I’ve created a flight plan from EGLL/09L to EDDF/25C however SimBrief takes me direct to the airport’s centre without actually providing me with a established inbound route.
The flight plan given is:
DET1K DET L6 DVR UL9 KONAN UL607 SPI T180 NIVNU T847 IMCOM
IMCOM is a waypoint very far away from the destination airport.
The other Suggested Route offered is:
DET1K DET L6 DVR UL9 KONAN UL607 REMBA UNOKO UNOK3A
This is a much better flight plan as it takes you out past the airport to DF416, does a U-turn then brings you in on a much more established approach into 25C.
It’s because IMCOM STARs were introduced in AIRAC 2311, whereas in this case the user is using the default AIRAC cycle (2303).
@JDMils, unfortunately this is just a limitation of using the default free AIRAC cycle. While SimBrief can be used for free, it will find routes based on outdated AIRAC data. Some minor routing issues such as this are to be expected in this case. If you aren’t flying on an online network (VATSIM, IVAO, etc) and don’t mind using an older route, I’d recommend simply manually selecting the UNOKO routing.
Global airways/waypoints/routes are constantly being updated and change on a monthly basis. A Navigraph subscription makes it possible to update SimBrief, your simulator, and your various add-on aircraft, as applicable. Unlocking the current real-world AIRAC data will also result in more accurate route finding on SimBrief.
So would you say that when creating a flight plan in SimBrief that I should take note of the tracks and using the arrival charts of the destination airports I need to add in manually the required STARS/waypoints in order to achieve a plan which will bring me into the correct runway on an established path? I was under the impression that SimBrief would do that anyway, and even with outdated AIRAC data, SimBrief should have provided a more appropriate path into the airport rather than putting the last waypoint at the centre of the airport with no viable direction in for landing?
I have no qualms with using outdated AIRAC data for STARS/SIDs/AIRWAYS/WAYPOINTS in getting to a destination, that’s fine, but the essential part of every pilot’s trip is getting to the airport from a direction which (s)he will at least have the ability to use ILS to home in to the landing runway.
@srcooke I’m sure agrees with me that there should be at least one more STAR to line the plane up.
I’m no expert, I only fly Piper Warriors out of a smaller airport and I sim a lot in FS2020, but as far as the above chart is concerned, if I understand it correctly, I could come in via UNOKO and follow the chart out to DF416 then U-turn it back into 25C. This is pretty much what SimBrief gave me as a 2nd Suggested Route. IMO this should be the first suggested route.
Simbrief does not support different suggested routes based on the AIRAC cycle in use (it will filter out routes that have waypoints/airways absent from the cycle being used, but the airways and IMCOM waypoint already exist in 2303).
What does NOT exist in cycle 2303 is the associated STAR procedure taking you from IMCOM to the final approach path (IMCOM 1A/1B/1C/1D).
The route via UNOKO does not pass CFMU validation. Thus is cannot be marked as CFMU valid and will not be the first suggestion.
While UNOKO is on the RASVO 1A procedure shown above and some airports allow you to join some specific procedures from an intermediate waypoint, this is not allowed here:
As a matter of fact, arriving into EDDF from that specific area, use of IMCOM and the associated STARs is mandatory as per the ED5617 rule and ED3017 forbids you to arriva via RASVO (that lateral path is reserved for arrivals into EDFE, EDFZ and ETOU instead).
That is unless you’re in an older aircraft that is not RNAV 1 capable, in which case you’re required to arrive via RASVO instead and fly the corresponding STAR. Yes, Eurocontrol airspace is (arguably needlessly) complex.
This is a somewhat uncommon situation because Simbrief’s default cycle is not compatible with the currently-valid routes into EDDF. When the default cycle gets updated to 2403 (possibly some time next year) it will resolve itself.
In the meantime, users of the default cycle will need a bit of creativity to come up with a route that connects to available procedures into EDDF.
