Plan G Questions

[bilirubin 50]

Hi all,

 

I would like to explore flight planning in a bit more detail now as all I do at the moment is the pre planned missions in FSX. This means I just jump in and follow the green compass tip in the left hand corner of my screen and the way points built into FSX.

 

Plan G looks a great bit of kit and I have downloaded it plus I have watched Dai's video which was great, however I have a few questions:

 

1/ Once I have put my flight plan together do I open the saved plan and leave a small window open when in FSX and follow the instructions based on VFR?

 

2/ Do I print it off and have it to one side and follow the instructions as above

 

3/ Can I use my ipad for Plan G?

 

4/ Does my flight plan interact with FSX and once I start to fly all will become clear?

 

I suppose what I am asking is how does Plan G work

 

Mike

[Corsaire31 419]

Hi !

 

You can have the Plan G window open while flying FSX.  ( I fly with borderless windowed mode and the Flight 1 utility which keeps the FSX sound when on another window )

 

You can have it on the same monitor and use Alt Tab to switch to the Plan G window to check it.  I have it on my second monitor so it's always in sight, simply using extended desktop.

 

You can connect it to FSX and have it as a moving map showing your plane, your track and other planes around. I don't connect it and use it as a standard map, I like to do the nav myself with my own eyes.

 

Plan G and I Pad : you can look there :

 

http://forum.mutleyshangar.com/index.php/topic/8298-plan-g-on-ipad-connected-to-fsx/

 

Hope this helps you.

[brett 2,315]

Once you put the flight plan together it is best to export it to your documents/fsx folder. Make sure you save it as a .pln file. By default if you just press save it will save it as a PlanG file (I forget the extension). The export type save can be found by clicking on the File tab and then Export, you will then get the normal windows popup for saving files, just make sure the path and .pln extension is correct.

 

I have never used the PlanG plan extension and do not know how it is used.

 

After you save the flight plan you add that plan into your FSX freeflight in the usual way using the menu bar/Aircraft/FlightPlan. Be careful of allowing FSX to place your aircraft if in a saved or setup state.

 

Now you can connect FSX to PlanG by clicking on the Connect button in the PlanG Menu bar under Home/FlightSimulater/Connect and your aircraft icon will appear on the map if in Lock mode. I recommend reading the manual on how Lock, Sync and Free work. Now as you fly the aircraft icon will match you movements in the sim and  any waypoints you encounter that were included in your plan will be announced by PlanG in the sim with a little popup and tone.(distance before waypoint and tone can be adjusted in the options section)

 

I recommend clicking the Disconnect button before closing out of your freeflight to eliminate any crashing.

 

The aircraft icon breadcrumb trail(a visual line of your flight path) can be adjusted in the File tab/Options/Select Options section/User Aircraft. I suggest getting familiar with this whole options section by clicking on all the sections, especially the Location section. Make sure all the necessary paths are filled in by copy/paste of the required areas. For myself I have paths for where my FSX is located, my scenery.cfg file (can be found in your C:\Users\Name\AppData\Microsoft\FSX) and my John Allard Chards path is in the Charts line.

 

My computer is not that strong so I tend to not use the connect button as it slows things down in the sim for me. Instead I bring up my plan and just use it as a map instead of a moving map behind FSX while in windowed mode. It's a click away if I need to refer to it.   

 

Don't forget to update your Build Navigation Database under the Data Tab in PlanG when you add new scenery airports or waypoints that are not already there.

 

I recommend using the PlanG manual as you need it to look things up as it is rather large(TimA is the best). Things start to get intuitive as you start using the program and clicking on things to see what does what. That said, there are some really advanced planning that can be done that can only be found in the manual. I actually read the whole thing once while on a trip and only remember twenty percent of it.

 

Hope my rather poor ramblings helps.

[bilirubin 50]

Many thanks Loic & Brett,

 

Those answers have given me a better overview of how Plan G works. I do not have a high spec PC (yet ) so the ipad option looks good if I can get it to work, looking at the thread Loic pointed me too it looks as if some got the system working whilst others have had trouble.

 

Mike