Flight Plan Editing

[tadow777]

Good Day,

Is there a way you can edit Specify flgiht Details, that has not been flown, due to pc issue  To update the time, you have to delete  flight and create a new one.

Eugene

[peter]

Hi Tadow777,

There probably should be an easier way, but I think you are correct that one essentially has to create a new flight in that case. You can use the same route plan as before, and you can make sure that all details (weights, number of pax, time) are the same using the "flight details" pop-up window in the Administrator's flight dispatcher.

Best,
Peter

[Travis]

Hello Eugene,

There is a technique to do what you ask, and it's never been mentioned (or documented!)... until now.  So neither Peter (nor Dutch) knew about this... until now.

If you need to update your Departure or Arrival times, you begin by opening your flight's _preflight_ file in your text editor of choice... the file is in your \FSCaptain\Data\Manifests\ folder, and it has the filename pattern of this:

[Short airline name]_preflight_[Flight number]_[Destination ICAO].txt

Once you've found your _preflight_ file, you can edit these two lines as you need to change your Departure and Arrival times:

DEPART=10,00
ARRIVE=-1

Time values are entered in "HH,MM" format... and yes, the comma is required.

The value "-1" means to ignore the time if you want an Unscheduled Departure of Arrival.

You may change either or both values as you like.  You may change an Unscheduled time to be Scheduled, or vice-versa.

When you are done, you should save the file.  You would then need to re-dispatch your flight by going back to your Administrator and following these steps:

• Select the same aircraft as you did for your last dispatch.
• Ensure the same Departure Airport from your last dispatch is entered.
• Click the "List Flights" button.
• You should get a message box that asks "Do you want to re-dispatch existing commitment flt 1234 AAAA to BBBB in YYYY?  If so, click Yes".   "1234" is the Flight Number, "AAAA" is the Departure, "BBBB" is the Destination, and "YYYY" is the Aircraft Type.
  
• You should then get a message box that notes something like this:
  
  Data for flight 1234 has been reloaded with the following:
  -No flight plan.
  -Original YYYY aircraft.
  -Original manifest.
  -Original weather.

Click OK, then select your flight plan (if desired) and update the Weather.  If you need to recalculate the Block Time and Block Fuel, you should do so here.  You can also change your Parking position if necessary.

At this point, you can click on View Release to check if your changes are being used to make a new Dispatch Release, and when you're happy you can click Commit to accept your changes.
----------------

I've used this for many years without officially documenting it because of the steps that have to occur outside of the Administrator.

I mostly use it when I want to simulate a real-world flight and I originally don't know the Departure time.  (This happens a lot when trying to simulate flying a sports team - who knows when the game will end?)

I would originally Dispatch a flight on the Date it would be, using the Aircraft the flight would likely use, and the Departure and Destination airports.

Then when the Departure time is known, I would use this technique to update my flight, taking care to check for any last-minute Routing changes, and to update my External Weather file.

I hope this helps.  Please feel free to ask any questions which might help you take advantage.

Best,