Add-on for Microsoft Flight Simulator and FS2004! Manual 9
FlightSim Commander 9 Developed by: Sascha Felix und Volker Heine Manual: Sascha Felix, Volker Heine, Günter Zehnel Installation: Andreas Mügge Copyright: © 2010 / Aerosoft GmbH Flughafen Paderborn/Lippstadt D-33142 Büren, Germany Tel: +49 (0) 29 55 / 76 03-10 Fax: +49 (0) 29 55 / 76 03-33 E-Mail: Internet: Aerosoft GmbH 2010 info@aerosoft.de www.aerosoft.de www.aerosoft.
FlightSim Commander 9 Manual Add-on for Microsoft Flight Simulator X and Flight Simulator 2004 3
FlightSim Commander 9 Content Introduction................................................................8 Hardware and software requirements................................... 10 Installation................................................................................ 11 Getting started.........................................................12 Database Manager................................................................... 13 Updating airport files.................................................
Flight planning..........................................................37 Basic techniques....................................................................... 38 A simple flight plan: selecting departure and arrival airports................................................. 38 Adding waypoints to a flight plan.......................................... 40 Selecting waypoints manually................................................ 42 AFIL (air filed) and ZZZZ flight plans.................................
FlightSim Commander 9 Deleting existing aircraft......................................................... 80 Aircraft parameters.................................................................. 80 Fuel Window..............................................................81 Approach Window....................................................82 GPS and moving map...............................................84 GPS Window.............................................................................
NATracks and PACOTs.............................................105 Weather...................................................................108 IVAO and VATSIM flights........................................109 Fellow pilots‘ aircraft............................................................. 112 A note on VATSIM and IVAO airspaces................................. 112 Information on pilots and controllers................................... 114 Connecting to the IVAO Teamspeak Server.....................
FlightSim Commander 9 Introduction Welcome to FlightSim Commander 9, a flight planner, navigator, and scenery viewer for both Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004 and Flight Simulator X.
• track your flight on a real-time Moving Map display • record flight data and inspect them afterwards • display a recorded flight in GoogleEarth© • define and fly holding patterns • display both airborne and ground AI traffic • get TCAS warnings for approaching AI aircraft • keep a logbook in which major flight data on aircraft, fuel, and route are automatically saved • make a world-wide search to easily find any navaid, waypoint, airport, or airway • check violations of control zones duri
FlightSim Commander 9 Hardware and software requirements FlightSim Commander can be installed on any computer on which Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004 or Flight Simulator X runs successfully. We recommend at least a Pentium 2.0 GHz processor with 512MB memory. The computer should have Windows XP (SP3), VISTA, Windows 7, or higher installed. You cannot run FlightSim Commander on Windows 98.
Installation You have to be logged in with administrator rights before you start the installation. Insert the CD into your CD drive. The installation programm will start automatically. Follow the instructions on the screen. After the program has been successfully installed, you can start clicking on appropriate icon. Important: Before you run FlightSim Commander for the first time, you MUST run the Database Manager (FSCDbManager.exe) to create the necessary databases from your version of Flight Simulator.
FlightSim Commander 9 Getting started Run the Database Manager (FSCDBManager.exe) first to create the necessary databases. For details, you should check the section on the Database Manager and read it carefully. When you start FlightSim Commander afterwards, the following introductory window will appear: At the bottom of the picture you will find the version and build number next to the copyright notice. The above screenshot comes from version 9.0. The currently loaded AIRAC cycle is dated FEB12-MAR 2009.
If Flight Simulator is already running at the time you start FlightSim Commander, you can also make a direct connection so that the map in FlightSim Commander will show the airport or area where your aircraft is located (for details see Directly connecting to Flight Simulator) Database Manager The Database Manager is a separate program which allows you to create and update the databases used by FlightSim Commander. You must run the Database Manager (FSCDbManager.
FlightSim Commander 9 Note that FlightSim Commander uses data which are partly extracted directly from Flight Simulator files and partly from real-world databases. The data read from Flight Simulator directly are airports, runways, ILS‘es, markers, taxiways, parking positions, and aprons. All other data are provided by Navigraph (http://www2.navigraph.com/ www/fmsdata.asp) and concern VORs, NDBs, intersections, GPS fixes, airways, SIDs and STARs, Transitions, airspaces and minimum safe altitudes.
Updating airport files Since FlightSim Commander can be used with both Flight Simulator 2004 and Flight Simulator X, first of all you have to decide for which version of Flight Simulator database files are to be updated. Note that if you use both FS 2004 and FSX, you have to run the Database Manager twice, once for each version. You cannot update for both versions simultaneously. The order in which you update the two versions of Flight Simulator is irrelevant.
FlightSim Commander 9 In the screenshot above FS 2004 is located on drive F:\ in the directory FS2004. Notice that the Scenery Library selection boxes on the right are automatically set to the same path and are grayed out, simply because you don‘t have to select anything in those boxes. At the same time the button shows Update Airports from FS2004 and can now be pressed to begin the updating process.
directory on the computer where Flight Simulator is installed. In other words, your network must be properly set up and the necessary drives and directories must be correctly mounted. If you are not very much familiar with networks and their internal structure, please read the Appendix at the end of this document. Updating airports for FSX on a single computer Updating airports for Flight Simulator X is a bit more complex for reasons which unfortunately you need to understand.
FlightSim Commander 9 In the screenshot above you see in the left selection box that FSX has been installed in F:\FSX\. The right selection box has been automatically set to the Scenery Library path. There is nothing else you need to do; just press the Update button to launch the updating process. If for some reason the default Scenery Library path does not exist (a few such cases have been reported), the two selection boxes will look like this: As before the left selection box shows the path for FSX.
Updating airports for FSX in a network Updating airports for Flight Simulator X in a network is appallingly complex, again for some whimsical decisions made by Microsoft. As described in the preceding section the Scenery Library file for FSX is not only deeply embedded in the C:\ drive; what is still worse, it is inside a partially hidden folder tree (Application Data) with extremely limited access rights.
FlightSim Commander 9 If you are familiar with copying files, you can copy the file manually as described above. However, we have added a little Scenery Library Network Tool (FSCFSXCFG.exe) which performs the copying process for you. Note that this program MUST be placed in your FSX folder and must be started from there. Simply press the OK button. You will be instructed when the copying process has been successfully completed.
Map Window The Map Window displays flight-relevant information on a geographic map. Before you reach the Map Window, you will have to select an airport which will then be located in the center of the map. If you have made a flight plan, the departure airport will appear in the center.
FlightSim Commander 9 Clock: by clicking on this label you can toggle between UTC and local time. Chart: if you click on this label with the left mouse button, you zoom in, with the right mouse button you zoom out. Latitude/Longitude: by clicking on this label you can toggle between standard and decimal notation. Flugzeug: clicking with the left mouse button on this label opens the Aircraft Window; a right mouse click toggles the Aircraft on Map option (see also Navigating around the map).
Navigating around the map Mouse position The rightmost label of the status bar shows the mouse position on the map in terms of latitude and longitude. If you click on that label the display changes to distance and course relative to the center of the map or, if you are connected to Flight Simulator, to the position of your own aircraft. This way you can quickly measure distances and headings by simply moving the mouse.
FlightSim Commander 9 Rubber band selection To zoom in on a particular area of the map, you can use the rubber band function. While you hold the left mouse button pressed, use the mouse to draw a rectangle around an area of your choice. As you release the mouse button again, the map will zoom in on the area selected. Information label If you wish to obtain more detailed information on a particular navaid, airport, intersection, etc.
Information labels can also be opened on AI aircraft. Move the mouse to the root of the small aircraft symbol indicating the aircraft’s heading. The label then displays the airport, city, and country of the aircraft’s departure and arrival. Aircraft (always) on Map When you are connected to Flight Simulator, the little aircraft symbol will move along the map following your geographic positions.
FlightSim Commander 9 Always on Top When you are running FlightSim Commander connected with Flight Simulator, you are running, in fact, two programs at a time. Standardly, only the program that has focus will be visible on the screen, while the other is hidden behind the window with focus.
Zooming and unzooming by pressing Page↓ and Page↑ or + and - is a general convention in FlightSim Commander and applies to all other graphic displays of the program as well. Alternatively, you can press the buttons with the magnifying glasses on the button bar on the left-hand side of the map. Using these buttons is preferable when you are connected to Flight Simulator because the focus is immediately returned to FS (for details see section GPS and Moving Map).
FlightSim Commander 9 Buttons Display buttons If you move the mouse to the left side of the map you see a series of buttons which allow you to toggle the display of the map. The buttons will disappear as soon as you move the mouse to any other area. Green letters on the buttons indicate that the option is on, red letters that the option is off.
Function buttons Above the map and below the menu bar you find a series of graphic buttons which allow you to either open a window or make a flight plan selection opens the Airport Information Window go to a specific airport opens the Aircraft Window opens the Holding Window opens the Fuel Window displays the Compass opens the Approach Window selects parking position and taxiways activates the measuring tool for distance and course opens the Flight Plan Panel The remaining buttons with worded labels are la
FlightSim Commander 9 Intersections and airspaces Intersections and fixes Intersections can be displayed selectively. If the button Int is on, all intersections will be shown. If the button Int is off and the button Vic is on, then victor airways and only the intersections on these airways are shown. Similarly, if the button Int is off and the button Jet on, then jet airways and only the intersections on these airways are visible.
• Radar Area • Terminal Control Area (TCA) • UpperFlight Information Region (UIR) AI traffic and TCAS FlightSim Commander can display both airborne and ground AI traffic while you are connected to Flight Simulator. If you zoom down to 5 NM or less both ground and airborne traffic will be displayed, otherwise only airborne traffic will show. AI aircraft are represented as little aircraft symbols indicating the aircraft‘s course and an accompanying label.
FlightSim Commander 9 If an airborne AI aircraft approaches your aircraft within less than 3 NM a TCAS warning label appears on the map accompanied by an acoustic beep. The beep can be turned on and off by choosing GPS -> TCAS Sound. Tools Select parking & taxiways FlightSim Commander offers you the possibility of highlighting selected parking positions and taxiways in order to facilitate airport taxiing. Choose Windows -> Select Parking & Taxiways or press the button with the parking aircraft.
taxiways to reach your gate or the runway. Multiple selection of taxiways is possible. This feature is only available if you are connected to Flight Simulator. Runway approach path The button App allows you to display an approach path from the last waypoint to each of the runways of the destination airport. The picture below shows the path from VOR Cola to Rwy 24 of Cologne Airport (EDDK). If a missed approach for that runway is available, it will also be displayed. For each runway press App again.
FlightSim Commander 9 Note that pressing the App button standardly toggles through all runways. However, if your flight plan contains a transition, only the approach that corresponds to that transition will be displayed. Measuring distance and course If you click on the button to the left of the two buttons Log and Track, you will notice that the button stays pressed and thereby activates the measuring mode. In this mode you can measure distance and course between two arbitrary points.
automatically close and the object searched for will appear in red on the map. Otherwise you need to press the button Close. To undo the selection on the map, press Esc on your keyboard. Note that only those objects can be selected which also appear on the map; the option buttons for the other objects are grayed out. If Show item on map directly after selection is checked, then the map display will jump to the selected item immediately after selection.
FlightSim Commander 9 Airport Information The Airport Information Window allows you to take a quick look at the layout of airports and their associated runways. You reach the Airport Information Window by clicking on the button with the airport layout icon or by choosing Window -> Airport Information on the menu bar. As usual, you can zoom and unzoom this display by pressing Page-↓ and Page-↑ or + and - on your keyboard.
Flight planning FlightSim Commander offers a very sophisticated and complex flight planning system in which you can combine various types of automatic and manual planning supplemented by SIDs, STARs, transitions, individual waypoints, etc. We will first present basic flight planning methods and then proceed to discuss more advanced techniques. Flight plans are created and displayed on the flight plan panel which opens when you press the button to the left of Select Airport.
FlightSim Commander 9 Basic techniques Any flight plan involves the following obligatory specifications: • a departure airport • a destination airport • a route; i.e. how you want to get from the departure to the destination airport Since the route trivially depends on the departure and destination airports, the first step in creating any flight plan will be to select these two airports.
Above the airport name you see a little circle; this indicates the ARP (airport reference point) where you should click with the right mouse button. After you have made these selections, the two airports will appear in the flight plan table. In addition, the runways and parking position of the departure airport are listed in the box on the right-hand side of the table.
FlightSim Commander 9 Important: The selection of a departure position (runway or parking) has no effect whatsoever within FlightSim Commander. However, Flight Simulator requires a departure position in its flight plan format. Therefore, if you intend to save a flight plan to be loaded again in Flight Simulator, you should use a proper departure position which determines where your aircraft is to be positioned. In all other cases you may ignore this step.
• low altitude route (leads you along low altitude (victor) airways) • high altitude route (leads you along high altitude (jet) airways) After you have selected your departure and arrival airports you simply click on any of the three buttons Navaid Plan - Low Alt Plan - High Alt Plan which are located on the button bar above the map. FlightSim Commander will subsequently calculate a complete route leading from your departure to your arrival airports.
FlightSim Commander 9 VORs in your flight plan, then the VOR button should be on, while the NDB button and intersection button should be off. Similarly, if you want only NDBs, only the NDB button should be on. If more than one of the three buttons is on, then FlightSim Commander will consider all visible navaids (those with the button on) giving priority to VORs over NDBs over intersections. The following flight plan shows a low altitude route from EDDF to EDDS.
• You can type the code of the waypoint to be selected into the waypoint text box and press Enter on your keyboard. All waypoints with this code will appear in the waypoint list. Choose the appropriate waypoint by clicking on it. To select a waypoint from a list, click on the button with the table symbol on the right-hand side of the flight plan panel. Choose the Waypoint tab of the window. Type into the text box. The list box now displays all waypoints whose first three letters begin with .
FlightSim Commander 9 Note that as a basic technique you must enter the waypoints in the correct order, i.e. in the order from departure to arrival. If you have mistakenly selected a wrong waypoint, you can delete it again. How you delete a waypoint will be discussed later. Of course, FlightSim Commander also allows you to insert a waypoint or sets of waypoints in any arbitrary order, but we will discuss these more advanced techniques of flight planning in a later section.
geographical position (ZZZZ). To file an AFIL flight plan, proceed as follows: 3. Open the flight plan panel (if this is still closed) 4. Press the button Select Airport 5. Enter AFIL into the ICAO text box and press Enter or press the button Search by ICAO code. The airport list shows from current location. 6. Press the button Select. 7. Enter the destination airport as usual 8.
FlightSim Commander 9 If a geographical position is selected for a new, as yet empty flight plan, then this mouse click will be interpreted as departure. A popup menu opens with only one entry . If some departure has already been chosen, then the mouse click will be interpreted as destination. There are thus three possibilities for a ZZZZ flight plan. 11. from a geographical position to a destination airport 12. from a departure airport to a geographical position 13.
EDDK to ZZZZ ZZZZ to ZZZZ SIDs, STARs and transitions Inserting SIDs, STARs, and transitions In many cases you might want to use Standard Instrument Departures (SIDs) and/or Standard Arrival Routes (STARs) for your flight plan. This is extremely simple. Choose SID/STAR -> SID -> Select from the menu bar to open a SID. For a STAR choose analogously SID/STAR -> STAR -> Select. For a transition choose SID/STAR -> Transition -> Select.
FlightSim Commander 9 transition for a given airport is available the corresponding menu entry will be deactivated and thus be gray. The following window opens in which you can select any number of SIDs/STARs/transitions from the list box. The SIDs/STARs/transitions selected will immediately be displayed on the map so that you can easily decide which one will be the most appropriate one for your flight.
If only a single item in the list box has been selected, the button Add to plan becomes active. Pressing this button will insert the waypoints of the SID/STAR/transition into your flight plan. After you have selected a SID, a sample flight plan from Frankfurt (EDDF) to Stuttgart (EDDS) may look like this: You can tell by the symbols in the left column of the table that RID and ANEKI are not ordinary enroute waypoints, but rather belong to a SID.
FlightSim Commander 9 The following screenshot shows the flight plan and route after a transition has been added: A further comment on SIDs and STARs There are a number of common misunderstandings about SIDs and STARs which are quite frequent among flight simmers and which need to be clarified. Some users have asked in the past whether or not it is possible in FlightSim Commander to define your own SIDs and STARs or whether the user can modify a given SID or STAR according to his needs or likings.
This has a number of consequences for the flight planning process. While you can delete any enroute waypoint, you cannot delete a waypoint inside a SID or STAR. You can delete the entire SID or STAR by choosing SID/STAR -> SID -> Delete or STAR -> Delete from the menu bar, but not individual waypoints. Similarly, you cannot insert a waypoint into a SID or STAR. SIDs and STARs are unitary entities which can only be manipulated as a whole. The same holds for transitions analogously.
FlightSim Commander 9 Do not confuse these custom waypoints with the user waypoints which are permanently stored in a separate database and which are treated in much the same way as any other waypoint. To create a custom waypoint, move the mouse to the desired geographic location and then click with the right mouse button. A popup menu appears with the entry .
Let’s look at such a case by way of example. The AIP Germany has a departure route for runway 14L of EDDK (Cologne/Bonn) which reads like this: On track 139° to 5 DME KBO or 1500, whichever is later, LT, on R278 COL to COL In plain language this instruction says the following: after takeoff from 14L fly runway heading which is 139° until you reach a point which is 5 NM away from VOR KBO (Köln/Bonn) and is located on radial 278 of VOR COL (Cola).
FlightSim Commander 9 EDDK (see also the general insertion rule in the following section A sample flight from EDDH to ESSA). Now you must find the exact location with the mouse. Note that below the waypoint box a line appears with information on distance, heading, and radial of your current mouse position. EET: 00:33 DTG: 211 TAS: 480 FL: 370 SID: 5,4NM/HDG: 131°/RDL: 339° Move the mouse until the value for heading is 139 and the value for radial is 278.
Editing the flight plan table There are essentially three options to edit the waypoints of a flight plan. These are illustrated in the following screenshot: You select a waypoint by clicking with the left mouse button on the corresponding row. In the above screenshot the intersection OSN has been selected. When you now click with the right mouse button on the same row, a popup menu with three options opens. Obviously you want to be able to delete a waypoint.
FlightSim Commander 9 selecting TAU in the flight plan table moves this waypoint to the center of the map and there is no way of seeing the area around Chicago unless you zoom out to about 4000 NM in which case selecting the new waypoint is virtually impossible. Actually what you want is to select KORD in the flight plan table so that this airport will be in the center of the map. Subsequently, you want to select the desired waypoint as usual.
The following screenshot shows that you cannot delete an individual waypoint of a SID, but only the entire SID. Therefore popup menu looks slightly different, when you select a waypoint of a SID (or STAR or transition). See also the section on SIDs, STARs, and transitions. Deleting an old flight plan and creating a new one If you want to delete the current flight plan in order to create a new one, choose Flight Plan -> New on the menu bar.
FlightSim Commander 9 • Waypoint List this list shows all the waypoints in much the same way as in the flight plan table on the screen. • Control Zone Information this information is primarily for VFR pilots as it lists all control zones which the filed route may potentially cross. Advanced techniques With the basic techniques discussed in the preceding sections we have always created a unitary route, i.e.
Let‘s make things even more complicated. FlightSim Commander has generated intersection ELTOK on airway Y36 to be your last waypoint before Stockholm. But ELTOK is located northwest of Stockholm; a more convenient waypoint to leave the airway system would be VOR ARS. So, basically, what you want is this: FlightSim Commander should automatically generate a low altitude route, but the first waypoint must be LBE and the last waypoint must be ARS.
FlightSim Commander 9 After we have pressed the Low Alt Plan button, our flight plan will be like in the following picture: Note that the above screenshot shows the undocked mode of the flight plan panel. To undock the flight plan panel click on the button with the key symbol on the right-hand side of the window. You can now expand the height of the window in order to see all waypoint simultaneously. To re-dock the window, press the button with the key symbol again.
between the Swedish mainland and Latvia. More specifically, there is the VOR VSB at Visby airport so that we want to fly from LBE to VSB on a low altitude airway, but from VSB to ARS on a VOR-to-VOR route. As in the previous case we need to select the VORs manually so that at one point our flight plan will look like this: Now we highlight the second row with VOR LBE to indicate that the next insertion is to take place between LBE and VSB. Subsequently, we press the button Low Alt Plan.
FlightSim Commander 9 When you open the flight planning section in Flight Simulator you will find an option button for each of these four types and the type you select will be stored in the flight plan once you save it. However, a routing along low altitude airways means low altitude airways all the way from departure to destination. Mixed routings simply escape the conceptual framework of Flight Simulator. So, what are we going to tell Flight Simulator when we have filed a flight plan with mixed routings.
EDDF is the alternate airport in case you cannot land in Cologne-Bonn for some reason. If you wish to replace the destination airport EDDK by the alternate airport EDDF, you click with the mouse on the row with EDDF Alternate. You will be prompted to confirm that the alternate should replace the original destination.
FlightSim Commander 9 stay on this airway until we reach intersection POVEL where we enter airway Z16. Again, we reach intersection GALMA on this airway changing then to airway T703. At LEKMI we enter airway T105 which we leave at VAMAS to begin our approach to Munich airport. The logical structure of such a route notation is thus: AIRPORT WAYPOINT AIRWAY WAYPOINT AIRWAY…….
Important: note that the route string must have the ICAO codes of the departure and destination airports as first and last segments. Other strings will be rejected. Important: note also that the airways in the string are not specified for high or low altitude airways. FlightSim Commander checks both possibilities, but gives priority to high altitude airways in case an airway name can refer to both a high and low altitude airway.
FlightSim Commander 9 Each line of the flight plan table indicates the waypoint‘s code and name, its frequency (if any - ATIS for airports), the course leading to that waypoint (true track/magnetic heading) and the estimated time of over (ETO). For airway routes the name of the airway as well as the minimal and maximal altitude appear after the waypoint name in parentheses; e.g. intersection PADBA is on airway R15 and the permissible altitudes range from FL50 to FL240.
and name share an identical geographic position. Of course, you might wonder why the flight plan doesn‘t list the VOR OSN instead of the intersection. In this case we strictly follow the definition of the Airac Cycle. AIRAC defines an airway as a sequence of abstract waypoints specified in terms of latitude and longitude. So by definition a VOR (or NDB) is never a waypoint of an airway.
FlightSim Commander 9 First, your exact takeoff time and the estimated arrival time at your destination are displayed above the table. In the above example the aircraft left Cologne-Bonn at 10:03 hrs (ATD) and is expected to arrive in Hamburg at 10:36 hrs (ETA). The ETA value is continually updated. Note that all the time values in the flight plan table are based on your current Flight Simulator time (the one you set up in the Time and Season window).
Saving and loading flight plans You can save and load a flight plan by choosing Flight Plan -> Save As or Flight Plan -> Open respectively. Note that flight plans can be saved in different formats and accordingly have to be placed in different directories. Any flight plan you save will always be saved in FlightSim Commander‘s own flight plan format. Therefore you cannot uncheck the check box in the top left column. These flight plans will always be saved in the directory FSC\Flightplan\FSC and it is only t
FlightSim Commander 9 Important: We strongly suggest that before you save any flight plans you go to the Options Window and there on the Flight Plan tab and set the paths where you want the different formats to be saved. In particular, you should specify the path where your Flight Simulator is installed and also the path for Flight Simulator‘s own flight plans. The list box on the left-hand side displays all flight plans in FlightSim Commander format currently available.
A saved flight plan may look like this in GoogleEarth©: Route segments Instead of saving a complete flight plan, you can also save different types of route segments. A route segment is any sequence of waypoints inside a full-fledged flight plan. Of course, you can also reload these segments and insert them into an existing flight plan. FlightSim Commander is shipped with a collection of several hundred route segments.
FlightSim Commander 9 Saving a segment is basically a trivial matter. Choose the menu item Flight Plan -> Save Route Segment. In the opening window you select the waypoints for the segment to be saved in the top two list boxes. The left-hand box lists all waypoints of your flight plan. The right-hand box contains the waypoints of the segment to be saved. A click on any item in the left-hand box will „move“ the waypoint into the right-hand box.
Loading a segment into an existing flight plan is just as easy. Choose Flight Plan -> Open Route Segment. Again you need to specify first, if you want to load a departure, arrival or enroute segment. Departure segments are inserted immediately after the departure airport with the first waypoint following the airport. Arrival segments are inserted before the arrival airport with the last waypoint immediately preceding the airport.
FlightSim Commander 9 User Waypoints FlightSim Commander allows you to define customized waypoints which will be stored in a separate database and consequently are reloaded every time you start the program. Note that these user waypoints are conceptually different from the temporary custom waypoints which you may insert into a flight plan by way of clicking on some geographic location with the right mouse button.
As you can see from the buttons at the bottom of the window you can add or delete waypoints or you can edit them by changing their code, name, latitude or longitude. Adding user waypoints Each user waypoint needs to be specified for four parameters: • ICAO code • Name • Latitude • Longitude Strictly speaking, the code you must assign to your customized waypoint will in many cases not be a real ICAO code.
FlightSim Commander 9 Instead of entering latitude and longitude directly, you can also use an indirect method of setting the corresponding values. If (and only if) you are connected to Flight Simulator, you can press the button labeled Transfer current position of Flight Simulator aircraft to here. This will automatically enter the current geographic coordinates of your aircraft in Flight Simulator into the text boxes. Furthermore you can click with the right mouse button on any location on the map.
User objects This feature has been implemented as a response to a few user requests. The geographic map is obviously not complete in terms of rivers, lakes, etc. Especially for VFR pilots it may happen that this little lake, river, or road that you use as a landmark for flying is missing on the map. You have the possibility of defining your own lakes, rivers etc. and store them in a database that will be read when the program starts.
FlightSim Commander 9 Logbook FlightSim Commander keeps an automatic logbook for all flight-plancontrolled flights. You don‘t have to make any entries into the logbook; rather the relevant data are recorded while you are flying. The only thing you need to do is tell FlightSim Commander to save the data in the logbook (logbook.fsc in the \User subdirectory). You do this by either choosing the menu item Logbook -> Autolog or by pressing the button with Log in the center of the button bar above the map.
Aircraft Window FlightSim Commander allows you to specify the aircraft you want to use for your flight. This information is stored in a database called aircraft.fsc located in the /User subdirectory. You reach the Aircraft Window by choosing Window -> Aircraft or by pressing the button with the aircraft symbol. You will see the aircraft currently stored in the database in the combo box under .
FlightSim Commander 9 enter the correct values. In case you are unsure what the correct values are for a given aircraft, we suggest that you choose the values of a similar aircraft. In case you get unreasonable fuel information, this is presumably because the values of the aircraft are incorrect. Adding new aircraft To add a new aircraft press the button Add. The text boxes will display some default values which you can subsequently edit.
Fuel Window The Fuel Window informs you about fuel consumption and alternate airport location. You reach the Fuel Window by choosing Window -> Fuel. Alternatively, you may press the button with the fuel pump icon. Note that for obvious reasons the Fuel Window is only accessible after you have filed a flight plan. The top section displays (estimated) fuel consumption for the various phases of your flight under both VFR and IFR conditions.
FlightSim Commander 9 Approach Window The Approach Window allows you to inspect approaches of your destination airport, provided official approaches are available. The Approach Window is only accessible after you have made a flight plan. To open the Approach Window, press the button with the landing aircraft symbol. The Approach Window has two graphic and three textual parts. In addition, two list boxes at the bottom allow you to select a runway and an approach for that runway.
Note that while transitions are part of your flight plan, approaches and missed approaches are NOT. You might want to use the Approach Window during the final phase of your flight for your reference. The buttons at the top of the window are largely self-explanatory. They allow you to toggle on and off specific waypoint types in the top display and to zoom and unzoom the display.
FlightSim Commander 9 GPS and moving map FlightSim Commander provides a GPS and Moving Map feature which allows you to track your flight in real time. You activate GPS from the Map Window by choosing from the menu bar GPS -> Connect to FS. Before you activate GPS, make sure that Flight Simulator is running. We also suggest that you uncheck the box Pause on task switch in Flight Simulator’s menu Options -> Settings -> General, if you are running Flight Simulator and FlightSim Commander on the same computer.
The General Page This is the default page which appears when the GPS Window opens without a flight plan having been filed. At the bottom line it displays the aircraft‘s position in latitude and longitude. Furthermore the altitude (in feet), AGL (in feet), true airspeed and ground speed (both in knots) are indicated.
FlightSim Commander 9 The track error indicator shows both graphically and digitally how much your aircraft deviates from the track of the filed route. If the moving red needle is exactly in the middle of the display, then you are right on track. In the screenshot above the needle is slightly to the left of the center. Therefore you have to steer left in order to return to the exact track.
Weather information is given in a format approximating very closely the METAR code. This acronym stands for Meteorological Aviation Routine Weather Report, a standardized weather report format used world-wide for aviation purposes. The first line of the weather page shows wind and visibility. Wind direction is followed by wind speed i.e. 23005KT is to be interpreted as winds from 230 degrees at 5 knots. Separated by spaces and following European standards visibility is indicated in meters.
FlightSim Commander 9 In case visibility is more than 10km, no clouds below 5000ft and no thunderstorm and/or precipitation the second line will show CAVOK which stands for clouds and visibility OK. The third line shows temperature (=25) and dew point (=25) and QNH (1013) in that order. The ambient weather report follows the same format. The Weather Page has four subpages labeled 1/4 though 4/4. You move to the subpages by clicking on the page indicator.
The ILS Page The ILS page is actually a supplement to the arrival page. It shows all ILS runways of the destination airport with their frequencies. In our sample screenshot the arrival airport is EDDH Hamburg which has four ILS runways: 15, 23, 05, and 33. The 1/1 next to the name indicates that this is page 1 of a total of one page. If there is more than one page, you click on the page indicator to go through all the pages. For each ILS runway both the frequency and the exact heading are indicated.
FlightSim Commander 9 When you press the button Rwy, a list of available runways at your destination airport will appear. The general structure of the page is similar to that of the ILS page. The screenshot shows four runways of EDDH. As the 1/2 indicates, there are more runways at EDDH. You reach the remaining runways by clicking on 1/2. Select a runway of your choice by clicking on the = at the right margin of the line. Subsequently the selected runway will then be marked as .
Operating modes AutoHeading mode Pressing the button AutoHdg will engage Flight Simulator‘s autopilot and FlightSim Commander will then send appropriate data to make the aircraft follow the flight plan route. Note that the AutoHeading Mode does not control the aircraft directly, but only uses Flight Simulator‘s autopilot to control heading. If an aircraft such as the PMDG Boeing does not use Flight Simulator’s internal autopilot, but rather employs its own system, the AutoHeading Mode will not work.
FlightSim Commander 9 You can also have the AI traffic displayed by pressing the button labeled AI on the button bar on the left-hand side of the Map. For details on the display of AI traffic see the corresponding section. You can also have the path of the aircraft displayed by choosing Blackbox -> Show Track. To delete the displayed path and to reset the tracing function, choose Blackbox -> Reset/Save.
Once you have landed, the original function of the spin buttons as well as the general flight level value will be restored.
FlightSim Commander 9 Great Circle navigation A great circle is a circular arc connecting two points A and B at the shortest distance following the earth‘s surface. It is constructed by slicing the earth in half with an imaginary plane going through the points A and B. All long-distance routes typically follow great circle navigation.
Holding Window FlightSim Commander allows you to create and define holding patterns and procedures which you may either add to an existing flight plan or simply place upon the map for manual flying. You open the Holding Window by choosing Window -> Holding or by pressing the button with the holding symbol. Holdings can be created, saved, and reloaded for later use. Creating a procedure or holding pattern involves a series of steps which all need to be carried out in the Holding Window.
FlightSim Commander 9 the approach speed of the aircraft currently chosen. If you want to fly the holding with different speed, change the speed value by means of the spin buttons. The next parameter is the time that you need for flying the entire pattern. By default, the value is four minutes, one minute for each leg and turn. If you want to fly the pattern more leisurely, increase this value by means of the spin button. The total distance covered by the pattern is indicated in the next line.
You add the holding to the map by pressing the button Place on map. You can save the holding, record your flight, and later look at how well you have done. See also the section Blackbox. If you want to look at your flight at some later time, you will also need to reload the holding previously saved.
FlightSim Commander 9 Blackbox and flight analysis While in GPS mode FlightSim Commander automatically records the following flight variables and stores them in memory: latitude heading AGL TAS UTC longitude altitude pitch bank There are basically two ways to look at these recorded data. While you are actually flying, you can simultaneously display the flown track of the aircraft as well as the altitude. The complete set of parameters can be saved in a file for later analysis.
In most cases you probably won’t want to see the relative altitude for the entire flight, but rather only for the approach and possibly for the takeoff phase. Therefore there is an upper limit beyond which the relative altitude will no longer be displayed. By default this limit is 10000ft. But you can change this value in the Option Window. If you wish to erase the currently recorded data in order to start a new recording choose Blackbox -> Reset/Save.
FlightSim Commander 9 The big red dot represents the position of the aircraft and is synchronized with the aircraft symbol displayed on the main map. Note that you can also use the Control Zone Violation feature of the program for such recorded flights. Saving flight recordings for GoogleEarth© When you decide to save a flight recording, you have the option of also saving it in a format which can be read and processed by GoogleEarth©. Check . The file has the extension *.
FlightSim Commander 9 VFR flights A major challenge during VFR flights is to correctly observe control zones restrictions. A control zone is a well-defined airspace (usually around airports) which an aircraft must not enter without proper authorization by ATC. Apart from its geographical extension (defined in terms of latitude and longitude values) a control zone has a lower and upper altitude limit.
At the same time all legs in the flight plan table that cross a control zone are printed in red delete with the warning CTRZ!! in the name field. Note that both the highlighted control zones and the warning in the name field of the flight plan table are, in fact, little more than warnings. They simply indicate that a control zone may occur. It is up to the pilot to either request permission from ATC, to fly over or underneath the control zone, or to use a different route.
FlightSim Commander 9 Sunrise and sunset If you wish to know the times of sunrise and sunset at a given airport, choose VFR -> Sunrise & Sunset. As you move with the mouse over some airport, a label will appear with the relevant information. Again, this label can be dragged and dropped.
NATracks and PACOTs NATracks (North Atlantic Tracks) are route segments leading across the Atlantic Ocean from the European to the Canadian/US coast. These tracks change daily in relation to the jetstream and are generally issued by Shanwick Center (EGGX), Gander Center (CZQX), Boston Center (KZBW), and New York Center (KZNY). Eastbound tracks are planned near the jetstream to give an additional “push” of the high-speed winds aloft.
FlightSim Commander 9 downloading the NATrack file cannot occur completely in the background; rather, when you choose the relevant menu item, a website will appear prompting you to press a button to gain access to the relevant page. As soon as the NATrack page appears on the screen, you have to save it under the name suggested by default (don’t change it) to your FSC\ Database directory. The currently valid NATrack URL is saved in fsc.
Download Pacot. To display them on the map choose Tracks -> Pacot -> Show Routes. To insert a PACOT into a flight plan you proceed in exactly the same way as with NATracks.
FlightSim Commander 9 Weather FlightSim Commander allows you to download the current METAR weather from several thousand worldwide weather stations and to display the weather on the map. Self-explanatory graphic symbols are used to indicate rain, snow, clouds, sunshine, winds, etc. To download the current weather file choose Weather -> Download Weather. Of course, an Internet connection must be available for this download. To display the weather symbols, choose Weather -> Show Weather.
IVAO and VATSIM flights FlightSim Commander offers two specific features for pilots flying under the virtual control of VATSIM (Virtual Air Traffic Simulation Network) and IVAO (International Virtual Aviation Organization). VATSIM and IVAO provide world-wide ATC communication, i.e. in principle all (major) airports and all control areas are being managed by real people communicating with pilots through the network.
FlightSim Commander 9 Note first of all that VATSIM and IVAO have an airspace structure that is slightly different from the Navigraph-based one ordinarily displayed in FlightSim Commander. While in the real world there are 12 different types of airspaces, VATSIM and IVAO use only a subset of these airspaces, most importantly FIRs (Flight Information Region).
In the above screenshot there are active controllers for Frankfurt airport Tower and Ground. If you move with the mouse over the center of the circle or over the fat dot associated with airspaces, a window will open with relevant information on that particular control area. Note that in the case of non-airport-dependent airspaces (basically FIRs with IVAO and VATSIM) it may happen that more than one airspace is served from the same location. In this case more than one text line will appear.
FlightSim Commander 9 Note that if you are connected to Flight Simulator and an internet connection is available the display will be automatically updated approximately every five minutes. This is to make sure that you will be properly informed if the controller of your destination airport was active when you started, but decided to go to bed by the time you actually arrive. See the Options Window for further details. Fellow pilots‘ aircraft The aircraft of fellow pilots can also be displayed on the map.
FIR, is identified by an ICAO code and controllers consistently use this ICAO code as a call sign to identify them. As a consequence, whenever an airspace appears as a polygon with diagonal lines, you know that currently this airspace is actively being served by a controller. VATSIM also uses these airspaces, but there are notable exceptions in the US, the UK, Australia and occasionally a few other area. Let’s take the UK for an example.
FlightSim Commander 9 In other words, an airspace which is not identified by its ICAO code will be shown as a circle rather than a polygon. Note that these remarks are valid only at the time of writing this manual. Both with VATSIM and IVAO airspace structure regularly changes or is updated. As a consequence things may turn out to be different in the future. Check our website at www.fscommander.
The window for pilots is divided up into various sections; most of the information will be self-explanatory. The Flight Plan Information section displays the filed flight plan as well as departure and destination airport. By left-clicking into the flight plan string, the flight plan can be copied and subsequently be pasted into the Route String text box (see Airway Routes for details). This way you can create an online pilot’s flight plan.
FlightSim Commander 9 The same holds for ETE (estimated time en route) in the Current Status section. Since, as far as we know, the ETE value has no bearing on anything crucial of an online flight, it is a totally virtual value. Experience shows that pilots frequently enter a completely unrealistic value for ETE which will then also show up in FlightSim Commander‘s information window. Please, do not send us any mails complaining about „wrong ETE“ values.
Tower has information GOLF. Furthermore there may be some discrepancies between controllers concerning take-off and landing runways which you may want to inquire about. The ATIS also gives the full METAR weather report so that you do not need to request ATIS or weather separately. Press the button Add to friends to add the currently selected controller or aircraft to the database of friends.
FlightSim Commander 9 Online friends FlightSim Commander allows you to keep a list of friends whose online presence can be checked. Open the Online friends window by choosing Online -> IVAO -> Friends or Online -> VATSIM -> Friends depending on which list of friends you want to select. The screenshot above is largely self-explanatory. To edit or add a friend, doubleclick on the corresponding cell of the table. Note that the ID number is crucial; i.e.
Options Window The Options Window allows you to change certain parameters of FlightSim Commander. These changes will be automatically saved when you exit the program. You open the Options Window by choosing Window -> Options in the Map Window. Colors On this file card you can change most of the colors used, although certain different objects may use identical colors. Instead of selecting individual colors, you can also choose a color theme which is basically a ready-made collection of colors.
FlightSim Commander 9 In the Aircraft section AC in Ctrz means aircraft inside control zone. This color is chosen for the control zone whenever your aircraft is inside of it. In contrast, AC at Ctrz means aircraft at control zone, i.e. the aircraft is approaching the control zone, but is not yet inside of it. It is therefore a kind of pre-warning. In the AI Traffic section TCAS 1 refers to the situation where an AI aircraft is approaching your aircraft, while TCAS 2 indicates immediate risk of collision.
The following screenshots show some sample settings. Display On this card you may change the type of line by which latitude and longitude are represented. There are four types to choose from. Furthermore you can decide whether or not latitude and longitude are displayed with decimal seconds, as e.g. Jeppesen publications do. For example, a standard latitude value of N52° 54‘ 30‘‘ would be N52° 54.50‘ with decimal seconds.
FlightSim Commander 9 Furthermore you can set whether or not the positions of the Map Window and/or the GPS Window should be remembered for the next start of the program. For any flight both recorded and unrecorded, you can have the relative altitude of your aircraft displayed on the map (for details see Blackbox). Since in most cases this feature will be used for takeoff, approaches, and/or landings, you can set the maximal value up to which relative altitude will be displayed.
option. We strongly suggest that you reset this option to Great Circle again, once you have finished your flight. See also Operating modes. Distance to Final Fix refers to the distance of the final fix from the runway threshold. The default value is 11NM. This may be too much for small airplanes like the Cessna, but too little for a huge aircraft like a Boeing 747. Obviously, the appropriate final fix distance may also depend on your skill as a pilot.
FlightSim Commander 9 degrees. In this case you will change values. Presumably, you will have to experiment a little to find an optimal value. Finally, you can select if you want to have fuel values displayed in the flight plan as gallons, pounds, kilograms or liters. Note that in the Fuel Window you can make a different decision independent of the option chosen here. Furthermore fuel in the Aircraft Window must always be entered in kg because fuel is related to weight.
the ini-file. With the top option button you set the path where your Flight Simulator is installed. This folder is used by add-on aircraft such as PMDG or Level-D. The above screenshot was taken with a database for Flight Simulator X. If you are using Flight Simulator 2004, the label will, of course, name this version of FS. With the second option button you set the path for the folder where Flight Simulator saves its own flight plans.
FlightSim Commander 9 Online Users flying with IVAO can connect to the TeamSpeak server on a selected frequency (see also Teamspeak). On this card you enter the necessary settings for that option. Again, your choices will be saved in the ini-file. First, you have to tell FlightSim Commander the location of your TeamSpeak program. Click on the option button Folder TeamSpeak and then select the corresponding folder in the drive and directory box on the left.
Flight card, if you wish to log in with your call sign. If no call sign is specified, you will always be logged in with your VID. On this card you also set the path for GoogleEarth©, if this program is installed on your computer. See also the section on Flight Analysis. Hotkeys Responding to numerous user requests we have finally implemented the option of using hotkeys for zooming the Map Window and activating buttons in the GPS Window when the focus is on Flight Simulator.
FlightSim Commander 9 Downloads The Downloads card specifies the file names and download paths for North Atlantic Tracks (NATracks), Pacific Organized Tracks (PACOTs) and METAR weather. What is most important in the case of NATracks and PACOTs is that you download the corresponding files with exactly the name that is specified on this card. Note that different browsers suggest different default names for these files.
Appendix Loading databases for FS2004 or FSX Since FlightSim Commander can be used both for Flight Simulator X and FS 2004 and both versions may have different sceneries and thus require different databases, you need to decide at program start whether the databases for FSX or FS 2004 are to be loaded. By default this choice needs to be made in the Options Window on the Display card. A change in value, however, requires that the program be terminated and restarted so that the proper databases can be loaded.
FlightSim Commander 9 Directly connecting to Flight Simulator When you start FlightSim Commander, you will standardly be prompted in the Airport Selection Window to select the airport that will then appear in the center of the map). After the Map Window has appeared, you can then manually connect to Flight Simulator by choosing the menu GPS -> Connect to FS.
Peter Dowson’s fsuipc.dll provides the option of automatically starting further programs once Flight Simulator has been started. Please read the documentation that comes with fsuipc.dll for detailed information on how this option is set. With both these options you can have FlightSim Commander start and connect automatically every time you start Flight Simulator. Note that Flight Simulator must be running prior to starting FlightSim Commander, otherwise an error message will appear.
FlightSim Commander 9 Appendix Network Establishing a network connection with Peter Dowson’s WideFS (WideServer+WideClient) Several users have reported problems in setting up a multi-computer network to run Flight Simulator and FlightSim Commander on different computers.
17. When updating the airport database with the Database Manager, FlightSim Commander needs access to the drive and directory in which Flight Simulator is installed. During the updating process Flight Simulator’s scenery files (*.bgl) are read for information on airports, runways, etc. During this process nothing is written to the primary computer. 18.
FlightSim Commander 9 First, we want to share Flight Simulator’s folder: 20. Open the desktop icon My Computer 21. Open the drive on which Flight Simulator is installed 22. Click with the right mouse button on the folder containing Flight Simulator (e.g. FS2K4 by way of example) 23. Choose Properties 24. Choose the card Sharing 25. Select Share this folder on the network in Network sharing and security 26. Select Allow network user to change my files in Network sharing and security.
Next we will share the drive and directory where Flight Simulator saves its flight plans. We will choose the level of My Documents. The procedure is essentially the same as in the previous case: 28. Open the desktop icon My Computer 29. Open folder Documents and Settings 30. Open folder (this is your user name on your server) 31. Click with the right mouse button on My Documents 32. Choose Properties 33. Choose the card Sharing 34.
FlightSim Commander 9 Step 2: Setting up the client In Step 1 the server decided which of its drives and directories should be visible to the outside world. But, conceptually, this was just a permission. The outside world, i.e. your secondary computer on which FlightSim Commander is running, still does not “see” those directories. So in Step 2 we will make the client actually “see” the shared folders. This process is called mounting or mapping.
Next, we will mount the My Documents folder: 47. Click with the right mouse button on the shared folder 48. Choose Map network drive 49. Accept the drive letter as suggested 50. Check Reconnect at logon 51. Press Finish (Note that in both cases the folder text box may be deactivated in your case with the name and folder of your server in grayed letters. Furthermore the Finish button will be active.
FlightSim Commander 9 Checking the result in FlightSim Commander If you start the Database Manager to update the airport database, the program now has access to drive Z: which is simply the FS2K4 folder on your primary computer where Flight Simulator is installed. Similarly, PMDG flight plans can also be saved in the proper PMDG folder which is again on the network drive Z: Furthermore, in FLIGHTSIM COMMANDER itself flight plans can be saved on the server in the directory My Documents\Flight Simulator Fil
Non-standard locations of scenery files Some users running FlightSim Commander in a network recently reported that the Database Manager did not find certain add-on sceneries which are properly installed on their computer. In most cases this problem may arise when add-on sceneries are widely distributed all over the computer in all kinds of different drives and directories or if the user has manually edited the scenery.cfg from which the Database Manager reads the location(s) of *.bgl files.
FlightSim Commander 9 That is, the *.bgl files for EDFH Hahn Airport are located on drive D:\ of the Primary Computer, while those for EDDK Cologne Airport are on drive E:\ of the Primary Computer. Let us furthermore assume that Flight Simulator itself is located on drive C:\ of the Primary Computer which has been mounted as Z:[\\ PrimaryComputer\[C]]. If drives D:\ and E:\ of the Primary Computer have not been mounted, the Database Manager obviously cannot find the corresponding files on these drives, sim
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