Top 4 Flight Planners
Today, I am going to rate the best flight planners, and explain how to use them!
4. SkyVector.com
SkyVector.com is a website that has great VFR and IFR maps of most of the world. It’s not exactly easy to use, but that’s not the main problem. Although it’s great for viewing maps, if you try to make a flight plan it makes you check the following boxes: I understand that this is not a game or simulation, I will not file flight plans for non-real flights, and I understand that I will face criminal penalties if I abuse this system. That’s why it’s not for flight simulators, so for us, it’s useless.
3. Online Flight Planner
Online Flight Planner is a user-friendly flight planner made for flight simulation. It seems like it’s the perfect planner, but there are some flaws: you have to download the plan (you must click a file format) and they only have some aircraft. They have quite a long list, but they missed some important aircraft, including a Cessna 172.
Creating a Flight Plan
To create a flight plan, first head to Online Flight Planner. Choose the format you would like to download it in, which can be either .fms for X-Plane 11, or you could just download it as a .pdf. Then, write in your departure and arrival airport, no need for the country code, AIRAC cycle doesn’t matter unless you have Navigraph, your flight level range, keep level as “Both,” your aircraft, fuel measurement, and just keep the checkboxes the same unless your aircraft doesn’t have RNAV or if you can’t do a SID or STAR. Press “Create Plan” and you did it!
2. SimBrief.com
SimBrief.com is an amazing flight planner that has lots of features. The main problem with this program is that it is extremely not user-friendly, and requires a lot of knowledge compared to just writing in the airport. I believe there is a way to export the plan straight to VATSIM, but I have not found it yet.
Creating a Flight Plan
Head to SimBrief.com, press the “Register Now” button, and then write in your information. You might have to head to your email to activate your account, so if you do, do that now. Press “Login” and it should take you to a page that shows “New Flight” at the top. If it does, press “New Flight.” If it doesn’t show up, press the “Dispatch” menu, then click “My Flight Plan” and you should see the page.
Once you are on the “New Flight” tab, write in all of the information you know. Be sure to choose your aircraft from the menu under “Aircraft Type” because it should fill in a lot of the information for you.
1. Flight Plan Database
Finally, onto the best flight planner, Flight Plan Database! Some would say that it isn’t quite as accurate as SimBrief.com, but it is 10x easier to use, so I recommend it more. Other than that, it’s pretty much the best flight planner I use.
Creating a Flight Plan
Head to Flight Plan Database, and write in your departure and arrival airport. It will generate, and then you will have your completed flight plan! You can either download it or just write it into the X-Plane GPS. I’ll post something on how to program your X-Plane GPS soon.
I hope you learned at least a bit about flight planners and which one is best for you! Make sure to subscribe to my blog to get updates on the next post!