Miscellaneous observations

[Rodeo314]

Continued from Incorrect Weight Calculations

@SimBrief

@Rodeo314

@SimBrief in the new version, these weight limit remarks have been made less obvious, I would say? One could argue there’s no point in fixing it since apparently 90% of users have no clue what it means (and the rest who do can find them), but still, maybe something could be done to improve it a little? Perhaps they should be right below/above the loadsheet (currently separated by the flight route) and, when present, possibly highlighted in bold or something?

Good catch, I think I’ll add payload restriction alerts to the top of the Flight Briefing page so they are more visible. Maybe in the next update.

Thanks! Any thoughts about the following?

@Rodeo314

Also, recomputing passenger numbers is probably rather complex, but when payload is limited, just passing through the requested passenger count can be really pointless (easily half of the requested amount in some cases)? Even if somewhat unrealistic, perhaps the passenger count could be dashed instead to somehow convey that it’s not actually applicable anymore?

Here’s (a rather extreme) example to illustrate my point:

Regards,

Tim

[Rodeo314]

@SimBrief

Another thing worth mentioning is that by default, SimBrief always includes the weight of the pilot in the aircraft’s empty weight. So when it plans 6 passengers, it actually means there are 7 people on board. So if your aircraft has only 6 seats, I recommend either setting the max passengers to 5 in your custom airframe, or alternatively, keep it at 6 but subtract the pilot’s weight from the airframe’s OEW (which will result in more payload space).

FWIW, in the case of the DA62, the empty weight (1570 kg on Wikipedia, 1600 kg example in the AFM) does not include the pilot, making your default profile (also using 1570 kg as the empty weight) inconsistent with the “typical” simBrief setup where the weight of the pilot(s) is included.

I only checked the DA62 just now, but I suspect it’s possible that many of the some other GA profiles on simBrief are in a similar case, if the empty weight is sourced from the AFM/POH; I imagine small GA aircrafts’ manuals don’t include the pilot in their empty weight because, unlike for larger aircraft, a light vs. heavy pilot actually has an effect on W&B calculations.

Regards,

Tim

[Rodeo314]

@SimBrief here’s a bug BTW:

While trying to generate an example for the first post, I noticed that if I include an insane amount of extra fuel (e.g. 99’999 kg) on a short flight (e.g. LSGG to LSZH in an A346), simBrief will reduce ZFW below the OEW and provide a negative payload

--------------------------------------------------------------------
                               WEIGHTS
                               -------

                EST      MAX     ACTUAL

PAX            -361              ......

CARGO           0.1              ......

PAYLOAD       -28.5              ......

ZFW           154.0    251.0     ......

FUEL          116.6    116.6     ......  POSS EXTRA 0.0

TOW           269.6    269.6  LDG......

STAB TRIM                        ......

LAW           265.0    265.0     ......

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Regards,

Tim

[RVTLordZod]

In regard to the pilot weight and OEW, I use SimBrief for MSFS so I get the airframe weights from that. I noticed that every aircraft in MSFS has a separate pilot weight field. When entering the empty weight for my airframe, I added my pilot’s weight then. That way I could be assured that SImBrief calculated payload without the pilot weight, and I could configure my aircraft in MSFS more accurately. So, you were almost spot-on with my pilot’s weight in my post about incorrect calculations
A simulator is about the only way I’m going to jam my 6’3" frame into something like a DA62 hahaha

[SimBrief]

@Rodeo314

Here’s (a rather extreme) example to illustrate my point:

I’m not sure yet to be honest. I still lean towards showing the actual requested passenger count (which in real OFPs shows the amount of “booked” passengers, even if there’s no way they’ll all fit).

This kind of a discrepancy should only occur when manually forcing a certain passenger count on the options page, when in “Auto” mode it should select a count that will actually fit (rounded up, so the last passenger might only partially fit. As detailed in the other thread).

Maybe it can still show the requested passenger count, but add a note next to it if the count is unreliable due to payload restrictions.

@Rodeo314

FWIW, in the case of the DA62, the empty weight (1570 kg on Wikipedia, 1600 kg example in the AFM) does not include the pilot, making your default profile (also using 1570 kg as the empty weight) inconsistent with the “typical” simBrief setup where the weight of the pilot(s) is included.

Noted thanks. I might review the default OEWs for these aircraft some day, though I guess most users would expect the empty weight from the POH. Just one of the challenges of trying to support GA aircraft in SimBrief while keeping everything else consistent, despite GA using different conventions compared to airliners.

@Rodeo314

While trying to generate an example for the first post, I noticed that if I include an insane amount of extra fuel (e.g. 99’999 kg) on a short flight (e.g. LSGG to LSZH in an A346), simBrief will reduce ZFW below the OEW and provide a negative payload

Thanks. Sadly I’ve known about this bug for a little while, but it’s kind of a pain to fix and quite rare to actually trigger it. Still in the backlog for now.

Best regards,

[Rodeo314]

@SimBrief

This kind of a discrepancy should only occur when manually forcing a certain passenger count on the options page, when in “Auto” mode it should select a count that will actually fit (rounded up, so the last passenger might only partially fit. As detailed in the other thread).

Maybe it can still show the requested passenger count, but add a note next to it if the count is unreliable due to payload restrictions.

I think It should definitely be indicated somewhere (perhaps at least the dispatch remarks section).

Regards,

Tim

[SimBrief]

FYI I’ve released version 2.10.0 now, which adds various payload restriction warnings to the Flight Briefing page.

Best regards,

[Rodeo314]

Nice

I do wonder if there could be something in the briefing itself to indicate that the requested passenger count does not fit besides just “PAYLOAD/CARGO LIMITED BY MTOW” though?

Either way, much better than before, thanks

Regards,

Tim