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There is a comprehensive 128 page manual, but for those that don't want to read
through it all, there is a worked tutorial starting at page 85.
For those that consider themselves to be "real men": Right click on your starting
airport. I'm sure you can figure out the rest.
Because the manual is outsourced, it does tend to lag behind the current release of
the program. Please be sure to check this readme for details of features that were
added since the last edition of the manual.
THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED 'AS IS', AND NO RESPONSIBILITY IS ACCEPTED FOR PROBLEMS
CAUSED BY OR ATTRIBUTED TO THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE.
Any problems should be reported to the author. For contact details see the end of
this document, or use the forum at http://www.tasoftware.co.uk/forum/
This software may be downloaded from the TASoftware forum and installed by the user
on any number of PCs for personal or commercial flight-sim use. It may not be used
in connection with real-world flight operations. No part of this software may be
uploaded to any web site or distributed by any means, electronic or otherwise,
including but not restricted to torrents, ftp, email etc services, without the
author's express, written consent.
Flight plans made with this software, user waypoint files, screenshots etc can of
course be freely distributed.
PREREQUISITES
-------------
This software requires .Net Framework v4.6.2. It can also be downloaded from
http://www.microsoft.com/Net/Download.aspx
INSTALLATION:
-------------
If you have v2.0 of Plan-G installed, you do not need to uninstall it before
installing this software. v3 is a completely separate installation and will not
interfere with v2 (ie, you can still run v2 after installing v3). Please note that
NO navigation data is shared between versions.
NOTE: If you have created or imported user waypoints, please export them to a csv
file, (see manual, section 7.4.6) BEFORE installing the new version of Plan-G, then
re-import them once you have installed the new release(this will save you from
losing your additional waypoints). Some additional waypoints (e.g. OZx are already
incorporated into this release).
FIRST RUN:
----------
WINDOWS 7 & VISTA users should first set the 'Run as Administrator' option in the
program icon's Properties/Compatibility tab.
The first time you run Plan-G you will be asked to build its internal database. To
do this, go to the Data menu and click on the Build FSX or Build FS9 icon. If you
have both FS9 and FSX installed, you can build data for both sims, and switch
between them.
TO UNINSTALL:
-------------
All of Plan-G's registry settings can be removed by running the
ClearAllSettings.exe tool provided. This should be done before uninstalling. (NB,
this step is unnecessary if you are simply updating to a newer version)
To uninstall Plan-G 3.1, 3.0, or 2.0 open the Programs and Features contol panel,
select plan-G v2 or Plan-G v3 from the list and click 'uninstall'.
Versions earlier than 2.0 can simply be deleted from the hard drive.
Notes:
======
Maps
----
PG3 uses maps based on Open StreetMap (OSM) data. This has the advantage of being
free and will always be free. The downside is that the servers can be bandwidth
limited (OSM themselves get very uppity if you start hitting their server heavily).
The preferred servers for PG3 are from MapQuest, which is a commercial company that
sponsors a free access server and doesn't complain about bandwidth. The second
issue with OSM data is that the styling of the map tiles isn't optimal for our
purposes. For example the only public OSM server that includes terrain shading is
Open Cycle Map, which (obviously) has cycle routes writ large upon it.
The logical solution is to define a map style suitable for Plan-G and produce our
own map based on OSM data. This is technically achievable and I've done some
research into it with encouraging results. Unfortunately my web hosting package
would not allow me to host a map tile server, and in fact it would need a dedicated
server with around 300GB (up to zoom level 12). This would cost something like �100
a month, which would certainly be possible for a payware version of P-G, or a
paid-server-subscription version, or if anybody knows someone that would be willing
to sponsor a dedicated server...
Caching:
--------
Tile data for the maps is now cached locally (something else we couldn't do with
Google). The cached tiles will be used if available, in preference to going online.
Screenshots:
------------
There is no licence restriction regarding publishing screenshots from v3 (unlike
v2).
DATA FILES
----------
Plan-G has a new working folder: My Documents\Plan-G Files. All logs, plans etc
will be stored here. The database files will be automatically copied across when
Plan-G first runs.
Plan-G Files\Charts This folder (not automatically created) can be used to store
PDF charts & plates for different airports. Create a subdirectory for each airport
(e.g. Charts\EGBJ and put the pdfs in. Right-clicking the airport on the map in
Plan-G will include these files.
Plan-G Files\Profiles stores aircraft profiles. You can create an aircraft profile
from the Aircraft Profile button on the Home ribbon. These are stored in xml
format.
SETTINGS
--------
Settings are stored in a config file which you will find in
C:\Users\<me>\AppData\Local\TA_Software\Plan-G3<Magic Number>\<version number>\
EDIT MODE
---------
By popular demand(!) the Edit button is back. Now if you want to drag waypoints
around, you'll need to activate Edit Mode. The wayopoints will turn into large grab
handles that you can move, and there is also a grab handle located mid way between
waypoints - drag and release this to insert a waypoint at that position. Click the
Edit button again to turn off the drag handles when you are done.
Once you have set an origin airport, the Quick Destination button ("R") will
randomly choose a destination for your flight. You can filter the choices available
by distance, runway size and surface type, and general direction, through the Quick
Destination Options dialog on the popup in the bottom-right corner of the Flight
Plan ribbon tab.
SNIPPETS
--------
Snippets are a new feature in v3. A snippet is a portion of a flight plan that can
be inserted into another flight plan. There are two forms of snippet: Quick
Snippets and Snippet files. Snippets are accessed from the context menu of the
flight plan list view. Quick Snippets present a route dialog that allows you to
type a list of waypoints in exactly the same for as for a Quick Plan. The route is
validated and the waypoints are inserted into the current plan AFTER the currently
selected waypoint. Snippet files can be opened from the flight plan context menu.
The contents of the file are then inserted in the current flight plan AFTER the
currently selected waypoint. Waypoints in a Quick Snippet must be present in the
active database. Waypoint in a Snippet file that are missing from the database will
be inserted as temporary user waypoints.
Note that the start and end waypoints of a snippet may also exist in the flightplan
- they will not get duplicated. Say you had a flight plan that started EGNM POL
WAL, and you inserted the snippet EGNM D140B D083N D083F POL, your final plan would
be EGNM D140B D083N D083F POL WAL.
To create a Snippet file, build the portion of the flight plan in the normal way,
and then EXPORT as Snippet.
If you are feeling brave, you can hand roll a Snippet file. It is plain text. Each
line represents a single waypoint, with field values separated by a vertical pipe
(|) symbol. The fields are:
RADIAL function
---------------
Right-click on a VOR or NDB, and a new Radial menu will appear. Selecting this will
allow you to draw a radial at a specified bearing and distance from that navaid.
You can repeat this multiple times from the same or other navaids, allowing you to
plot intersection points and so on. A single 'Clear' menu will remove all radial
lines from the map. Radials are in degrees magnetic. A checkbox allows you to
select the radial as 'inbound' (ie a bearing TO the station).
KML / KMZ
---------
Now opens local KML files (no longer need to be stored on the web). Since the work
is not being done by google, code to display the files has had to be written from
scratch, so please report any issues and files that you can't load or don't display
correctly. There are options to load just markers, just polygons or both. These
operate at the time of loading, so if you want to change them, you'll need to
reload the file.
Aircraft Profiles
-----------------
Performance factors are now calculated from the active aircraft profile for the
flight plan (piston only, right now). The data is displayed at the bottom of the
plan window (you may need to move the brown separator bar to see it all). It is
also logged.
Database Tools
--------------
The Database Tools dialog is to allow (e.g.) X-Plane users that have also got a
built FSX or FS9 database installed to copy data that is missing from X-Plane from
one of the other databases. The process is a simple CSV export & import. No doubt
some enterprising spark could figure out the data required for the airports that
FSX does not have, and provide a csv import file for it. Similarly, import files
could be generated for new airspace boundaries etc.
To use it, set your source database (e.g. FSX) as active. Then open this dialog and
export the data. Stick to the default filenames for easy recognition. Once done,
close the dialog and change active database to the destination (e.g. X-Plane). Now
re-open the dialog and import.
The Airport names import (merge) simply performs an update, so you can merge
multiple times with no adverse effects. The csv file produced by the export is
compatible with the output of the 'CSV button on the Find Airport dialog, which is
also present in v2. (the 'CSV' output has column headers but these won't affect the
import).
The Airspace import also uses a csv file. You could use the format to create new
airspaces (e.g. the London Olympics exclusion zone etc.), but this does require a
little knowledge of the way airspace boundaries work in MSFS - the SDK is freely
available on the web though.
Radio Stack
-----------
* Radio stack operation requires you to be connected to FS or X-Plane (not tested
with X-Plane). You get 2x Nav/Com units, ADF, Transponder and 'standard' GA
Autopilot. The values are updated as per the existing telemetry (PFD etc). All
buttons are live and function as you would expect. You can set the Nav/Com/ADF
frequencies directly from the map (i.e. right-click a VOR and select Nav1 or Nav2
from the menu). VOR and NDB can be set from the flight plan list (not airport at
the moment). These will always set the STANDBY frequency. Controller frequency can
be set from the VATSIM controllers list.
There are click spots for manual setting of the COM1, COM2, NAV1, NAV2 STANDBY and
ADF frequencies. These repeat is you hold the mouse button down. Separate buttons
for whole and fraction digits, click the top half to increase, and the bottom half
to decrease. The Altitude, course, Heading and Vertical Speed values in the
autopilot also have click spots. The transponder does not have click spots since it
can always be set from the buttons.
Note that certain aircraft may not allow setting of some nav instruments. This is
not something that Plan-G can override.
MAPBOX (PROVISIONAL) SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE
-----------------------------------------
Plan-G supports the detailed terrain and satellite maps produced by Mapbox.com.
These are subscription maps which do unfortunately require you to actively
subscribe to them. The good news is that terrain maps are (currently) free,
although Mapbox do charge $5 per month to access their satellite data. Go to
https://www.mapbox.com/plans/ to see details and examples of their maps.
A test key has been provided for viewing terrain maps. Please note that if this
hits chargable usage levels, the key will be deleted, and will no longer work.
(chargable use is defined as > 3000 map views in a month. 15 tiles = 1 map view.
Each zoom or relocation also count as a map views, although maps built from the
tile cache do not count)
To use Mapbox, design and customise your map on the Mapbox site. When you are done,
copy and paste the key provided into the Mapbox key field on the Plan-G Settings
panel. You will need to restart Plan-G after changing keys, in order for it to come
into effect.
Please note, you are responsible for monitoring your tile usage and paying the
costs of your subscription.
*NEW in 3.1.4 * Plan-G now supports maps generated with the new Mapbox style
editor. To use these set the map ID to "Username/hashkey" instead of
"Username.hashkey". These new syles maps have much longer hashkeys than the old
ones.
EASTER EGGS
-----------
The author is not responsible for people rummaging through the settings file
looking for easter eggs. ;)
Known Issues:
=============
* Markers sometimes don't get drawn when P-G opens. All other markers will be fine
(after zooming, moving the map etc), but those initial markers never appear. If
that happens, you'll need switch off & on Map Overlays from the View ribbon to
force the data to be reloaded. (You could also zoom the map right out and back in
again, which will have the same effect).
CHANGES
=======
v3.2.0 (Build 144)
* Fixed a bunch of X-Plane airspace read issues
* Fixed ILS heading sometimes incorrect with X-Plane
* Fixed X-Plane airways sometimes had incorrect segment end coordinates (v11)
* Fixed oversized kml icons
* Supports P3D scenery_add-ons.xml method of adding scenery
* Increased Max Database Size
* Minor UI text fixes
* Added WMM2015 support for X-Plane 11 magvar.
* Export to Garmin GTN 650/750 format (experimental). Save to [FSX]\F1GTN\FPL or
[Prepar3D]\F1GTN\FPLShould be
* Added indicator to show airports that are addon (edit AddonAirports_FSX.txt etc.
file in data folder.)
* Added ability to relocate Plan-G Files folder
* Simconnect.cfg index setting for P3D Simconnect library (this is the index to the
entry in the cfg that will be used for the connection. P3D does not use the FSX
simconnect settings.)
* Added Support for v1100 X-Plane native data
* Fixed X-Plane data read threw errors with some multi-entry navaids
* Fixed various aerodrome window draw issues
* SetWindowTitleToPlanName=False in Settings will keep the main window title
static.
* Can now open multiple aerodrome chart windows
* Fixed some P3Dv4 taxiways were missing
* Fixed issues reading P3Dv4 runway data
* Fixed error during database build left the dialog open.
* Added LM Prepar3d managed Simconnect library
* DotNet dependency is now v4.6.2
* Added user defined map provider, for private servers etc.
Contact
-------
tim@tasoftware.co.uk