Navigraph, LittleNavMap and Simbrief Integration in the FlyByWire A320 in Microsoft Flight Simulator

There seems to be a common misconception that the Simbrief integration in various aircraft in Microsoft Flight Simulator is a magic bullet of sorts that will program an aircraft for you. In this video I explain why this is wrong, and what you need to know both to get the Simbrief integration working, and to finish off filling in a basic flight plan. I also talk a little about Navigraph and LittleNavMap along the way.
#msfs #simbrief #airbus #navigraph #flightsimulator #atsu #aoc #automation #integration #flight #aviation #aircraft #howto #tutorial #littlenavmap #navigation #planning #flightplan

[@mikecoffee100]

The English always seem to be better Teachers Thank You

[@jonbeckett]

Cheers :)

[@SimulationAviator]

Great video! Thank you so much! Before watching this I'd had a lot of trouble trying to do full flights in the FlyByWire a320 and this has explained simbrief flight planning perfectly, now I understand the MCDU way more and I have much more fun in the FlyBuWire! I really appreciate all your work on instructional, review and tutorial videos! Keep up your great work 😃

[@jonbeckett]

You're welcome!

[@MultiSquashman]

Hi Johnathan I just want to say a big thank you for all your instructional videos. I’ve learnt so much from your guides especially little Nav map and your guide to how to fly the FBW A320. I never miss one of your renditions. Once again a big thank you and I look forward to your future presentations in 2023

[@jonbeckett]

You are very welcome

[@DaveBrown1]

I have been struggling with this for ages. Thanks so much, for your excellent, clear and concise explanation.

[@FredrickII]

Thanks for this Jonathan. I was really struggling with the fact that Simbrief was only loading the middle of the route without the SID and the STAR. Your video shows how to integrate Simbrief into the FMC. Very well done!

[@tipp55]

Excellent, clear and concise instruction. I've subscribed to Jonathan. One of the best tutorials on Simbrief and the workings of the MCDU that I've come across.

[@jonbeckett]

Glad it helped!

[@irishbloke99]

Awesome Tutorial! Finally using the FBW320 with simbrief something i never thought was possable as other videos assume you know so much. Thanks.

[@jonbeckett]

Glad I could help!

[@Tay12345]

Wow thanks so much, I used to put in all the waypoints manually and then I just started using MSFS's routes that you can select from the globe to save time, but now I can fly proper routes! Thanks!

[@Paul-td8qs]

The only thing I would add to this is that Simbrief doesn't always give you the best route as first choice. By clicking on the "View More Routes" bar you can see a number of alternatives (usually including invalid routes too, for some reason). I often find a route offering me a more direct route to the destination. Excellent tutorial, Jonathan.

[@BurnleyNuts]

Yeah I completely agree with this, the auto generated routes on SimBrief are often really poor. and just feel very unrealistic, I fly the Citation CJ4 regularly now and have paid Navigraph and use Simbrief to import the flight plans and I'm really glad I've watched Johnathan's video because at times I felt that I was missing something but clearly I'm not. What I tend to do now is do a basic plan with SimBrief but then use Navigraph to properly plan the route using the charts for departure and arrivals with approaches etc as per my own preference of a route so on the top line of Navigraph I have all the way points and approaches. Then I simply type them into the SimBrief route box which hardly takes any time really. Then I validate the route to check it and then export it so once in the aircraft it's ready to download from Simbrief. I also feel reassured now that I know the whole plan often doesn't install in the aircraft as again I thought I might have missed something, but ironically I actually like entering the departure and arrival parts, I don't want the thing to be completely automated, I like the feeling of having to know how to plan and enter a route directly into the aircraft as for me personally it's part of the realism. Some people seem to want to fly a 747 under the Tyne Bridge and then crash it into the Stadium of Light but for me this learning about planning and programming the flight is as exciting as the flight itself. I think it comes from having to use a lot of imagination with flight sim back in the 80s/90's. :) Hopefully Johnathan reads this too.

[@tonymortyr]

Very good explanation, much easier to understand the integration now.

[@jonbeckett]

Glad it helped!

[@GumperVanLier]

Excellent and informative video. I learned a lot on this one. You explain things well.

[@jonbeckett]

Glad it was helpful!

[@markscars1069]

Been toying with the idea of upgrading to a paid Navigraph account, and this demonstrates the benefit. I’m already impressed with the software having started to use it in the last month or so, so will now be going paid subscription.

[@BurnleyNuts]

I would do it if you can afford it as a bit of a luxury in these current times. I subscribed last year and I think it's well worth it if you love the sim and flight planning especially. Then it's worth every penny towards the realism aspect. You feel like you are properly planning route and learning more about real life flying unlike the simplistic automated routes in sim. For me I love attempting to be as realistic as possible so Navigraph gives you that and the charts are superb, plus as demonstrated in Johnathan's video the software allows you to overlay your aircraft position on the charts too which is easily brought up in game en route too.

[@brainflight7144]

As always, an excellent introduction to the problem in a presentation that I can understand well even with my rudimentary knowledge of English

[@jonbeckett]

Glad it was helpful!

[@wilga80]

Thank you. Very informative. 👍

[@yams900]

Good work Jon (as usual) !

[@jonbeckett]

Thanks again!

[@conlethbyrne4809]

I have navigraph deluxe version. Haven't checked lately but even with this, I cannot get the maps. Saying all that you have shown me something I did not know & appreciate the tip, you are very kind. This is an excellent video for beginners. I wish I saw it before now. Slainte

[@jonbeckett]

If you have deluxe you should be able to download the software from the navigraph website.

[@GumperVanLier]

For each plane that has the Navigraph option, you must get permission to connect it to the plane. Find chart inside the plane's aviation menu, click it, and Navigraph's website will open where you sign in and give it permission.

[@conlethbyrne4809]

That is a good tip, so good, I wrote it down, just in case. lol Much appreciated, Gumper & Slainte

[@conlethbyrne4809]

You were correct, it had lapsed. Much appreciated, Jonathan Slainte

[@conlethbyrne4809]

@Jonathan Beckett I wrote it all down, & thank's for the advice Slainte, Con

[@KimFieldstad]

Outstanding job of explaining this topic. Your selection of arrival was a little fast. You could do a full video on selecting Rwy, arrival and approach in the Airbus. As a Airbus pilot this can be very frustrating to most people and requires some understanding of charts and the mcdu.

[@jonbeckett]

I'll do another at some point - thanks for the feedback :)

[@antoniomaruge8218]

Thank you for this video🙏🏽🙏🏽

[@jonbeckett]

No problem 😊

[@antikuo9173]

Great video!

[@Paul-td8qs]

Having had (yet another!) "senior moment" I completely forgot how to reconnect Simbrief to the A320. Once more I find myself thanking you, Jonathan, for taking pity on a very old pilot and making things so simple. One might be forgiven for asking why it is MSFS2020 delete all the linkages every time they do an update. I am sure they must have a committee of folk with the sole task of sitting in a darkened room working on how to complicate a flight-simmers enjoyment of their programs.

[@jonbeckett]

Funnily enough, I have never had the SIM erase anything.

[@NR.2023]

Very well made tutorial ✅👌🏻👍🏻😊

[@jonbeckett]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@KaitlynnUK]

Nice video, I more or less had to work out all of this for myself, so its great to see a tutorial to help others. :D BTW I see you recorded this on 5th Jan and I hate to point out that your AIRAC in LNM is out of date :p We've been on cycle 2213 for about a week :)

[@jonbeckett]

I haven't updated yet :) I had to work it all out too- which is why I recorded the video.

[@KaitlynnUK]

@@jonbeckett I felt bad mentioning it, as I didnt want to come across as an 'Armchair Annie' :)

[@jonbeckett]

@@KaitlynnUK There are almost always inconsistencies and mistakes in my videos - I always record in one take, and never edit - it keeps things relatable and transparent (unlike the legion of edited to death story tellers out there) :)

[@KaitlynnUK]

@@jonbeckett this is why I like your videos, they are very honest

[@Rookblunder]

thanks Jonathan for your videos. I've been using Simbrief and Navigraph for the last 2-3 weeks and I have a question I hope you can answer. I like to use Navigraph to start my flight plan then copy it in Simbrief. The PMDG 737-800 takes the Navigraph file when I plug it in. When I intitiate everything, the data are not the same as the data in the Simbrief document. Am I missing something ? At first I was manually entering the Simbrief info, but started using the initiator for quicker input. But I don't understand why the data would be different.

[@CaribbeanSimPilot]

Great tutorial! Any idea why in LNM my select use Navigraph would be greyed out? It looks like select automatically is checked and I cant change it.

[@DCSSicario]

thank you

[@BanditAviation]

I was about to ask in the flybywire discord about the little navmap and you have provided the answer already right here in this video. Thank you!! Also I notice the changes in the little navmap the old version of the ICAO that uses 3 letters of the original regional airport. I won't name mine bur you get the point. For example ATL (Atlanta Jackson Intl ap) pretty much like 3 letters. The simbrief won't recognize the ATL for the route. So you have to add the letter to it for simbrief to work. So I added KATL and when you do that? It'll accept and you can reanalyze the route. It's a simple fix and I can get use to that for my hometown regional airport. I will be doing some practice the A320NX and learn the FMS. I'm gonna take 1 step at a time

[@seattleaviator]

Great video.. I think not importing the SIDs and STARs from simbrief (or from the ACARS and dispatch office in the real world) is intentional as runways and SIDS can change during your preflight and some crews choose to depart without completing the STARs and landing runway until in the air and closer to destination..

[@jonbeckett]

Yes. This is a subject I'm going to be addressing in some upcoming videos about flight planning. There are a huge number of people playing with Flight Simulator that see it as a game - versus another group that see it as a simulation. Each group think the software should help or not help in all sorts of different ways. Those of us with a little more exprience perhaps of how aviation really works are also perhaps more amenable to what is required of us - but by the same token, some people just want to know how few button clicks they can get away with. I'll try to cover it off for both groups - perhaps helping those just starting out or playing for fun, and those that want to learn more.

[@jacobplayzgames9276]

Hello I have a question do you have to have the navigraph charts in order to import a littlenav map flight plan into sim brief into the aircraft because its not importing into the aircraft for me I don't have the monthly subscription for the charts is that the problem?

[@peterfinkill8098]

Hi Jonathan. I'm studying Flight Planning now and I've got a Full Navigraph Account and Simbrief Account. It does seem a little bit 'Clunky' in places but I'm sure Navigraph will get there eventually. I am having a bit of trouble getting the SIDs and STARs to work properly in Navigraph but I'm experimenting and will get there in the end! I've re-watched your video a couple of times to help me understand the whole procedure(s). I'm using the PMDG 737-800 in MSFS2020. What I would like to know is where does LittleNavMap come in? WHat does it add to Flight Planning that Navigraph and Simbrief can't do? You don't explain that in this video and I am interested to know if I need to understand how to use LittleNavMap as well as Navigraph and Simbrief. Many thanks for your help and your excellent video tutorials. Regards Peter

[@jonbeckett]

I've ended up entering flight plans by hand (i.e. typing them out) - Navigraph then interprets them.

[@peterfinkill8098]

Hi. Great video. You made things very clear. With regard to the SIDs/STARs in Simbrief, can you not just use the 'Route Finder' part of Simbrief which has an option 'Find SID/STAR' to put then into your route?

[@jonbeckett]

The problem is Simbrief does not communicate the SID and STAR to the aircraft (if you're using Simbrief integration). You have to configure it in the FMC yourself.

[@paulbidwell6395]

Good video, thanks. I had figured most of this out by trial and error, and you fortunately pointed out the fact that Little Navmap and Simbrief use old AIRAC databases, which can be frustrating when you are in the MCDU. It seems if you activate ATC, it doesn't look at the MCDU info. you enter. Maybe I need to test more, but it seems to ignore the import of SimBrief into the MCDU. Any thoughts on how to get the ATC to align with the flight plan in the MCDU?

[@jonbeckett]

It's not ignoring it - the simbrief import will never import the full plan - it totally ignores SIDs and STARs and always has - and any runway choices, or anything like that. I think the main thing here is people expect the simbrief import to do a lot more than it does - all it really provides is the en-route waypoints - and leaves discontinuities in the flight plan at each end.

[@RevReese]

Great video as always thank you! I have a quick question. If I no longer have an active Navigraph subscription but have LNM and other tools updated to the latest airac I have access to, can I still export those flight plans into fs20? I have airac 2209 latest and lnm seems to be happy using this but surely fs20 will show errors as it uses its own airac data not navigraph? I just want lnm, simbrief and fs20 all on the same page but without an active subscription for the moment. Thank you for any clarity you can bring!

[@jonbeckett]

If you still have the Navigraph data in your community folder, that's not going to go away because you've stopped paying for it. If the folder isn't there, you won't have the up-to-date AIRAC.

[@RevReese]

@jonbeckett Thanks for the clarification, now I am clear on it! I will keep using 2209 then and maybe update again at a later date.

[@pbr2805]

What about using the Zibo in X-plane 11. It is a bit different on the FMC, etc. Any advice on this setup to show on the cockpit tablet?

[@jonbeckett]

I haven't had xplane installed for a couple of years!

[@stonkeykong2879]

Question for you, I’ve followed all of your steps, I’ve inputted the departure and destination data as well, however on my flight plan, I see 2 discontinuity keys and when I try to clear them it tells me “not allowed”. How come?

[@jonbeckett]

If a discontinuity is proceeded by a manual or vector step, you'll have to remove that too.

[@GrayShirtGames]

I have run into a problem with LittleNavApp loosing the connection to the Sim a lot lately. Pausing and unpausing the sim fixes it, but it's a PITA. I started using Navigraphs connection for my in-flight tracking.

[@jonbeckett]

Yeah - I've heard a few people saying that - I've not had it happen myself.

[@jeeps7er]

@@jonbeckett Didn't you literally have it happen in this vid, lol?

[@f.lebron265]

I Got lost at 5:40. tablet Turn on With a Menu i can't seem to find non of that, that leads to ATSU/AOC Settings. Im New to the Fenix 320 perhaps Im Rushing Myself but i want to Properly Generate A Flight Plan and Pass It to the Airplane...

[@jonbeckett]

I'll take a look the next time I have it loaded

[@snakeeyes237]

Thank you for this vid. So if I haven't a paid account in simbrief, it will gives A320 FBW missinformation about route? I have been trying to fly but Autopilot won't work and it flies the aircraft in mistaken routes, what may I do to avoid this please? I am using regular simbrief without any navigraph subscription

[@jonbeckett]

It's not misinformation - it's just old information. Yeah - without a navigraph subscription to make the map, simbrief, and simulator agree, you're going to have problems from time to time.

[@SkysimAir]

What am I missing? What is does "Simbrief Integration" mean if you do have to apply / correct / reenter almost anything from the Simbrief flight plan by hand anyway?

[@jonbeckett]

Simbrief gets you the routing - which may be 50 waypoints on a long flight. It depends on the aircraft if the integration pulls in the SID and STAR too.

[@roccobaroccoxtb]

hi, i have a problem, when i type in my username and my id it works , but when i click on the import simbrief data it says no username or id suplide. so what can i do to fix that?

[@ChristopherAalto]

so you either pay for a navigraph account or you cant fly? cause i dont see any alternative

[@roggekamp1]

Thank you, guess I stick to Little NavMap which has the SID, STAR, airport and runway data and gives me full freedom to draw any fancy route I want. LNM export routes to almost all plane designer formats like PMDG, Aerosoft and the others, just as Navigraph does. Why use two programs if you can do it all in one?

[@jonbeckett]

Navigraph has the real-world diagrams - which teach you how to interpret them.

[@roggekamp1]

@@jonbeckett Yes I know, I subscribe to Navigraph

[@chrisloach9658]

Would it be feasible to buy Navigraph for just one month to do a one off update all your stuff? Would you retain access to that particular AIRAC cycle for generating simbrief flightplans?

[@jonbeckett]

Yes. You will retain access. But then when the airac updates again, you're buggered :)

[@chrisloach9658]

@@jonbeckett Is it such a big deal if your data is a bit old? Surely airports don't update their procedures that often?

[@jonbeckett]

@@chrisloach9658 It only becomes an issue if you're doing IFR with a group, or you're on VATSIM :)

[@CorruptWaffl]

I have a problem where the option to input my simbrief ID and the only option is to imput the hoppie one. The simbrief ID option is just not there?????

[@jonbeckett]

That's very odd.

[@hscott4190]

@@jonbeckett on the flight pad in the plane, settings>3rd part options then you will see the option for simbrief ID

[@christofferjornestrand7851]

How do you get the tablet in the plane?

[@jonbeckett]

This is the FlyByWire version of the A320 - not the stock one.

[@diamondmafiamedia9100]

when i GO AND hit request it says no NAVIGRAPH user but i have a navigraph subscription and all of that not sure why its not importing from simbrief

[@jonbeckett]

Have you filled in your navigraph username in the EFB (the tablet) ?

[@diamondmafiamedia9100]

SOLVED!@@jonbeckett

[@impaler_ferhan]

I still dont have the flight plane working after doing all the process i can share screenshots on the discord of the group a320 by flybywire , if you can help there i dont know what is wrong.

[@jonbeckett]

I'm at work today - I'm sure somebody will jump in and help.

[@karmabasedj8184]

Couldnt you just export as pln and that would have automatically updated your MCDU?

[@jonbeckett]

The study level aircraft don't let you import flight plans, and simbrief doesn't completely configure the MCDU or FMC.

[@karmabasedj8184]

@@jonbeckett ahh ok thx

[@How_to_fly320]

But at my init. Page there is no init request

[@jonbeckett]

Are you using the FlyByWire version ?

[@How_to_fly320]

@@jonbeckett yes But as i watched the Video 2times i understand and ist Works thank you verry much

[@user-ir6hi8od6x]

Why i need that?

[@jonbeckett]

Navigraph gives you charts and up-to-date data. Simbrief builds operational flight plans.

[@BigGurk]

i cant see the simbreif username PLEASE HELP

[@jonbeckett]

Visit dispatch.simbrief.com/account - the Alias or Username is listed.

[@smirkyglint5437]

I dont have that tablet there

[@jonbeckett]

Do you have the FlyByWire version of the A320 ?

[@thatguy7085]

I don’t like paying for a subscription… my real naps are under a life time subscription.

[@jonbeckett]

I like subscriptions - you pay for what you use.

[@thatguy7085]

@@jonbeckett I paid a little over $600.00 for life.

[@TheJetJock]

Jesus, its like you are talking to yourself 'ok' sorry wrong page, what have I done...

[@jonbeckett]

I never remove mistakes from videos - that's how people learn. The journey is often more important than the destination.