIflighttraildisplayandrecordingisselectedOffbydefaultwhenPlanGisfirst installed,thesameasyourownflighttrail,. 8.5.8 Weather TheDisplayNearestWeathertickboxmakesPlanGgettheweatherfromFSX.This maybeusergeneratedwithinFS,ormaybefromanonlinesystem,e.g.ifFSXissetfor Jeppesen,thenthatistheweatherstationdatadisplayed.Ifconnectedtoanonline servicesuchasIVAO,theweatherfedtoFSfromIVAOviatheIVappilotclientsoftware, isinturnpassedtoPlanG. UpdateLocalupdatesPlanGwiththewindsettingfromFSattheuserslocation, whenconnectedtoanonlineweatherservice.
Figure 23 Weather Parameters
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THE HOME RIBBON IN DETAIL

The"Home"ribbonmenucontainstheoptionsyouneedtosetuptheparametersof yournewflightplan.Changesmadeherewillbedisplayedinthe"Plan"expanderonthe rightofthePlanGwindow,andtheywillbesavedtoyournewFlightPlanwhenyou clickthe"Save"orSaveAs"buttons. Thoseribbonbuttonswithasmalldownarrowbeneaththelabelare"splitbuttons". Clickingtheiconitselfwillactivatethedefaultaction(e.g.FindAirport),whileclicking thebottomhalfwhichhasthelabelandthearrowwilldisplayamenuofchoices(Find VORetc...).
9.1
Find
The"Find"buttonallowsyoutosearchforanairportorradionavigationaid.TheFind buttonisaSplitbutton.Clickingtheicon,(tophalfofbutton)activatesthedefault action,inthiscaseFindAirport.Clickingonthelowerhalfofthebuttondropsdowna listofobjectsyoucansearchfor: FindAirport(SearchbyInternationalCivilAviationOrganization(ICAO)code,by airportname,orbycityname) FindNDB(Searchby3letteridentifierorbynameorpartialname) FindVOR(Searchby3letteridentifierorbynameorpartialname) FindUserVRP(UserVisualReferencePointsorUserWaypoints)areotherpoints ofinterestthatcanbecreatedbytheuserandaddedtoaPlanGdatabase.)
Figure 24 Using the Find Function to Locate an Airport
Ifthesearchedforitemexistsinyoursimulatorsdatabase,itwillbefound,andthemap willcentreonit.Iftheitemdoesnotexist,PlanGdoesnothing.YoucanselectCancel toreturntothemapview,orentersomesearchtextthatPlanGcanfind.Searchtextis NOTcasesensitive.
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Note:theFindairportsdialognowincludesaCSVbutton.Thisbuttonallowstheuser tosavealistoftheairportsinthetableaboveit.ThismaybethewholeFSdatabaseof airports(maybeaverylargefile)orjustasmallnumber,dependingontheCountry, StateandCityfiltersapplied.ClickingthisbuttonopensaSaveAsdialogfortheuser toselectafilenameforthecsvformatteddataandalocationtostoreit.
9.2
Print
Therearethreeprintoptions:toprintthemap;theflightplanortheterrainprofile. Youcanprevieweachprintoutandsetpageparametersbeforeprinting,e.g.whole page;pagewidthetc.viaaseriesofsmalliconsatthetopoftheprintpreviewwindow. Eachiconhasatooltip,soyoucanquicklyselectwhichoneyouneed.Youcanofcourse printthemall,buttheyprintseparately. ThePrintbuttonisaSplitbutton.Clickingtheicon,(tophalfofbutton)activatesthe defaultaction,inthiscasePrintPreview.Clickingonthelowerhalfofthebuttonopens asmallmenu.SelectQuickPrintfromthemenutoprintdirectly,withoutapreview window. Ifnoflightplanhasbeenloadedornewlycreated,theFlightplanprintbuttonisgreyed out.IfnoDEMdataisinstalled,theTerrainprintbuttonisgreyedout.
9.3
Start Position
PlanGextractstherunwaysandparkingspacesavailableatyourplanneddeparture airportfromtheFSXorFS9database.Initially,theiconisafadedblue,butonceyou havecreatedyourflightplan,itisdisplayedinacrisperdarkblue.Thisindicatesthatitis availableforuse.
Figure 25 Start Position Window
Clickontheicontodisplayawindowcontainingtheoptions.Someairportshavemore optionsavailablethanothers,usuallydependingonhowbigtheairportisintermsof runways,taxiways,importanceeven.WhentheFlightPlanissaved,thenloadedinto FSXorFS9,thiswillbetheplace(andzeroedelapsedtime)fromwhichyoursimulated flightwilldepart.
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9.4
Altitude
Hereyoucansettheoverallplannedaltitudeforyournewflightplan,afterconsulting thePlanGmapforairspaceandterrainconstraints. "PassingAltitudes"canbesetforindividualwaypoints,byeditingtheplantabledirectly. ThesealtitudesarenotabletobeuseddirectlybyFS.
Figure 26 Cruising Altitude Window
Figure 27 Cruising Airspeed Window
9.5
Airspeed
YourplannedairspeedisenteredheresothatPlanGcancalculatethedurationofeach legandthecompleteflight.PlanGusestrueairspeednotindicatedairspeed.Ifyou thenchangeforafasteraircraftinFSX/FS9,youwillhavetomanuallychangeyour estimatedtrueairspeedhere.Withaflightplanopen,changingtrueairspeed recalculatesthelegtimesandtheflighttotalelapsedtime
9.6
Winds
Awindvalueenteredinthiswindowwillbeusedtocalculatetheheadingrequiredto maintainyourplannedtrack.Ifawindvalueisentered,PlanGwillalsocalculateand displayyourgroundspeed. IfyouareconnectedtoFS9/FSX,andprovidedyouhaveUpdatelocaltickedin File/Options/Weather,thentheFS9/FSXwindwillbeautomaticallypassedtoPlanGfor flightplancalculationandwillbedisplayedintheWindsdialogueboxwhenyouopenit.
9.7
VFR/IFR
AflightisconductedeitherunderVisualFlightRulesorInstrumentFlightRules.These buttonsselecttheflightrulesandtheplanwillestimateasuitablealtitude,takingflight rulesintoaccount.
9.8
Quick
Clickingthebowandarrowicon(officiallycalledthedirecttoiconbyGPS manufacturers)revealsaveryneatfeatureforaquickanddirtyAtoBplan.Enterthe ICAOcodesfordepartureanddestination,andPlanGquicklygeneratesaGreatCircle directtrackbetweenthetwo.Thisisveryhandyforshortflightsoransweringquestions suchasHaveIgottimetoflyfromAtoBthisevening?
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9.9
Reverse
Thisbuttonreversesthesequenceofwaypointsinaloadedflightplan.Thisisusefulfor creatinganewflightplanforthereturntrip.ThewindowtitleinPlanGwillreflecta newnameforthereversedflightplan,andwhenyousaveit,PlanGautomatically changesthenameforthenew,reversedplan.
9.10 The Edit Button

WhentheEditbuttonispressed,clickdragreleaseeditingispossibleonthetrackline ofyourflightplan.TheEditButtonfunctionalityisfullydescribedinsection16below.
9.11 The Frame Button

IfaflightPlanisloadedanddisplayedonthemap,clickingthisbuttonwillmovethemap viewtocentrethedisplayedflightplanintothemiddleofthemaparea,andwilladjust thezoomleveltoincludethewholeoftheplaninoneview.Ifnoflightplanisloaded, clickingtheFramebuttonhasnoeffect.
9.12 Copy Route

Thisoptioncopiestheflightplanroutetothewindowsclipboardfromwhereitcanbe pastedintoVATSIMorIVAOFlightPlans,orusedforgeneratingPilotReports(PIREPS) foryourVirtualAirline.Ifyouwanttoexcludethedepartureanddestinationpoints(for flightplans),pressSHIFTasyouclickthebutton.ThebuttonisgreyedoutifnoFlight Planisloaded.
9.13 Range Rings

RangeRingscanbeusefulforestimatingdistanceortimetorun,ifyouareconnectedto FS9/FSX.Therearetwomodes:distancemodeandtimemode.Theringsdisplayin yellow,centredonthecurrentcursorposition.Thedefaultdistancerangeis20miles, thedefaulttimerangeis30minutes.ForVFRflying,youmaypreferthesevaluestobe 10milesand10minutesrespectively.Youcandisplay1,2or3rings,selectablefromthe ribbonmenu.RangeringsdonotrequireyoutobeconnectedtoFS.Theyarepurelya mappingdisplayfunction.Youcanonlydisplayonesetofrings. SwitchingRangeRingsonoroffisachievedfromtherightclickdropdownmenu.See section14.1.2forfurtherdetails.
9.14 Bookmark
Thisisamostusefulfeatureifyouareinthehabitofflyingtoandfromplacesscattered roundtheglobe.ClicktheBookmarkbuttontoopenafileswindow.Ifyouenterafile name(ofyourchoice)thecurrentmapviewissavedwiththatnameasabookmark. Whenyouareelsewhereintheworld,andwanttoquicklyreturntothebookmarked mapview,justclickthesmalldropdownarrowbelowtheBookmarkbuttononthe ribbon,andselectOpenfromthetwoavailablechoices.Thebookmarkfileswindow againopens,butthistime,clickonthebookmarkedfilenameofthelocationyouwishto goto,andclicktheOpenbuttonatthebottomrightofthefileswindow.Thewindow immediatelyclosesandthemapviewchangesquicklytotheselectedlocation.
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9.15 KML
KMLisafileformatusedtodisplaygeographicdatainanEarthbrowsersuchasGoogle Earth,GoogleMaps,andGoogleMapsforMobile.KMLcodeisbasedontheXML standardandaddsfeaturesthatcanbecreatedwiththeGoogleEarthuserinterface. Thesefeaturesincludeplacemarks,descriptions,groundoverlays,paths,andpolygons. Whenatextfileissavedwitha.kmlor.kmzextension,Earthbrowsersknowhowto displayit. InPlanG,.kmlor.kmzfilescanbeopenedandthefeaturescodedthereinwillbe displayedasanoverlayonthePlanGmap.However,any.kmlor.kmzfileusedmustbe locatedonawebsiteduetoaGoogleMapslimitation. WhentheuserclickstheKMLbutton,afilewindowopensinwhichtheURLoftheKML filemustbeentered,(oryoucanselectonefromthosedisplayedseveralexamples havebeenincluded).LongURLSaretruncatedinthelist,butthefullURLisdisplayedas atooltip. IftheuserentersaKMLfileURL,orselectsoneoftheexamplesprovided,onclickingOK inthefilewindow,PlanGwilldisplaytheKMLoverlay.TheKMLwindowalsoopensif youclickthesmalldropdownarrowbelowtheKMLbuttonontheribbon,andselect Showfromthetwoavailablechoices.IfyouselectClear,theoverlayisremoved fromthemap.TherearethreetickboxesatthebottomoftheKMLwindow.Thefirst twoareselfexplanatory.Thethirdtickboxhidesordisplaystheexamplelinksprovided withPlanG. Note:OpeningaKMLoverlaydoesnotremoveanyexistingoverlays.Youcanhavemore thanonedisplayedatatime.TheClearcommandhowever,willclearallKMLoverlays fromthedisplay.BeawarethatloadinganddisplayofKMLfilesmaybequiteslowon somesystems,whichcouldmakeitseemasifPlanGhasstoppedworking.
Figure 28 KML Dialogue Window
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9.16 Connect/Disconnect
Thisveryimportantoptionrequiresinitialconfigurationandisdescribedfullyinsection 17below.
9.17 Map Panning Control

IftheuserisconnectedtoFlightSimulator,thePlanGmapdisplayupdatecanbe controlledinoneofthreeways: Lock:TheUserAircraftremainsinthecentreofthemaparea,andthemap movesastheaircraftprogressthroughtheflight.Thisisveryprocessorintensive andmayslowthecomputerdown.Themaprefreshesapproximatelyevery7 seconds. Sync:WhentheUserAircraftreachestheedgeofthemaparea,themap refresheswiththeaircraftnowinthecentreofthemaparea. Free:Theaircraftmovesindependentlyofthemapdisplay,andmayflyoffthe edgeofthedisplayedmap.Draggingthemapwillbringtheaircraftbackinto view.
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10
THE MAP RIBBON IN DETAIL

Ateveryzoomlevel,thedefaultstructureisdesignedtomaintainthespeedofmap refreshingbyturningoffmoreandmoredetailasyouzoomout.However,thesettings foreachtickboxitemcanbeuserconfiguredforeachzoomleveltobedisplayedor hiddenaccordingtopreference. Userconfiguredsettingsforeachzoomlevelarerememberedforthenexttimeyou openPlanG.Forexample,ifyouswitchon,saysmallairportsatzoomlevel9,(theyare switchedoffbydefaultatthislevel)theyareonlyswitchedonforthatzoomleveland anyothersinwhichtheyareswitchedonbydefault(zoomlevel10andhigher numbers).Soeverytimeyoureturntozoomlevel9thesmallairportswillbedisplayed eventhoughtheyarenormallyswitchedoffatthislevel.
10.1 User Configured Settings
Figure 29 The Map Ribbon
10.2 Reset Display Defaults

Ifyoutryanddisplayalargeamountofdataatlowzoomlevels,(forexampleselecting zoomlevel3,thentickingtheboxesontheMapRibbontodisplayallairfields,all navaids,intersections,anduserwaypointsplusallthecontrolledairspace),PlanGtries forsolongtodisplayallthisdata,thengivesupandawarningmessageisdisplayed.
Figure 30 Script Message Generated When Trying To Display Too Much Data
YoushouldclicktheYesoptionandgototheMaptabanddeselectsomeobjecttypes orresetyourviewsettingstothedefaultbyclickingtheResetAllbutton. HoweverifPlanGhasbecomeunresponsiveduetotryingtodisplaytoomanyobjectsat yourpresentzoomlevel,youshouldexitPlanG,openthePlanGfolder(usuallyin C:\ProgramFiles),andfindaprogramfilecalledMapreset.exe.Ifyourunthisprogram (e.g.bydoubleclickingthefilename),thefeaturesdisplayedateachzoomlevelare resettothedefault.YoucanthenrestartPlanG.

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Ifyouhavethisproblemfrequently,possiblybecauseofthespecificationorprocessing speedofyourPC,thereisamorepermanentsolutiondescribedinAppendix3atsection 22.3ofthismanual.
10.3 Airports
TheAirportsinPlanGareextractedfromFlightSimulatorandstoredintherelevant database.Airportscloseintherealworld,andnewonesarebuilt.FlightSimulatoris howeverfrozenintime(FSXisfrozenat2005,FS9at2004)sotherewillbedifferences fromtherealworldinPlanGasthereareinFS. Ateachzoomlevel,airportsareselectivelydisplayed;thelargestonlybeingdisplayedat lowzoomlevels(mapdisplaysalargelandarea).Toseesmallairportsyoumustzoomin toahigherzoomlevel.Bydefault: NoAirportsaredisplayedatzoomlevels17 LargeAirportsarefirstdisplayedatzoomlevel8 MediumAirportsarefirstdisplayedatzoomlevel9
SmallAirportsarefirstdisplayedatzoomlevel11 TheairportsizereferenceusedinPlanGreferstothelengthofthelongestrunway. Large: Medium: Longestrunwayis3,000mormoreinlength; Between800mand2,999minlength
Small: Lessthan800minlength InthissectionoftheMapribbonthereisalsoaslendergreenarrowsymbollabelled ILS/LOC.Thissymbol,calledILSfeathersisusedonaeronauticalchartstodenotean InstrumentLandingSystem(ILS).Ifthisbuttonispressed,thoseairportsthatare selectedfordisplay(Large,Mediumand/orSmall)wherethoseairportshaverunways equippedwithILS/LOCinFS,willhavefeathersdisplayedagainstthemonthe appropriateapproachbearing. NotethatifarealworldairportrunwayhasanILSwhichisnotfeaturedinFS9/FSX,then thefeathersarenotdisplayed.(remember:FSXisfrozenat2005,FS9at2004),so becauserealworldapproachaidsarechangingyearonyear,suchdifferencesmay becomemorecommonovertime. Bydefault,thefeathersdisplayatzoomlevel8orhigher.Thesettingisrememberedfor thenexttimeyouopenPlanG.
10.4 Navaids
Theradionavigationaids(Navaids)inPlanGarealsoextractedfromFlightSimulator andstoredinthedatabaseandsubject,naturally,tothesameobsolescenceasAirports. VeryHighFrequencyOmniRangebeacons(VORs)andNonDirectionalBeacons(NDBs) areprobablyfamiliartomostSimpilots.Thereisanexcellenttutorialonthetheoryand practiceofusingtheseontheCixVFRClubwebsiteat:
http://www.cixvfrclub.org.uk/training/tutorials/pdftutorials/The%20IMC%20Rating.pdf
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ThetickboxesallowyoutodisplayorhideVORsandNDBsatdifferentzoomlevels,if thedefaultsettingsarenotsuitableforaparticularrouteandplanyouaredeveloping. ISECisthestandardaviationabbreviationforIntersections.Intersectionsexistintwo forms,named(normal)andunnamed.Namedintersectionsarethestandardtypeof intersection.OntheNavaidssectionoftheMapRibbon,theISECtickboxswitcheson oroffnamedintersections,andtheISEC(unnamed)tickboxswitchesonoroff unnamedintersections. NamedIntersectionsarenowcommonlyusedinVFRflight,resultingfromtheincreasing useofGPSworldwide.SomeareincludedinGPSDatabasesandVFRpilotscannavigate tothemsimply.BecauseitisnteasytodiscriminatebetweenthoseusefultoVFRpilots andthosewhicharenot,PlanGincludesalltheonesidentifiedinFS.(e.g.ORTACat N50.00oW002.00owellknowntoVFRpilotscrossingtheEnglishChannel). Unnamedintersectionsarecomputergenerated'infill'intersections.Theystillhave names,butthesenamesaregenerallynotmemorable.Unnamedintersectionsare generallynotvalidforuseasaturningpointonanIFRflightplan.
Figure 31 The ORTAC Intersection In the English Channel
Theintersectionsymbolisasmalltriangle.Bluetrianglesdenote'terminal' intersections,i.e.theyare"owned"byanairport,andtypicallyformpartofanapproach procedure.Magentaintersectionsare'EnRoute'intersections,andtypicallyare associatedwithanairway. Inadditiontotheabove,userintersectionscanbedefined,andthesearedenotedby greentriangles. Bydefault,intersectionsarenotdisplayedatanyzoomlevel. PlanGcandisplayLowerAirwayroutesiftheLowerAirwaystickboxisticked.Airways areradioandareanavigationrouteswithinwhichATCensuressmoothandorderly traffic.LowerAirwaysareroutesuptoa24,500feetceilingabovesealevel,primarily usedforsmalleraircraftorshortflights.Upperairwaysarereservedforlargerjetson longflights,andarenotprovidedinPlanG.
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10.5 Airspace
AllairspaceisclassifiedaccordingtoasystemdefinedbytheInternationalCivilAviation Organisation(ICAO).Thetablebelowprovidesanoverviewoftheclasses,andthe specificationsforeach. PlanGdisplaysClassesAtoEiftheICAOAirspacetickboxisticked.ClassesF&Gare commonlyreferredtoastheOpenF.I.R.(FlightInformationRegion)andisprincipally thedomainoflightaircraft,microlights,balloonsetc.Mostcommercialflightsandall heavycategoryaircraftalmostexclusivelyconducttheirflightsinControlledAirspace (CAS)underATCcontrol.Whenplanningyourflightsitisessentialtoknow,therefore, whereyoucanandcannotgo,andPlanGprovidestheinformation. Inaddition,PlanGsplitstheairspacedisplayedintotwobelow10,000ftandabove 10,00ft,againbytickingtheappropriatetickbox.Intherealworld,unpressurised aircraftarenotpermittedtomaintainsustainedflightabove10,000feet,(12,500ftin somecountries),becausethecrewcannottakeinsufficientoxygentomaintaintheir mentalfaculties,andarepronetomakeirrationaldecisions.Notgoodinanaeroplane!
Class Controlled IFR SVFR VFR A B C D E F G Controlled Controlled Controlled Controlled Controlled Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ATC Clearance Required Required Required Required Required for IFR Not Required Not Required Separation Provided for all flights Provided for all flights Provided for all IFR & SVFR Traffic Information N/A N/A Provided for all VFR
Provided for IFR/SVFR to Provided for all IFR and other IFR/SVFR VFR Provided for IFR/SVFR to Provided for all IFR and other IFR/SVFR VFR where possible Provided for IFR/SVFR to Provided where other IFR/SVFR where possible possible Not provided Provided where possible
Uncontrolled Yes No Uncontrolled Yes No
Figure 32 ICAO Airspace Classification
Soifyouarealightaircraftenthusiast,youcanswitchoffcontrolledairspace(CAS) boundariesabove10,000ft,andreducePlanGsprocessingworkload.Andifyouare crossingtheUSAina747at35,000ft,youcansavePlanGsomeworkbyswitchingoff theBelow10,000ftCAStickbox. TheCentretickboxdisplaysorhidestheAirRouteTrafficControlCenter(ARTCC) boundaries.GenerallyreferredtoasCentretheyareresponsibleforcontrolling instrumentflightrulesaircraftenrouteinaFlightInformationRegionathighaltitudes betweenairportapproachesanddepartures.IntheUKtheNationalAirTrafficService (NATS)combinestheLondonTerminalControlCentre(LTCC)andLondonAreaControl Centre(LACC)attheSwanwickfacility.Centreisuntickedbydefaultatallzoomlevels.
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Inadditiontotheclassifiedairspace,therearetwoSpecialUsetickboxes.Special Use1displaysDangerAreas,RestrictedAreasandProhibitedAreas.SpecialUse2 displaystherestmilitarylowflyingareas,airtoairrefuelingareas,highaltitude dangerareasetc.ForVFRpilots,thesearenormallyanissue,andforIFRpilots,IFR routesinvariablyavoidtheseareas.SpecialUse1&2areswitchedoffbydefaultatall zoomlevels. TheLauncherbuttonatthebottomrightoftheAirspaceribbonareaopensawindow showingeveryclassificationofairspaceandtheboundarycoloursusedinPlanG.
10.6 User Waypoints

Userwaypointsmaybecreatedin12differenttypes
Figure 33 The 12 Predefined Types of User Waypoint
UserWaypointsarestoredinaUserWaypointdatabase.Manyoftheseareprovidedin thePlanGpackageinthefileUserWaypoints.sdf.Thesecanbeoptionallydisplayedor hiddenbytickingtherelevanttickboxontheRibbon. Ifyouaddyourownwaypoints(seesections10.6and16.5)theycanbecategorisedin oneofthe12optionsshownabove.Thisalsomeansthatonlyselectedonesare displayed,inthesamewayasotherfeatures. Note:WheneveranewversionofPlanGisissued,thefileUserWaypoints.sdfis overwritten,soifyoucreateyourownwaypoints,besuretokeepasafecopy somewhereoutsidethePlanGfolder.Furtherdetailsareincludedinsection16.5.
10.7 Reset Defaults

IfyouclicktheResetDefaultsiconallyouruserconfigureddisplaysettingsaredeleted andthedefaultoptionsarereapplied.
10.8 Fix Overlays

Ifyouclickthisbutton,thenallthedataoverlays,e.g.sizeofairports,controlled airspace,anduserwaypointsarefixedifyouzoomfurtherin.Inotherwords,the defaultvaluesforhigherzoomlevelsareoverridden.However,ifyouzoomout,the previouslydefined(ordefault)overlaysettingsareusedtopreventmapredraw overloadleadingtotheScriptrunningslowlymessage(Seesection10.2above) sometimesseen.
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THE DATA RIBBON IN DETAIL

Thisistheribbonwhichallowsyoutocreatethedatabaseforthesimulatorversionyou have.IfyouhavebothFS9andFSX,youcancreateadatabaseforboth.Thereisalso theoptiontomanageyourUserWaypointDatabase;creating,adding,modifyingor removingyourowndefinedWaypoints.Seesection10.6aboveforfulldetails. TheseFSdatabaseoptionsareofcourseonlyavailableforthesimulatorversionor versionsyouhaveinstalled.IfyoudohavebothFS9andFSXinstalled,eitheronthe samecomputeroronseparatenetworkedcomputers,thenyoucancreateadatabase forbothsimulatorversions,andcreateflightplansforeither. IfFSXexistsonthesamecomputerasPlanG,oranetworkedcomputerwithFSX installed,thentheBuildFSXDatabaseiconwillbeastrongbluecolour,otherwiseit willbeafadedbluecolour. IfFS9existsonthesamecomputerasPlanG,oranetworkedcomputerwithFS9 installed,thentheBuildFS9Databaseiconwillbeastronggreycolour,otherwiseit willbeafadedgreycolour. IfbothversionsofFlightSimulatoraredetectedbyPlanG,thenbothBuildDatabase iconswillbeastrongcolour:blueforFSX;greyforFS9.Inadditiontothetwodrum shapediconsisasmalllauncherbutton(asmalldiagonalarrow),atthebottomright ofthatsectionoftheDataRibbon.Ifyouclickthatarrow,itopensaFSFileLocations window,whichdisplaysthecurrentpathstoFSXProgram,FSXScenery.cfgorFS9.These areexactlythesameoptionsandservethesamepurposeasthesimilaroptions accessedfromtheFilemenu,(seesection8.5.1above)andgivetheuserthe opportunitytochangethepathsifoneormoreisincorrect.
Figure 34 FSX only exists on this PC Figure 35 Both FSX and FS9 exist on this PC. FS9 data selected to be displayed Figure 36 Both FSX and FS9 exist on this PC. FSX data selected to be displayed
Youcanselectwhichdatabaseisusedforthemapdisplay(airports,navaidscontrolled airspaceetc.)byclickingoneoftheActiveFSVersionicons.Ifthedatabaseforthat versionofFSexists,theiconisshownwithanorangebackgroundandthemapwill displaydatafromthatdatabase. Ifnoairports,controlledairspaceornavaids,oranyotheraeronauticaldataappearon themapwhenthecorrectActiveFSVersionforyoursimisdisplayed,thenyoushould rebuildthedatabase. NotethatfornetworkedPCs,theiconswillonlydisplayintheActive(strongcolour) modeifthecorrectcommunicationprotocolsareinplace(seesection18.2below).
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THE VIEW RIBBON IN DETAIL

PlanGcanbeveryslow,stallaltogetherorthrowupScriptErrorsifyoutryanddisplay toomuchdataatanyonezoomlevel.Asageneralrule,thedefaultsettingsare optimumformostusers,butinvariablyeachwillhavetheirownpreferences.TheView Ribbonallowstheusertofilterunwantedgeneraldisplayfeatures,withtheabilityto turnthemonoroffastheywish. Ifyoudoaccidentallytryanddisplaytoomuchdata,andPlanGgrindstoahalt,section 10.2tellsyouhowtorecoverthesituation.Amoretechnicalsolutioninvolvingchanging aRegistryvalueisgiveninAppendix3,section22.3)
12.1 Plan Elevation Tick box

ThisfeaturerequirestheoptionaldownloadandinstallationofoneormoreDigital ElevationModel(DEM)tilesfromtheNGDC'GLOBE'(GlobalLandOnekmBase Elevation)websiteathttp://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/topo/gltiles.html. Youneedtodownloadandinstallaminimumofonetiletoenablethefunctionality.You donotneedtodownloadandinstalleverytile(noelevationdatawillbeshowninPlanG wheretilesarenotinstalled).ThetilefilesareTARcompressedfileswiththeextension .gz.TheycanbeextractedwithWinzip.Theextractedfileshavenoextension.The extractedfilesmustbeplacedinthePlanG\DEMfolder.Forexample,PlanG\DEM\f10g isthefileforthetilethatcoverstheU.S.Easternseaboard. WhenaFlightPlanhasbeenloaded,andthePlanElevationtickboxselectedonthe HomeRibbon,anelevationwindowwillopenatthebottomofthePlanGscreen.
Figure 37 Flight Plan Elevation Window below the Map Window
TheFlightPlanElevationwindowshowsforeachleg,theSuggestedAltitudeasasolid mauveline,theMaximumElevationFigure(MEF)asadottedredline,thedistance, elapsedtimeandaltitudeatthemousecursor,andtheDEMprofileingreen.Ifyou

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movethemousearoundtheelevationwindow,youwillseethatthepointerbecomesa crosswiresymbol,exceptwhenincontactwiththesurfacewhenitbecomesayellow circlewithasmallerdotsymbolinsidewhichstaysincontactwiththesurfaceasyou movethemouse.Thenumbersalongsidethedotindicatedistancefromtheoriginand elevation. IfnotilefilesexistinthefolderPlanG\DEMthePlanElevationtickboxisdisplayedina faintgreyandcannotbeselected.Ifnoflightplanisloadedtheelevationwindowis displayed,butcontainsnoelevationdata.
12.2 Map Graticule

Thisbuttontogglesonoroffthelatitudeandlongitudegraticule.Atzoomlevel8,the linesaredrawnat1ointervals.Athigherzoomlevels,thelinesaredrawnatsmaller intervalsandatlowerzoomlevels,largerintervals.Theactualvaluesareshownagainst theleftmostlongitudeline,andthelowestbutonelatitudeline.Thegraticulesettingis rememberedforthenexttimeyouopenPlanG.
12.3 Map Overlays

Ifyouwanttojustlookatthemapwithoutanyaeronauticalinformationdisplayedatall, clickthistickbox.Clickagaintoremovethetickandalltheoverlaydataisredisplayed.
12.4 Expander Icon

TheExpanderIcontotheimmediaterightofthethreetickboxesenablesordisablesthe displayoftheExpanderPanelontherightofthePlanGscreen.TheExpanderPanelis displayedbydefault.Hidingtheexpanderpanelwillofcourseallowalargermapareato beviewed(thezoomleveldoesnotchange).IfyouchoosetohidetheExpanderPanel, youcanstillviewtheExpanderpaneloptionsinaToolWindow.
Figure 38 Airport Diagram in a Tool Window
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WhetherornottheExpanderPanelishidden,ifyouclickthesmalldownarrowbelow theExpandericon,adropdownmenuisdisplayed.Fromthismenuyoucanselecteach oftheExpanderPaneloptionsandselectwhethertoshowit,hideitordisplayitinits ownToolWindow. ToolWindowsstayontopofotherwindowsanddonotchangepositionunlessyoudrag themtoanewpositionwiththemouse. TheToolWindowfeatureisespeciallyusefulforviewingflightplans,asitcanbe awkwardtryingtoviewaflightPlanintheExpanderPanel,havingtoscrollleftandright tocheckdifferentelements.
Figure 39 A Flight Plan viewed in a Tool Window
12.5 Alternative Zoom Controls

IftheGoogleMapsstandardzoomcontrolsarenottoyourliking,thereareapairof zoombuttonsasanalternative. Inadditiontherearethreeconfigurablepresetzoombuttons.Bydefaulttheyaresetto 8times,10timesand12timeszoomlevel.Clickingthesmalllauncherbutton(the diagonalarrowsymbol)atthebottomrightofthepresetzoombuttonsgroupopensa SetZoomPresetswindow,whereyoucanchangethedefaultsettingstoyourchoice.
12.6 Keep Window on Top

ClickthepushpiniconandPlanGstaysontopofallotherwindows.Thiscanbehandyif youarerunningwithtwomonitors,(youwouldntwanttousethisfeaturewhileflying, withasinglemonitor),ifyouhaveotherwindowsgettinginthewayonoccasion.Itcan beabitunnervingifyouhavePlanGinfullscreenmode,asitcanatfirstseemthatyour computerisnotrespondingtomouseclicksonotherrunningapplicationsinthetask bar.
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THE DATA EXPANDERS

Ontherightofthemapisasmalltableoflabelswithanarrowinacirclenexttoeach. ThesearetheDataExpanders.Ifyouclickonthearrowinacirclesymbol,the selectionclickedexpandstoshowthedatabeneathit.Clickingthearrowinacircle againcollapsestherelevantsectiononcemore.Thearrowsymbolsindicatewhether thesectioniscurrentlycollapsedorexpanded.Draggingthelefthandboundaryofthe ExpanderareawillenlargeorshrinktheExpanderAreaandthatpositionwillbe rememberedbetweensessions.
Figure 40 Data Expanded Arrow symbol
Figure 41 Data Collapsed Arrow Symbol
TheDataExpanderpanelcanbeswitchedoffbyclickingtheExpanderPaneltickboxon theHomeRibbon.Similarly,ifitisnotvisiblewhenyoustartPlanG,itcanbeenabled byclickingtheExpanderPaneltickbox(Seesection9.14forfurtherdetail.
13.1 Plan
Expandingthisoptionallowsyoutoseeyourflightplanasatablewiththeconventional flightplanheadings.Whenyourplanisexpandedinthisway,youcanaddordelete waypoints,ormovethewaypointsupordowntheplanbyrightclickingtherelevant entryintheplantorevealthedropdownmenuofoptions.
Figure 42 Flight Plan Headings
Figure 43 Right-click a Plan Line to Display Editing Options
MEF(righthandcolumn)standsfortheMaximumElevationFigure,andisthehighest point(notincludingmasts,skyscrapersetc.,)ina0.5osquarethroughwhichthetrack
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passes.TheMEFforaleganalysesallthegridsquaresthroughwhichthelegpasses,and usesthehighestvalue.ThesourcedataistheNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration(NOAA)1.2kmGLOBEdatasetthesamesourceastheDEMtiles.
13.2 Weather
WithPlanGconnectedtoFSX/FS9,andshowingtheuseraircraftposition,theWeather dropdowndataexpanderreadstheweatherdatafromFS9/FSXandshowseverything thatFSX/FS9knowsabouttheweatherconditionsforthecurrentflight.ThisFSX/FS9 weatherdatamaybethebuiltinweatherthemes,usermodifiedweather,weatherfrom anonlineserversuchasVATSIMorIVAO(ifconnectedtosuchaserver,orrealworld Jeppesenweather(FSXonly).PlanGdisplaysalltheavailableweatherdata,asshownin thefollowingextract.
Figure 44 Weather Table
Ifyouselect"DownloadWeatherfromNWS"(accessviatheFiletab,in Options/Weather),weatherfromtheNOAAwillbedisplayedwithouthavingtobe connectedtoFS.Theformatdisplayedinthetableisveryslightlydifferenthowever, sinceitcomesfromrealMETARs,ratherthantheadapteddataprovidedbyFS.
13.3 GPS Panel

IfPlanGisconnectedtoFSthenthisline,whenexpanded,showstheuseraircrafts performanceinstruments.Thiscanbeuseful,forinstance,whereyouhaveonlyone monitor,butyouneedtocheckoutprogressonPlanGandalsomakesureyourhand flownVFRaircraftdoesntsuddenlyenteraspiraldivewhileyourattentioniselsewhere.
Figure 45 GPS Panel
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Theinstrumentsarenotlabelled,butitisobviouswhichtheyarethebasic6pack exceptforthehorizontalsituationindicator(HIS).Airspeedandaltitudearealsoshown digitally.
13.4 A Special HSI

AnadditionalfeatureofPlanGisaHorizontalSituationIndicatorwithmorethan attitude!Itincorporatesawindarrowplusfournavigationalfeatures. a) ADirectionIndicator(DI) b) ACourseDeviationIndicator(CDI),and c) AnAutomaticDirectionFinder(ADF) d) ADescentProfileIndicator Thesefeaturesareonlyavailable,however,ifaflightplanisloadedandPlanGis connectedtoFS.Figure45aboveshowstheGPSPanelasitappearswhennoflightplan isloaded.Figure46showstheGPSpanelduringaflightwithaFlightPlanloaded.
Figure 46 The GPS Panel Alive during a Flight with a Flight Plan Loaded
13.4.1 The Wind Arrow Thewindarrowisthestandardmeteorologicalsymbolusedforwindsonweather charts,withanarrowheadshowingthewinddirection,anduptothreebarbsonone side.InPlanGitisblue,andshownalignedalongacompassbearingonthegraduated circleoftheHSI.ItindicatestheTRUEbearingofthewind,soyouneedtomakethe normaladjustmentformagneticvariation.(Variationwest,magneticbest:variation east,magneticleast).Windstrengthisindicatedbythenumberandsizeofthebarbs. Eachlargebarbrepresents10kts,andasmallbarbrepresents5kts.Soawindspeedof 25ktsisshownastwolargeandonesmallbarb.Windspeedslessthan5ktshaveno barbs. 13.4.2 Direction Indicator MostvirtualpilotsshouldbefamiliarwithaDI.Thisoneisidenticaltothatfoundin youraircraft,exceptthatitdoesntprecesswithtime.Ifprecessionisnotatermyouare familiarwith,lookupDirectionIndicatorPrecessionontheinternetandreadallabout it.Itshowsthemagneticheadingyouareflyingagainsttheredlubberlineatthetop.
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13.4.3 Course Deviation Indicator TheyellowneedleandthecentralbarformaCDIwithaslightdifference.Itisnttuned toaVOR,butisindicatingyourdeviationfromtheflightplantracklinedisplayedonthe map.Thesensitivityvarieswithdistancefromdestination.FullScaleDeflection(FSD) forvariousdistancesisshowninthetablebelow.

Distance from Waypoint More than 35nm Between 2nm and 35nm Less than 2nm Sensitivity FSD = 5nm from track FSD = 1.2nm from track FSD = 0.25nm from track
ThisisthesameasthesensitivityofanILSlocaliser. 13.4.4 Automatic Direction Finder ThisisanADFwithadifference.ThesmallgreenarrowworksexactlylikeanADFtuned toanNDB,butitpointsdirectlytoyournextwaypoint.Itisnotinfluencedby thunderstormsormountainsofironore,soismorereliablethanarealworldADF(not thatmagneticmountainsaresimulatedinFS!) Itdoesgetmoresensitiveasyougetnearertothewaypoint,andswingsroundinthe normalwayanADFneedledoesasyoupassthewaypoint.WhenPlanGdecidesitis timetolookforthenextwaypoint,itwillswingroundautomaticallytopointtothenew one.Ifyouaredirectlyontrack,thiswillbetheinstantthattheaircraftpassesoverthe waypoint.Ifyouareofftrackalittle,ittendstomoveroundtoabout150obefore changing,sodontchasetheneedleasyounearthewaypoint. 13.4.5 Descent Profile Indicator Thefourthfeatureisthedescentprofileindicator.Whetheryoucreateanaltitude profileornot,PlanGwillcalculateaTopofDescentpointalongyourroute.Asyounear theTopofDescent,theprofilebar(asmallgreenletterboxshapedrectangle)appears ontheHISdial,anddescendsdownwards. Thisissimilartoaglideslopeindicatorandshowstherateofdescentyouneedto achievetomaintainyourVNAVprofile.ItworksinthesamesenseasanILSglideslope indicator.Ifthebarisbelowthecentre,youshouldincreaseyourdescentrate,andifit abovecentreyoushouldslowyourdescentrate.TheHSItooltipcontainscontext informationaboutyourpositionontheprofile. Fullscaledeflectionontheprofilebaris1degreeaboveorbelowtheprofile(thesame asanormalILS).ThismimicsthestandardhandheldGarmin(e.g.296,or496)VNAV functionality.Ifyouwishtodisabletheprofilebar,settheProfileto0ft/minute, accessedfromtheFileTabinOptions/GPSPanel.
13.5 Traffic
TheTrafficdataexpandershowsatableofalltheFSX/FS9AIoronlinetrafficwithina defineddistanceoftheuseraircraft.ThemaximumdistanceforthedisplayofAItraffic canbeuserdefinedintheGlobalOptions.Thedefaultsettingis50nauticalmiles.
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Figure 47 Traffic Expander
IfyouareconnectedtoVATSIM,IVAOorotheronlineormultiplayerserver,thenPlanG displaysotherconnectedaircraftratherthanAIaircraft.
13.6 Trail Analysis

ThisisenabledfromtheFiletab,inOptions/UserAircraft(Seesection8.5.6above).It allowstheusertologhis/heraircraftstrail,ortrackmadegood.
Figure 48 A Typical Flight Trail
Iftheoptionischecked,thetrailoftheuseraircraftissavedforeveryflight,andshows theaircraftflown,thepath,andthetimeateachwaypoint.Thestartandendtimesfor thetrailsegmentdisplayedcanbesetwiththeslideratthebottomofthedisplay. ThetrailshowninFigure48showsaCessna152enroutefromGloucestertoShobdonin theUKMidlands. ClickingontheVerticalProfilebutton(shownarrowedinFigure49below)intheTrail AnalysisExpanderopenstheVerticalProfileReviewwindow,wheretherecordedactual elevationoftheflightisdisplayed.
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Figure 49 Trail Analysis Vertical Profile
TohidetheverticalProfiledisplayagain,clicktheconventionalWindowsClosebutton atthetoprightofthewindow.
13.7 Aerodrome
IfyourightclickanairportonthemapandselectShowAirportChartfromthe dropdown,theAerodromeDiagramisdisplayed.Youcanusethemousewheeltozoom in/out,andifyouhoverthemousepointerovertheparkingspots,runways&taxiways therelevantdetailsaredisplayed.
Figure 50 Plan-G Generated Airport Diagram
Thediagramcanalsobedisplayedinitsowntoolwindow.Toseehowtodothis,go tosection12.4above.
13.8 Information
Bydefault,thispanelisshownexpanded.Itprovidesimportantinformation(asitstitle implies)aboutthefeaturecurrentlybeneaththemousepointer.Thismaybe aerodromedata,(activeordisused),controlledairspacedata(name,typeandboundary
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altitudes)orradionavigationaidstypeandfrequencies,orallofthese,forexample,ata majorairport.TheMaximumElevationFigure(MEF)forthemousecursorlocationis alwaysdisplayed. Asthemousepointermoves,soitconstantlychanges,soyoucancheckoutsuch informationtohelpcreateaflightplan,e.g.avoidingcertaincontrolledairspace Theinformationdisplayedcanbelockedsothatthedataforaparticularareais constantlydisplayedeventhoughthemousepointerismovedaway.Seesection14.1.1 belowfordetails.
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CONTEXT MENU OPTIONS

ContextmenuswithappropriateoptionsareavailableinPlanGwhenyourightclickon variouselementsofthedisplay.
14.1 Right-Click on the Map

Ifyourightclickonanypartofthemapadropdownmenuisdisplayedcontaining severalcommonlyusedfunctions.
Figure 51 Right-Click Map Dropdown Menu
14.1.1 Create User Waypoint Youcancreatecustomwaypointsanywhereyoulikeonthemapwithoutrestriction. ThisisparticularlyusefulforVFRflightwheretowns,lakes,hillsandotherfeaturesare requiresaspointsofnavigationalreference. Thissubjectisdealtwithindetailinsection15.2.1below. 14.1.2 Spot Elevation IftheuserhasdownloadedtheoptionalDigitalElevationModel(DEM)tilesfromthe NGDC'GLOBE'(GlobalLandOnekmBaseElevation)website(seesection12.1above), thenPlanGwilldisplaytheelevationabovesealevelofthepointwhichhasbeenright clickedastheseconditemontherightclickdropdownmenu. 14.1.3 Display and Hide Range Rings Placethehandcursoratthepointonthemapwhereyouwanttherangeringstobe centred,andrightclick.SelectDisplayRangeRingsfromthedropdownmenu. Ifyouwanttomovethem,simplymovethecursortothenewlocationandselect DisplayRangeRingsagain. Tohidetherangerings,rightclickanywhereonthemapandselectHideRangeRings fromthedropdownmenu.Rangeringsarehiddenbydefault,soifyouexitPlanG,they willnotbedisplayedwhenyourestarttheapplication. Rangeringscanbesettodisplayinunitsofdistanceortime.Iftimeischosen,therings willautomaticallybedistortedtotakeaccountofanywindenteredintheWinds dialoguebox(seesections9.6and15.1.2). RangeringsdonotrequireyoutobeconnectedtoFS.Theyarepurelyamappingdisplay function.Youcanonlydisplayonesetofrings.
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Figure 52 Displaying and Hiding Range Rings
14.1.4 QDM Range and Bearing Intheearlydaysofradio,whentransmissionwascarriedoutentirelyinmorsecode,the QCodewasaseriesoflettergroupsstartingwithQ,eachofwhichhadaspecific meaning.Afew,includingQNH,QFEandQDMarestillusedinaviation.QDMmeans "WhatistheRangeandBearingTOadistantpointFROMafixedorigininthiscasethe UsersAircraft.Forcompleteness,youshouldknowthattheBearingFROMadistant pointtoyouraircraftisQDR.Itissometimesusedbyrealworldpilots.
Figure 53 QDM Display
Placethehandcursoratthepointonthemaptowhichyouwanttoknowthebearing anddistancefromyouraircraft,andrightclicktodisplaythedropdownmenu(see Figure54below).Select"QDM:RangeandBearing".Aredlinewillbedrawnfromthe rightclickpointtothemousecursor,withtherangeandbearingvaluesdisplayedinthe InformationPanel. Rightclickinganypointagainwillshowacheckmarkonthedropdownmenuagainstthe QDM:RangeandBearingline,indicatingthatQDMLinedrawingisON.Clickingon "QDM:RangeandBearing"againonthedropdownmenuwillremovethecheckmark andturnOFFtheQDMline.

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Ifyouwishtodrawanewline,thenwiththepresentlinedisplayed,rightclickonthe newpointyouwishtomeasurefrom.Thedropdownmenuwillbedisplayedagain,but ifyourightclickonthemapatanypointawayfromthemenu,itwilldisappearandthe newlinewillbedrawnfromthepointyouselectedtomeasurefrom. 14.1.5 Lock Info Panel TheinformationdisplayedontheInformationPanelasyoumovethemouseroundthe mapcanbelockedsothatthedataforaparticularareaisconstantlydisplayedeven thoughthemousepointerismovedaway.Tolockinformation,hoverthemouseover theareaonthemapwhichdisplaystheinformationrequired,thenrightclickandselect LockInfoPanelfromthedropdown.
Figure 54 Lock the Info Panel Figure 55 Unlock the Info Panel
Toreturntochangingdataasthemouseismoved,rightclickandselectUnlockInfo Panel.
14.2 Right Click on an Airport

Rightclickingthemouseonanairportsymbolopensadifferentmenufromtheone whichisdisplayedwhenyourightclickonthemap.Itshowssomeoptionsspecificto thatairportandsomewhichalsoappearonthemaprightclickmenu.Theoptionsare describedbelow.
Figure 56 Right-click on Airport
14.2.1 Start Flight Plan at Airport Rightclickonthedepartureairportonyourplan,Startflightplanatairport<ICAO code>"(PlanGfillsintheICAOfourlettercodefortheselectedairport)isself explanatory.Ifyourightclickanairportafteryourdepartureairport,thisoption changestoAddairport<ICAOCode>toplan

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14.2.2 Select Airport as Alternate Whatifyouarriveatyourdestinationandyoucannotlandthere?Intherealworld, therecanbemanyreasonsforthis,butinFS,especiallywhenflyingonlinewithVATSIM orIVAO,etc.,theremaybeanaircraftalreadyontherunwaywhichdoesnotmoveas youflyyourfinalapproach.Youclearlyhavetolandsomewhere,andthatiswhatthe Alternateboxisforintheonlineflyingpilotclientflightplans(thoughitdoesnot featureinFScreatedflightplans). Ifyouselectthisoption,anadditionalline,butinred,isdrawnontheplanfromyour destinationtotheairportyouselectasyouralternate.Importantly,becauseyoudont wanttobedoingthiswhilegoingaroundbecauseofthatunmovingaircraft,theplan displayedintheExpanderpanelincludesthedistance,headingandtime,etc.toyour alternatefromyourdestination.Thelineofdataforthedestinationtoalternatelegis showninred. Note:Thealternateheadinganddistanceisalwayscalculatedfromyourdestination, becausestandardaeronauticalpracticeworldwideassumesthatyouflytoyour destinationbeforedivertingtoyouralternate. 14.2.3 Show Airport Chart IfyouselectShowAirportChartfromthedropdownmenu,theAerodromeDiagramis displayed.Youcanusethemousewheeltozoomin/out,andifyouhoverthemouse pointerovertheparkingspots,runways&taxiwaystherelevantdetailsaredisplayed. YoucanalsoshowitinitsownToolWindowasdescribedinsection12.4above. 14.2.4 Instrument Approaches IfanairporthasinstrumentapproachesbuiltintoFS,thenthereisamenuoptioninthe airportrightclickdropdowntodisplaythem.Theyaremuchsimplifiedversionsofreal worldInstrumentApproachPlates,butifyouareunfamiliarwithinstrument approaches,thenyouwillwanttoknowwhatthediagramsmean. WhenyoufirstclickontheInstrumentApproachoption,theremaybeapausewhile PlanGloadstheinformation,thenasmallApproacheswindowisdisplayedshowing alltheapproachproceduresavailableforthatairportinFS.(Theremaybeseveral othersavailableforrealworldflight.) ThewindowissplitintwobyablackdividerbearingthewordTransitions.Ifyouclick ononeofthedisplayedapproachprocedures,twothingshappen: AbluelineandaredlineappearoverlaidonthePlanGmapattheairport SomecodesappearbelowtheTransitionsdividerintheApproachesbox. Thebluelineisthetracktheaircraftshouldbeflyinginboundtotheairportonthe runwayheading,approachingtheFinalApproachPoint(FAP).IntheUK,thisistypically between4and7nauticalmilesfromtouchdown,dependingonhowcrampedthe airspaceisaroundtheairport.IntheUSAandCanada,wherecongestedairspaceisless ofaproblem,thiscanbe10ormorenmfromtouchdown. TheredlineistheMissedApproachtrack.Ifyoudonothavetherunwayinsightby about2/3rdsofanauticalmilebeforetouchdown(200ftabovetheairfieldelevation),
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calledtheMissedApproachPoint(MAP),thenyoumustcarryoutaMissedApproach. Asillustrated,youflytherunwayheadingoutboundfor3or4nauticalmiles,climbing to,typically,1,500feetabovetheairfieldelevation,thenmakearateoneturninbound backtothebeacon. ThecodesbelowtheTransitionsdivider,inthelowerhalfoftheApproacheswindow, maybe2,3,4or5characters,andaretheICAOidentifiersforthetransitionpoints. Typically,ifatransitionpointisanNDB,itwillbetwoletters,aVOR,threelettersandso on. IfyouclickononeoftheTransitionPoints,thenthebluelinegainsanextraline,which istheleadinfromtheTransitionpointtotheInitialApproachFix(IAF)andcontinuingon totheFAP.Itmaybeaproceduralturn,whichistypicallyteardropshaped,oran inboundtrackfromaVORtotheFAP. Thetransitionpointsarethepointsatwhichyourenroutenavigationceasesandyou begintoflytheInstrumentApproachProcedure(IAP)ortheprocedureasitis popularlyknown.TransitionpointswillalwaysbeaVOR,anNDB,oranintersection(see section10.4aboveforanexplanationofanintersection).Ifthetransitionpointisan NDBorVORlocatedontheairfield,(e.g.Manchester)thentheprocedurewillbea proceduralturn.If,asissometimesfound,thereisanNDBontherunwayextended centrelineandapproximately3nauticalmilesfromthethreshold,(e.g.EastMidlands), thetransitionpoint,andtheIAF,willbothbetheNDB,andtheprocedurewillstartfrom there. FSXincludesRNAVapproachproceduresfortheUSAandCanada,butUKtransition pointswillalmostalwaysbeVORsorNDBs. 14.2.5 METAR OneoftheminormiraclesofPlanGisitsabilitytofetchboththecurrentrealworld weather(METAR)andforecastweather(TAF)foranyairportwithinitsdatabasewhich hasanassociatedweatherstation.Forairportswhichdonothaveanassociated weatherstation,orforwhichthereisnocurrentinformation,PlanGdisplaysno weather,ratherthanusethenearestavailable. Note:the"DownloadWeatherfromNWS"optionmustbeset(accessviatheFiletab,in Options/Weather),forMETARSandTAFstobeshown.Thereisashortdelayafterinitial startupbeforeweatherdataisavailable. 14.2.6 Other Selections TheotherselectionsintheAirportrightclickdropdownare: SpotElevation DisplayRangeRings HiderangeRings
QDMrangeandBearing TheseoptionsarealsoavailableontheMaprightclickdropdownandaredescribedin section14.1abovewhichdealwiththatfunction.
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14.3 Right-Click on the Plan Expander

Thedropdownmenuheredisplaysanumberofoptionsformodifyingyourplan. 14.3.1 Set This as the Active Leg Clickingthisoptionsetsthe'active'legforcalculatingtime&distancetonextwaypoint. ItisonlyusefulifconnectedtoFSandwhereyoumayhaveopenedaflightplanpart waythroughaflight.Settinganewactivelegallowsyoutopickupthelegintheflight ontheflightplanwhichyouraircraftiscurrentlyflying.Putanotherway,(anditisnot exactofcourse)itsortofsynchronisesyourflighttotheplan.Itcanalsobeusefulif Thepilotmissesawaypointcompletely,andwantstotellPlanGtoforget pointingtothelastwaypoint,buttonowhelpgettothenextone,or Theflightplanhasbeenchangedmidflight,or ThelegsequencinggoesawryinPlanGforsomereason
14.3.2 Centre on Map Ifyourightclickonawaypointintheplan,themapmovestopositionthatwaypointin thecentreofthemap. 14.3.3 Move or Delete Waypoint Waypointscanbemovedupordowninthetable,ordeletedfromtheplan.Rightclick theentryinthetableyouwishtomoveordelete,andselecttheappropriatemenu optionfromthedropdown.SeeFigure57below.
Figure 57 Flight Plan Waypoint Dropdown Options
14.3.4 Cross References Crossreferencesareusefulfordefiningawaypointpreciselyusingvectorgeometry.For thenonmathematicallyinclined,itmeansthatanypointonamapcanbeprecisely identifiedbyanangleanddistancefromapoint.Youcanalsogetafixifyouhaveonly theanglefromtwoknownpointsrelativetoacommonaxis.Thatprincipleiscalled Triangulation.Inaviation,theangleisofcoursetheMagneticBearingfromthe waypoint(QDR)andthecommonaxisisMagneticNorth. Inflight,ifapilottunesinaVORonhisNAV1radio,thenturnstheOmnibearing selector(OBS)untiltheCDIneedleiscentredandtheTOflagisdisplayed,andalso observingtheDMEinstrument,thepilotisabletoobtainapositionfixfortheaircraft,
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whichwillbe,forexample262oTOtheVOR(i.e.broadlytothewestoftheaircraft)and 22.4milesfromit.Inotherwords,TheQDMoftheAircrafttotheVORis262o. ByselectingasecondVORwithinrangeandcarryingoutthesameexercise,theposition fixmaybeconfirmed,ortheaccuracyofthepilotsroughplotonthechartimproved (rememberhe/sheisflyingtheaircraftatthesametime!)Ideallytheradialsfromthe twoVORsshouldintersectasnearlyatrightanglesaspossible.
Figure 58 Position fix from two VORs
InPlanG,ifyouselectCrossReferences,youcanentertworadioNavaidsinthe dialogueboxwhichopens.ClicktheAddbuttonforthefirstcrossreferencethen selectthetableyouwishtosearcheitherVORorNDB,byclickingtheappropriatetab atthetopofthewindow.NowselectaNavaid,eitherbytypingintheICAOIdentifier, e.g.BPKforBrookmansParkVOR,orpicktheoneyouneedbyscrollingdownthe(very long,worldwide)databaseofNavaidsdisplayed. Thevectorlinesaredrawnonthemap,andthebearingTOtheNavaid(QDMremember) anddistanceareshownintheflightplanintheExpanderpanel,andincludedinthe PilotsLog(PLOG).Tousethisinformationtoarriveatthewaypoint,youneedtoturn theOmnibearingselector(OBS)untiltheTOflagisdisplayed,andtheCDIneedleis centred.Notethebearingindicatedatthetopoftheinstrument.TurntheOBSagain untilthePlanGQDMisindicatedandflyaclosingheadinguntiltheCDIneedleisagain centred.ObservethedistanceontheDMEinstrumentandturnontotheQDMheading, keepingtheCDIneedlecentreduntilthePlanGdistanceisdisplayedontheDME.Then youwillbeatthewaypoint.Forexample:thePlanGQDMis262oandyouareflying heading030o.TurntheOBSto262o,turntheaircraft90otoit352oandthenturn heading262oastheneedlestartstocentre.(seesection14.1.4aboveforan explanationofQcodes). WhenusingtwoNDBsforcrossreferences,PlanGisabitsmarterthanrealworldNDBs, becauseitprovidesdistanceinformation,whichrealworldNDBsdonot.Ifyouusetwo NDBsintherealworldyourfixisprovidedentirelybytheintersectionofthetwo indicatedADFbearings. Warning:MakesureifyouenteranICAOcodethatyouhaveselectedthecorrect waypointtype.Inthescreenshotbelow,someoneselectedCAMfortheCambridge
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NDB,butfromtheVORtable,andgotasillyresult2,918nm!TheCAMVORhappensto benearSchenectady,NewYorkState,USA,notnearCambridge,England!ItistheCAM NDBwhichisonCambridge(UK)Aerodrome!
Figure 59 The Wrong CAM!
14.3.5 Add Alternate Thisoptionisdescribedatsection14.2.2above. 14.3.6 Set Author IfyouwanttoberecognisedastheworldleaderincreatingPlanGflightplans,thenclick thisoptionandenteryournameinthedialoguebox.Nowwhenyousendyourplansto others,yourfamewillgowithyou.
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15
FLIGHT PLANS
Thissectiondescribestheallimportantproceduresforcreating,amending,saving, loadinganddeletingflightplans.Therearetwobasicmethodsofcreatingflightplans: a) Graphical b) Tabular
15.1 Creating a Flight Plan Graphically

Thismethodisintuitiveandfast,andwillalmostcertainlybethechoiceofmostusers forcreatinganewflightplan. 15.1.1 New Flight Plan Tostart,cleartheflightplanmemoryofanyexistingplanbyclickingtheFiletabatthe topleftofthemainPlanGwindowtoopenthedropdownmenu,thenclickonNew Plan.ThisclearstheflightplanmemoryandexpandsthePlanDataExpanderonthe rightofthemap,althoughatthispointthatmaynotbeobvious,becauseitcontainsno data.ThereareotherimportantitemsintheFiletabmenuwhichwillbedescribed later. Alternatively,clickthe"blanksheet"iconintheQuickAccessToolbar,whichachieves thesameresult.Ifnoflightplanisloaded,thenthereisnovisibleresultfromeitherof thesetwoactions.HoweverifaFlightPlanisalreadyloaded,andthemapisshowing thewaypointsandlegsofthatexistingplan,thoselegsandwaypointswillbeerased,but themaplocationwillremaincentredonthesamepositionasforthatplanuntiltheUser changesthemapviewwiththeusualtools. 15.1.2 Flight Conditions TheHomeribbonmenucontainstheoptionsyouneedtosetuptheconditionsfor yournewflightplan.Theselectionsmadehereareusedtocalculatetheheadingsand elapsedlegtimesintheFlightPlan,andaredynamicallyadjustedinthePlanexpander ontherightofthemapwindowifyoumakechanges.Theseconditionsaresavedto yournewFlightPlanwhenyouclickthe"Save"orSaveAs"buttons. Cruisingairspeed,Altitude,WindandVFRorIFRcanbeenteredbeforedrawingtheplan, butStartPosition(e.g.Parking,Ramp,ActiveRunway)canonlybeenteredoncethe startlocationofaflightplanhasbeencreated(seesection15.1.5below).
Figure 60 Setting Flight Plan Conditions
15.1.3 Departure Airport Nowfindyourdepartureairportonthemap.Ifitisvisibleonthecurrentmap,then movethemousepointerovertheairporticon,andrightclick.
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SelectStartflightplanatairport<ICAOcode>".(PlanGfillsintheICAOfourlettercode fortheselectedairport).
Figure 61 Right-Click Dropdown - Start Flight Plan from Here
Ifitisnotvisibleonornearthecurrentmapdisplay,youcanzoomoutorpanby draggingthemapusingtheGooglemaptools.Alternatively,youcanclickontheFind buttonontheHomemenuribbon(farleft). The"Find"buttonallowsyoutosearchforanairportorradionavigationaid.Clickingon the"Find"buttondropsdownalistofobjectsyoucansearchfor: FindAirport(SearchbyICAOcode,byairportname,orbycityname) FindNDB(Searchby3letteridentifierorbynameorpartialname) FindVOR(Searchby3letteridentifierorbynameorpartialname) FindUserVRP(UserVisualReferencePointsorUserWaypoints)areotherpoints ofinterestthatcanbecreatedbytheuserandaddedtoaPlanGdatabase.)
Figure 62 Using the Find Function to Locate an Airport
Ifthesearchedforitemexistsinyoursimulatorsdatabase,itwillbefound,andthemap willcentreonit.SearchtextisNOTcasesensitive. 15.1.4 Continue to Add Waypoints Youcannowselectfromthemap(orusetheFindoptionasabove),thenextwaypoint inyourflightplan.Rightclickonitsicon,andselect"Add<item>toplanfromthe dropdown.
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<item>canbeanairport,anNDB,aVOR,aVRPanditsnameandICAOaredisplayedin themenu,sothatyouknowyouselectedtherightone.
Figure 63 Right-click Dropdown Add Waypoint to Plan
Themapwillnowshowatracklinefromyourstartlocationtothenewwaypoint,and thenewwaypointwillappearinthePlantableintheExpanderPanelontherightofthe map.Continuewitheachsubsequentwaypointinthesamewayuntilyouhaveadded yourarrivalairport.Ateachstep,thetracklinewillupdateandeachwaypointwillbe addedtoyourFlightPlan. NotethatwaypointsareaddedtothePlaninsequence,soifyoudecidetoaddan intermediatewaypointafteryouhavegonepastit,yourtracklinewilldoubleback, whichisprobablynotwhatyouintend.SeeEditingFlightPlansbelowforthewayto correctthis. Ifyouclickonanairportasawaypoint,thesecondoptionontherightclickdropdownis SetAirport<ICAO>asAlternate.Seesection14.2.2abovefordetailsonaddingan alternate.Itisgoodairmanship,ifnotmandatory,toalwaysenteranalternate. 15.1.5 Start Position AStartPositiononyourdepartureairfieldcanbeenteredoncetheStartLocationof yourplanhasbeencreated.Untilthen,StartPositionisgreyedout.Onelegisdefined asadeparturelocation,plusanendlocation.Theendlocationcanbeyourfirst waypointor,fordirectflights,yourdestinationlocation.Youcanofcoursecomplete yourplan,beitadirecttrackplan,oroneinvolvinganumberofwaypoints,andaddthe StartPositionattheendoftheprocessjustbeforesavingthePlan.
Figure 64 Move your Aircraft, but not to the Active!
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IfyouaddastartpositioninPlanGandloadyourplanintoFlightSimulator,thenwhen FSasksifyouwanttomoveyouraircrafttothedepartureairportlistedontheflight plan,andprovidedyouclickYesyouraircraftismovedinFS,nottotheactiverunway, whichistheFSdefault,buttothestartpositionyouselectedinPlanG.Ifyouareflying online,thenthispositionshouldbeastartinggateorGAramp,anddefinitelyNOTthe activerunway. Note:Tousethisoption,yourplanmustbesavedasa.PLNfile,though,notasa.PLG file,whichwillnotloadintoFS. 15.1.6 Vertical Navigation Buildingaverticalnavigationprofilebyaddingpassingaltitudescannotbedone graphically,butrequirestheparameterstobeenteredfromthekeyboard.Itcanbe donebyenteringthedetailsinthePlan(intheexpanderorinatoolwindow),oncethe flightplanroutehasbeencompletedgraphically.Seesection15.3belowforfulldetails. 15.1.7 Notes Addingnotestoaflightplaniscarriedoutfromthekeyboard.Itcanbedoneby enteringthedetailsinthePlan(intheexpanderorinatoolwindow),oncetheflight planroutehasbeencompletedgraphically.OpenthePlanintheexpanderorinatool window.ScrollacrosstotheNotescolumnanddoubleclicktheappropriatecell.You cannowenterfreetexttoaddanyimportantinformationforthatlegoftheroute.The cellexpandstoaccommodatethetextentered. 15.1.8 Save your Plan OnceyouaresatisfiedwiththesequenceofwaypointsinthePlantable,savetheplanas describedinsection8.3. 15.1.9 The Reverse Button Thisbuttonautomaticallyreversesthesequenceofwaypointsinaloadedflightplanand recalculatesthebearingstocreateanewflightplanforthereturntrip,assumingyou wanttogobackalongtheverysameroute.ThewindowtitleinPlanGwillreflectanew nameforthereversedflightplan,andwhenyousaveit,PlanGautomaticallychanges thenameforthenew,reversedplan.
15.2 Creating a Flight Plan by Data Entry

Althoughyoumayfinditlessintuitive,PlanGnonethelessallowsyoutoselect waypointsdirectlyinthedropdownPlanexpander.Thiscouldbeconvenient,for example,whentranscribingaflightplanfromaprintedformorahandbook.Pressthe "NewFlightPlan"buttontoclearanyloadeddatafromPlanG.Thedepartureairport mustnowbechosenintheusualway,byeitherrightclickingonitsicon,orbyusingthe "Find"menuatthetopleftofthePlanGwindow.Nowthatthereisasinglewaypointin thenewflightplan,the"Plan"expandercanbeopened.Itwillcontainasinglelinefor thedepartureairportatthispointintheprocess. 15.2.1 Inserting Waypoints into the Tabular Plan Thenextwaypoint,orthedestinationairport,cannowbeenteredintothetable.Right clickonthetableentryforthedepartureairport,andselect"InsertWaypointBelow".
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Figure 65 Adding a Waypoint
Thispopsupan"AddWaypoint"panel,whereyoucanselectthetypeofwaypoint (Airports/VORs/NDBs/UserVRPs).Thewaypointtobeinsertedcanbefoundeitherby itsICAOcodeorbyitscommonname.Ifyouenterthefirstfewlettersofthenameor ICAOcode,PlanGwilldisplayonlythoseentriesinthedatabasestartingwiththose letters. Oncethedesiredwaypointisfound,clickingon"OK"willinsertitintothePlantable,and alsoonthePlanGmap,withanassociatedtrackline.Ifnecessary,waypointscanbe movedupordowninthetable,ordeletedfromtheplan. 15.2.2 Notes OpenthePlanintheexpanderorinatoolwindow.ScrollacrosstotheNotescolumn anddoubleclicktheappropriatecell.Youcannowenterfreetexttoaddanyimportant informationforthatlegoftheroute.Thecellexpandstoaccommodatethetext entered. 15.2.3 Save Your Plan OnceyouaresatisfiedwiththealltheinformationinthePlantable,savetheplaninthe usualway. Note:thatifyousaveitasa.PLNfileforusewithinFlightSimulator,crossreferences, passingaltitudesandnotescannotbesaved.Alltheseareincludedinsaved.PLGfiles.
15.3 Vertical Navigation

15.3.1 User Defined VNAV Profile Youcanbuildacustomverticalnavigation(VNAV)profileinPlanGifyouwish.Atkey waypoints,wherealtitudeiscritical,suchascontrolledairspaceboundariesorhigh terrain,youcanfixthealtitudetofly.Loadaflightplanandopenthetabularplanin eithertheDataExpandersorasaToolWindow.Scrollacrosstotherightoftheplanto thePassingAlt.column.Doubleclicktheappropriatecellinthecolumnandenterthe desiredaltitude.Enterthevaluewithoutacommaseparatorfor000s,althoughifyou doincludeacommaseparator,PlanGwillremoveit. IfyounowopenthePlanElevationwindow,youwillseeyourVerticalNavigationProfile displayedasasolidorangeline.IfthePlanElevationWindowisopenwhenyouenter passingaltitudes,theVNAVprofileisnotdisplayeduntilyoucloseandreopenit.
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15.3.2 Default VNAV Profile Ifyouchoosenottobuildaverticalnavigationprofile,PlanGbuildsadefaultone anyway,basedonthediagrambelow.
Figure 66 Vertical Navigation Profile Diagram
PlanGcalculatesaTopofDescent(ToD)pointbasedonyouraltitudeandtrueairspeed. Forexample,ifyouareflyingat120knots(2nmperminute)at3,000ft,andtherateof descentissetat500ftperminute,thentodescendto1000ftwilltake4minutes,in whichtimeyouwillhavetravelled8nauticalmiles.Thetargetpositionisnormally 1000ftabovethedestinationand3milesbeforeiti.e.atcircuitheightandina comfortablepositiontojointhevisualcircuit.SotheToDpointinthiscasewouldbe 11nmfromyourdestination. OneminutebeforetheToDpointanalertsoundandpopupmessage,Oneminuteto VNAVProfileisdisplayed.Intheexampleabove,thiswouldbe12nmbefore touchdown. Asecondalertsounds500ftabovethetargetaltitude,andafurtherpopup500ftto targetaltitudeisdisplayed. TheverticalnavigationprofileparametersarealluserconfigurableviatheFiletab,in Options/GPSPanel,seesection8.5.5above),
15.4 Modifying Existing Flight Plans

WithapreviouslycreatedflightplanopenedinPlanG,youcaneither: Addoneormorewaypointstotheendoftheexistingchainofwaypoints, Insertanewwaypointbetweentwoexistingwaypoints.
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15.4.1 Adding a New Waypoint to the End of a Plan Addinganewwaypointtotheendofthesequenceisjustamatterofrightclickingitand selecting"Add<waypointID>toplan".Youthen"Save"orSaveAs"thechangedflight plan,asdescribedabove. 15.4.2 Inserting a New Waypoint Therearetwowaystoinsertawaypointbetweentwoothersinaflightplan. a) Rightclickonanentryinthetabularplan,andselectInsertwaypointabove (orbelow). b) UsingtheEditbuttonontheHomeribbon. 15.4.3 Inserting a Waypoint into the Tabular Plan Rightclickonthetableentryaboveorbelowwhichyouwishtoinsertanewwaypoint. Selecteither"InsertWaypointBelow"or"InsertWaypointAbove"accordingtowhere youwishtoinsertthenewwaypoint. Thispopsupan"InsertWaypoint"dialogue,whereyoucanselectthetypeofwaypoint tobeinserted(Airports/VORs/NDBs/UserVRPs). ThewaypointtobeinsertedcanbefoundeitherbyenteringitsICAOcodeorbyentering itscommonname.IfyouenterthefirstfewlettersofthenameorICAOcode,PlanG willdisplayonlythoseentriesinthedatabasestartingwiththoseletters.Ifthedesired waypointisfoundinthePlanGdatabase,asyoutype,PlanGwillfindallrelevant entriesanddisplaythembelowtheentryline.Selecttheoneyouwant(oftentherewill beonlyoneifyouenterauniqueidentifier)byclickingonittohighlightit,thenclick OK.Clicking"OK"willinsertitintothePlantable,and,ifitisapredefinedUser Waypoint,showitonthePlanGmap,andwillmovethetracklinetomatchtheorderof entriesinthetable.
Figure 67 Inserting a Waypoint
15.4.4 Moving and Deleting Waypoints Youcanofcoursemovewaypointsupordowninthetable,ordeletethem.Seesection 14.3.3abovefordetails.
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15.4.5 Save Your Edited Plan IfyouhaveeditedyourFlightPlanbyaddingorinsertingnewwaypoints,forexample, andwishtokeeptheoriginalaswell,thengototheFileTabandselectSaveAs,select eithera.PLGora.PLNfile,andgivethemodifiedplananewname.
15.5 Using the Edit Button

WhentheEditbuttonispressed,clickdragreleaseeditingispossibleonthetrackline ofyourflightplan.Firstloadtheflightplanyouwishtomodify,ifitisnotalready loaded.FindtheEditbuttoninthemiddleoftheHomeRibbon.Ifyouclickthat button,itchangescolourtoanorangebackground,indicatingthateditmodeisactive.
Figure 68 Drag Handles in Edit Mode (Highlighted here in Red Circles)
Lookatyourflightplanonthemapandyouwillseesmallsquaregreydraghandlesin themiddleofeachlegofthetracklineofthedisplayedflightplan.Ifyouhavealongleg betweenwaypoints,youmayneedtodragorzoomthemapinordertoseethedrag handleonthatleg.Notethatthesearethesameshapeaswaypointicons,butaregrey ratherthanwhite,sobecarefultoselectthecorrecticon. Ifyouhoveryourmousepointer,whichwillbeastandardWindowsdraghandicon, overoneofthesedraghandlesthedraghandiconchangestoaselecthandicon.Be suretochooseazoomlevelatwhichthedraghandleiseasilyselected.Then,leftclick
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anddragthehandletothewaypointyouwanttoinsertinyourplan.Thenewwaypoint canbeanamedobjectsuchasa"UserWaypoint",anairport,VORorNDB. Alternatively,ifyoudragthedraghandletoanunidentifiedpointonthemap,the insertedwaypointwillhavenoiconofitsown,andPlanGwilladdittotheplaninthe expandeddataareawithadefaultname,wpt01,wpt02,etc. Youcancreateauserwaypointatthatpoint,butPlanGwillnotautomaticallyaddyour newUserWaypoint.Youmustaddittotheplanbyagaindraggingtheappropriatedrag handletothenewuserwaypoint.Toavoidconfusionandclutter,youshoulddeletethe defaultonefromthePlanbyselectingitinthetabularplan,rightclickingonitand selectingDeletewaypoint. Thesewaypointsareonly"temporary"theyareaddedtotheflightplanbutnottothe UserWaypointsdatabase.Theyaresavedwiththeplanandredisplayedifyoureload thatplan,butifyoucreateanewplan,theywillnotbepresent.Ifyourightclicka temporaryuserwaypointonthetabularplan,thereisanoptioninthedropdownmenu torenameit,ifyouwish.
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16
USER WAYPOINTS
PlanGbuildsaninternaldatabase(PlanG_FSX.sdforPlanG_FS9.sdf)ofairportsand navaidsbasedonascanoftheFSsceneryconfigurationfile.UserWaypointstogether withofficialVisualReferencePointsarecontainedinaseparatedatabasewithinPlan G,namely,UserWaypoints.sdf.PlanGincludesalargenumberofpredefinedUser Waypoints,andyoucanalsoaddyourown.
Figure 69 The User Waypoint Database
16.1 Creating User Waypoints

Youcancreatecustomwaypointsanywhereyoulikeonthemapwithoutrestriction. ThisisparticularlyusefulforVFRflightwheretowns,lakes,hillsandotherfeaturesare requiredaspointsofnavigationalreference. Rightclickthemapatthepointwhereyouwanttocreateauserwaypointtodisplaythe dropdownmenuwhichincludestheCreateUserWaypointoption.
Figure 70 User Waypoint Dropdown
ClicktheCreateUserwaypointoptionandadialoguewindowopensforyoutoenterthe details.
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Figure 71 Create User Waypoint Dialogue
Enterthewaypointnameandanidentifyingcodewhichcanbeupto8charactersin length.Themagneticvariation(MagVar)atthatpointandtheLatitudeandLongitude areautomaticallyaddedbyPlanG,butyoucaneditthemtofinetuneawaypoint positiontoanexactspotifyourmouseclickingisntsoaccurate. IftheappropriateDEMfilesareinstalled(asdescribedinSection12.1above),PlanGwill automaticallyfillintheElevationforthenewUserWaypoint. ClickOKtosavethewaypoint.
Figure 72 User Waypoint Created
Thewaypointappearsasasmallgreencircleonthemap(Figure72above). ThewaypointissavedintheUserWaypointDatabasewhichcanbemanipulatedina similarwaytoaspreadsheet(seesection16.5below).
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Figure 73 User Waypoint Added to Database
16.2 Adding a New User Waypoint to the Flight Plan

RightclickthenewUserWaypointontheMap,andthenameofthewaypointwillbe displayedinthemenu,aspartofanaddtoflightplanoption.
Figure 74 Add User Waypoint to Flight Plan
SelectthisoptionandthewaypointisaddedtotheFlightPlan.Thenewwaypointis addedasthelastitem,andthetracklinewillthenshowaroutewhichyouprobably dontintendtofly.Rightclickontheflightplantodisplaythedropdownmenuwhich allowsyoutomovethenewwaypointintoitscorrectposition.Thetracklinewilladjust accordingly.(Seesection15.4.4aboveformoreoneditingflightplans.)
16.3 Modifying User Waypoints

Youmaywishtomoveawaypointslightly,changeitsnameoridentifier.Ifyouright clickonthenewwaypoint,thedropdownhasthreenewitemswhicharereasonably
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selfexplanatory.IfyouselectEditUserWaypointtheCreateUserWaypointdialogue isagaindisplayed,althoughnowwiththewindowtitleEditUserWaypointatthetop. Youcanmakechangesdirectlyinthetextboxes,includingmovingthewaypointby changingtheLatitudeand/orLongitudevalues.
Figure 75 Editing a User Waypoint
Ifyourenameawaypointthatisincludedinthecurrentflightplan,theplanwillbe updatedtoreflectthechange.Anyplanthatisnotcurrentlyopenwill,ofcourse,notbe updated.
16.4 Deleting User Waypoints

TodeleteaUserWaypoint,rightclickonthenewwaypoint,andselectDeleteUser Waypointfromthedropdownmenu.Thewaypointisimmediatelyremovedfromthe database,andthemap,butnotfromthecurrentflightplanoritstracklineonthemap. Alternatively,youcanlocatetheUserWaypointintheUserWaypointDatabasetable (SeeFigure76below),highlighttherecordwithasinglemouseclick,thenpressthe DELkeyonthekeyboard.Thedeletionisnotreversible,thereforeawarningis displayedThisactionwilldeleterow(s)fromthedatabase.Doyouwishtoproceed?as aprotectionagainstaccidentaldeletion.
16.5 Managing the User Waypoint Database

ToviewtheUserWaypointdatabaseandmanageitdirectly,(adding,editingordeleting waypoints,opentheDataRibbonatthetopofPlanG,andselecttheManageDatabase button.TheManageUserWaypointswindowwillopen. Ifyoudoubleclickinanycellinthedatabase,itishighlightedinwhiteandsurrounded byaheavyblackborder.Thetextornumericalvalueinthatcellcanthenbechanged. ClickingOKwillsavethechanges.
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Figure 76 Editing The User Waypoint Database
Recordscanbedeletedbyselectingthemwithasinglemouseclickandpressingthe keyboardDELkey.Asinglerowormultiplehighlightedrowscanbedeletedwithone keypress.Thedeletionisnotreversible,thereforeawarningisdisplayedThisaction willdeleterow(s)fromthedatabase.Doyouwishtoproceed?asaprotectionagainst accidentaldeletion.
16.6 Importing and Exporting Records

Youcanimportorexportdatafilescontaininguserwaypointssolongasthenumberof fieldsmatchesexactlythenumberoffieldsintheUserWaypointdatabase(9).These filesmustbecommaseparatedvalue(CSV)filesoftheform [CATEGORY],[NAME],[IDENTIFIER],[LATITUDE],[LONGITUDE],[ELEVATION], [MAGVAR],[TAG],[NOTES] e.g. VRP,BOLAMLAKE,NEWCASTLE,55.1254997253418,.87133300304413,0,4,UK, NotetheorderoffieldsthatyoumustcreateisntexactlyasdisplayedinthePlanGUser WaypointDatabase.Alsonotethatthefinalcommadenotesthatthe9thfield[NOTES]is emptyintheexampleabove,butmustbeaccountedforbythatfinalcommaafterUK. Inotherwords,inanyrecordyouwishtoimport,youmusthave8commasotherwise theimportwillfail. WiththeUserWaypointWindowopen,highlighttherecordsyouwishtoexportand onlythosewillbeexported.Noncontiguousrecordscanbeselectedbyholdingdown theCtrlkeyasyouclickeachrecord.
Figure 77 User Defined Records Imported
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AN EXAMPLE FLIGHT PLAN

MuchofPlanGisintuitive.Youdontneedthiscomprehensivemanualatall.However, forthosewhodonthavetimetoreadmanuals,butjustwanttogetgoing,hereisa workedexampleofashortVFRflightacrosssomeofEnglandsmostbeautifuland famouslandscapes.ItintroducesasmanyfeaturesofPlanGthatcanbereasonably packedintoashort115mileflight.
Figure 78 Carlisle to Liverpool The Route
17.1 Preparation
Justasintherealworld,thereisasignificantamountofpreparationrequiredbefore flight.OfcoursewewillstartbycreatingaflightplaninPlanG. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. OpenPlanGandontheHomeTab,clickFind. SelectAirportfromthedropdownandenterEGNCintheICAOCodebox. Carlislewillbehighlighted.ClickOK. Onthemap,closethecalloutboxcontainingtheairportnameandICAO. RightclicktheairporticonandselectStartFlightPlanatairportEGNC Nowsetuptheflightconditions.OpentheHomeRibbonbyclickingtheHome tab,andthenclickAltitude,andset4,000feet. SelectAirspeed,andenter100knotsforthedefaultCessna172. NowthatyouhaveaStartLocation,youcannowaddaStartPositionforyour aircraftatCarlisle.InFS,youhavealreadyselectedPARKING1RAMPGA SMALL,sofromtheHomeRibbon,selectStartPosition.Fromtheoptions
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showninthepopupSetAirportStartPositionwindowwhichappears,select PARKING1RAMPGASMALLagain,andclickOK.
17.2 The Scenic Route

Youhaveestablishedtheflightpreconditionsandnowitistimetoplottherouteto Liverpool. 1. FindtheWigtonVRPtothesouthwestofCarlisle.RightclickandselectAdd UserWaypointCARLISLEWIGTONtotheplan.(WigtonisaVisualReferencePoint andincludedinthedefaultPlanGdatabase,althoughitiscalledaUser waypoint). IfyoudonothavephotographicsceneryfortheUK,Wigton(thetown)willnot beobvious,soyoumaywishtoaddaCrossReferencetoitfromDeanCrossVOR. RightclicktheWigtonVRPsymbolandselectSetWaypointCrossReferences IntheCrossreferencewindow,clickAddforthefirstpoint,andenterDCSin theentrybox.SelecttheDeanCross(theonly)entry,andclickOK ObservetheCrossreferenceredlinefromWigtontoDeanCrossVOR.Inthe plan,notethebearinganddistance.Compareyourpresentbearinganddistance fromDeanCrossVORtofindwhichwaytoflytoarriveoverheadWigton. FromWigton,youwillflyoverKeswickandadmirethebeautyoftheLake District.YouneedtocreateaUserWaypointforKeswick(pronouncedKezzik,by theway).YouwillfindKeswicktothesoutheastofDeanCross,onthesouth sideofBassenthwaiteLakeandjustnorthofDerwentwater. RightclickonthenameKeswickshownonthemap,andcompletetheUser waypointDialoguebox.CheckthatLocationissetasthewaypointtype.Enter KeswickTownintheNamebox,andKESWKintheIdentifierbox.Inthetagbox, youcouldenteryourinitialstoindicatethatitisoneofyourusercreated waypoints. ClickOKandobservethesmallgreenwaypointcircleappearontheplan. Nowyoucanaddanotherlegtotheplan.Rightclickyournewwaypointand SelecttheoptionAdduserwaypointKESWKKeswickTowntothePlan
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Notethatthenewlyaddedtracklinegoesoversomeimpressivelookinghighground.It isinfactSkiddaw,at3,052feet,the4thhighestmountaininEngland.Ifyouhave downloadedtheDigitalElevationModel(DEM)tilesfromtheNGDC'GLOBE'(GlobalLand OnekmBaseElevation)websiteat http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/topo/gltiles.htmlyoucannowlookatwhatthis meansintermsofverticalnavigation.(Seesection12.1fordetailsofDEM.)Ifyou haventdownloadedtheDEMtilefortheUK,youreallyoughtto.Itaddsagreatfeature toPlanG.YouneedtileB,filenameb10g.gzwhichcovers90%oftheUK. 9. SoyounowhavetheDEMinfoinstalled.OpentheViewRibbon,byclickingthe Viewtab,andtickthePlanElevationTickboxatthetopleftoftheribbon.
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10.
Whoa!Thatissomemountain(inUKtermsanyway)24nauticalmilesenroute. Movethemousepointerandfindthehighestpointofthemountain,the MaximumElevationFigure(MEF)andtheSuggestedAltitude).Ifyouhave forgottenhowtodothis,see12.1sectionabove.Youshouldget2605,2994and 3959feetrespectively.Youwillnowrealisewhytheplannedaltitudewas4,000 feet. NowzoomthemaptoLevel11andfindthelocationwhichisLatitudeN54o 27.00LongitudeW003o12.00usingthemapgraticule.ZoomusingtheGoogle Mapszoomslider,ortheMapRibbonzoombuttonsasyouwish.Toswitchthe graticuleon(ifitisoff)gototheViewtabandticktheMapGraticuletickbox. LookingattheGooglemapscaleindicatoratlowerleft(2milesisjustovera centimetreatlevel11),fromthelatitudeandlongitudeyouhavefound,estimate 0.5mileswestand0.1milenorth,andcreateanotheruserwaypointatthetop ofthemountain.ThisisthetopofEnglandshighestmountain,ScafellPike,at 3,210feet.CallthewaypointScafellPike,withtheIdentifierSCAFLL.The elevationofyourwaypointshouldbe3,100feet.
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Figure 79 Over the Lakeland Hills
AddScafellPiketoyourroute,asbefore.Whenyouflythisroute,alongside BassenthwaiteLake,overheadDerwentwateranddowntheBorrowdaleValleyto ScafellPike,youwillfindtheviewhereaboutsquitespectacularindefault scenery,butwithagoodmeshandphotographicscenerysimplystunning. YounowwanttoheadmorewesttoSeascale,LatitudeN54o24.00Longitude W003o29.00.Buttherearesomethingsyouneedtowatchoutfor.Openthe Mapribbon,andlookattheAirspacegroupofoptions.SwitchonBelow 10,000feet,SpecialUse1andSpecialUse2. Thatlooksominous.ThereisalargeorangecirclearoundSeascaleitself,andjust southofthat,averylargeredarea.Clickontheedgeoftheorangecircle.Inthe InformationExpander,youwillseeRestrictedAreaSellafieldSFC2200.You cannotoverflyoneofBritainsoldestandmostfamousNuclearPowerStations below2,200feet. Butnotealso,thatifyoumovethemouseintotheopenareaalittletotheeast, youcannotflyabove5,500feetbecausethatistheWartonRadarAdvisory ServiceArea.YoumustcontactWartonRadarforpermissiontoflyupthere. (WartonisanRAFstationjustsoutheastofBlackpool). ThebigredareaisEskmealsDangerAreafromthesurfaceupwardstothe stratosphere(SFC+).Eskmealsis(orwas)anavalguntestingrangewherethey fire(d)bigshellsouttosea.Avoid!
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ItmightbeabetterplantoroutedirectfromScafellPiketoBarrowandlookat nuclearsubmarinesbeingbuilt!PanslowlydownfromSeascaleandyouwillsee BarrowAerodromeandNDB.AddBarrowAerodrometoyourroute.
Figure 80 Sellafield and Eskmeals Dont Go There Areas
17.3 A Little Stick of Blackpool Rock

EnglishcomicsingerGeorgeFormbymadethissongfamous,alongwithhisotherrisqu songssuchasWithmelittleukuleleinmeand.Youareprobablynotinterestedin that,buttoflydownthecoasttoBlackpoolandbeyondmightbeinteresting. 1. FromBarrow,lookingsouth,youhavethewideexpanseofMorecambeBay.The famouscomedianEricMorecambetookhisstagenamefromtheplace.When thetideisout,thiswholeareaisdevoidofwater;whenthetideisin,itlooksasit doesinFS,allwater.Theareaistreacherouswithquicksand,veryfastflowing tidesandchannelssothatanyonecaughtoutonthesandsonanincomingtide hadbettergetoutoftherequickly.Ithasbeenthesceneofmanytragedies.In FS,whereditchinginthisdangerousareaisnotaconsideration,youmightaswell plantogostraightacrosstoFleetwoodGolfCourse,aVisualReferencePointfor Blackpool.MakesureyouhaveVisualReferencePointsenabledintheView ribbon,andrightclickthesmallorangecircletoaddFleetwoodtoyourroute. FleetwoodwasoncehometoBritainssecondlargestfishingfleetafterGrimsby, butfishinghasdeclinedtonearzeroandtheharbourtodayispopulatedbyfancy yachts.IfyouintendtoflyonlineandbychanceBlackpoolApproachisonduty, thisiswhereyouwillmakeyourinitialcalltothem.Requesttransityour overheadat4,000feet.SoyouhadbetteraddBlackpooltoyourPlannow. ThetracklinefromFleetwoodtoBlackpoolisoverland,buttheLeftHandRule forVFRflightstatesthatifyouarefollowingalinefeature,youshouldkeepiton yourleft.Thisrouteiswellusedbylightaircraftintherealworld,whofollowthe conventionofkeepingtheshorelineontheleft.Thussouthboundtrafficfliesa mileorsoouttosea.Northboundtrafficfliesovertheland.Althoughthe tracklineisoverland,whenyoucometoflytheroute,youshoulddothesame, passingamileorsowestofthe08endofBlackpoolsmainrunway.Blackpool Approachwillwantyoutocallthematthethetalltower.Theydontsay
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BlackpoolTower,asyoucouldwellthinktheymeanthebuildingonthe aerodrome,nottheworldfamous518fthighlatticesteelstructureacoupleof milesfurthernorth. 4. 5. AfterBlackpool,addMarshsideVRPtoyourroute;(youcandothisnowwithout help,surely)andthenoncemorefollowthecoasttoWoodvale. AddWoodvaleaerodrometoyourplan.Theairportsymbolisredbecauseitisa military(RAFinthiscase)aerodrome.Thetracklineisagaininlandbutyouwill wanttoflyontheseawardsideoftheshoreline. SowhynotflyoverBirkdaleSands,abeachairstripwhichwasfirstusedfor pleasureflightsaslongagoas1919? http://www.seftoncoast.org.uk/articles/01winter_aviation.html Youcandothisintwoways. OntheHomeribbon,selectEdit.Findthesmallsquareinthemiddleofthe tracklinefromBlackpooltoWoodvale,anddragitwiththemousetothesmall anchorsymbolabouthalfwaybetweenMarshsideVRPandWoodvale,which denotesBirkdaleSands(EGCO).TohitEGCOaccurately,withinitsPlanGgrab range,youneedzoomtobe13orhigher,otherwiseyoumayfindthatyouhave createdatemporaryuserwaypointinstead.Thiswillbeshowninyourplanas wpt01.Ifthishappens,rightclickthatlineonyourplan,selectdelete waypointandtryagain.NowturnoffEditontheHomeribbon. Alternatively,youcansimplyrightclickBirkdaleSandstoaddittoyourplan.The tracklinenowgoesfromMarshsidetoWoodvaletoBirkdaleSands,whichisnot whatyouwant.SogotothePlan,rightclickthenewBirkdaleSandsline,and selectMovewaypointup.Thathasrestoredyourroutetosomethingsensible. Looknowabout2.5milessouthofWoodvale.Seetheredlinerunning horizontallyacrossthemap?Movethemousetothatlineandreadthe informationintheExpander.Hereyouareat4,000feet.Istheresomethingyou needtodo?
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17.4 Controlled Airspace

YouarenowgettingclosetoLiverpoolandthingswillchangerapidly.Youhaveplanned toenjoyaleisurelyflightwiththatgreatsenseoffreedomwhichflying(realorvirtual) bringsbutwhatyouwillnowhavetoplanforiscontrolledairspaceandprocedures.If youplantoflyonline,youwillquitepossiblyhaveanATCpositionmannedsomeone totalktoandgiveyouinstructions.TheATCinstructionsgiveninthismanualarenot absolutelycorrect,butarecloseenoughforflightplanningpurposes.Youshouldbe familiarwithcorrectATCphraseologyfromothersourcesifyouareplanningtoflythis routeonline. ManchesterTMAClassA3500+youshouldhavereadontheinformationexpanderin item9above.FlyingVFRyouabsolutelycannotgothere,soyoumustplantodescend. About6milesfurthersouthagainistheLiverpoolControlArea(CTA)whichextends fromthesurfaceto2500feetandisClassDairspace.Youcangothere,butonlywith permission.BecauseIFRtrafficinboundtoLiverpoolapproachesat2,500feet,and
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requiredtrafficseparationis1,000feetIFRfromVFRinClassDAirspace,youwillbe giventheinstructionfromLiverpoolApproachnotabove1,500feet.Soyoumustplan todescendfrom4,000feetto1,500in8milesorso,about4minutes.Aquick calculation,tellsyouthatthatis650feetaminutequitearapiddescentinalight aircraft.
Figure 81 Controlled Airspace (Red Lettering not in Plan-G)
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First,however,completethenextlegoftheroute.FindtheSeaforthVRPjust westofBootle.AddSeaforthVRPtoyourplan.OnaVFRflight,whenyoufirst contactATCatLiverpooljustafterWoodvale,youwillbetoldRunway27inuse, reportatSeaforth,notabove1,500feet. However,youintendtopracticeflyingtheILS,soyouwillreplytoATCnegative, requestvectorsfortheILS.Thatchangestheballgamecompletely.Youwill nowdeemedtobeflyingIFR,butassumethecontrollerneedssomepracticein managingprocedures,soheisgoingtorespondNegativevectors.Maintain 2,500feet,andcontinuewiththeprocedureforrunway27.Reportbeacon outbound. PlanGcansaveyouthetroublelookingforthoseapproachplatesforplanning. (Youshouldhavethemhandywhenflyingtheroutethough).Sonowrightclick onLiverpoolAirport,andselectInstrumentApproaches.SelectILS27from thepopupwindow.Thereisyourprocedureonthemap.Addthetransition2. LPLwhichistheoneforCategoryAaircraft(thatsyouinyourCessna).Ituses tighterradiusturnsandshorterdistances,butisotherwisethesameas1.LPL.If youselect1.LPLtemporarilyyoucanseethedifference. TheprocedurestartsattheLPLNDB,soyoucanflydirectfromWoodvaletothe NDB.NoneedtogoviaSeaforth,whichistheVFRroute,becauseyouarenow flyingIFR.First,addtheLPLNDBtoyourplan.Thismanualisntgoingtotellyou howtoflytheprocedure,butjusthowtocompleteyourplantolanding. DeletethewaypointLiverpoolSeaforthfromyourplan,byrightclickingits entryandselectingDeleteWaypoint.Itisnolongerrelevant.
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Figure 82 Seaforth VRP Deleted from the Plan
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NowaddLiverpoolAirporttotheplan.Thetracklinewillobscurethefinal approachpathoftheprocedure,butthatdoesntmatter.Bythetimeyouare establishedontheILS,yourneedforPlanGis,hopefullyover.Youhavea completerouteairporttoairport.
Figure 83 Instrument Approach and Route to Alternate
17.5 VNAV Profile

Thenexttaskistocreateaverticalnavigationprofile.Youneedtogetsafelyoverthose mountains,yetdescendintimetogetundertheManchesterTMAnearWoodvale,and thenbeat2,500ftonreachingtheLPLNDB. 1. GotothePlanintheDataExpander,andusingthehorizontalscrollbarif necessary,findthePassingAltColumn.Itisreasonabletoassumethat climbingoutofCarlisleat500feetperminuteinyourCessna172,thatinthe13.9 milestoWigton,youcaneasilyreach2,500ft.Sodoubleclickinthecellonthe rowCARLISLEWIGTONandtypein2500.
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2. 3. 4. 5.
MovedowntotheKeswickrowanddoubleclickthecellinthePassingAlt column.TomakesureyouclearSkiddawandScafellPike,typein4000. Inthesameway,enter4000forFleetwoodGolfCourseVRPandBlackpool AirportEGNH. MindfuloftheManchesterTMAsouthofWoodvale,withitsbaseat3500ft,goto theWoodvalerowandthePassingAltcolumn,andenter2500. ToflytheLiverpool27procedurefortheILS,youneedtobeattheLPLNDBat 2500feet.SomovedowntotheLPLrowandthePassingAltcolumn,andenter 2500again. OpenthePlanElevationwindowfromthetickboxontheViewribbontoseethe verticalprofileyouhavecreated.Whenyouflytheroute,youwillgetTopof DescentalertsamilebeforeWoodvale,andagainamilebeforereachingtheLPL NDB.
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Figure 84 VNAV Profile is the Orange Line
17.6 Notes
YouhavereadintheFlightPlanssection(section15above)abouthowtoenternotes.It willbeimportantnottoforgettodescendbelowtheManchesterTMAfloorsouthof Woodvale,andtoremindyourselfthatafterWigton,youneedtobeat4,000ft. 1. 2. ScrollacrosstotherightofthePlantableandintheNotescolumnforthe KeswickRow,doubleclickandenterContinueclimbto4000ft. ThendothesamefortheWoodvaleRow,doubleclickandenterManchester TMAbase3500ft.
Rememberthatpassingaltitudes,crossreferencesandnoteswillbeprintedonyour plog,andsavedwithyourplanifyousavethefileasa.PLGfile,butnotifyousavethe fileasa.PLNfile.
17.7 Alternate
1. WhatifyoucannotlandatLiverpool?WhatifsomeVATSIMorIVAOnewbieis plonkedrightontherunwayandisdisinclinedtomove.Youneedtoaddan AlternatetoyourplansomewhereyoucangotoifNewbieisstilltherewhen youareamilefromtouchdownrapidlyapproachingtheMissedApproachPoint! Lookaroundthemap,andselectsomewheresuitable.RAFSealandisclosed,and anywayitwasglidersonly,ManchesterwontreallywelcomeaslowCessna172, butHawarden,justtothesouthwestofChester,isG.A.friendly.Rightclickon HawardenandselectSetEGNRasAlternate.Aredlineisnowdrawnonthe mapfromLiverpool.Hawarden(pronouncedHardenbytheway)was,in
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VATSIMsearlyyearsVATSIMUKsbusiestairport,withacontrolleronduty7 nightsaweek. Sothatisyourplannedflight,withsomelocalknowledgethrownintomakeitmore interesting.Infact,ifyoudontflyVFRoften,youmayhavediscoveredthatshortVFR flightscanbejustaschallengingasIFRflightacrosscontinents.Whenyouflytheroute, dontforgettocompletethetaskproperlybytaxiingtoLiverpoolsGeneralAviation apronattheeastendoftheairport.ParkonstandE_Parking11Ramp_GA_Medium, shutdownandsecuretheaircraft. IfyouneedanAirportdiagramtofindoutwhereE_Parking11Ramp_GA_Mediumis, (itsanFSparkingspot,sowontbeshownontheofficialCAAAerodromeDiagram,will it?)rightclicktheairportsymboloncemore,andselectAerodromeChart.Ifyoucant seeitclearly,youcanmousewheelscrolltomakeitbigger,or,intheViewRibbon, clicktheExpandersbutton,andselecttoshowtheairportinaToolWindow.(See section13.7abovefordetails.)YoucanseetheG.A.Apronwithsmallbluecirclesfor theparkingstands.
Figure 85 The Completed Plan
17.8 Lets Go Flying

YouhaveprintedoutthePlogfromPlanGsoitistimetogoflying.
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Figure 86 Forney Aircoupe G-ARHC Over Derwentwater
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OpenFlightSimulator,andselectFreeFlightfromtheMainMenu. SetCountryasUnitedKingdom,andselectCurrentLocationasCarlisle(EGNC). SelectStartingpositionPARKING1RAMPGASMALL. SelectAircrafttypeCessna172 SetasuitabletimeanddateforadaylightVFRflight. ClickFlyNow. Whentheflighthasloaded,saveitasthedefaultsothatyoucaneasilygetback tothispositionifyouneedto. FindthecurrentweatherforNewcastleEGNX(thenearestweatherstationto Carlisle)fromanInternetAviationWeathersite,suchas http://weather.noaa.gov/weather/coded.html. SettheNewcastlewind,cloudandprecipitationinformationinFS. Alternatively,ifyouareamemberofanonlineFlightsimcommunitysuchas VATSIMorIVAO,simplyconnecttotheserviceandtheweatheratNewcastlewill beautomaticallyloadedintoFS. Startup,taxitotheactiveandenjoyyourflightoverEnglandshighestmountains toEnglandssecondmostfamouscity.
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CONNECTION TO FLIGHT SIMULATOR

PlanGcanbeconnectedtoarunningMicrosoftFlightSimulator(FS)session,eitheron thesamemachineoronanotherPCconnectedviaalocalareanetwork.WithFlight SimulatorconnectedtoPlanGseveraloftheDataExpanderfunctionsareenabled Weather,GPSPanel,Traffic&TrailAnalysis,whichareotherwiseinactivebecausethey cannotreceiveanydata.Inaddition,theuseraircraftandanyAIaircraftorother aircraftinaMultiplayerenvironmentarealsodisplayed,plusaninformationbaratthe bottomofthemapcontainingpositionalinformation.
18.1 Flight Data Transfer

ThedatapassedtoPlanGincludes: 1. AsoverlaysonthebasicGoogleMap: Useraircrafticon(yellow) AIaircrafticons(smaller,red) Multiuseraircrafticons(alsosmallandred) UserAircrafttrail(defaultcolourmagenta) MultiuserandAItrails(defaultcolourred) FlytoHeading,distanceandtimeenroutefromtheuseraircrafttoanypointon themapbysimplyrightclickthepointforwhichthatinformationisrequired.
IntheDataExpanders FSWeather GPSdata(airspeed,heading,altitude,rateofclimb/descent) Traffictable(Multiuser&AI)
TrailAnalysis Andinthebottompanelbelowtheplan Flightplanwaypointdistance, waypointheading,and coursedeviation
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Figure 87 Connected to FS, Plan-G can display a lot of valuable data about your flight
WhilePlanGisconnectedtoFS,the"FlightSimulator"captionundertheConnectand DisconnectbuttonsontheHomeribbonwillchangetooneofthefollowing,according totheconnectionthathasbeenmade. "FSX(SimConnect)" "FSX(FSUIPC)" "FS9(FSUIPC)" WhenyouclicktheDisconnecticon,thecaptionreturnsto"FlightSimulator".
18.2 Communication Protocols

InorderforPlanGtocommunicatewithFS,datahastobetransferredusingaspecific setofrulesthecommunicationsprotocol. FS9userswillneedPeterDowson'sfreeFSUIPC3(FlightSimulatorUniversalInter ProcessCommunication)programtobeabletoconnecttoPlanG,eitheronthesame PCoroveranetwork.FSUIPCmaybedownloadedfrom http://www.schiratti.com/dowson.htmlfreeofcharge. FSXnormallyusesaspecialMicrosoftinterfaceprotocol,SimConnect,for communicatingwithotherWindowsprograms,eitherlocallyoracrossanetwork. Seehttp://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/esp/cc835021.aspxforanintroductionto SimConnect.SimConnectonlyworkswithFSX. TherearethreedatatransferprotocolsavailableinPlanGforFSXandSimConnect: Pipe,IPv4andiPv6. PipeisusedonlyinternallyinaPC,butisthefastestofthethree.
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IPv4isusedbyWindowsVista,XPandearlierversionsofWindows.
IPv6isinstalledinWindowsVistaandWindows7,(thoughitmaynotbeenabled) andmayoptionallybeinstalledinWindowsXP. SomePlanGusersareunabletogetSimConnectworkingforvariousreasons.Therefore PlanGhasbeendesignedtoalsocommunicatewithFSXusingPeterDowson'sfree FSUIPC4,whichisanupdatedversionofFSUIPC3thatusesSimConnectinternally.
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FLIGHT SIMULATOR AND PLAN-G ON THE SAME COMPUTER

ThissectionwillguideyouthroughtheconfigurationstepsrequiredtoconnectPlanGto yourFSsession. Recommendation:PlanGdoesnotalwaysdisplaycorrectlyifFSisloadedafterPlanG. IFyoustartFSandallowittoloadfullybeforePlanG,thenreliableoperationofPlanG canbeexpected.
19.1 Connecting to FS9

ThisrequiresthefreewareprogramFSUIPCdescribedpreviously.TheFSUIPCinstaller programcopiesafilecalledFSUIPC.DLLintotheFS9/Modulesfolder.PeterDowson providesveryfriendlyandattentivesupportforhisprogramsonthisforum: http://forums.simflight.com/viewforum.php?f=54 AfterinstallingFSUIPC,youwilldiscover,whenyourunFS9,thattherewillbeanew entryintheModulessectionoftheFS9topmenulabeledFSUIPC.FSUIPCcanbe configuredtodomanythingsitreallyisamostversatiletool.However,forPlanG, youdonotneedtoknowhowitworksorconfigureitatall. WithFS9running,startthePlanGprogram,ClicktheFiletabandselecttheOptions menu,andthentheFSConnectiontab. Thescreenbelowisdisplayed. TheFSConnectionParametersdialogue(seeFigure88below)canalsobeaccessedby clickingtheLauncherbutton(smalldiagonalarrow)intheFlightSimulatorconnections taboftheHomeribbon(belowtheLock/Sync/Freebuttonsattheright).
Figure 88 Global Options FS Connection Tab
TheconnectionmethodisAutobydefault.Thiscanbeleftunchangednormally,butif youhaveproblemsconnecting,selecttheFSUIPCoptioninstead,astheconnection method.TheSimConnectsettingsinthatwindowcanbeignored.

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NowclosetheOptionswindowbyclickingOK,andreturntothemainwindow.With FSloaded,presstheConnectbutton.WhilePlanGisconnectedtoFS,the"Flight Simulator"captionundertheConnectandDisconnectbuttonsontheHomeribbonwill changetooneofthefollowing,accordingtotheconnectionthathasbeenmade. "FSX(SimConnect)" "FSX(FSUIPC)" "FS9(FSUIPC)" InthecaseofFS9,thiswillalwaysviaFSUIPCofcourse.
Figure 89 Connected to FS9 with FSUIPC
Onconnecting,thePlanGmapwillmovesothatyourFS9aircraftlocationisshown,and ayellowUserAircraftIconwillappear.IfAIaircraftareinthearea,andaslongasyou haveselectedAIaircraftintheoptionspaneltobedisplayed,theywillappearinred.If youareconnectedtoVATSIM,IVAOoranotheronlineserver,thenPlanGdisplaysother connectedaircraftratherthanAIaircraft. YoucannowsetupTrailAnalysis,importFSWeatherdataetc.asdescribedabove, whichsignificantlyenhancesthevalueofPlanG. Ifyougetaconnectionerror,oraconnectiontimeouterror,themostlikelyreasonis thatyouhavenotselectedthecorrectconnectionoption,whichmustbeFSUIPC,inthe GlobalOptionswindow.Lesscommonly,youmayhavesetupFSUIPCincorrectly.Be suretoreadtheFSUIPCinstallationinstructions.Ithastobesaid,though,thatFSUIPCis almostalwaystroublefreeinuse,sotheproblemismostlikelytobesomethingyou havedone,ornotdone.
19.2 Connecting to FSX with SimConnect

SimConnectisthepreferredconnectionoptionforFSX.Itisefficient,fast,andprovides optimalcontrolovertheinformationavailable.FSXusersshouldbeabletouseFSX's builtinSimConnectdirectly,butifthatisnotpossible,thenyoucanusetheFSXversion ofPeterDowson'sFSUIPCFSUIPC4,whichusesSimConnectinternally. FSUIPC4maybedownloadedfromhttp://www.schiratti.com/dowson.htmlfreeof charge. WithPlanGontheFSXPC,thereisnosetuprequiredwithSimConnectinFSX.However, inPlanG,theSimConnectsettingswillneedtobeconfiguredbeforeaconnectioncan bemade. First,decidewhichistheappropriateSimConnectdatatransferprotocol:Pipe,IPv4or iPv6.Remember:
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PipeisusedonlyinternallyinaPC,butisthefastestofthethree. IPv4isusedbyWindowsVista,XPandearlierversionsofWindows.
IPv6isinstalledinWindowsVistaandWindows7,(thoughitmaynotbe enabled)andmayoptionallybeinstalledinWindowsXP. Toconfigurethesettings,selectOptionsfromtheFileTab,thenopentheFS Connectiontab.Checkoramendthesettingssothattheycorrespondtooneofthe threeconfigurationsbelow(alsoshowninFigure90,Figure91andFigure92below). TheFSConnectionParametersdialog(seeFigure90below)canalsobeaccessedby clickingtheLauncherbutton(smalldiagonalarrow)intheFlightSimulatorconnections taboftheHomeribbon(belowtheLock/Sync/Freebuttons) 19.2.1 Connection Using Pipe SetConnectwithradiobuttontoAuto NetworkMode: FSXComputer: ServerPort/Pipe: SelectPipefromthedropdownoptions. Entereitherlocalhostor127.0.0.1(withoutquotes) Leaveblank(important)
Figure 90 SimConnect Settings for a Single PC Using Pipe
19.2.2 Connection Using IPv4 SetConnectwithradiobuttontoAuto NetworkMode: FSXComputer: ServerPort/Pipe: SelectIPv4fromthedropdownoptions. Entereitherlocalhostor127.0.0.1(withoutquotes) Enter0(Withoutquotes)
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Figure 91 SimConnect Settings for a Single PC Using IPv4
19.2.3 Connection Using IPv6 SetConnectwithradiobuttontoAuto NetworkMode: ServerPort/Pipe: SelectIPv6fromthedropdownoptions. Enter0(Withoutquotes) FSXComputer:Entereitherlocalhostor::1(withoutquotes)
Figure 92 SimConnect Settings for a Single PC Using IPv6
AslongasyousetupPlanGasdescribedhere,itisunlikelythatyouwillhaveany difficultyconnectingtoFSXfromPlanGonasinglecomputer. ClosetheOptionswindowbyclickingOK,andreturntothemainwindow.WithFSX running,presstheConnectbutton.NotethatthelabelbelowtheConnect/Disconnect buttonschangestoidentifywhichSimulatorversionyouareconnectedto,andhow.It shouldindicatethatyouareconnectedtoFSXviaSimConnect.
Figure 93 Connected to FSX with SimConnect
Onconnecting,thePlanGmapwillmovesothatyourFSXaircraftlocationisshown,and ayellowUserAircraftIconwillappear.IfAIaircraftareinthearea,andaslongasyou haveselectedAIaircraftintheoptionspaneltobedisplayed,theywillappearinred.If
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youareconnectedtoVATSIM,IVAOoranotheronlineserver,thenPlanGdisplaysother connectedaircraftratherthanAIaircraft. YoucannowsetupTrailAnalysis,importFSWeatherdataetc.asdescribedabove, whichsignificantlyenhancesthevalueofPlanG. Ifyougetaconnectionerror,oraconnectiontimeouterror,themostlikelyreasonis thatyouhavenotconfiguredPlanGwiththecorrectSimConnectparametersinthe GlobalOptionswindow.Section21belowdealswithaddressingSimConnectproblems. IftheadviceinthatsectiondoesnotresultinSimConnectsuccessfullyconnecting,the problemmaybetrickytosolve.IfyouhaveotherprogramswhichuseSimConnectand youareunsureofhowtocorrectSimConnectproblems,pleasedonotexperiment,but seekexpertadvice.
19.3 Connecting to FSX with FSUIPC

IfusingSimConnectdoesnotworkforyou,(SimConnectcanbetroublesomeonsome computers,andsolvingtheproblemisnottrivial,unfortunately)thenusetheFSX versionofPeterDowson'sFSUIPC.ThisisFSUIPC4whichusesSimConnectinternally, andmaybedownloadedfromhttp://www.schiratti.com/dowson.htmlfreeof charge. PeterDowsonprovidesveryfriendlyandattentivesupportforhisprogramsonthis forum: http://forums.simflight.com/viewforum.php?f=54 TheFSUIPC4installerprogramcopiesafilecalledFSUIPC4.DLLintotheFSX/Modules folder,alongwiththeFSUIPC4UserGuide.pdf.WhenyounextrunFSX,afteraccepting thenewlyinstalledFSUIPC4modules,therewillbeanewFSUIPCentryintheAddOns menu.FSUIPCsfirstactionwillbetoaskyoutoregistertheprogram.Ifyousimplywant touseFSUIPC4toconnectFSXtoaddonprogramsonthesamePC,youdonothaveto continuewithregistrationoftheprogram. Now,startPlanG.IntheGlobalOptionsFSConnectiontab,selectFSUIPCasthe connectionmethod.Thereisnoneedtochangeanyoftheotherparameters;theyare notused. Ifalliswell,closetheOptionswindowbyclickingOK,andreturntothemainwindow. NowpresstheConnectbutton.NotethatthelabelbelowtheConnect/Disconnect buttonschangestoidentifywhichSimulatorversionyouareconnectedto,andhow.In thecaseofFSX,thiscanbeSimConnect,butcheckthatinthiscaseitisshowing ConnectedviaFSUIPC. Onconnecting,thePlanGmapwillmovesothatyourFSXaircraftlocationisshown,and ayellowUserAircraftIconwillappear.IfAIaircraftareinthearea,andaslongasyou haveselectedAIaircraftintheoptionspaneltobedisplayed,theywillappearinred.If youareconnectedtoVATSIM,IVAOoranotheronlineserver,thenPlanGdisplaysother connectedaircraftratherthanAIaircraft.
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Figure 94 Connected to FSX with FSUIPC
YoucannowsetupTrailAnalysis;importFSWeatherdataetc.asdescribedabove, whichsignificantlyenhancesthevalueofPlanG. Ifyougetaconnectionerror,oraconnectiontimeouterror,themostlikelyreasonis thatyouhavenotselectedthecorrectconnectionoption,whichmustbeFSUIPC,inthe GlobalOptionswindow.Lesscommonly,youmayhavesetupFSUIPCincorrectly.Be suretoreadtheFSUIPCinstallationinstructions.Ithastobesaid,though,thatFSUIPCis almostalwaystroublefreeinuse,sotheproblemismostlikelytobesomethingyou havedone,ornotdone.
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20
FLIGHT SIMULATOR AND PLAN-G ON A NETWORK

YoucaninstallPlanGonasecondPC(theNetworkPC)thatisconnectedtotheFSPC throughahomeTCP/IPnetwork,eitherwirelessly(WiFi,IEEE802.11a/b/g/n)orwired viaEthernet.Firstly,followthestepsinthePrerequisitesandInstallationsectionsofthis manual(sections3and4)toinstallPlanGontheNetworkPC.Itdoesnotneedtobe installedontheFSPC. FirewallsoftwaremustbeconfiguredtoallowTCPcommunicationsontheportyouset belowthisincludesWindowsFirewallandanyrouterfirewallandappliestoboth computers,FSPCandNetworkPC. FSXuserscanchoosebetweenusingSimConnect,orusingPeterDowson'sFSUIPC4 program,thesamechoice(andforthesamereason)asconnectingonasinglePCi.e. SimConnectmaynotalwayswork,andfindingoutwhyisntalwayseasy,whereas FSUIPCalmostalwaysworks.However,SimConnectisthepreferredconnectionoption forFSX.Itismoreefficient,faster,andprovidesoptimalcontrolovertheinformation available.
20.1 First Find Your Sim

Section8.5.1abovedescribeshowtosetupthelocationsinPlanGsothatitknows wheretogetitsFlightSimulatordata.Thismustbedonebeforeattemptingconnectthe SimtoPlanG,whetheritbeFS9orFSX.
20.2 Connecting to FS9 from a Networked PC

FS9userswillhavetoinstallPeterDowson'sfreeFSUIPC(FlightSimulatorUniversal InterProcessCommunication)program http://www.schiratti.com/dowson.html ontheFS9PCtobeabletoconnecttoPlanG. YouwillalsoneedtobuyPeterDowsonsWideFSanduseitwitheitherwiththe freewareFS9versionofPeterDowson'sFSUIPCFSUIPC3,oryoucan,ifyouwish,buy thefullfeaturedversionofFSUIPC3. FSUIPC3maybedownloadedfromhttp://www.schiratti.com/dowson.html PeterDowsonprovidesveryfriendlyandattentivesupportforhisprogramsonthis forum: http://forums.simflight.com/viewforum.php?f=54 TheFSUIPC3installerprogramcopiesafilecalledFSUIPC.DLLintotheFS9/Modules folder,alongwiththeFSUIPCUserGuide.pdf.WhenyounextrunFS9,afteraccepting thenewlyinstalledFSUIPCmodules,therewillbeanewFSUIPCentryintheAddOns menu.FSUIPCsfirstactionwillbetoaskyoutoregistertheprogram.Ifyousimplywant touseFSUIPC3toconnectFS9toaddonprogramsonthesamePC,youdonothaveto continuewithregistrationoftheprogram.
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20.2.1 WideFS Inaddition,youwillneedasecondPeterDowsonprogramcalledWideFS,whichinstalls aserverportion,WideServer.dll,ontheFS9PC,andaclientportion,WideClient.exe,on theNetworkPC.WideFSisavailablefrom http://www.schiratti.com/dowson.html Notethat,incontrasttoFSUIPC,WideFSisnotfree,andmustbepurchasedand registered,usinganaccesskey.Thereisanoptiontobuytheregisteredversionof FSUIPCandWideFSasabundle,whichcostslessthanthetwopurchasedseparately. NotethatforFS9youmustbuytheFS9specificversion. FollowtheinstructionsintheWideFSUserGuide(apdfdocument)toinstalltheclient andserverportionsalongwiththeirconfigurationfiles(WideServer.iniontheFS9PC, andWideClient.iniontheNetworkPC).Thetwo.iniconfigurationfileshavetobeedited tomatchyourtwoPCnamesandIPaddresses. OneoftheWideFSinstallationoptionsistoplaceanicononyourdesktop.Thisis stronglyrecommendedthatyoudothatsothatyoudontforgettostartitwhenever youwanttorunFS9andPlanGonseparatePCs. 20.2.2 Connection Steps AftertheinstallationandconfigurationofFSUIPCandWideFS,youwillbeabletorun FS9ontheFS9PC,andPlanGontheNetworkPC.Thereisjustoneextrastepinthe procedurethanforconnectingonthesamePC. 1. StartFS9.NotethatinthetopframeoftheFS9Windowyouwillseethewords FS2004withWideserver:Waitingforclients.Thisisyourindicationthatthe WideFSservermoduleisworking. StartWideclientonthePlanGPCfromthedesktopiconifyouhaveone.You wontseeanythinghappenexceptablankgreyscreenopens(unlessyouhave configuredittostartminimized.IfyoumaximizetheWideclientwindowfrom thetaskbar,youwillseethewordConnectedinthetopframeofthewindow. ThatisyourindicationthatWideclientisworking.Youcannowminimize Wideclienttothetaskbaragain.OnceyoubecomefamiliarwithWideFSyouwill almostforgetaboutitasitworkssilentlyandreliablyinthebackground. StartPlanG IntheGlobalOptionsFSConnectiontabofPlanG,selectFSUIPCasthe connectionmethod. ReturntothemainscreeninPlanGandclicktheConnectbutton.Afterafew seconds,youwillhearaConnected!soundfromtheNetworkPC,andthe Connect/Disconnectbuttonswillshowthatyouareconnected.
2.
3. 4. 5.
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Figure 95 Connected to FS9
IntheFS9windowtopframe,thewordingwillnowhavechangedtoFS2004with Wideserver:1connected. AlltheadditionaldatafeaturesmentionedaboveforconnectingtoFSwillbeavailablein anidenticalwaytoconnectingwithonlyonePC,anditishighlyunlikelythatyouwill experienceanylossofFS9performance.
20.3 Connecting to FSX from a Networked PC with SimConnect

TherearethreestepsrequiredtoconnectthetwoPCswithSimConnect.Dontbeput offbytheseeminglytechnicalinstructionswhichfollowTheprocedureisactuallyquite easy: Decidetheappropriatedatatransferprotocol(seesection18.2above).Notethat Pipedoesnotworkacrossanetwork. CreateormodifyaspecialfileSimConnect.xmlontheFSXPC ConfiguretheSimConnectparametersinPlanGtomatchthosein SimConnect.xml.
Note:YoudonotneedtobuildaSimConnect.xmlfileifyouarerunningFSXandPlanG onthesamePC. 20.3.1 Creating a SimConnect.xml file for the IPv4 Protocol ThisfilemustbecreatedontheFSXPC,inthesamefolderasfsx.cfg. ForWindowsXPusers,thisisusually
C:\DocumentsandSettings\<username>\ApplicationData\Microsoft\FSX
ForWindowsVistausers,thisisusually
C:\Users\<Username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\FSX.
SimConnect.xmlisatextfilewhichyoucancreateusingWindowsNotePadoranysimple texteditor(notMSWord).PlanGwillnotbuildaSimConnect.xmlfileforyou. ThefollowingisanexamplewhichhasbeenprovedtoworkfortwonetworkedWindows XPmachines.TheredcolouredtextwillnotchangeinanySimConnectfile.Theblue colouredtextisthepartwhichyoumayneedtochangetosuityoursetup. <?xml version="1.0" encoding="Windows-1252"?> <SimBase.Document Type="SimConnect" version="1,0"> <Descr>SimConnect</Descr> <Filename>SimConnect.xml</Filename>
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<SimConnect.Comm> <Disabled>False</Disabled> <Protocol>Auto</Protocol> <Scope>global</Scope> <Address>192.168.0.2</Address> <MaxClients>64</MaxClients> <Port>4506</Port> <MaxRecvSize>4096</MaxRecvSize> <DisableNagle>False</DisableNagle> </SimConnect.Comm> <SimConnect.Comm> <Disabled>False</Disabled> <Protocol>IPv4</Protocol> <Scope>global</Scope> <Address>192.168.0.2</Address> <MaxClients>64</MaxClients> <Port>4506</Port> <MaxRecvSize>4096</MaxRecvSize> <DisableNagle>False</DisableNagle> </SimConnect.Comm> </SimBase.Document> Theexampleaboveincludestwoprofiles(thebluecolouredcodebetween <SimConnect.Comm>and</SimConnect.Comm>).OneisconfiguredforanAuto connection,theotherforanIPv4connection.Ifyouchoosetousetheexampleabove, thenusually,onlythecomputeraddress(inbold)needstobechangedtomatchyourFSX PCsIPaddress.Inmostnetworksnowadays,theroutersIPAddressis192.168.0.1and thePCshave192.168.0.2,192.168.0.3etc.butbewareoccasionallydefaultIP addressesaredifferent,sodocheck. ThePortvalue4506needonlybechangedfromtheexampleabove,ifyouhavean existingSimConnect.xmlfileandyouseethatPort4506isalreadyinuse.Changingitin thatcaseforPlanGto4505isquitesufficient,butdontforgettomakethesamechange inthePlanGGlobalOptions>FSConnectionwindow.Therangeofportvalueswhich youcanuseisfrom4500to4510inclusive. 20.3.2 Creating a SimConnect.xml file for the IPv6 Protocol RememberthatIPv6isinstalledinWindowsVistaandWindows7bydefault,(thoughit maynotbeenabled)andmayoptionallybeinstalledinWindowsXP.Seethelinkatthe endofthissectionforfurtherinformation. TheSimConnectfilemustbecreatedontheFSXPC,inthesamefolderasfsx.cfg. Thisisusually
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\FSX
SimConnect.xmlisatextfilewhichyoucancreateusingWindowsNotePadoranysimple texteditor(notMSWord).PlanGwillnotbuildaSimConnect.xmlfileforyou.
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ThefollowingisanexamplewhichhasbeenprovedtoworkfortwonetworkedWindows 7machines.TheredcolouredtextwillnotchangeinanySimConnectfile.Theblue colouredtextisthepartwhichyoumayneedtochangetosuityoursetup. <?xml version="1.0" encoding="Windows-1252"?> <SimBase.Document Type="SimConnect" version="1,0"> <Descr>SimConnect</Descr> <Filename>SimConnect.xml</Filename> <SimConnect.Comm> <Disabled>False</Disabled> <Protocol>IPv6</Protocol> <Scope>link-local</Scope> <MaxClients>64</MaxClients> <Address>fe80::899d:395:c919:168f</Address> <Port>4506</Port> </SimConnect.Comm> </SimBase.Document> Theexampleaboveincludesjustoneprofile(thebluecolouredcodebetween <SimConnect.Comm>and</SimConnect.Comm>).Ifyouchoosetousetheexample above,thenusually,onlythecomputeraddress(inbold)needstobechangedtomatch yourFSXPCsIPaddress.TofindyourWindows7/VistacomputersIPaddress: OntheStartmenu,rightclickonNetwork Selectproperties,thenclickontheactiveconnection(LocalAreaConnectionor WirelessConnectionforexample.
ThisbringsuptheConnectionStatusdialog.ClickonDetailsandallyour parametersarelisted,includingtheIPv6address,whichalwaysstartsfe. ThePortvalue4506needonlybechangedfromtheexampleabove,ifyouhavean existingSimConnect.xmlfileandyouseethatPort4506isalreadyinuse.Changingitin thatcaseforPlanGto4505isquitesufficient,butdontforgettomakethesamechange inthePlanGGlobalOptions>FSConnectionwindow.Therangeofportvalueswhich youcanuseisfrom4500to4510inclusive. TechnicalNote:IPv6addressesare128bithexadecimalnumbers.Eachpairofbytes (octets)isseparatedbyacolon,viz:ab32:12cd.Buttheycanbeshorthandedsoyou wouldrarelyhavetowriteoutthefullstring. Leading0sinapaircanbeomitted(:34d:isthesameas:034d:) Pairsthatareall0scanbeomitted(E3D7:0000:0000:0000:51F4canbewritten asE3D7::51F4),butyoucanonlydothatonceperip SiteLocal(fec*throughfef*)istheIP6equivalenttotheIP4192.168..and10.0... privatesubnets,ietheyarenotpropagatedontotheInternet.Theywillpass throughrouters,socanspananentireorganisation. LinkLocal(fe8*throughfeb*)arealsoprivateaddresses(like192.168etc)that don'tgetpropagatedtotheInternet,BUTtheyrestrictedtoasingleLAN,sothey willnotpassthrougharouter.
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Thereisachecksumattheendoftheaddress(%11,or%13etc).Thisdoesnotformpart oftheaddress. MoreinformationaboutIPv6isavailableat http://ipv6int.net/systems/windows_xp-ipv6.html 20.3.3 Modifying an Existing a SimConnect.xml file Itisstronglyrecommendedthatyoumakeacopyoftheexistingfileonyourcomputer beforeyoumodifyit.Thecodeinblueaboveshouldthenbeaddedtotheexistingfile justbeforethefinal </SimBase.Document> Donotcopythecodeinredintotheexistingfileonceisenough!Savethefile.Againif youchoosetousetheexampleabove,thenonlythecomputeraddress(inbold)needsto bechangedtomatchyourFSXPCsIPaddress. OtherexamplesaregiveninSection21below,withmoredetailedexplanation,should youbeinterested. Ifyoudontwishtogetastechnicalasthis,simplyaskforhelpontheveryactivePlanG Forum.ThereareTechiesbythescoretherewhowillbeonlytoowillingtoanswerall yourquestions. 20.3.4 Configure the SimConnect Settings in Plan-G OnceyouhavetheSimConnect.xmlfilecreatedontheFSXPC,youcanconfigurePlanG ontheNetworkPCtofindtheFSXdataonthenetworkedPC.InthePlanGprogram, selecttheGlobalOptionsmenu,theFSConnectiontab.SelectAuto,preferably,or SimConnectastheconnectionmethod. TheSimConnectSettingsshouldbesetasdescribedbelowandshowninFigs.10.02& 10.03below. NetworkMode: ServerPort/Pipe: IPv4 4506 FSXComputer:IPaddress(e.g.192.168.0.2)orcomputernetworkname
Figure 96 A SimConnect Configuration for IPv4 with Windows XP
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InFigure96above,thecorrespondingSimConnectprofilewouldbe <SimConnect.Comm> <Disabled>False</Disabled> <Protocol>IPv4</Protocol> <Scope>global</Scope> <Address>192.168.0.2</Address> <MaxClients>64</MaxClients> <Port>4506</Port> <MaxRecvSize>4096</MaxRecvSize> <DisableNagle>False</DisableNagle> </SimConnect.Comm> NetworkMode: ServerPort/Pipe: IPv6 4506 FSXComputer:IPv6address,e.g.fe80::899d:395:c919:168f
Figure 97 A SimConnect Configuration for IPv6 with Windows 7
InFigure97above,thecorrespondingSimConnectprofilewouldbe <SimConnect.Comm> <Disabled>False</Disabled> <Protocol>IPv6</Protocol> <Scope>link-local</Scope> <Address> fe80::899d:395:c919:168f</Address> <MaxClients>64</MaxClients> <Port>4506</Port> <MaxRecvSize>4096</MaxRecvSize> <DisableNagle>False</DisableNagle> </SimConnect.Comm>
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Note:LinklocalisanIPv6mechanismforaccessingcomputersonanetworkthatdoes notinvolvetraversingarouter.ItisrequiredforlinklocalIP6addresses(whichstart fe80:....) 20.3.5 Connected ClosetheOptionswindowbyclickingOK.NowpresstheConnectbutton.
Figure 98 Connected to FSX
Afteralltheabove,youmayfeelthatyouhaveachievedaminormiracle.Thegood newsisthat,hopefully,youonlyhavetogothroughthatprocessonce,unlessyoure installFSXorsomethingequallydrastic.IftheuserisconnectedtoVATSIM,IVAOor otheronlineormultiplayerserver,thenPlanGdisplaysotherconnectedaircraftrather thanAIaircraft. Onconnecting,thePlanGmapwillmovesothatyourFSXaircraftlocationisshown,and ayellowUserAircraftIconwillappear.IfAIaircraftareinthearea,andaslongasyou haveselectedAIaircraftintheoptionspaneltobedisplayed,theywillappearinred.If theuserisconnectedtoVATSIM,IVAOoranotheronlineserver,thenPlanGdisplays otherconnectedaircraftratherthanAIaircraft. YoucannowsetupTrailAnalysis,importFSWeatherdataetc.asdescribedabove, whichsignificantlyenhancesthevalueofPlanG. Ifyougetaconnectionerror,oraconnectiontimeouterror,themostlikelyreasonis thatyouhavenotconfiguredPlanGwiththecorrectSimConnectparametersinthe GlobalOptionswindow.Section21belowdealswithaddressingSimConnectproblems. IftheadviceinthatsectiondoesnotresultinSimConnectsuccessfullyconnecting,the problemmaybetrickytosolve.IfyouhaveotherprogramswhichuseSimConnectand youareunsureofhowtocorrectSimConnectproblems,pleasedonotexperiment,but seekexpertadvice.
20.4 Connecting to FSX from a Networked PC with FSUIPC

SimConnectisthepreferredconnectionoptionforFSX.Itismoreefficient,faster,and providesoptimalcontrolovertheinformationavailable.FSXusersshouldbeabletouse FSX'sbuiltinSimConnectbycarefullyfollowingtheinstructionsinthismanual,butifyou cannotgetittoworkforyou,thenyouwillneedtobuyPeterDowsonsWideFSanduse itwitheitherwiththefreewareFSXversionofPeterDowson'sFSUIPCFSUIPC4,which usesSimConnectinternally,oryoucan,ifyouwish,buythefullfeaturedversionof FSUIPC4. FSUIPC4maybedownloadedfromhttp://www.schiratti.com/dowson.html
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PeterDowsonprovidesveryfriendlyandattentivesupportforhisprogramsonthis forum: http://forums.simflight.com/viewforum.php?f=54 TheFSUIPC4installerprogramcopiesafilecalledFSUIPC4.DLLintotheFSX/Modules folder,alongwiththeFSUIPC4UserGuide.pdf.WhenyounextrunFSX,afteraccepting thenewlyinstalledFSUIPC4modules,therewillbeanewFSUIPCentryintheAddOns menu.FSUIPCsfirstactionwillbetoaskyoutoregistertheprogram.Ifyousimplywant touseFSUIPC4toconnectFSXtoaddonprogramsonthesamePC,youdonothaveto continuewithregistrationoftheprogram. 20.4.1 WideFS Inaddition,youwillneedasecondPeterDowsonprogramcalledWideFS,whichinstalls aserverportion,WideServer.dll,ontheFSXPC,andaclientportion,WideClient.exe,on theNetworkPC.WideFSisavailablefrom: http://www.schiratti.com/dowson.html Notethat,incontrasttoFSUIPC,WideFSisnotfree,andmustbepurchasedand registered,usinganaccesskey.Thereisanoptiontobuytheregisteredversionof FSUIPC(whichhasmanymorefeaturesthanthefreeversion)andWideFSasabundle, whichcostslessthanthetwopurchasedseparately.NotethatforFSXyoumustbuythe FSXspecificversion. FollowtheinstructionsintheWideFSUserGuide(apdfdocument)toinstalltheclient andserverportionsalongwiththeirconfigurationfiles(WideServer.iniontheFSXPC, andWideClient.iniontheNetworkPC).Thetwo.iniconfigurationfileshavetobeedited tomatchyourtwoPCnetworknamesandIPaddresses. OneoftheWideFSinstallationoptionsistoplaceanicononyourdesktop.Itisstrongly recommendedthatyoudoso,sothatyoudontforgettostartitwheneveryouwantto runFSXandPlanGonseparatePCs(averycommonusererror). 20.4.2 Connection Steps AftertheinstallationandconfigurationofFSUIPCandWideFS,youwillbeabletorun FSXontheFSXPC,andPlanGontheNetworkPC.Thereisjustoneextrastepinthe procedurethanforconnectingonthesamePC. 1. StartFSX.NotethatinthetopframeoftheFSXWindowyouwillseethewords FSXwithWideserver:Waitingforclients.ThisisyourindicationthattheWideFS servermoduleisworking. StartWideclientonthePlanGPCfromthedesktopiconifyouhaveone.You wontseeanythinghappenexceptablankgreyscreenopens(unlessyouhave configuredittostartminimized.IfyoumaximizetheWideclientwindowfrom thetaskbar,youwillseethewordConnectedinthetopframeofthewindow. ThatisyourindicationthatWideclientisworking.Youcannowminimize Wideclienttothetaskbaragain.OnceyoubecomefamiliarwithWideFSyouwill almostforgetaboutitasitworkssilentlyandreliablyinthebackground. StartPlanG
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8. 9.
IntheGlobalOptionsFSConnectiontabofPlanG,selectFSUIPCasthe connectionmethod. ReturntothemainscreeninPlanGandclicktheConnectbutton.Afterafew seconds,youwillhearaConnected!soundfromtheNetworkPC,andthe Connect/Disconnectbuttonswillshowthatyouareconnected.
IntheFSXwindowtopframe,thewordingwillnowhavechangedtoFSXwith Wideserver:1connected. AlltheadditionaldatafeaturesmentionedaboveforconnectingtoFSwillbeavailablein anidenticalwaytoconnectingwithonlyonePC,anditishighlyunlikelythatyouwill experienceanylossofFSXperformance.IntheFSXwindowtopframe,thewordingwill nowhavechangedtoFSXwithWideserver:1connected. AlltheadditionaldatafeaturesmentionedaboveforconnectingtoFSwillbeavailablein anidenticalwaytoconnectingwithonlyonePC,anditishighlyunlikelythatyouwill experienceanylossofFSXperformance.
Figure 99 FSX Connected via FSUIPC
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MORE ON SIMCONNECT
Microsoft'sSimConnectissoftwarethatcommunicatesFSXflightinformationtoanother Windowsprogram(PlanGinourcase).See http://msdn.microsoft.com/enus/esp/cc835021.aspx foranintroductiontoSimConnect. AllversionsofFSX(BasicandDeluxe,theoriginalRTMversion,SP1andSP2)incorporate theSimConnectserverinterface.However,eachreleaseusesitsownversionofthe SimConnectclient(simconnect.dll),whichisonlydistributedwiththeDeluxeversionof theFSXprogram,intheFSXSoftwareDevelopmentKit(SDK).TheSDKcanbefoundon theDeluxeedition,DVD1. YoudonotneedtoinstalltheSimConnectclient,infactyouneeddonothingtechnical withitapartfromcreatingaSimConnect.xmlfile,becausePlanGincludesaversionof theSimConnectClientcreatedbyTimGregson,formerlyofMicrosoftAces,whichseems tobemorerobustthantheoriginal. SimConnectrequiresascriptinordertoknowwhattodo.Thisscriptiscalled SimConnect.xmlandresidesonyourFSXPCinthesamefolderasFSX.CFG.The structureofSimConnect.xmlfilesmaylookquiteawesometopeoplenotfamiliarwith modernscriptcomputerlanguages.Hereareafewsimplerulesaboutthisfileandxml ingeneral. 1. 2. 3. 4. Thereisnoerrortrapping.Makeatypingerroranditsimplywontworkbutit wontcrashyourcomputereither. Allspacecharactersandnewlinesareignoredsoyoucanhaveasmanyasyou like. EveryCommandopeningtag<tag>musthaveanequivalentclosingtag </tag> EachProfileofthefile,definingadifferentprotocol,starts <SimConnect.Comm> andends</SimConnect.Comm>soyoucanseein theexamplesbelowseveralsuchProfilesintheonefile. Thewholefilemuststartwiththeheader(inredinexamplesbelow)andend withtheclosingtag(alsoinred) Theopeningtag<!andtheclosingtag>enclosetextwhichisignored,soyou canputanycommentyoulikebetweenthosetagstoexplaintoyourselfwhen lookingatthecodeyearslater,whatitmeans. IfyougetitwrongyoucannotharmyourPC.Butdoseekexperthelpif necessarytoavoidhoursoffrustration.
5. 6.
7.
Therearethreedatatransferprotocolswhichmaybeused,Pipe,IPv4andiPv6. PipeisnormallyusedforinternalcommunicationswithinaPC. IPv4isusedbyWindowsXPbydefault,andearlierversionsofWindows.
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IPv6isavailableinWindowsVistaandWindows7,andmaybeinstalledinWindowsXPif youwish. YouneedtoEnabletheoneyouwanttousebymakingsuretheline: <Disabled>False</Disabled> ispresent.FortheotherElements,youcanchangethelineto: <Disabled>True</Disabled> butthisisntessential.PlanGwillusetheprotocolsetinGlobalOptions. ForIpv6connections.Notethat<Scope>needstobesettolink-localnot global
21.1 Example 1
ThisexamplecontainsfourProfiles,oneforalocalpipeconnection,twoforremote (network)IPv6connectionsandoneforaremoteIPv4connection.NotethatthePipe protocolcannotbeusedfornetworkedconnections.  <?xml version="1.0" encoding="Windows-1252"?> <SimBase.Document Type="SimConnect" version="1,0"> <Descr>SimConnect Server Configuration</Descr> <Filename>SimConnect.xml</Filename> <Disabled>False</Disabled> <SimConnect.Comm> <Disabled>False</Disabled> <Protocol>Pipe</Protocol> <Scope>local</Scope> <MaxClients>64</MaxClients> <Port></Port> --THE PORT IS GIVEN NO VALUE </SimConnect.Comm>  <SimConnect.Comm> <Disabled>False</Disabled> <Protocol>IPv6</Protocol> <Scope>link-local</Scope> <MaxClients>64</MaxClients> <Address>fe80::5974:d93:646d:a902</Address> <Port>4506</Port> </SimConnect.Comm> <!2nd Example Global (remote) IPv6 Server Configuration--> <SimConnect.Comm> <Disabled>False</Disabled> <Protocol>IPv6</Protocol> <Scope>link-local</Scope>
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<MaxClients>64</MaxClients> <Address>My_FS_PCs NETWORK NAME</Address> <Port>4506</Port> </SimConnect.Comm>  <SimConnect.Comm> <Disabled>False</Disabled> <Protocol>IPv4</Protocol> <Scope>global</Scope> <MaxClients>64</MaxClients> <Address>192.168.0.3</Address> <Port>4504</Port> </SimConnect.Comm> </SimBase.Document>
21.2 Example 2
Theexamplebelowincludesprofilesfortworemoteandthreelocalconnections,for Pipe,IPv6andIPv4connections.Forremoteconnections,i.e.anetworkconnection,you wouldneedtoenableoneormoreofthethree"Global"profilesintheSimConnect.xml file. Toenableaprofile,set"Disabled"tofalse: <Disabled>False</Disabled> andthenspecifytheIPv4/IPv6/machinenameandportnumber/pipenameinthe appropriatesections. <?xml version="1.0" encoding="Windows-1252"?> <SimBase.Document Type="SimConnect" version="1,0"> <Descr>SimConnect Server Configuration</Descr> <Filename>SimConnect.xml</Filename> <Disabled>False</Disabled>  <SimConnect.Comm> <Disabled>True</Disabled> <Protocol>IPv6</Protocol> <Scope>link-local</Scope> <MaxClients>64</MaxClients> <Address>::1</Address> <Port>REPLACE_WITH_PORT_NUMBER</Port> </SimConnect.Comm> 
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<SimConnect.Comm> <Disabled>False</Disabled> <Protocol>IPv4</Protocol> <Scope>global</Scope> <MaxClients>64</MaxClients> <Address>192.168.1.200</Address>  <Port>4500</Port>  <MaxRcvSize>4096</MaxRcvSize> <DisableNagle>False</DisableNagle> </SimConnect.Comm>  <SimConnect.Comm> <Disabled>False</Disabled> <Protocol>Pipe</Protocol> <Scope>local</Scope> <MaxClients>64</MaxClients> <Port>LEAVE BLANK</Port> </SimConnect.Comm>  <SimConnect.Comm> <Disabled>False</Disabled> <Protocol>IPv6</Protocol> <Scope>local</Scope> <MaxClients>64</MaxClients> <Address>::1</Address> <Port>REPLACE_WITH_PORT_NUMBER</Port> </SimConnect.Comm>  <SimConnect.Comm> <Disabled>False</Disabled> <Protocol>IPv4</Protocol> <Scope>local</Scope> <MaxClients>64</MaxClients> <Address>127.0.0.1</Address> <Port>4505</Port> <-- SET TO A VALUE BETWEEN 4500 AND 4510 </SimConnect.Comm> </SimBase.Document> Insteadof127.0.0.1inthelastprofileofExample2youcanenterthename localhost.Eitherisvalid.
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22
APPENDICES
Figure 1 The Plan-G User Interface at Startup ............................................................4 Figure 2 Database Build Options ....................................................................................6 Figure 3 The Standard Google Maps Tools are used ...................................................7 Figure 4 Quick Access Toolbar ........................................................................................7 Figure 5 The Customise Quick Access Toolbar Dropdown.......................................8 Figure 6 The Menu Tabs ...................................................................................................8 Figure 7 The File Menu Page .........................................................................................10 Figure 8 The Home Ribbon ............................................................................................10 Figure 9 The Map Ribbon ...............................................................................................11 Figure 10 Data Ribbon ....................................................................................................11 Figure 11 The View Ribbon............................................................................................11 Figure 12 The Minimise Ribbon icon and Tooltip....................................................12 Figure 13 The File Options ............................................................................................14 Figure 14 The Locations Page .......................................................................................15 Figure 15 Browsing for the Location of FSX ...............................................................16 Figure 16 FSX and FS9 Locations using Mapped Network Drives.............................18 Figure 17 The Units Page ...............................................................................................19 Figure 18 Sounds Page....................................................................................................20 Figure 19 FS Connections Page .....................................................................................20 Figure 20 GPS Panel Configuration Page.....................................................................21 Figure 21 User Aircraft Options ....................................................................................23 Figure 22 Traffic Options...............................................................................................24 Figure 23 Weather Parameters.....................................................................................24 Figure 24 Using the Find Function to Locate an Airport ..........................................25 Figure 25 Start Position Window ..................................................................................26 Figure 26 Cruising Altitude Window.............................................................................27 Figure 27 Cruising Airspeed Window............................................................................27 Figure 28 KML Dialogue Window...................................................................................29 Figure 29 The Map Ribbon .............................................................................................31
22.1 Appendix 1 Table of Illustrations
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Figure 30 Script Message Generated When Trying To Display Too Much Data .................................................................................................................31 Figure 31 The ORTAC Intersection In the English Channel ......................................33 Figure 32 ICAO Airspace Classification........................................................................34 Figure 33 The 12 Predefined Types of User Waypoint .............................................35 Figure 34 FSX only exists on this PC ............................................................................36 Figure 35 Both FSX and FS9 exist on this PC. FS9 data selected to be displayed.........................................................................................................36 Figure 36 Both FSX and FS9 exist on this PC. FSX data selected to be displayed.........................................................................................................36 Figure 37 Flight Plan Elevation Window below the Map Window...........................37 Figure 38 Airport Diagram in a Tool Window .............................................................38 Figure 39 A Flight Plan viewed in a Tool Window .....................................................39 Figure 40 Data Expanded Arrow symbol......................................................................40 Figure 41 Data Collapsed Arrow Symbol .....................................................................40 Figure 42 Flight Plan Headings .....................................................................................40 Figure 43 Right-click a Plan Line to Display Editing Options ..................................40 Figure 44 Weather Table ...............................................................................................41 Figure 45 GPS Panel........................................................................................................41 Figure 46 The GPS Panel Alive during a Flight with a Flight Plan Loaded........42 Figure 47 Traffic Expander............................................................................................44 Figure 48 A Typical Flight Trail ....................................................................................44 Figure 49 Trail Analysis Vertical Profile......................................................................45 Figure 50 Plan-G Generated Airport Diagram ............................................................45 Figure 51 Right-Click Map Dropdown Menu ................................................................47 Figure 52 Displaying and Hiding Range Rings .............................................................48 Figure 53 QDM Display....................................................................................................48 Figure 54 Lock the Info Panel .......................................................................................49 Figure 55 Unlock the Info Panel ...................................................................................49 Figure 56 Right-click on Airport ...................................................................................49 Figure 57 Flight Plan Waypoint Dropdown Options...................................................52 Figure 58 Position fix from two VORs ..........................................................................53 Figure 59 The Wrong CAM! ............................................................................................54 Figure 60 Setting Flight Plan Conditions.....................................................................55
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Figure 61 Right-Click Dropdown - Start Flight Plan from Here...............................56 Figure 62 Using the Find Function to Locate an Airport ..........................................56 Figure 63 Right-click Dropdown Add Waypoint to Plan .........................................57 Figure 64 Move your Aircraft, but not to the Active!...............................................57 Figure 65 Adding a Waypoint ........................................................................................59 Figure 66 Vertical Navigation Profile Diagram...........................................................60 Figure 67 Inserting a Waypoint .....................................................................................61 Figure 68 Drag Handles in Edit Mode (Highlighted here in Red Circles) ...............62 Figure 69 The User Waypoint Database ......................................................................64 Figure 70 User Waypoint Dropdown.............................................................................64 Figure 71 Create User Waypoint Dialogue ..................................................................65 Figure 72 User Waypoint Created ................................................................................65 Figure 73 User Waypoint Added to Database .............................................................66 Figure 74 Add User Waypoint to Flight Plan...............................................................66 Figure 75 Editing a User Waypoint...............................................................................67 Figure 76 Editing The User Waypoint Database.........................................................68 Figure 77 User Defined Records Imported ..................................................................68 Figure 78 Carlisle to Liverpool The Route ...............................................................69 Figure 79 Over the Lakeland Hills ................................................................................71 Figure 80 Sellafield and Eskmeals Dont Go There Areas ....................................72 Figure 81 Controlled Airspace (Red Lettering not in Plan-G) .................................74 Figure 82 Seaforth VRP Deleted from the Plan .........................................................75 Figure 83 Instrument Approach and Route to Alternate..........................................75 Figure 84 VNAV Profile is the Orange Line .................................................................76 Figure 85 The Completed Plan .....................................................................................77 Figure 86 Forney Aircoupe G-ARHC Over Derwentwater .........................................78 Figure 87 Connected to FS, Plan-G can display a lot of valuable data about your flight ...........................................................................................80 Figure 88 Global Options FS Connection Tab .............................................................82 Figure 89 Connected to FS9 with FSUIPC....................................................................83 Figure 90 SimConnect Settings for a Single PC Using Pipe ......................................84 Figure 91 SimConnect Settings for a Single PC Using IPv4.......................................85 Figure 92 SimConnect Settings for a Single PC Using IPv6.......................................85
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Figure 93 Connected to FSX with SimConnect ...........................................................85 Figure 94 Connected to FSX with FSUIPC....................................................................87 Figure 95 Connected to FS9 ..........................................................................................90 Figure 96 A SimConnect Configuration for IPv4 with Windows XP .........................93 Figure 97 A SimConnect Configuration for IPv6 with Windows 7............................94 Figure 98 Connected to FSX ..........................................................................................95 Figure 99 FSX Connected via FSUIPC ...........................................................................97
22.2 Appendix 2 Support

Please go to http://www.tasoftware.co.uk/forum EmailContact tim@tasoftware.co.uk
22.3 Appendix 3 Solve the Script Error Issue

TheScriptErrorproblemmentionedinSection12,iscausedbyaWindowsinternal timerwhichtimesoutifscriptprocessingtakeslongerthanapresetvalue.Youcan changethistimeoutvaluemakeitlongertoreduceoravoidthoseannoying messages,butitneedsamanualinterventionintheRegistry. AlteringRegistryvaluescancausesevereproblemstoyourcomputer,soonlytrythisif youarefamiliarwiththeRegistry.Familiar,experienced,ornovice,ALWAYSmakea backupcopyoftheRegistrybeforestartingtotinker. TochangethistimeoutvalueinInternetExplorer4.0,5.0,6,7,or8,followthesesteps: 1. UsingaRegistryEditorsuchasRegedt32.exe,openthiskey: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\InternetExplorer\Styles NoteIftheStyleskeyisnotpresent,createanewkeythatiscalledStyles. 2. CreateanewREGDWORDvaluecalled"MaxScriptStatements"underthiskeyand setthevaluetothedesirednumberofscriptstatements.Ifyouareunsureofwhat valueyouneedtosetthisto,youcansetittoaDWORDvalueof0xFFFFFFFFto completelyavoidthedialog. 3. However,timersexistforgoodsafetyreasons,anditisprobablymoreprudentto setthevaluetosomethingsensible.Avalueof0x00FFFFFFhasbeen demonstratedtoworkquitesuccessfully,althoughitdoesnoteliminatescript errorscompletely. AnalternativesolutionistogototheMSsupportpageonthissubject http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;enus;Q175500
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Andclickonthe'FixIt'button.It'samucheasieroptionifyoudontmindpeople tinkeringwiththeinnardsofyourPCfromafar!
22.4 Appendix 4 List of Beta Testers

ManypeoplehavecontributedtotestingPlanG,buttheonesbelowdeserveaspecial mentionfortheverysignificantcontributiontheyhavemadeoveralongperiod. AdamMicheals, AlexFeldstein, bman(Benjamin), ClaudeBouissiere, DaveBelsey, DonFraser, Edge, Fenric, FrankTurley, GaryShaw, GeoffCooper, GeoffreyShipton, gdawg(Gary), GlenCoyne, DocumentEnds Pagenumberingandlayouthasbeendesignedtopermitthismanualtobeprinted eithersinglesidedordoublesided JeffSchallenberg, JoeMorrison, KenAlger, KenPratt, NormanDean, PaulDonnelly, PeterDodds, PeteAllnutt, Roddymod, RuthMcTighe, TomEarl, ThomasHawk, VicBaron
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VFR Flight Planning for Microsoft Flight Simulator

PLAN-G USER MANUAL

Plan-G User Manual Version 2.05 March 2011

Copyright2011TASoftware Allrightsreserved.Anyunauthorisedduplicationofthispublicationisprohibited. WrittenpermissionisrequiredfromTASoftwarefortheduplicationinpartorinfullofany itemsherein.

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HAVE A LOOK AROUND ...............................................................................................7

THE RIBBON MENU TABS...........................................................................................10

THE FILE MENU IN DETAIL ........................................................................................13

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THE MAP RIBBON IN DETAIL.....................................................................................31

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THE DATA EXPANDERS ..............................................................................................40 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4

CONTEXT MENU OPTIONS.........................................................................................47 14.1

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User Waypoints ..........................................................................................................64

AN EXAMPLE FLIGHT PLAN .......................................................................................69

CONNECTION TO FLIGHT SIMULATOR ....................................................................79

FLIGHT SIMULATOR AND PLAN-G ON THE SAME COMPUTER ..............................82

FLIGHT SIMULATOR AND PLAN-G ON A NETWORK ...............................................88

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APPENDICES ..............................................................................................................102 22.1 22.2 22.3 22.4

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Figure 1 The Plan-G User Interface at Startup

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Figure 2 Database Build Options

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HAVE A LOOK AROUND

Google Maps Options

Figure 3 The Standard Google Maps Tools are used

The Quick Access Toolbar

Figure 4 Quick Access Toolbar

Thedefaulticonsare,fromtheleft: TheYellowAeroplaneiconmoves,resizes,minimisesormaximisesthewholePlanG window.

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TheBlankPageiconclearsanyelementsofaflightplaninmemory,allowingafresh start. TheDownArrowIconclickingthisicondisplaysasmalldropdownmenuwithsix options.Inthepicturebelow,anadditionaloption,SaveFlightPlanhasbeenselectedas wellasthedefault,andtherelevanticonisshownontheQuickAccessToolbar.

Figure 5 The Customise Quick Access Toolbar Dropdown

The Ribbon Menu Tabs

Figure 6 The Menu Tabs

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The Main Window

The Overview Map

The Expander Panel

Displaystextualdataaboutcontrolledairspaceandother details. Oncethedatabasehasbeenbuilt,thedefaultviewshowsthemenuoptionsonthe Hometab.

Plan G User Manual