Feedback-FSCommander?

[falcon409]

Anyone using this utility and have anything good to say?

[DaveB]

Hi Ed

I have FSC 8.6. It's currently on v9.6 but as v8 had run it's free update course and I don't like it enough to pay to go further.. I'll stay with what I have. You well know I'm (was) a dyed in the wool FSNav user and I found FSC nowhere near as innovative or user friendly as FSN. I still keep FSC installed but only use it as a moving map and then.. infrequently. v8 covered FS9 and FSX so I guess you get good bang-for-buck out of it (if you're unlucky enough NOT to have FSN).
I can't think of anything really BAD about FSC8.6 but I've never warmed to it. Some progs you're comfortable with.. others, you're not.
ATB
DaveB

[falcon409]

Hi Ed
. . . . .I can't think of anything really BAD about FSC8.6 but I've never warmed to it. Some progs you're comfortable with. . .others, you're not.
ATB
DaveB

Thanks Dave.....I also came online using FSNav, then PlanG when FSNav disappeared and I moved to FSX. Then FSTramp appeared and I went that direction until he decided to make it a "term" license recently. I was hoping that FSC could fill the void but it just isn't as good as I had hoped. No ability to import FSX or P3D Flight Plans. Unable to produce lengthy flight plans without intermediate waypoints being introduced. You're right, it's all about what you're comfortable with and FSC doesn't seem to fill the bill. Thanks again.

[jeansy]

Im using v9.6 and been using it since fsx came out. The flight planning side of it is easy to use. The autopilot intergration is great. I use it every time i fly

I dont have anything bad to say about it

Is there anything in particular you want to know?

[flibinite]

YMMV I suppose, but I use it daily and think highly of it. Not a 'pretty' program but very functional. Moving map, full VOR/DME/waypoint/airport databases, flight planner adjustable for VFR to FMC-style navigation, weather reporting, oceanic track downloads, AI flight tracking. It saves flight plans in several popular formats such as PMDG or Level D as well as standard FSX. It has GPS, black box, logbook, and autopilot-interface features I've never really delved into. Updateable via Navigraph with helpful SID/STAR/transition displays for airports worldwide. An active support forum too. I'm a big fan.

[Naismith]

Another one to consider is the Aivlasoft Electronic Flight Bag. More for the Civil liner pilots however.

Actually all this talk is tempting me to reinstall FSX. If the bl***y rain persists I will. who remembers the movie with Rod Steiger, well that`s BC.

[falcon409]

YMMV I suppose, but I use it daily and think highly of it. Not a 'pretty' program but very functional. Moving map, full VOR/DME/waypoint/airport databases, flight planner adjustable for VFR to FMC-style navigation, weather reporting, oceanic track downloads, AI flight tracking. It saves flight plans in several popular formats such as PMDG or Level D as well as standard FSX. It has GPS, black box, logbook, and autopilot-interface features I've never really delved into. Updateable via Navigraph with helpful SID/STAR/transition displays for airports worldwide. An active support forum too. I'm a big fan.

YMMV? If you're speaking of FS Commander, it only saves to it's own format and no other. You can't import FSX or P3D flight plans nor can you "export" anything. . .a very self contained program. I've found a way to get pln files into FSC but it's very rudimentary and involves starting a flight plan and then manually inputting the airport/waypoints desired and then saving with the FSC based extension. Pretty time consuming but the only way it can be done.

[Roger]

Another one to consider is the Aivlasoft Electronic Flight Bag. More for the Civil liner pilots however.

Actually all this talk is tempting me to reinstall FSX. If the bl***y rain persists I will. who remembers the movie with Rod Steiger, well that`s BC.

I remember Steiger in Bradbury's "The Illustrated Man" but "The Day it Rained Forever"...

[jeansy]

YMMV? If you're speaking of FS Commander, it only saves to it's own format and no other. You can't import FSX or P3D flight plans nor can you "export" anything. . .a very self contained program. I've found a way to get pln files into FSC but it's very rudimentary and involves starting a flight plan and then manually inputting the airport/waypoints desired and then saving with the FSC based extension. Pretty time consuming but the only way it can be done.

Not sure what you mean it does save in several formats inculding pmdg, qw, ifly, aerosoft etc etc the only flight plan i havent been able to save is the majestic dash400 format however no add program can

[falcon409]

Not sure what you mean it does save in several formats inculding pmdg, qw, ifly, aerosoft etc etc the only flight plan i havent been able to save is the majestic dash400 format however no add program can

I understand that. . .I should have been more specific. It does not save in the standard FSX/P3D flight plan format (pln), which is all I'm interested in. I don't know what those other formats are, don't fly those types of aircraft so while they are apparently formats that others use, they mean nothing to me.

[mjrhealth]

I understand that. . .I should have been more specific. It does not save in the standard FSX/P3D flight plan format (pln), which is all I'm interested in. I don't know what those other formats are, don't fly those types of aircraft so while they are apparently formats that others use, they mean nothing to me.

Actually it does, done many straight FSX plans with it. Mind you sometimes one can have issues pointing it to te hFSX folder, but otherwsie it works fine. It was the whole point for it in teh first place.

[DaveB]

Ed..

Looking at v8.6.. it's native format is PLN.. the same as FSX. It will open (and save as) Radar Contact, Squawkbox, IVAO, FSInn, iFly B747, PMDG, LevelD, Project Magenta, XML and X-Plane. The newer version may do more.. I've no idea

I bought it years ago.. not long after FSX came out.. to use it for an MP Dams Raid we did at CBFS. I actually made the plan in FSNav following the known route, saved in PLN format then imported it into FSC for the flight. Only 2 of us got back to Scampton in the wee hours but that wasn't because I got them lost
ATB
DaveB

[falcon409]

Sorry guys. . .not according to the developer. Here is the answer I got from Volker when I asked why FSC could not import "pln" files:

The FlightSim Commander used databases from the real world. (AIRAC Cycle)
That was and is our philosophy and decision for more than 20 years.

How can we now import FSX .pln flight plans whose waypoints such as Intersection, Airways, VOR, NDB etc.
are older than 10 years and no longer exist in the real database?

Version 9.6 does not import "pln" files, nor does it save new flight plans in that format. As a matter of fact Dave the "pln" format is probably (based on the list you noted of known formats) the only format you can't save to.

[jeansy]

Sorry guys. . .not according to the developer. Here is the answer I got from Volker when I asked why FSC could not import "pln" files:

The FlightSim Commander used databases from the real world. (AIRAC Cycle)
That was and is our philosophy and decision for more than 20 years.

How can we now import FSX .pln flight plans whose waypoints such as Intersection, Airways, VOR, NDB etc.
are older than 10 years and no longer exist in the real database?

Version 9.6 does not import "pln" files, nor does it save new flight plans in that format. As a matter of fact Dave the "pln" format is probably (based on the list you noted of known formats) the only format you can't save to.

Importing never tried it as it takes seconds to make one, however exporting a .pln works in 9.6 i use it all the time for ga aircraft, helicopters or non fmc aircraft, im not talki g out of my ass for the sake of it, however no skin off my nose if you dont want to believe me or others who can vouch for it

[falcon409]

Importing never tried it as it takes seconds to make one, however exporting a .pln works in 9.6 i use it all the time for ga aircraft, helicopters or non fmc aircraft, im not talki g out of my ass for the sake of it, however no skin off my nose if you dont want to believe me or others who can vouch for it

This is what I'm presented with when saving the flt plan. Which of these options produces a pln file?



and for the record, I don't know you and you don't know me, but don't get snippy with me when answering my posts. I'm telling you what the developer told me.

[falcon409]

I've been messing with the save function in FSC. Of course the developer did not explain beyond his assertion that you cannot import "pln" files and the FAQ page makes that distinction as well. "No it is not possible".
Actually "if" the flight plan is built within FSC and "Saved", it is saved as a "pln". That, in turn, can be imported into FSC. But when I went to open a pln file from my Prepar3D Files folder originally, there was nothing available. So it isn't "any" pln file. . . .it's just those built in FSX or P3D, that's the difference.

[DaveB]

Hi Ed

Looking at your screenshots.. FSC has obviously evolved which you'd expect. On the older version, FS Commander and FSX are on the same line separated by a '/' with only one tick box. It's possible that when I bought FSC (ver 8.3).. it still used the same (most current) Airac data as FSNav. I know for a fact I didn't produce the Dams Raid plan using FSC. I'd only bought it on the day of the flight and didn't really know how it worked. It's worth noting (I guess) that you mention Volker as the author yet my 8.6 is credited as being Sascha Felix.. or are they one and the same??

ATB
DaveB

[falcon409]

Dave, They appear as co-authors now.

[DaveB]

Yes mate.. I just popped over to the FSC site. It does state that plans can't be imported as you say but I'm 100% confused by this. I know for a fact I didn't do that Dam's plan in FSC but I was able to load it up and the 5 of us flew to the Rhine and back with me in the lead Lancaster using FSC as a moving map. Comms were over voice so as we came to a waypoint.. I passed the course change over voice and the others followed. I've just checked at Simmarket and I bought v8.3 in 2008.

Not that it matters but I'm sure I still have that pln on a drive somewhere. I'll try and find it and load it up.
ATB
DaveB

[flibinite]

Maybe the confusion is surrounding "import" vs. "create." I haven't created a flight plan with the FSX flight planner in years, I've used FSC or online sources. And I think the FSC programmers have said their program cannot 'read' plans created with the FSX planner, because the FSC format requires more data. However FSC without a doubt saves flight plans in a file format (.pln) recognized by FSX, and which can be loaded via the FSX flight planner. At least my version does (9.5.1).

Sascha Felix was Volker's programming partner. He died a few years ago.

[ark1320]

I have used FSC only briefly, and it has been a while. I thought moving around the map, while OK, was not as intuitive as I would have liked. And, more importantly, I could not figure out how to make a multiple stop FSX flight plan with FSC, that is, a flight plan that involved three or more different airports. Is that not possible, or do I need to go back and try again?
Thx,
Al

[falcon409]

I have used FSC only briefly, and it has been a while. I thought moving around the map, while OK, was not as intuitive as I would have liked. And, more importantly, I could not figure out how to make a multiple stop FSX flight plan with FSC, that is, a flight plan that involved three or more different airports. Is that not possible, or do I need to go back and try again?
Thx,
Al

That's a stumbling block I hit as well. Initially airports are seen as just that. . .airports, not way points. So you have to "make them way points" in order to do multiple stops (I've done two so far that required hitting 30 different airports). When you run the database manager there is a tick box (Include Airport as way point), make sure that's checked. That permits FSC to make an additional list of way points and adds all your airports into that database. Once you've completed that you'll want to make a flight plan that shows the first and last airport in the plan then using a separate dropdown menu you select the remaining airports in order. It's a bit more involved and there is documentation concerning it, but that's basically how it's done.

If all you do is type in a list of 15 airport ICAO codes and select ok to build the flight plan, it will take the first and last airports and kick out everything in between. . . .because it requires the use of "waypoints" and if you haven't run the database manager correctly you have no "waypoints/airports" to choose from.

[AussieMan]

I have been using FSC since version 8 and now using 9.6 but had not used it for a couple of years because I have been spending a lot of time beta testing aircraft and scenery so have only been doing short flights. However I can assure you that a plan created in FSC can be loaded into FSX or P3D V3.1.

I have made some screenshots to show how I load a flight. I am not veery good at descriptions but follow what is in the green boxes and you should be able to load the plan into the GPS. Also in the past from memory I have used airports as waypoints and landed and taken off from them.

Incidentally I use the settings in the green boxes.

[falcon409]

I have been using FSC since version 8 and now using 9.6 but had not used it for a couple of years because I have been spending a lot of time beta testing aircraft and scenery so have only been doing short flights. However I can assure you that a plan created in FSC can be loaded into FSX or P3D V3.1.

Pat, I think you misread what was discussed here. Actually that wasn't the concern I had, it was the opposite. Flight Plans made in FSX or P3D can not be loaded into FSC. All my original concerns have been weeded out at this point. Thanks.

[AussieMan]

No problems Ed.