OnCourse Software

I cannot compile flight plans from Plan-G VFR Flight Planner or Super Flight Planner. Both of these will export their FPs in .pln format format and PFE will convert them to PF2000. However PF2000 will not compile.
If I open them in FSX and then save in FSX, PFE will deal with them. The problem is that FSX does not like all the waypoints that the Plan-G has and so simplifies them, leaving a reduced FP for PFE.
Is there something about 3rd. party flight planners that I'm not dealing with properly?
Regards

Hi Robin,
Have you checked the FAQ's about not compiling,generally 3rd party planners are usually fine,however the ones that most of us use are either FS Build or FSC,maybe you might need to e-mail Dave M who might be able to explain further,

Dave,
Thanks for reply. ~And yes, I have looked through the FAQs and found one or two similar but not the same; have also adjusted centre height down and so forth - to no avail.
What are these other Flight Planners? I have looked everywhere for one and only found Plan-G (very good but that's the one that doesn't work) and also Super Flight Planner which seems OK except that it comes with no manual, which you then have to buy separately! (The export of FPs is also suspect).
Much appreciate your help.
Regards,

http://www.fscommander.com/

http://www.fsbuild.com/

PFPX should be out relatively soon too and that is going to be a instant classic, so hold off on spending your pennies for now.


http://www.flightsimsoft.com/pfpx/

Patrick & Andy,
Thanks fellas, I'll look in to them
Rgds,

Anyhow using FSX to open and save 3rd party flight plans is the safest method to make them work with PFE. This applies even to FSBuild and FSC. I'm curious what do you mean FSX simplifies your waypoints? I've never seen that. I usually download a required flight plan from VRoute (with airways), then open them in FSX, save and convert it in PFE. I agree, some of the waypont names may be missing, but the route path will stay the same, unchanged. All you need for PFE is the correct navigation path. Then you can adjust all the altitudes in PFE.
I mean PFE does not read and does not necessarily need to read all other planners, particularly when their FSX export modules produce sometimes slightly different formats from the one used by native FSX. Actually it's a problem of 3rd party planners, that they don't follow precisely native FSX format when they export their plans to FSX plans. Every FSX-ish flight plan that doesn't work properly in PFE has some flaws in the format it was made with. I'd like to make this clear, as it is not a problem of PFE. Only when fsx native plans don't get processed properly by PFE/PF then it is a legitimate problem of PFE/PF. FSX FP Save is like a golden standard or quality control at the output for other programs that are supposed to use FSX flight plans.

Sabre.

Sabre - Thanks for your info.
What I mean about the way points is this:
When I go to Flight Planner in FSX (having exported from FSC) and select that flight plan, go to Find Route, having selected VFR and Direct GPS. Initially FSX will only give me the flight plan from the original start point to the end point (sometimes, depending on the length of the FP, it will introduce its own WPs). What I have to do then, in the Find Route section, I press Load, select the same FP again and this will give me my correct FP with all the way points.

I have had One success so far (using Flight Sim Commander) - a flight, or rather a circuit of EGPE to EGPE with four WPs - no trouble at all. However, I have just tried a flight FAJS to FAPN with just two WPs and FPE will not compile. Neither will it compile any flight from Plan-G flight planner.

I understand what you mean by the programmers not getting the export format quite right for FSX and FSX itself being fine with FPE, but no one else seems to have this problem and I am at loss to know what to do.

Any ideas?
Regards,