Aerosoft FlightSim Commander 9 User Guide
Add-on for Microsoft
Flight Simulator
and FS2004!
9
Manual
FlightSim Commander 9
Developed by: Sascha Felix und Volker Heine
Manual: Sascha Felix, Volker Heine, Günter Zehnel
Installation: Andreas Mügge
Copyright: © 2010 / Aerosoft GmbH
Flughafen Paderborn/Lippstadt
D-33142 Büren, Germany
Tel: +49 (0) 29 55 / 76 03-10
Fax: +49 (0) 29 55 / 76 03-33
E-Mail: info@aerosoft.de
Internet: www.aerosoft.de
www.aerosoft.com
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FlightSim
Commander 9
Manual
Add-on for
Microsoft Flight Simulator X
and Flight Simulator 2004
FlightSim Commander 9
Content
Introduction ...............................................................8
Hardware and software requirements .................................. 10
Installation ............................................................................... 11
Getting started ........................................................12
Database Manager .................................................................. 13
Updating airport files ............................................................ 15
Map Window ............................................................21
Navigating around the map ................................................... 23
Mouse position ..................................................................... 23
Moving around the map ....................................................... 23
Compass .............................................................................. 23
Rubber band selection .......................................................... 24
Information label .................................................................. 24
Aircraft (always) on Map ....................................................... 25
Always on Top ...................................................................... 26
Zoom ................................................................................... 26
Buttons ..................................................................................... 28
Display buttons ..................................................................... 28
Function buttons .................................................................. 29
Intersections and airspaces..................................................... 30
Intersections and fixes .......................................................... 30
Airspaces .............................................................................. 30
AI traffic and TCAS .................................................................. 31
Tools ......................................................................................... 32
Select parking & taxiways ..................................................... 32
Runway approach path ........................................................ 33
Measuring distance and course ............................................. 34
Finding a map object ............................................................ 34
Transferring frequencies to Flight Simulator .......................... 35
Airport Information ................................................................ 36
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Flight planning ......................................................... 37
Basic techniques ...................................................................... 38
A simple flight plan: selecting
departure and arrival airports ................................................ 38
Adding waypoints to a flight plan ......................................... 40
Selecting waypoints manually ............................................... 42
AFIL (air filed) and ZZZZ flight plans ...................................... 44
SIDs, STARs and transitions .................................................... 47
Inserting SIDs, STARs, and transitions .................................... 47
A further comment on SIDs and STARs ................................. 50
Custom waypoints .................................................................. 51
Selecting custom waypoints .................................................. 51
Custom waypoints with precise location ............................... 52
Editing the flight plan table ................................................... 55
Deleting an old flight plan and creating a new one ............... 57
Printing flight plans .............................................................. 57
Advanced techniques .............................................................. 58
A sample flight plan from EDDH to ESSA .............................. 58
A mixed airway and VOR-to-VOR flight plan ......................... 60
A word of caution ................................................................ 61
Alternate airports .................................................................... 62
Creating a flight plan from an airway route ......................... 63
A closer look at the flight plan table ..................................... 65
Saving and loading flight plans ............................................. 69
Route segments ....................................................................... 71
User Waypoints ....................................................................... 74
Adding user waypoints ......................................................... 75
Deleting user waypoints ....................................................... 76
Editing user waypoints .......................................................... 76
User objects..............................................................77
Logbook .................................................................... 78
Aircraft Window .......................................................79
Editing aircraft parameters ..................................................... 79
Adding new aircraft ................................................................ 80
FlightSim Commander 9
Deleting existing aircraft ........................................................ 80
Aircraft parameters ................................................................. 80
Fuel Window ............................................................. 81
Approach Window ...................................................82
GPS and moving map ..............................................84
GPS Window ............................................................................ 84
The General Page ................................................................. 85
The Waypoint Page ............................................................... 85
Weather Page ....................................................................... 86
The Arrival Page .............................................88
The ILS Page ......................................................................... 89
The Runway Page ................................................................. 89
Switching waypoints manually ..................... 90
Operating modes .................................................................... 91
AutoHeading mode .............................................................. 91
GoTo mode .......................................................................... 91
Transmitting frequencies to Flight Simulator .......................... 91
Moving Map ............................................................................ 91
Distance arc .......................................................................... 92
Great Circle navigation ...........................................94
Holding Window ......................................................95
Blackbox and flight analysis ...................................98
Track and altitude .................................................................... 98
Flight recording and analysis ................................................. 99
Saving flight recordings for GoogleEarth© ......................... 100
VFR flights ..............................................................102
Checking control zones ......................................................... 102
Violating control zones ......................................................... 103
Sunrise and sunset ................................................................ 104
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NATracks and PACOTs ............................................105
Weather ..................................................................108
IVAO and VATSIM flights .......................................109
Fellow pilots‘ aircraft ............................................................ 112
A note on VATSIM and IVAO airspaces ................................ 112
Information on pilots and controllers .................................. 114
Connecting to the IVAO Teamspeak Server ......................... 117
Online friends ........................................................................ 118
Options Window ....................................................119
Colors ..................................................................................... 119
Color Themes ..................................................................... 120
Display ................................................................................... 121
Flight ...................................................................................... 122
Flight Plan .............................................................................. 124
Online ..................................................................................... 126
Hotkeys .................................................................................. 127
Downloads ............................................................................. 128
Appendix ................................................................129
Loading databases for FS2004 or FSX .................................. 129
Directly connecting to Flight Simulator ............................... 130
Multiplayer mode and online flights ................................... 131
Appendix Network ................................................132
Establishing a network connection with Peter Dowson’s
WideFS (WideServer+WideClient) ........................................ 132
Step 1: Setting up the server ............................................... 133
Step 2: Setting up the client ............................................... 136
Checking the result in FlightSim Commander...................... 138
Non-standard locations of scenery files .............................. 139
FlightSim Commander 9
Introduction
Welcome to FlightSim Commander 9, a flight planner, navigator, and
scenery viewer for both Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004 and Flight
Simulator X.
FlightSim Commander allows you to:
create flight plans automatically, manually, or both for any section of
your route
• create flight plans along low altitude and high altitude airways
• create a database of your own custom waypoints
• insert Standard Instrument Departures (SIDs) and Standard
Arrival Routes (STARs), and transitions
• create and reload route segments for departure, arrival, and
enroute
• display, update and choose for flight planning North Atlantic
Tracks (NATracks) as well as Pacific Organized Tracks (PACOTs)
• look at airport layouts including runways, taxiways, and aprons
• show a Jeppesen-style vertical and horizontal approach chart
for runways of your destination airport
• display available missed approaches at your destination airport
• calculate fuel consumption and alternate airport
• look at a map displaying VORs, NDBs, ILS‘es, airports, runways,
MSA (minimum safe altitude), 12 types of airspaces as well as
coastlines and national boundaries
• use a GPS display for easy navigation
• automatically transmit ILS frequencies to Flight Simulator
• set an autopilot for following the filed route or to go directly to
a chosen geographic location
• choose fly-by or fly-over for passing waypoints
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• track your flight on a real-time Moving Map display
• record flight data and inspect them afterwards
• display a recorded flight in GoogleEarth©
• define and fly holding patterns
• display both airborne and ground AI traffic
• get TCAS warnings for approaching AI aircraft
• keep a logbook in which major flight data on aircraft, fuel, and
route are automatically saved
• make a world-wide search to easily find any navaid, waypoint,
airport, or airway
• check violations of control zones during VFR flights
• display a flight analysis including altitude and control zone
violation
• display active controllers and control areas for VATSIM and
IVAO online pilots
• display weather from thousands of world-wide weather
stations including sunrise and sunset times
This document offers an exhaustive description of all features and
functions of FlightSim Commander. Beginners and first-time users may
also want to check the Tutorial which specifies the major features of
the program by way of a sample flight and can be downloaded from
FlightSim Commander‘s website (www.fscommander.com).
FlightSim Commander 9
Hardware and software requirements
FlightSim Commander can be installed on any computer on which
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004 or Flight Simulator X runs successfully.
We recommend at least a Pentium 2.0 GHz processor with 512MB
memory.
The computer should have Windows XP (SP3), VISTA, Windows 7, or
higher installed. You cannot run FlightSim Commander on Windows
98. Make sure that the font size on your system is set to normal:
control panel -> display -> appearance -> font size = normal and
control panel -> display -> settings -> advanced -> general -> dpi
settings = normal size (96dpi).
If you have the shareware version of FlightSim Commander, you also
need a version of Peter Dowson‘s latest fsuipc.dll for connecting to FS
2004 and fsuipc4 for connection with FSX. For details check Peter‘s
homepage at www.schiratti.com. If you own the boxed version
distributed by Aerosoft, fsuipc is included.
Users who have chosen a 12-hour format for Date and Time will
notice that the Sunset/Sunrise feature does not work properly at the
dateline region.
This feature must be set to a 24-hour format. Proceed as follows:
1. Control Panel
2. Region and Language
3. Formats
4. Button Additional settings..
5. Time
6. Under Time formats make sure that for Short time and Long
time the letters indicating hours are in capital letters, i.e.
HH:mm and HH:mm:ss. See also What the notations mean on
the same page.
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Installation
You have to be logged in with administrator rights before you start the
installation. Insert the CD into your CD drive. The installation programm will start automatically. Follow the instructions on the screen.
After the program has been successfully installed, you can start
clicking on appropriate icon.
Important: Before you run FlightSim Commander for the first time,
you MUST run the Database Manager (FSCDbManager.exe) to create
the necessary databases from your version of Flight Simulator. Please
read the section on the Database Manager for further details.
Important: We strongly recommend NOT to install FlightSim Commander
under C:\Program Files, because this may lead to a number of very
unpleasant problems, especially under Vista and Windows 7. If your
computer has more than one drive, we recommend to install FlightSim
Commander on a drive other than C:\
Important: You should bear in mind that FlightSim Commander is a
stand-alone program which will run at the same time as Flight
Simulator when the two are connected. Therefore you need Windows‘
multitasking capability for simultaneously running more than one
program. As a consequence, you cannot run Flight Simulator in
full-screen mode (Alt-Enter) on a single monitor if you want Flight
Simulator and FlightSim Commander to be connected to each other.
Important: If you employ a two-computer system with Flight Simulator
running on one computer and FlightSim Commander on the other,
you must use Peter Dowson’s WideFS module (see Peter’s homepage
at www.schiratti.com for details). You must furthermore make sure
that your network is set up properly. That is, your FlightSim Commander
computer must have access to the Flight Simulator computer, in
particular to the drive and directory where Flight Simulator is installed
and also to the drive and directory where Flight Simulator saves its
flight plans (standardly embedded under c:\..\my documents\Flight
Simulator Files). Note furthermore that FlightSim Commander must be
able to both read and write on those drives and directories. Please also
read the chapter on updating the databases on a two-computer
system in the chapter on the Database Manager. If you are not too
familiar with the operation of networks, you might want to check the
chapter Appendix Network at the end of this document.
FlightSim Commander 9
Getting started
Run the Database Manager (FSCDBManager.exe) first to create the
necessary databases. For details, you should check the section on the
Database Manager and read it carefully.
When you start FlightSim Commander afterwards, the following
introductory window will appear:
At the bottom of the picture you will find the version and build number
next to the copyright notice. The above screenshot comes from version
9.0. The currently loaded AIRAC cycle is dated FEB12-MAR 2009.
Notice that the data FlightSim Commander is using are stored in
databases which will be automatically loaded when the program is
started. The database currently being loaded is indicated in red letters
at the top of the window.
Once all databases have been loaded, the picture will disappear and a
new window will prompt you to select an airport at which you will fly.
Important: If you are using FlightSim Commander for both FS 2004
and FSX alternatively, the corresponding databases will be loaded
depending on the option set in the Options Window.
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If Flight Simulator is already running at the time you start FlightSim
Commander, you can also make a direct connection so that the map in
FlightSim Commander will show the airport or area where your aircraft
is located (for details see Directly connecting to Flight Simulator)
Database Manager
The Database Manager is a separate program which allows you to
create and update the databases used by FlightSim Commander.
You must run the Database Manager (FSCDbManager.exe),
before you use FlightSim Commander for the first time.
When you open the Database Manager the main window will look like
in the following screenshot:
FlightSim Commander 9
Note that FlightSim Commander uses data which are partly extracted
directly from Flight Simulator files and partly from real-world databases. The data read from Flight Simulator directly are airports,
runways, ILS‘es, markers, taxiways, parking positions, and aprons.
All other data are provided by Navigraph (http://www2.navigraph.com/
www/fmsdata.asp) and concern VORs, NDBs, intersections, GPS fixes,
airways, SIDs and STARs, Transitions, airspaces and minimum safe
altitudes. Note that Navigraph provides monthly updates for these
databases. The collection of currently valid data is called AIRAC Cycle
followed by a date. The AIRAC cycle which you use appears at the
right bottom corner of the introduction screen when the program is
started.
After installation all databases from Navigraph are already present in
the \Database directory, but the databases created from Flight
Simulator directly (namely airport.fsc, taxi.fsc, poly.fsc as well as
regions.fsc, country.fsc, state.fsc, and city.fsc) are still missing, since
they depend on your specific configuration of Flight Simulator.
Therefore you have to run the Database Manager first to create these
files.
In principle, you will run the Database Manager only once to create
the necessary databases; however, if you have made any modifications
to your airports with programs such as AFCAD, or if you have installed
new airport sceneries, you should update the relevant FlightSim
Commander file and run the Database Manager again.
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Updating airport files
Since FlightSim Commander can be used with both Flight Simulator
2004 and Flight Simulator X, first of all you have to decide for which
version of Flight Simulator database files are to be updated.
Note that if you use both FS 2004 and FSX, you have to run the
Database Manager twice, once for each version. You cannot update
for both versions simultaneously. The order in which you update the
two versions of Flight Simulator is irrelevant.
Running the Database Manager will produce a log file which provides
a detailed record and analysis of all major data transfers and events
that happen during the installation process. If something goes wrong
with the Database Manager and you need help, please send us this log
file (FSCDBM_FS09.log and/or FSCDBM_FS10.log respectively).
In order to create the necessary database files FlightSim Commander
needs exactly two types of information:
7. drive and directory where your Flight Simulator is installed
8. drive and directory of your Scenery Library file (scenery.cfg)
For each of these two paths there is a separate drive/directory selection
box in the Database Manager labeled Select Flight Simulator Path here
and Select Scenery Library Path here respectively. In most cases all you
need to do is to select the Flight Simulator path. Everything else occurs
automatically.
Note, however, that Flight Simulator 2004 and Flight Simulator X
behave somewhat differently with respect to the structure of the
Scenery Library. Therefore in the following sections we will discuss the
various configurations separately.
Updating airports for FS 2004 on
a single computer
If you wish to update airports for FS 2004, all you need to do is to
select the drive and directory where FS 2004 is installed in the left
selection box.
FlightSim Commander 9
In the screenshot above FS 2004 is located on drive F:\ in the directory
FS2004. Notice that the Scenery Library selection boxes on the right
are automatically set to the same path and are grayed out, simply
because you don‘t have to select anything in those boxes.
At the same time the button shows Update Airports from FS2004 and
can now be pressed to begin the updating process.
Updating airports for FS 2004 in a network
If you run FlightSim Commander and Flight Simulator on two different
computers set up in a network and connected with Peter Dowson‘s
WideFS package, updating airports for FS 2004 is just as easy.
Simply select the network drive and directory where FS 2004 is
installed in the left selection boxes. Everything else will be exactly as in
a one-computer setup.
This screenshot is almost identical to the one in the preceding section
except that the FS 2004 folder is discernibly on a network drive.
VERY IMPORTANT: Please remember that the FlightSim Commander
computer must have access to the proper Flight Simulator drive and
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directory on the computer where Flight Simulator is installed. In other
words, your network must be properly set up and the necessary drives
and directories must be correctly mounted.
If you are not very much familiar with networks and their internal
structure, please read the Appendix at the end of this document.
Updating airports for FSX on a single computer
Updating airports for Flight Simulator X is a bit more complex for
reasons which unfortunately you need to understand.
In previous versions of Flight Simulator (including Flight Simulator
2004) the Scenery Library file scenery.cfg is located in the same
directory in which Flight Simulator itself is installed.
For reasons that even defy reasonable speculation this is no longer the
case for FSX. Instead, Microsoft has decided to place the Scenery
Library file deep down into the Windows System drive which in most
cases will be the C:\ drive. By default the Scenery Library file is placed
in C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\
Fsx\.
You will first select the Flight Simulator X path in the left selection box.
At this point the Database Manager will automatically set the Scenery
Library path in the right selection box.
FlightSim Commander 9
In the screenshot above you see in the left selection box that FSX has
been installed in F:\FSX\. The right selection box has been automatically set to the Scenery Library path. There is nothing else you need to
do; just press the Update button to launch the updating process.
If for some reason the default Scenery Library path does not exist (a
few such cases have been reported), the two selection boxes will look
like this:
As before the left selection box shows the path for FSX. The right
selection box has been enabled and you are prompted to select path
for scenery library in right drive and directory box. At the same time
the Update button is still disabled because the Database Manager
doesn‘t know yet where to find your Scenery Library file scenery.cfg.
Now you need to search manually for the correct Scenery Library path
in the right selection box until the Update button becomes enabled.
Actually this latter case should almost never occur. However, some
users have reported that in their system the folder Microsoft in the
default Scenery Library path had a slightly different name, usually the
word Microsoft followed by a series of numbers and/or letters. The
possibility of selecting the Scenery Library path manually is thus a kind
of last resort measure.
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Updating airports for FSX in a network
Updating airports for Flight Simulator X in a network is appallingly
complex, again for some whimsical decisions made by Microsoft.
As described in the preceding section the Scenery Library file for FSX is
not only deeply embedded in the C:\ drive; what is still worse, it is
inside a partially hidden folder tree (Application Data) with extremely
limited access rights. In plain language this means that there is
absolutely no way of accessing the Scenery Library file from outside,
i.e. from another computer in a network.
In order to maintain the possibility of using FlightSim Commander in a
network with FSX, we decided on the following work-around.
The file scenery.cfg must be copied from the Scenery Library folder
C:\….Microsoft\FSX\ into the directory in which FSX has been installed.
Since we do not want to overwrite anything in the FSX folder, we copy
the file scenery.cfg (the one in the Scenery Library folder) renamed as
scenerycfg.fsc into the FSX folder.
In other words, if the Database Manager‘s left selection box is set to a
FSX folder in a network, it searches this folder for the presence of the
file scenerycfg.fsc. If that file is present, the button for the updating
process is enabled as in the screenshot below.
If the file scenerycfg.fsc is not found in the FSX folder, the following
configuration will appear prompting you to copy the file as described
above.
FlightSim Commander 9
If you are familiar with copying files, you can copy the file manually as
described above. However, we have added a little Scenery Library
Network Tool (FSCFSXCFG.exe) which performs the copying process
for you.
Note that this program MUST be placed in your FSX folder and must
be started from there.
Simply press the OK button. You will be instructed when the copying
process has been successfully completed.
VERY IMPORTANT: Please remember that the FlightSim Commander
computer must have access to the proper Flight Simulator drive and
directory on the computer where Flight Simulator is installed. In other
words, your network must be properly set up and the necessary drives
and directories must be correctly mounted.
If you are not very much familiar with networks and their internal
structure, please read the Appendix at the end of this document.
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Map Window
The Map Window displays flight-relevant information on a geographic
map. Before you reach the Map Window, you will have to select an
airport which will then be located in the center of the map. If you have
made a flight plan, the departure airport will appear in the center.
The map displays:
VORs airports routes
NDBs taxiways coastlines
ILS'es aprons state boundaries
intersections gates & parking positions major rivers & lakes
GPS fixes markers airspaces
jet airways control zones minimum safe altitudes
victor airways AI traffic
The colors of the displayed objects can be changed and set up in the
Options Window.
Clock | Chart | Magnetic Var | Latitude/Longitude | Aircraft | FuelMouse Position
FlightSim Commander 9
Clock: by clicking on this label you can toggle
between UTC and local time.
Chart: if you click on this label with the left mouse
button, you zoom in, with the right mouse
button you zoom out.
Latitude/Longitude: by clicking on this label you can toggle
between standard and decimal notation.
Flugzeug: clicking with the left mouse button on this
label opens the Aircraft Window; a right
mouse click toggles the Aircraft on Map
option (see also Navigating around the map).
Mausposition: this label has three functions: standardly the
latitude/longitude position of the mouse is
displayed. Clicking on it once changes the
display to inbound course and distance,
clicking again changes the display to outbound
course and distance. The two latter displays
relate to the position of your own aircraft or
to the center of the map depending on whether
or not you are connected to Flight Simulator.
Taxiways and airport ramps are also displayed, but are only visible if
the chart size is zoomed to 10NM or less. Taxiway designators appear
when you zoom down to 2 miles or less.
If you zoom in to 10NM or less taxiway identifiers and runway
identifiers are displayed next to the respective runway thresholds.
You can print the map by choosing Map -> Print Map on the menu bar.
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Navigating around the map
Mouse position
The rightmost label of the status bar shows the mouse position on the
map in terms of latitude and longitude. If you click on that label the
display changes to distance and course relative to the center of the
map or, if you are connected to Flight Simulator, to the position of
your own aircraft. This way you can quickly measure distances and
headings by simply moving the mouse.
Moving around the map
You can move around the map by clicking with the mouse on any
geographic point which will then become the center of the map.
Alternatively, you can either choose Go to airport from the Window
menu or press the button Go to airport, if you wish to move to the
location of a specific airport.
Compass
When you press the button with the compass rose, a compass will
appear on the map. If you are connected with Flight Simulator, the
compass will also indicate the heading of your aircraft.
FlightSim Commander 9
Rubber band selection
To zoom in on a particular area of the map, you can use the rubber
band function. While you hold the left mouse button pressed, use the
mouse to draw a rectangle around an area of your choice. As you release
the mouse button again, the map will zoom in on the area selected.
Information label
If you wish to obtain more detailed information on a particular navaid,
airport, intersection, etc. move the mouse to the corresponding
position and let it stay there for a second. A label will open displaying
information on the object selected. If more than one object is located
at a particular position, all objects will be named.
Airspaces have a fat dot in one of their corners. To identify a particular
airspace and to obtain detailed information on it, hold the mouse
pointer over this dot.
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Information labels can also be opened on AI aircraft. Move the mouse
to the root of the small aircraft symbol indicating the aircraft’s
heading. The label then displays the airport, city, and country of the
aircraft’s departure and arrival.
Aircraft (always) on Map
When you are connected to Flight Simulator, the little aircraft symbol
will move along the map following your geographic positions. By
default the map display will switch to a new position as soon as the
aircraft approaches any of the borders of the map. Therefore, the
aircraft symbol will always be visible somewhere on the map.
As a consequence, you cannot have a part of the world displayed on the
map that is very far away from your current geographic position; e.g. you‘re
flying somewhere in Italy, but you want to see something in Sweden.
If you de-select the Aircraft on Map menu item, you can move to any
part of the world via mouse clicks irrespective of where your aircraft is
currently located.
Alternatively, you can also right-click the aircraft status label to toggle
this option.
FlightSim Commander 9
Always on Top
When you are running FlightSim Commander connected with Flight
Simulator, you are running, in fact, two programs at a time. Standardly,
only the program that has focus will be visible on the screen, while the
other is hidden behind the window with focus.
As a consequence, as Flight Simulator receives focus, the FlightSim
Commander window will no longer be visible, because it hides behind
the Flight Simulator window and can be called back only by pressing
its representation on the task bar.
If you want to have the FlightSim Commander window always visible,
i.e. on top of the Flight Simulator window, choose Map -> Always on
top from the menu bar. You will probably use this option, if you are
running both programs on the same computer and on one and the
same monitor.
Important: You should also uncheck the option pause on task switch
in Flight Simulator’s Option window which by default is checked. If this
option is on, Flight Simulator will pause each and every time the focus
is on FlightSim Commander. Obviously, this can be very annoying.
Zoom
You can zoom and unzoom the map by pressing Page↓ and Page↑ or +
and - on your keyboard. For larger steps choose a value from the
Zoom menu. As a further possibility you can left-click or right-click on
the Chart status label.
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Zooming and unzooming by pressing Page↓ and Page↑ or + and - is a
general convention in FlightSim Commander and applies to all other
graphic displays of the program as well.
Alternatively, you can press the buttons with the magnifying glasses on
the button bar on the left-hand side of the map. Using these buttons
is preferable when you are connected to Flight Simulator because the
focus is immediately returned to FS (for details see section GPS and
Moving Map).
The Autozoom option in the Zoom Menu will automatically zoom
down to 3 miles when you are on the ground and back to 50 miles
when you are airborne. This may be helpful after departure and
landing when you are busy controlling the aircraft. Autozoom is
automatically canceled when you zoom in or out manually.
FlightSim Commander 9
Buttons
Display buttons
If you move the mouse to the left side of the map you see a series of
buttons which allow you to toggle the display of the map. The buttons
will disappear as soon as you move the mouse to any other area.
Green letters on the buttons indicate that the option is on, red letters
that the option is off.
toggles the display of Airports
toggles the display of VORs
toggles the display of NDBs
toggles the display of ILS'es
toggles the display of intersections
toggles the display of GPS fixes
toggles the display of user waypoints
toggles the display of high altitude (jet) airways
toggles the display of low altitude (victor) airways
toggles the display of ICAO codes
toggles the display of names
toggles the display of frequencies
toggles the display of control zones
toggles the display of CTA airspaces
toggles the display of FIR airspaces
toggles the display of minimum safe altitudes
toggles the display of the coastline map
toggles the display of AI aircraft
zooms the map
unzooms the map
shows the approach path for each runway
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Function buttons
Above the map and below the menu bar you find a series of graphic
buttons which allow you to either open a window or make a flight
plan selection
opens the Airport Information Window
go to a specific airport
opens the Aircraft Window
opens the Holding Window
opens the Fuel Window
displays the Compass
opens the Approach Window
selects parking position and taxiways
activates the measuring tool for distance and course
opens the Flight Plan Panel
The remaining buttons with worded labels are largely self-explanatory
and will be dealt with in detail in the section on flight planning
techniques.
FlightSim Commander 9
Intersections and airspaces
Intersections and fixes
Intersections can be displayed selectively. If the button Int is on, all
intersections will be shown. If the button Int is off and the button Vic
is on, then victor airways and only the intersections on these airways
are shown. Similarly, if the button Int is off and the button Jet on, then
jet airways and only the intersections on these airways are visible.
If a flight plan involves GPS fixes, these will also be displayed irrespective
of whether or not the button Fix is on.
Note that we make a terminological distinction between intersections
and GPS fixes. Intersections are waypoints on an airway, while GPS
fixes are merely geographic locations defined in terms of latitude and
longitude without having anything to do with airways.
Airspaces
FlightSim Commander can display 12 different types of airspaces
which can be toggled on and off by choosing the corresponding entry
in Map -> Airspaces. The display of control zones can also be toggled
by pressing the button Ctrz in the vertical button bar. Likewise the
buttons Air1 and Air2 toggle CTA and FIR airspaces respectively.
The airspaces that can be displayed are:
• Advisory Area (ADA)
• Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ)
• Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC)
• Area Control Center (ACC)
• Buffer Zone (BZ)
• Control Area (CTA)
• Control Zone (CTLZ)
• Flight Information Region (FIR)
• Ocean Control Area (OCA)
Aerosoft GmbH 2010
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