New User Hints

[TheBoySmythe]

Good afternoon all.

Mark (or TheBoySmythe) here. New user trying to make the switch across to this wonderful software from LNM.
Primarily an MSFS 2020 GA chap.
I've watched a number of Youtube Videos, and I'm halfway through the user manual.

Wondered if the 'Hive mind' had any 'gotchas' I may stumble across as I get used to the programme - saves me bugging the community for information that is common knowledge!
Also, I seem to spend most of my time in the JF Arrow III and now Turbo Arrow III. Is a profile available anywhere, and if not; is it simple enough to create one myself?

Many thanks in advance

Mark

[tim arnot]

There's no manual for v4 yet, and while the v3 manual does apply most of the time, some things have changed. Aircraft profiles for instance (since you mentioned them) are now part of the  logbook database. They're also more integrated overall: your v speeds for example will show in the PFD popup while you are flying, incorporated into the airspeed indicator.

Plan-G automatically checks for a profile for the aircraft you're flying, and selects it (if there's no profile, it'll create a blank one). On the Logbook ribbon, click "Aircraft List" to see all the aircraft you have flown while connected to the sim. The numbers in the V speed columns will probably be zero. Double-click an aircraft in the list to bring up the Aircraft Profile dialog (this is the same dialog as in v3). At the bottom of the dialog are various controls for moving through  the list, adding, importing, saving changes etc.

Plan-G distinguishes between "aircraft" and "airframes". In Plan-G terms, an aircraft is the type - Piper Arrow, for example, and an airframe is the individual registration/livery - G-OBAK, for example. Plan-G tracks individual airframes, remembering where & when you last used it, how many hours it's flown, how many landings, takeoffs etc.

I've attached a profile for the JF Arrow. As things stand the only distinction between the Arrow and Turbo arrow (in terms of the data that the sim provides through Simconnect) is in the name of the paint. So it isn't possible to have separate profiles right now. But that might change in the future. To use the profile, unzip it to your Documents\Plan-Gv4 Files\Profiles folder (this is a place of convenience, you can really put it anywhere), then Import it from the Aircraft Profile dialog. It'll overwrite any existing profile for the aircraft.

[TheBoySmythe]

Tim,

You're a star; thanks ever so much.

Group flight with a bunch of friends on Wednesday- so this is going to work out wonderfully.

Now all I have to do is wait for work to finish....

Mark

[tim arnot]

For group flights, may I recommend JoinFS -- https://joinfs.net I take part in a group flight every weekend, and wouldn't be without it.

One of the downsides to MSFS right now is that it doesn't broadcast multiplayer traffic to external clients. Which means that you won't see your fellow players in apps such as Plan-G etc, but JoinFS gets around that (with the added bonus that you can have multiplayer flights where every pilot is in a different sim!). But do take note: their site is one of those with big links for adware, and a tiny link that you need to hunt for, for the actual program.

You will need to set multiplayer in MSFS to "off/group only" though, otherwise you'll see doubled-up planes in the sim.

One other tip: when you are on the ground, you can right-click the airport and "Show Airport Diagram". It'll show the airport with the location of your plane plotted on it. It doesn't currently show traffic though.