Complete Guide to LittleNavMap - the best free flight planning software for Flight Simulator

A comprehensive, and fairly exhaustive tour of the functions and features of LittleNavMap - the fantastic free navigation and flight planning application for Flight Simulator, X-Plane and Prepar3D.
#msfs #littlenavmap #navigation #flying #aviation #guide #beginner #howto #tutorial #functions #features #planning #flightplan #flight #aviation #flightsimulator #simulator #microsoft #asobo #xplane

[@JMHTruck32005]

Am I the only one that took 2 1/2 hours to watch this? He would demonstrate and I would do it in LNM? Jonathan I can't thank you for all you do for us...👍👍👍❤❤❤

[@jonbeckett]

It was a bit of a mammoth video - and the app has changed quite a bit since I originally recorded it.

[@CAL1MBO]

I am getting back into MSFS after spending 2 years playing DCS. This tutorial has helped me flight plan better than I ever have before. I am absolutely shocked this software is completely free, it's fantastic. Thank you for this excellent tutorial Jonathan

[@john-bi3sb]

Many thanks Jonathan for such a detailed guide on using LNM, if only I had discovered your videos previously, would have saved the hair going grey overnight. Thanks again Jonathan

[@mathcom]

You can set the home view (a larger area) too from the same submenu where the center mark setting is - 33:55 Thank you for the great tutorial!

[@BPond7]

Jonathan, I’m late to the party, but thanks for such an awesome and informative video! After about five minutes, you had covered all the stuff I knew, and from there, I just kept learning more and more! Another thing I appreciate a great deal about Little Navmap, is that this is what proper PC software used to look like! No ribbon menu to hide 90% of the functions at a time, icons that are actually iconic, instead of useless monochrome stick figures, keyboard shortcuts galore, and well organized right-click menus with a purpose! This is how it’s done!

[@marianostarosiliz]

This video desirves way more likes. I usually fly for fun, not seriously so i don’t even follow any paths or approaches. I wanted to learn more on how to fly more professionally and came here. Great work mate!

[@jonbeckett]

Cheers

[@kyledarrenhanson]

Wow, excellent detailed yet easy to follow tutorial and help understand things in general for a beginner sim pilot.

[@soundboy605]

Thanks for a fantastic video and I so think it worth around £10 so if you don't mind I add a link to support his work cos I'm new to flight planning and I love it and you video many thanks to you good sir I do hope to see you at high Wycombe airfield in the summer cos I'm 3 miles north of Heathrow p.s keep up the good work 👏 🙌

[@RevReese]

Another excellent learning video! I watched your older one before and now this one, so i finally feel ready to dig in to LNM a bit more! Thank you!

[@khelgarathalan1723]

Literally the best tutorial I've ever sat through on KZbin. This was so needed. Thanks very much!

[@tadcooper5835]

Great video describing this great free program. It won't hurt to add that a little contribution to the developer, for all his time and effort, would probably be very appreciated by him!

[@jonbeckett]

Absolutely :)

[@KT-ow1sz]

Did it again, Jonathan !! I was wondering if this was worth adding for X-Plane 12...and I guess I'm back with the band again !! LET'S TURN IT UP TO 11 !! WOOHOO !! ( Thanks mate ! )😎

[@igordmitriev7211]

Thanks for the guide! I actually flew that Italian alps VFR plan (a little modified so that its all the time over water and valleys sneaking between the hills) It was my first planned VFR flight after the training ones and it was amazing.

[@michaeldawson4082]

Are you a teacher in real life> If not, you should be. You make it so simple

[@jonbeckett]

I'm not :) Real teachers are amazing people.

[@michaeldawson4082]

Brother, I have learned so much from you. Especially your videos on little nav map. Keep up the good work....@@jonbeckett

[@stefanellerbrock986]

Wow just incredible the way you presented this fantastic tutorial in such detail. I only spent a day with your tutorial, watching and stopping it along the way whilst I was trying all the features on my new installation of Little Navmap 2.8.12. I would never have reached a level of competence, with this fantastic free software program, without your excellent tutorial, in merely one day.

[@jonbeckett]

I need to update it! LittleNavMap has changed quite a bit :)

[@AKSaleh.Official]

Amazing app .. amazing guide. Excellent job.

[@arpitroy627]

Thanks for taking the time to explain this Jon!!! You're awesome!

[@CessSim]

Metar readout at 15:29. Brilliant !! I never knew it had this and always used to search elsewhere for VFR weather information....Thanks heaps !!

[@dicko2u279]

Quality tutorial thank you for your time and effort and a clearer view on how LittleNavMaps works.

[@greglarUK]

Thank you so much for sharing this Tutorial, excellent resource, much appreciated. 👍

[@pappinr]

LOVE this! Going to start using it as a preferred flight planning and tracking tool. Thank you!

[@roysquires9486]

Nice clear instructions as usual. Thanks Jonathan!

[@jonbeckett]

You're welcome !

[@dannym8149]

Thanks so much for this. Was really lost into how to start doing vfr properly without just aimlessly flying around. Hero!

[@RevNicholasJonsson]

Hey Jonathan, This is THE most excellent tutorial on LittleNavMap I've come across. Thank you for all the work you've done on this!! 😄👍🏼

[@jonbeckett]

You're welcome :)

[@mccarthywatch]

This was incredibly helpful to me! Thank you very much for taking the time to create this video!

[@skinnyTheCat]

Incredible tutorial and presentation of this amazing program! Thank you Jonathan for all the great great videos you make. Not to mention your wonderful virtual airline online app! So much fun! Take Care & stay Safe!

[@jonbeckett]

Cheers :)

[@bobhatcher5505]

Great Tutorial Jonathan, thanks but please make your mouse bigger and change its colour. Can't follow it

[@jonbeckett]

I need to do a new LittleNavMap video soon - it's changed quite a lot (lots of new functionality!)

[@roberthatcher2773]

@@jonbeckett Thanks for reply Jonathan. I look forward to new video. Thanks for all you do!

[@GumperVanLier]

Great tutorial. I didn't realize all that Little Navmap could do. Thank you, Jonathan.

[@jonbeckett]

You're welcome :)

[@yams900]

So true, using Little Nav Map every day ! Beta version is good, Export to Simbrief is my favourite new function

[@CessSim]

very nicely presented Jonathan. Has greatly improved my knowledge of LittleNavMap. Many thanks for taking the time to do this.....

[@jonbeckett]

Glad it was helpful!

[@grahamdauphin8824]

Thanks for a great guide to this superb program. Hard to believe that something so good is still free, the developer must invest many hours in this software.

[@jonbeckett]

He accepts donations :)

[@JohannesTondeur]

Although I have bien usine little navmap for à while, I still learned some more interesting features thank You very much 👍

[@pengilton]

Looks like an excellent tool. And your tutorial is amazing! You explained every little feature and now I have an idea what is going on. I might combine SimBrief with LittleNavMap when I start to fly the FBW A320neo. Thank you!

[@jimbo4377]

Jonathan this video is fantastic. It has showed me how to use little nav map in a very easy user friendly way. Well done and keep up the good work. ❤

[@lucvoeltzel5577]

Thank you Jonathan for spending the time to explain this very powerful programme. I particularly like the possibility to navigate on airports parkings with slots clearly indicated. A very useful option when using Vatsim with ground controllers. The entire programme is amazing and it is free!!

[@jonbeckett]

It really is great - be sure to go tip the developer :)

[@stefaancappelle7527]

Thanks for this very informative session into Little navmap. I always kinda left it aside since the first look is quite overwhelming, but it’s actually pretty Logic and straightforward when you look at it. Will start using it from now on, most of my flying though is bushplanes.

[@bobwestwood7824]

Fantastic teaching thank you I have learnt so much from this and will go back to it as my confidence grows.

[@jonbeckett]

Glad it was helpful!

[@AEmmerson35]

Thx Jonathan, didnt realise allllll the tools available in LittleNavMap. Its a brilliant sim'er nav tool. 👍

[@jonbeckett]

Happy to help!

[@mobiushelitime]

Very informative and a well put together vid. Thumbs Up!

[@leseur6675]

Hi JB thanks for all your time and work on this tutorial I will keep it and use it as my reference, for I now realize how little I know about LNM. All the best LeSeur.

[@jonbeckett]

You're welcome :)

[@JohanRzymski]

I have had msfs2020 since it released and basically just flew around no following any rules. Lately i have got into understanding a lot more and this video helps a lot. top work.

[@jonbeckett]

You're welcome :)

[@ucdbnxt7318]

Great planning tool. I sent Alex 100 bux and others should donate as well...

[@Snailmale7]

I smashed the like button Soo fast

[@jonbeckett]

Haha

[@SpaceWolfHudson]

Great tutorial!

[@51im]

Very informative and helpful video. Thanks.

[@jonbeckett]

You're welcome :)

[@GruffLyric]

Excellent video. Really appreciate your efforts.

[@jonbeckett]

Thanks a lot!

[@antoniomaruge8218]

Great video. This is also the most underrated add on in flight sim. I been using littlenav map for years. Just love it.

[@jonbeckett]

Couldn't agree more!

[@Totontlis]

Thanks a lot for this very detailed guide. It helped me a lot to understand LNM.

[@jonbeckett]

You're welcome :)

[@johnb.3655]

This video is a “Gem”. Thank you Jonathan..!!

[@jonbeckett]

No problem :)

[@stevenkirkpatrick2917]

Excellent tutorial. I'm flying MSFS on xbox and hoping that littlenavmap will be integrated with the xbox one day

[@oliviera1246]

Excellent ! Thanks

[@capitancairlblandford5785]

EXCELLENT tutorial mate... Great Job!!!!!

[@jonbeckett]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@markscars1069]

Cheers for this JB. Been using this extensively since one of your early videos where you first showed it. I agree it’s a fab bit of software. I only today discovered the logbook function 😀 And need to play with the Simbrief integration. Will drop the dev a few quid at some point. Seems the fair thing to do.

[@jonbeckett]

Great to hear!

[@dream_787_liner4]

This is fantastic.... Cudos to you, well done and thank you.

[@jonbeckett]

Many thanks!

[@keithlillis7962]

Another excellent Tutorial. I am completely new to Little NavMap and this has helped a lot 🙂

[@jonbeckett]

Great to hear!

[@707liner8]

Excellent video, thanks for puttig it together. I didn't realise LNM had so much functionality, so I'm keen to give this a real good go and see if there's then a reason why I'd go to a Navigraph subscription. Thanks again!

[@jonbeckett]

The only real reason for Navigraph is the plates.

[@debho2002]

Excellent tutorial! In general I always appreciate your instructional technique in all your videos. May I make one suggestion. Adjust your mouse cursor appearance in your computer settings so your cursor is more visible as you move it around the screen, i.e. make it bolder and perhaps even change the color to red or orange. I often find myself hunting for where you have moved your cursor.

[@jonbeckett]

It's because I'm in 4K...

[@woodyw9798]

@@jonbeckett That doesnt alter the validity of the suggestion! I concur - adjusting the curser is just common sense and would mkae it a LOT easier to follow these videos.

[@kevinaltizer]

Awesome video Jonathan! Thanks!

[@jonbeckett]

Glad you liked it!

[@mikecoffee100]

Finally a Complete Guide Thank You

[@jonbeckett]

No problem!

[@theruthlessharmonies7154]

Thanks for your video and your channel!

[@jonbeckett]

Welcome!

[@stu3tristan9x9]

Thank you Jonathan, great video

[@jonbeckett]

Very welcome

[@FernandoCosta-mo7of]

Hi Jonathan. Thank you again. I tried ""Multi Export Flightplan Options" to export the flight plans to the PMDG 737 and it works very well. Just needed to change the path to 736 since I only have the 737-600. Thank you. I still have to learn a lot; occasionally I get missing legs and I don`t know what am I doing wrong.

[@jonbeckett]

That could be down to AIRAC differences. Your aircraft has a database of waypoints - Simbrief also has a database of waypoints - if they differ, it causes issues :) Navigraph solves that for you, but it costs money.

[@KT-ow1sz]

Thanks Jonathan for another sterling piece of 'How To' again ! (Loved the 'tail dragger' 'How To' by the way !). Bonne chance Jonathan, et merci ! p.s. Can you explain 'Brexit' in your next video ? ( Ha ha ha ! x. )

[@jonbeckett]

Brexit = British people deciding they had enough of being told what to do by beaurocrats 500 miles away. Unfortunately they didn't realise there would be consequences :)

[@ronstuveling]

Thanks for the tutorial.

[@jonbeckett]

You're welcome!

[@darshodaddelt]

appreciate the video. I use this all the time but I learned several new things from your video !

[@jonbeckett]

Glad it was helpful!

[@botchi1]

Thank you so very much

[@heinb7]

Thanks for the video

[@jonbeckett]

No problem!

[@paulsmith9841]

Great Tutorial Jonathan, how do you flick between MSFS and Littlenavmap? Alt-Tab? or is there a better way

[@FernandoCosta-mo7of]

Hi Jonathan. Thank you very much for your excellent video. I had LNM installed for a while and never got to explore it because I found it intimidating. Thank you. Just one detail that I have not been able to achieve yet; I have the PMDG 737 and when exporting a flight plan from LNM to Simbrief some information is lost particularly about the departure and arrival procedures. It is a pity that LNM does not export the flight pans directly to the PMDG folder and in its own format. So the need to go via Simbrief.

[@jonbeckett]

As of the more recent versions of LittleNavMap, it CAN export directly to the PMDG aircraft. In the File menu, click on "Multi Export Flightplan Options" :)

[@FernandoCosta-mo7of]

@@jonbeckett Hi Jonathan. Thank you for your reply.

[@stevenjarman176]

In another video you were explaining the GPS 430 (I think) and saying that the OBS button doesn't work. The OBS is the Orbits button and if you're in GPS mode with a flightplan entered, it will put you in a holding pattern at the next waypoint. At least that's what it does on the default GPS500 on FSX

[@jonbeckett]

They fixed it :)

[@jeffreyb9613]

Always learn so much from your videos. You place a lot of time and effort into helping fellow simmers and it is much appreciated. I noticed the download for transmitter is no longer available as if 1/25/2024. Has this moved or not supported any longer?

[@jonbeckett]

It's available to download from Github - I'll update the page on flightsim.to

[@squid11160]

class! cheers!

[@EDCtexan]

I like the option I know I can go this far what airports I can get to sometimes its hard to figure out where to fly to

[@gordonc5354]

Fantastic, thank you, now I get what it can do. Presumably when LNM was launched it was supposed to be little and so really quick, as it has grown (as software always does!!) should it be renamed GreatNavMap?

[@jonbeckett]

Glad it helped!

[@marcoprystupa9981]

question can i import simbrief flightplan into little nav map

[@Chris-il9mf]

So to clarify this has VFR sectional charts for vfr flights? I saw it in the map menu in the video. Is this the FAA version (United States)or LNM version? is it world wide coverage? I have Foreflight for real flying and use it for MSFS if I'm in the US, but I only have coverage for the US. Too expensive to have world coverage just for simming. Was thinking on getting this for the US and for the rest of the world for MSFS. Great overview by the way!

[@jonbeckett]

It has them "unofficially" for the US, yes :) You have to add them into it by googling how to do it. I'm not going to cover how :)

[@antoniomaruge8218]

You can create a flight plan with the MSFS map and save it to your pc…Then you can load it into Littlenav man.

[@jonbeckett]

Yep - you can do it the other way around too.

[@BartBochenski]

Janathan thank you for a wonderful intro to LittleNav - However, I do have a question; when I uploaded the flight path to MSF it tracked the flight, but the planes path was quite a bit off to the right side (the plane I was using Cessna 182)

[@jonbeckett]

That will be down to the 182 if anything.

[@rymdskrotet]

Any idea how you could have the map window in front of the FS2020, and still be able to press keyboard buttons to for ex lower gear in FS? If I only have it "on top of" the FS (in fullscreen), I cant press any buttons on the keyboard.

[@jonbeckett]

You can't. MSFS requires the focus for the keyboard to operate.

[@DerrenNesbitt-ji7li]

Regarding no alt' given for entering glideslope: You said - if you pull up information on the airport; however hovering over EGLF no alt' is given to enter glideslope; click 'show information', only airport EGLF, and under ILS 1 GS DMV IFNB clicked - no alt' is given to enter glideslope - all one gets is glideslop 3 degrees. Alt' given to enter glideslop is as essential as freequency for the ILS. Tried replying to your email but 'address not found.' is given. Best Derren

[@jonbeckett]

If you do the math, 3 degrees over 8 miles comes out at about 2500ft - but remember that's above airfield elevation - not sea level. So you need to add the airfield elevation to 2500 to get a ballpark figure.

[@soundboy605]

Many thanks but can it also get me to and from the stands from cold start to shut down?

[@o.s.racing]

Great tutorial and I'm working through it. Do you happen to have a link to the CSV that you use for user points? I found a UK VRP CSV file that might be enough but can't find the file referenced on the video for the points of interest

[@jonbeckett]

I got it from FlightSim.To

[@o.s.racing]

Hi thanks I did manage to find it there but took a bit of searching

[@keimahane]

Do you recommend having/using Navigraph navdata with littlenavmap? I do not think I need the full navigraph package but would like updated navdata.

[@chrispurkiss1491]

Another fine tutorial which will help me no end. I have a question however, when I try to zoom into the map it suddenly shows red details like airport areas (not sure how else to describe it) what do I need to do to be able to zoom into the map better so I see runways etc. as shown in your 2:10 timeline Thanks RESOLVED

[@jonbeckett]

:) It's the sectors.

[@LightsAcapella]

When I entered this: KIAH/15L N0466F310 MMUGS4 GUSTI DCT AWDAD AWDAD1 KMSY/02 it didn't actually insert the departure runway path for 15L, only showed a direct line to the first SID "waypoint". Had to manually choose 15L MMUGS4 in departure procedures. What gives?

[@jacko-te6wd]

Thanks!

[@jonbeckett]

You are welcome

[@johnmooney9742]

Amazing tutorial Jonathan! Just one question: I can't seem to get my airplane icon to show up at the departure airport or show it along the flight path. I have MSFS 2020 running so I don't know why it's not appearing. Any thoughts?

[@jonbeckett]

You have to connect LittleNavMap to the simulator sometimes. It's in the Simulator menu, I think ?

[@tonybrown586]

Hi Jonathan , I am on my second viewing of this video and I notice that in the section referring to search (12.30 approx) there are 40k plus airports on your version when this video was recorded, but on my version (3.0.6) there are only 14k ish,. When you searched for London City I did the same and it was unable to find the choe=sen one ?? am i missing something . Cheers Tony

[@MarcelBooij]

LittleNavmap question: I made a flightplan including a destination approach (with transition & ILS). W hen I load it into the C172 G1000 NXI, the approacht leg is missing, just a straight line from the last WP to the airport center. How to get the approach showing and active in the G1000 on final?

[@jonbeckett]

Program it into the G1000 :) Look at the PROC button.

[@MarcelBooij]

Thnx 👍

[@eds5709]

Hi Jonathan, thanks for this extended overview of LNM. I must say I always learn new options I didn't know about. But recently I encountered something strange. I planned a flight in the PMDG737 (thanks to another of your tutorials) and used LNM to chose the SID's. I found out that the versions between the PMDG-FMC and LNM weren't up tp date. In other words LNM showed me an older SID than the PMDG FMC did. Is there a way to update the LNM Airarc(?) data, without having to subscribe to Navigraph (costs 10 euro per month)?

[@jonbeckett]

LNM gets it's data both from the simulator (via the scenery menu), and Navigraph. PMDG ship the 737 with it's own AIRAC database, which is probably a little different than the sim, and therefore LNM. If you have Navigraph, you can use the data manager app to bring them all in line with one another :)

[@eds5709]

@@jonbeckett Thanks for you reply. Does the Beta-version of LNM include the latest AIRAC version? I have a subscription on Navigraph but it seems I have to buy a monthly / yearly subscription to be able to update to the latest AIRAC version. To be honest 10euro per month is a bit expensive for these updates. So for now I think I'll just go "that way >>>" to reach my destination airport ;-)

[@gpbarth]

@@eds5709 If you pay on an annual basis, Navigraph isn't as bad. It's 75.90 EU, and it's worth it just for the chart service. And it works together with LNM.

[@jonbeckett]

@@eds5709 LNM doesn't come with any scenery data - it loads it from the simulator, or a navigraph database.

[@eds5709]

@@jonbeckett Thanks for your added reply. I noticed LNM pulls it's data from FS2020 (or Navigraph). I updated the AIRAC cycle and it all seems in balance again. So back to flying for yours truly and take some notes on some YT tutorials I wanted to watch. Thanks again, good-luck with the channel and see you next time ;-)

[@BillSmith-rx9rm]

So I open little nav map, I create a flight plan and save it. Then I open flight simulator 2020 and on the home screen where you set your origin and destination, I click on the load from computer button and select the flight plan I just saved. But nothing happens in flight simulator. Isn't it supposed to load itself up into flight simulator automatically and into the GPS and autopilot settings? Am I missing a step?

[@BravoAlfaZulu]

Excellent, Thank you. Can anyone find the Google maps download for LNM? I can't find it anywhere, seems it was hosted previously on avsim but the post has been removed

[@jonbeckett]

I literally just searched for "LittleNavMap Google Maps" and got a page full of results with various downloads :)

[@alexf2705]

I have a huge collection of downloaded charts in PDF format that I use for my IFR flights, I can read them in Aivlasoft's EFB v2 (EFB app that I'm currently using) thanks to the "Documents" function, with which I can open any PDF file directly in a new tab inside the application. Is there a similar function in LNM too? I haven't found anything of the sort. I can't fly without my charts easily accessible. Is there anything I can do to see them inside the LNM Program instead of using an external PDF viewer? Thanks

[@jonbeckett]

LNM is not Navigraph. It has no plate viewing functionality.

[@alexf2705]

@@jonbeckett That's unfortunate. I'll have to stick with Aivlasoft's program.

[@garryscanlan235]

Installed v2.8.12 and I see the OpenStreet map theme showing by default but when I zoom in I do not see the map detail as in the vid. Instead it shows a very colourful map which shows airpaces etc in red,orange, blue etc. Any idea what is happening here please?

[@jonbeckett]

You need to turn on the ATC sectors. The buttons are right above the map.

[@garryscanlan235]

@@jonbeckett Thank you. Worked a treat!

[@jonasrc9113]

nice job, where can you find your cost index when making IFR flights?

[@jonbeckett]

To get a cost index you'll have to generate a flight plan over at Simbrief - it will be in the OFP.

[@jonasrc9113]

Ok thx :)

[@chrisdorsey9955]

Great video Jonathan, I just downloaded LIttle Navmap and when I zoom in to see the outline of the airport I am unable to see it as well as right click to set that as my departure airport. Ive tried to toggle some settings but having issues...how do I fix this? Thanks in advance! :)

[@jonbeckett]

right click on the icon of the airport - or failing that, do a search for the airport, and right click on the search result :)

[@rjkanga]

When is this version going to be released? Looking forward to all the new functions.

[@jonbeckett]

No idea - you can download the beta for free now from the LNM homepage.

[@rjkanga]

Managed to download from the LNM homepage. Your great video will certainly help in a big way. Thanks.

[@cyborgbadger1015]

I read on a forum that LittleNavMap was better for VFR whilst SimBrief was better for iFR?

[@user-bj6mv3ty1x]

Hey, wonderful video! A small question, how to use this map? I can't find other maps instead of Open street map

[@jonbeckett]

Search google for Google Maps LittleNavMap and you'll find the unofficial add-on.

[@user-bj6mv3ty1x]

@@jonbeckett thanks a lot

[@mic83hele]

Hi, this works only if you have installed MSFS on the PC? I'm using MSFS on my XBOX,thanks

[@jonbeckett]

Yes - LittleNavMap is PC only.