The FS2004 cockpit has a new feature on the Electronic Kneeboard. It lets you access the navigation log directly without pausing the flight. The F10 key opens the Kneeboard, and the FS2004 default DC-3 panel has an icon (with a picture of a check mark) that will also open Kneeboard. This Electronic Kneeboard is movable, but it cannot be resized.
With the Kneeboard open, select the icon on the right edge of the open dialog box with a picture of a jagged line representing a route with waypoints, and up comes the navigation log. Repeated taps of the F10 key cycles through the various pages of the Keyboard. Remember, a route only shows if you have used FS2004 Flight Planner to create the flight and activate the flight plan, as described below. If the plan is active, it becomes a navigation log as the flight progresses.
This navigation log can help your planned flight in a number of ways. It specifies, for each leg (waypoint) the frequency for any navigation radios, the magnetic heading to be flown, the estimated flight time, the altitude, the distance, and the cruise fuel usage. As each waypoint is reached, the simulator automatically posts the actual ground speed for that leg, fuel consumed, and elapsed time in the row below the estimated data for that leg in the log.
This log will give you a record of your progress, and you may observe any changes in wind or elapsed time (if you drifted off course) that may change your anticipated fuel consumption, or arrival time at your destination. The log also gives you the magnetic bearing from your last waypoint to the next waypoint, the minimum safe altitude to fly, and the frequency of the next navigation aid, if applicable. The saved flight plan does not change.
It is easy to prepare and activate a plan that will become a navigation log using the Flight Planner supplied in FS2004. Since the planner uses specific aircraft and weather data, you should select and configure these items before you create a flight plan. If you are flying in "full screen" mode and don't see the menu bar at the top of the window, press the ALT key to access the menu. First, select your aircraft for a particular flight by clicking on Aircraft | Select Aircraft to bring up that Dialog Box. When it is filled in the way you wish, click [OK] to return to the menu.
Next set the weather by clicking on World | Weather to bring up the Weather dialog box. Fill it in the way you want it, and return to the menu by clicking [OK]. Then click on Flights | Flight Planner. This opens the flight planner dialog box. If you are flying a flight included in FS2004 for which a flight plan has been included, or you want to use a previously saved flight plan, click on [Load] and select that plan. Then click [OK] to save the changes you just made to the Flight Planner dialog box.
If you are creating a new flight plan instead of loading a previously created one, when you open the flight planner dialog box the [Create] tab is selected, so just select your end points, and follow the prompts for the flight choices presented (VFR/IFR and Direct or VOR to VOR, etc.) When done, click [OK] to save the changes you just made to the dialog box. This activates the plan and it will stay active until you end the flight. Ending a flight may be done by clicking Flights | End Flight].
If you prefer to use a plan that's already available, I have a flight plan in the Appendix to this article that is usable.
I like to fly the DC-3 in the 1940's era using NDBs for navigation (there are good articles on how to do that here on the DC-3 Airways (DCA) website.) To create such a flight plan, with the Flight Planner dialog box open, I select the departure and destination airports. Then select Direct - GPS option, and click [find route]. The edit dialog box opens automatically, and the route is displayed. Using the zoom in/out feature go get a useful view, at roughly 100 NM intervals I put the mouse cursor on the route line and drag it to an NDB that is close to the route. This will add that NDB to your route.
If you are having trouble spotting the NDBs, the map can be de-cluttered by turning off the other symbols; the airports, VORs, intersections, and airways. Where NDBs are more than 50-100 NM apart, you will need dead reckon points along those legs. If you make a mistake, select the incorrect waypoint and click the [Delete Waypoint] button. When you are finished, click [OK] in the save flight plan dialog box to save the plan with a name of your choosing. Then click [OK] to close the Flight Planner dialog box.
Once you have a saved plan (or plans) to use later, you have to get it activated for a particular flight. There are several ways to do this. If you have edited fs9.cfg to bypass the opening screen so you boot up to a default flight, bring up the menu bar across the top of the screen (if necessary press the ALT key), click on Flights | End Flight to get the opening screen and continue. If you enter the simulation via the opening screen, click the [create a flight] button and using that dialog box, select your aircraft, your airport, your weather, and time, and then click [flight planner] and select the plan from the menu that pops up when you click [load]. Then click [OK] on the selection.
Now your flight plan is loaded so click [OK] to exit the flight planner, and click [yes] to the question in the dialog box that asks "do you want to move the aircraft to the departure airport?" Now the flight planner window will close, and you are back at the Create a flight window. Click [fly now] and the simulator will put you in the cockpit with your plan active, and you now have access the kneeboard and its flight plan. If you save the flight now (click on Flight | Save etc.) when you select that flight in the future, you will automatically get the flight planner saved with that flight activated.
To take advantage of the plan, the first thing you should do with a new flight is pull up the navigation log as described above to see how much cruise fuel you need to load, and how long the flight will be. I emphasize cruise fuel because the planner only computes fuel from end to end at cruise power settings. Add at least 80 gallons to that value for warm up, taxi, take-off, climb, and reserve. Set in the fuel, and the payload, check the weight and balance and set the clock and date and nav radios etc using the data in the flight plan. (I like to do these things as part of the preflight check, and while the engines are warming up.)
If you haven't noticed, the FS2004 DC-3 likes to be warmed up before takeoff. The kneeboard also gives you access to the checklist. Click the icon on the right side of the kneeboard with the check mark on it. If you save the flight at this point, the next time you select that flight the configured weight, fuel, and weather will be remembered. Note that the Flight Planner does not save any aircraft or weather data. It is the saved Flight that remembers the configuration, including any active Flight Plan. You may invoke any flight plan with any aircraft or weather, and the plan will adapt to it. It appears to me that any changes in the weather after the flight plan is loaded will not be reflected in the plan until the flight is exited and the plan is re-activated with the new weather.
The plan is automatically posted on your kneeboard when it is activated. Pulling it up will give you the fuel requirements so you will know how much cruise fuel to load. Add at least 80 gallons to that value for taxi, take-off, climb, and reserve. I am repeating this for emphasis. The plan also gives you the minimum altitude requirement for your flight. It tries to adjust the cruise altitude to FAA rules, and to estimate climb and descent altitudes passing thru waypoints. These altitudes may or may not be appropriate. When estimating the altitude for each waypoint, the plan assumes all flights climb and descend at 400 ft per Nautical Mile, not the customary 400 ft per minute.
Always cross check and adjust these values with what ever data is available for your particular aircraft. The plan also automatically adjusts the Ground Speed for the effects of the forecast wind on the TAS. (In FS2002 the plan only uses the surface winds, so that is a problem. I haven't discovered how FS2004 handles winds aloft yet.) The plan also gives the altitude of the destination airport. This makes it easy to calculate when to start a standard 400 ft per minute descent to the airport. The plan does NOT correct the magnetic heading for the proper crab into a cross wind.
Unfortunately, the planner is not very accurate with elapsed time and fuel consumption estimates for some planes. The good news is that you can adjust its accuracy for a particular aircraft without difficulty, if you know how to edit the aircraft.cfg file for that aircraft. The next section shows how.
NOTE: Always back up the aircraft.cfg file before you start editing it. This is the procedure for improving the accuracy of the flight planner. It assumes that you have a flight plan to use for the procedure. You can use one that you created using one of the methods described above in the how to prepare a plan section, or the one in the appendix to this note. As an example, if you use the file plan in the Appendix, bring it on screen in FS2004 by activating it using the procedure described above. Note in the first column (titled Waypoints) the second leg is titled MKP. It is the leg from BHU to MKP, and is 23.3 NM long. It should be used for the test leg, as you will have reached cruise altitude by the start of that leg. Hold the specified 6500 ft altitude all the way to waypoint MKP for the test. (Ordinarily you would have started your descent before reaching that waypoint.)
1. Using the aircraft you are trying to improve the accuracy of, make a test flight with the flight plan you just selected. It should have one leg of at least 20 NM, at your average altitude, at your average Gross Weight, in zero wind conditions, and at your desired cruise power settings (e.g. 8000 ft, 24,000 lbs, 30 inches MP, 2050 RPM.) Do not change the altitude, direction, or power settings during that leg.
2. At the end of the test flight, note what the flight log says your actual ground speed on that leg was (in the GS(kts) column, the row labeled Act) . Use the procedure described above to pull up the navigation log which will now be filled in with actual results. If the estimated speed (in the same column, in the row just above the Act row, labeled Est) was different from the actual, adjust the speed estimate in the planner as described below. Then note what the navigation log says the actual fuel consumption on that leg was. This is in the column labeled Fuel, just to the right of the GS (kts) column. If the estimated fuel consumption was different from the actual, adjust the fuel estimate as described below.
To adjust the cruise speed in the planner, in the aircraft folder for the aircraft you flew in the test, open the aircraft.cfg file and search for the [reference speeds] section. In that section set the cruise_speed to your desired speed, which will match your actual ground speed during your test flight (with a no wind condition.) This will usually be in the range of 130 to 150 Knots TAS. Changing this parameter has no effect on the aircraft's performance, speed, power, fuel consumption etc. It also does not change any other aircraft (except for variations using the same aircraft.cfg file in the same folder.)
To adjust the fuel estimate in the planner, in the folder for the aircraft you flew in the test, open the aircraft.cfg file and search in it for the [piston_engine] section, and note the max_rated_hp value. This is to be used as the Old max_rated_hp value in the formula below. Change it to a new value as calculated using the formula below: The fuel used values come from the flight log for the test leg you just flew.
(New max_rated_hp) = (Old max_rated_hp) times the (actual fuel used) divided by the (estimated fuel used.)
This change does not change the performance of the simulated aircraft. It only changes the flight planner estimates of fuel used. It also does not change any other aircraft -- except for variations using the same aircraft.cfg file in the same folder.
These adjustments should be checked every time you change the aircraft.cfg or the *.air files. For example, the tables below show the relationship between the settings and the planned burn rate, for two different aircraft.cfg files. For your own aircraft.cfg, it may not be the same as either one below, but you can calculate what it needs to be using the formula above:
For the FS2004 Stock
DC3:
max_rated_hp = GPH est
in planner
600
70
775
90
1200
138
For Trev's version 6 mod FS2004 DC3
max_rated_hp = GPH est
in planner
600
86
625
90
700
100
Rerun the test flight to confirm that the planner has been properly changed. The planner results unfortunately will not change as you change altitude, speed, gross weight, or outside air temperature, so it still has limitations, but it is a useful tool never the less. Note that you can adjust the planner to other power settings, altitudes, and gross weights by following the same procedure.
Below is a flight plan in the FS2004 format that you can copy and paste into a file. It is a plan for the DC3 Airways Mid-Atlantic States Routes route 2014. Open Notebook (or any TEXT editor, NOT a word processor) then copy and paste the code below into it. Save as:
C:\My Documents\Flight Simulator Files\VFR2014.PLN
If you did a default installation of FS2004, this is the default folder for flight plans. The code is 16 lines starting with [flightplan] below and ending with the "waypoint.3 ..." line..
[flightplan] AppVersion=9.0.30612 title=KJST to KAGC description=KJST, KAGC type=VFR routetype=0 cruising_altitude=6500 departure_id=KJST, N40* 19.08', W78* 49.55', +002284.00 departure_position=28 destination_id=KAGC, N40* 21.26', W79* 55.10', +001251.99 departure_name=Johnstown-Cambria Co destination_name=Allegheny Co waypoint.0=, KJST, , KJST, A, N40* 19.08', W78* 49.55', +002284.00, waypoint.1=K6, BHU, , BHU, N, N40* 22.53', W79* 16.30', +001180.00, waypoint.2=K6, MKP, , MKP, N, N40* 21.32', W79* 46.86', +001099.00, waypoint.3=, KAGC, , KAGC, A, N40* 21.26', W79* 55.10', +001251.99,
© 2003 Dave Bitzer, DCA-910, 21 Oct 03
Created November 15, 2003