A SimBrief flight plan in 10 minutes
SimBrief is a free service that builds a flight plan (OFP) the way airlines do: route, fuel, weights, weather. All you need to start is a Navigraph account, and you do not have to pay.
Making the plan
- on simbrief.com open New Flight;
- enter the departure and destination as ICAO codes, for example UKBB and LOWW;
- choose the aircraft type. If your add-on comes with a ready SimBrief profile, use it: the fuel numbers will be closer;
- airline, flight number and passengers can stay as they are, or type your own;
- the service picks the route and the cruise level itself. Press Generate Flight.
What to read first
- fuel: the Block Fuel line is how much to load. It already includes trip fuel, the alternate and the reserve;
- weights: ZFW, TOW and LDW must stay below their maximums;
- route: the line of waypoints and airways that goes into the flight computer (FMS);
- the alternate airport and the weather at all three airports.
Then the briefing
Open our briefing and enter your SimBrief username. We show the same plan on one page: the flight profile with the top of descent, winds along the route, NOTAMs, controllers online and a taxi route to the runway. The name is remembered in your browser.
From the briefing you can file the plan on VATSIM with one click, and from SimBrief you can download the route file for your aircraft.
Good to know: without a Navigraph subscription the service works with an old navigation database. For a simulator this is usually fine, but some waypoints or procedures may differ from those in your aircraft. A controller online will then simply give you another routing.
Not sure where to go? The Where to fly tool picks a destination by flight time, and the routes from Ukraine page has ready ideas.