Setting up AIRAC and Exports

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Setting up AIRAC and Exports

Postby Steve Waite » Mon Feb 01, 2016 7:15 pm

Remember we only "Integrate" an AIRAC when we use an aircraft with AIRAC driven navigation. We only choose "AIRAC Bias" when we want frequencies from the AIRAC, since we may still need frequencies from the simulator scenery with many aircraft. Otherwise we can still keep an AIRAC selected, and the SID STAR information is still used to create routes around airports.

Here's some help on setting up the AIRAC and Exports, using the Q400 as example:


AIRACs

on the startup page right-click for the popup menu and choose AIRACs

point to the AIRAC folder of PMDG, iFly, Level-D, AXE, or IF10 (get IF10 AIRAC from NavDataPro, an old set is available from the link in the IF10 help). if it finds a suitable AIRAC it will ask to be integrated, and re-index. Allow that. The "Sim Bias" simply shows frequencies from the sim rather than the AIRAC.


Exports:

On the Flight gen page choose Export, bottom left. On the dropdown list choose the Q400 file type. Choose the path to the Q400
C:\Program Files (x86)\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3D v3\SimObjects\Airplanes\mjc8q400\nav\routes\IF.fpr

IF.fpr is added on the path as the suggested file name, it's easy to type into the FMC, but you can use "ICAOICAO.fpr" which will supplant the airport codes into the name like "EGGDLFRZ.fpr".

Each time a flight is built, the plan is sent to the Q400 folder, and the user or missing waypoints are added to the Q400 nav data base. The nav data base is cleaned of old data each time and remains as installed. (install latest AIRAC for Q400 too).


Routes:

In the Flight gen page choose as a starting point:

Plan type: IFR, Approach Waypoints Included (or VFR)
Plan Builder: Any Airways,

on Mission page (button near the bottom next to Save button)

choose Computed Approach, and Initial Departure Fix.

You could instead choose IDF SID, and FAF STAR - these find the relevant SID/STAR for the weather runways and route, and add in the Transitions and FAF/IDF into the GPS plan.

To force the planner to set up for certain runways, choose the wind direction and speed in the weather page for both the departure and destination.


Ready made plans:

You can drop a plan from flightaware etc onto IF10 and it will make a route and install the plan and Q400 navdata. Once that's done you need not use IF10 for anything else. But many like the way it starts the sim and monitors the progress.
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Re: Setting up AIRAC and Exports

Postby jscharpf » Tue Dec 27, 2016 2:02 pm

Hi Steve, I know this is an old post, however, I just want to make sure I understand.
If I want to fly both AIRAC planes (PMDG, etc) and non AIRAC planes (default FSX planes), do I need to integrate when flying the PMDG planes and "non-integrate" when flying the default planes? This seems to take a while because the scenery seems to re-index each time I change it.

Jeff
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Re: Setting up AIRAC and Exports

Postby Steve Waite » Tue Dec 27, 2016 5:09 pm

Hi Jeff,

Integrated means using an AIRAC nav data set to make plans from, and taking the frequencies from the sim data which planes like PMDG refer to. So with IF10 we have a mix of data preferable to those planes.

Default planes navigation systems refer to sim data, PMDG planes for example refer to the AIRAC data they have loaded for waypoints and SID/STAR. IF10 makes plans from either AIRAC or sim data. However with IF10 we can use sim nav data for plans and yet we can have SID/STAR with that if we select an AIRAC (AIRAC data set with SID/STAR) without integrating it.

If you are using an aircraft with a navigation system uses an AIRAC then you can load the same cycle into the plane as you do into IF10 integrated mode. Otherwise the planner makes routes from the nav data in the sim.

If we change the underlying data, sim or AIRAC, IF10 has to make a new index because it has to make an abstracted data-set to facilitate the complex route finding algorithms.
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Re: Setting up AIRAC and Exports

Postby Steve Waite » Tue Dec 27, 2016 5:15 pm

...if you want to change the data often without re-indexing you can index a full sim scenery with AIRAC integrated and then you can cut out say various airports or scenery, and when you start IF10 cancel the index since the sim has a subset of the data in IF10. If you add scenery then you would need to index. You can backup the Index folder and when you swap them in you just cancel the re-index. You could keep folders with integrated and sim indexes.
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Re: Setting up AIRAC and Exports

Postby Steve Waite » Tue Dec 27, 2016 6:29 pm

With the next preview build 12, I've got the stock P3D v3.4 scenery index with PMDG AIRAC down to 1:43 and 1:27 with the AXE AIRAC. Those are second runs, first run after cold boot takes around 3 1/2 mins. Depends on hardware. The sim boots up quicker after an index from cold boot so I gain a bit back there :-)
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Re: Setting up AIRAC and Exports

Postby Steve Waite » Wed Feb 22, 2017 10:27 am

Export to FSLabs A320

The current forum members update (eventually appears in the Flight1 wrapper download) Preview 14 (uploaded 21/Feb/2017) includes support for automatically uplinking any FSLabs A320 plans to the A320 FMS when it has completed initialising. This is part of the >augmented features and is included with the Professional version. The plans can also be uploaded at any time during the flight with the in-sim menu item Reload Flight Plan.

IF10 also creates the A320 plan format file so that can be exported to an uplink point.

The A320 plan file is generally exported to the ..[FS]\FSLabs\AOCService\Uplink\ folder ready for "Uplinking". We Add the Export file item ..\Uplink\IF.txt in the file Exports window - that creates the file in the Uplink folder when we build the routes.

Also in the Exports window we Add the "A320 Uplink" item, choosing the file name we exported ..\Uplink\IF.txt - during the start of the flight in-sim this Export item takes the file and uplinks it to the A320 FMS when it is finished initialising.

So to recap we make two entries in the Exports window, the file export itself, and the Uplinking item that is instructed to uplink the file we export. We don't need IF10 to make the export, we can use PFPX before the flight save the file there rather than use the print function during the flight. That way when the flight starts the file is uplinked for us by IF10.

On the start page of IF10 Integrate an AXE AIRAC and set to AIRAC BIAS. In the Flight generator page choose Plan Type TOC/TOD Ignored, Approaches included, and choose Follow Airways in the Plan Builder. We can check the Only Include SID/STAR airports and only search for those airports. In the Export window we Add the A320 txt and the A320 Uplink items with the same file name IF.txt is sufficient but we can create "ICAOICAO" names with that keyword as the file name. The file exports to the ..\AOCService\Uplink\ folder where IF10 finds it during the flight. The A320 expects that folder to be there during the flight so no need to be exporting elsewhere. In the Export Settings we check the FSLabs SID and STAR route items. In the Mission page we choose STAR and SID in the Approaches section to invoke the planner to support the departures and approaches. The A320 supports runway to runway so the IF10 planner chooses the relevant SID/STAR and runways/departures/approaches. In any case it is just a few key presses to change the programmed approach in the FMS via the ARRIVALS LSK.

To the A320 FMS the IF10 routes will look like this one from LIMJ TO LETO:

LAGE7K LAGEN BCN TERSA TERS2T

LAGEN is the SID exit waypoint and LAGE7K is the route name from runway 28 at LIMJ to LAGEN.
TERSA is the STAR entry waypoint and TERS2T is the route name from TERSA to ILS22.
BCN is the VORD at Barcelona.


Don't forget a quick way to get routes is we can press CTRL+V and (type in if we have not previously clipped with CTRL+C) enter any new destination (LETO for example) or we can type departure and destination (LIMJ LETO) and the planner will make the route between them, and move us to LIMJ if we are not situated there already. If we wanted to paste a route into IF10 we would have to use "LIMJ LAGEN BCN TERSA LETO" we cannot use the route names LAGE7K and TERS2T.
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Re: Setting up AIRAC and Exports

Postby ke7zum » Thu Mar 21, 2019 5:33 pm

Hello I use navigraph for my AIRAC. How would I integrate and have ideal flight build the cid and star for that method? I use freeware air craft so what would I do from here? I did see navigraph in the AIRAC set up but I'm still confused and reading the help in this case did not help me at all. I am still a wee bit confused. Lol!

Thanks.

Blessings and happy Thursday
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Re: Setting up AIRAC and Exports

Postby Steve Waite » Fri Mar 22, 2019 1:53 am

Ideal Flight doesn't pre-program the SID or STAR into the FMC, though in some cases it loads the approach and departure depending on the routes, for example with the FSL320. This is because IF makes gps .PLN routes for the simulator gps, and ATC / AI traffic system.

The programming of FMCs is left to each aircraft, although some automatically load the route exported from the Exports section.. Where possible additional information and waypoints are added into the departure and approach, depending on the data available.

Ideal Flight offers routes between SID/STAR using the information in the AIRAC and according to the weather which depicts the runways. From the runway the departure is located onto available routes to the destination (Jet and Victor) are found and the SID located. The same is done for the approach and STAR.

The AIRAC is loaded on the start page popup menu.

IF can use AIRAC from AXE, PMDG, iFly, and Level-D, and the IF one from NavDataPro. So if you are flying the PMDG point it at the PMDG Navs folder. The current navs of the SID/STAR are obtained from the AIRAC.

For planes that use the AIRAC for navigation, use Integrated, and also you may need AIRAC Bias frequencies. With planes that use the simulator scenery navdata, use SIm Bias, the SID/STAR information is also extracted and used in that mode. Non-integrated means that the sim scenery is used purely, Integrated means the subset of navs existing between the sim and the AIRAC is used so you don't get unavailable waypoints in the plans.
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Re: Setting up AIRAC and Exports

Postby ke7zum » Fri Mar 22, 2019 1:57 am

Ah Ok. So I don't fly any of those planes, only freeware ones from rikooo and fs-freeware.net so I guess updating my AIRAC would be pointless and impossible as I use navigraph for all of the updates. Is there a way I could update ideal flight's AIRAC let's say in April?
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Re: Setting up AIRAC and Exports

Postby Steve Waite » Fri Mar 22, 2019 2:02 am

Ideal Flight uses a custom abstraction data schema and can read any AIRAC data. During development, IF was responsible for finding various errors in many AIRACS, all were reported and were quickly repaired by the vendors. Because IF looks at data and assesses it and creates a superset including information about altitudes and restrictions, it also finds error. The add-in data can be cross checked with the sim data and the subset found with the two sets of data added to the abstraction database and compared. IF was the first to offer this capability. Maybe the only to date.

Another feature is that it will attempt to go around a mountain rather than over it if the plane is low altitude craft. The routes are infinite and there can be several routes between any A and B.
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