wanna leave your computer and not lose your IFR flight plan? here's how:

[tigisfat]

I figured this'd be an okay post for this forum because it's applicable to most recent versions of MSFS.

I like to start excruciatingly long flights and then leave to go do stuff around the house. It's driven me insane for years how they cancel your IFR flight plan if you aren't there to quickly tackle radio frequency handoffs. I can even be on the other side of the room while it's on 16X FF; and if I do'nt leap and sprint fast enough, it'll cancel my flight plan. We all know that buliding a long waypoint to waypoint plan takes forever, and there's no way to start in the middle with your GPS if you want to reload it. The autopilot will take you all the way back to your first waypoint.

Anyway, down to the meat. I like to fly only the departures and the arrivals. Once you're up to altitude and you have the autopilot set, wait for the first handoff. Acknowledge it, but don't call the next controller. Seriously. Simply fly all the way (while doing other stuff like laundry while the jet speeds enroute) until you're a few minutes from your descent, and then bring up your ATC window. Give it a second to load up the correct center or approach frequency, and then call them up. The game won't skip a beat, and they'll resume as if you've been on an IFR flight plan all along.

[gets]

Thanks for the tip. I have been using FS9 for my long flights since I could use FsNavigator. I will give it try.
Bob G.

[blackpanther]

Great tip tigisfat. One thing I added to make those long haul flights more do-able was a small guage that will pause the sim at a set distance from the destination. That way I can come back to the PC at a much later time and complete the flight. I usually pause it around 200 nm out.

[tommchowat]

I've been doing that for ages! Never thought of telling anyone about it here though! Muppet that I am.

I don't like flying approaches given to you by ATC, as I fly the complex panel airliners with STARs, so what I do is not contact anyone until I'm around 50 miles from the airport, then you get cleared for 'the approach', then I wait til I'm handed off again, then I don't contact anyone. Then, when I've flown my STAR and am about 20 miles from my Initial Approach Fix, I contact whoever, and they'll clear me for the approach. Then it's over to tower and Bob's your uncle.

Mind you, I won't be doing this anymore as I only fly on VATSIM now and will NEVER go back to FS ATC.

Cheers tigisfat, you've made me feel well guilty about not telling anyone about this!

[tigisfat]

Cheers tigisfat, you've made me feel well guilty about not telling anyone about this!

To be honest; I've been doing this for a while too. It just occurred to me to post it!!


(side note: my thread intending to prank everyone with a 'rickroll' didn't last 24 hours before being deleted!)

[gets]

I must be doing something wrong. When I reach cruise atitude and I am told to contact another center, I acknowleged the command but don't change frequencys I just keep gong in the last heading set into the AP.
Bob G.

[Erick_Cantu]

On the rare occasion I flew log distances I got around all of those problems by using an INS.

[tigisfat]

I must be doing something wrong. When I reach cruise atitude and I am told to contact another center, I acknowleged the command but don't change frequencys I just keep gong in the last heading set into the AP.
Bob G.

Are you following a flight plan on NAV hold (with GPS enabled) or just flying the headings that ATC gives you? A lot of people are confused because if you stray off course in MSFS, ATC will guide you back with vectors. They seem to think that the headings are vectors to where you're headed. They're not, but can help you end up that way in a roundabout fashion. If any of those people are reading, when ATC tells you: "resume own navigation" that's literally what they mean.

[InsyleM]

Sometimes ive noticed that if i have a waypoint set too close to my departure city, ATC will give me some waked out heading to "Get back on course" that will have me fly in a complelty WRONG direction to where I need to go. WhenI try to turn to my course, I get told to please expidite my turn to heading BFE.

[tigisfat]

Sometimes ive noticed that if i have a waypoint set too close to my departure city, ATC will give me some waked out heading to "Get back on course" that will have me fly in a complelty WRONG direction to where I need to go. WhenI try to turn to my course, I get told to please expidite my turn to heading BFE.

I almost always let the computer build me VOR to VOR flight plans, and then I have a look over them to make sure there's nothing wacky. When I find the Wacky points, I delete them and maybe add a few that make more sense. I do this when flying intracontinental. When flying overseas, I select direct GPS, and then I follow the route adding VORs at least every 80 miles along J-routes that coincide with the route.