Module

"Five mouse clicks until you're online, flying."

Welcome to the EUroute Module - a free add-on for Microsoft Flight Simulator that enables you to find high quality flight plan information for your virtual flight. The EUroute Module plugs into our flight plan database (EUroute FPD) to provide you with approximately 7000 routes ready to be flown. Our routes are regularly checked to make sure you get the best possible service.

Introduction to IFR flight planning

A route in IFR flight is a combination of waypoints and airways. For example, route from Hamburg in Germany to Amsterdam Schiphol airport is WSR G10 EEL. It means that your airplane will fly to WSR waypoint (a VOR/DME southeast of Hamburg), then proceed via G10 airway to EEL (another VOR/DME - this time near Schiphol). If you decode the G10 airway between WSR and EEL, there is a number of intermediate waypoints - WSR-EMPIT-DOBAK-EEL. Using airways makes the flight route description shorter - in fact, in most European countries you must follow airways in your flight.

Airways can be used at specific altitudes. In the example shown above, the maximum flight level for G10 airway is FL195 - and if we follow the rule of "west even, east odd" we will see that flight from Hamburg to Amsterdam on G10 may not be executed higher than FL180. This is why EUroute frequently has a number of routes between any two airports - some are suitable for a light aircraft (typical flight level below FL120), some are good for a turboprop (FL200-FL240), and others are designed for a high-altitude jet (FL290 and above).

Routes cannot be simply reversed. In the example of EDDH-EHAM (Hamburg - Amsterdam) you cannot simply fly EEL G10 WSR on your way back. The Amsterdam airport has a set of departure procedures, called SIDs, and flying directly to EEL is not permitted. Your return flight might follow route ANDIK R12 GRONY G105 EEL G10 WSR to finally reach Hamburg. Some routes are one-way, some are mandatory for traffic to a specific airport, and some combinations of routes and airports are not permitted. EUroute simplifies the job of finding the proper route for your flight by giving you access to approximately 7000 routes in our database.

Sometimes you might find that the highest available altitude between two airports is lower than your aircraft most economical flight level. For example, you may not fly EDDM-LOWW (Munich - Vienna) higher than FL270. This is because in real life aviation the are so called altitude caps - maximum flight levels for a specific pair of airports. We strive to be "as real as it gets" - and therefore such altitude limitations are taken into account by EUroute Module.

Preparing for an IFR flight involves more than just finding the route to fly. You need to check destination airport weather to see if you will be able to land. You need to select an alternate airport, the place you will fly to if your primary destination airport is not available for some reason. You need to make sure you have enough fuel - not only for the flight to destination, but also for diversion to alternate, landing approach and final holding fuel. EUroute takes care of that.

Installation instructions

Download the EUroute2004.zip or EUroute2002.zip file (depending on whether you use Flight Simulator 2004 or 2002).
Unzip both EUroute.dll and EUroute.exe into the Modules\ directory in your Flight Simulator main folder.
Start Flight Simulator and check if you have the additional EUroute item in menu.
If you want to run EUroute on a computer without Flight Simulator, simply run EUroute.exe directly.

Please go through the readme.txt file which includes most up-to-date information.

System requirements: EUroute Module has been tested with Windows 2000, Windows XP Home and Windows XP Pro. It has not been tested with Windows 98 and other operating systems. Please keep in mind that the software is provided as-is, with no guarantees whatsoever. Use it at your own risk.

Starting EUroute

When you put EUroute.dll in your Flight Simulator \ Modules folder, it will be loaded by Flight Simulator to show you an additional menu item. This item is used to start EUroute:

Once EUroute Module is started, you will see the registration screen. At this point please note that an Internet connection is required for EUroute to operate. This is because the database is stored on our server, and needs to be accessed every time you want to use the features of EUroute Module. If you don't have a permanent Internet connection, you can open it while preparing for the flight - and disconnect once EUroute Module is no longer needed.

The process takes 2 minutes to complete - all you need to do is provide registration details, confirm your e-mail account and restart EUroute. Registration enables us to provide you with more sophisticated services and store your personal configuration preferences.

Please note that:

Your VATSIM pilot ID is optional. If you don't have a VATSIM account, you can leave this field empty. The VATSIM pilot ID is used when submitting your flight plan information to external systems, such as Eurobook or VATSIM prefiling
You must provide a real, working e-mail address so that we can verify your identity.

Immediately after registering you will receive a confirmation e-mail. Please click on the link included in e-mail content to confirm your identity. Then restart EUroute Module to use the new account.

Main screen

The main screen lets you search the database of routes in our database. The primary mode of selection starts with choosing your current location (the airport you will fly from), and then takes you through selecting the country of destination, a specific airport there and finally one of the available routes. There is an option to start from the destination airport - for example if you simply want to fly to Amsterdam, but don't know yet where you will start your flight.

When you finish selecting the departure and arrival airports, a list of available routes will be shown. At any time you can go back in the selection and change one of the airports, countries etc.

The table shows your selected departure and arrival airport, flight level range where the route is valid (for example FL200-240 means flight levels between 200 and 240 are OK), the route itself (waypoints and airways) and finally the distance. In the example above all routes are of equal distance, but especially with long distance routes there might be some differences in distance depending on flight level chosen.

When you make your selection, click on one of the arrows to proceed to the Briefing screen.

Briefing screen

The briefing screen is the main source of information for your upcoming flight. It shows the selected departure and arrival airports (top), available flight levels (top, right) and distance. This information is followed by route description and NOTAMs (NOTice to AirMen messages - vital information about last minute airspace changes). Next section shows the weather in departure and destination airports (see below for explanation of symbols) and links to maps (if available).

Finally, the last section shows recommended alternate airports. Only airports suitable for a mid-size jet and equipped with an ILS landing system are shown. We have fine-tuned the selection mechanism for european airports to make sure our automatic findings are as close as possible to what a professional pilot would consider in selecting the alternate airport. Each airport is shown with significant weather icons (if any), ICAO code and name, distance and direction from primary destination, and finally the METAR weather report.

The weather symbols have the following meanings:

CAVOK - "clouds and visibility OK"
low cloud ceiling - below 2500 ft
low visibility (fog, mist at airport or in vicitnity; or horizontal visibility below 2500 meters)
rain (shower, drizzle, etc.)
snow fall
thunderstorm
strong wind (above 20 knots)

The map view can be zoomed in - simply click on the map to see a bigger version.

The NOTAM section relies on information supplied by EUroute NOTAM Center and shows NOTAMs applicable for virtual aviation. Virtual NOTAMs are based on real life situations, but some messages not applicable to virtual flying are skipped - for example you won't see a NOTAM about new airport landing fees :).

When you enter the briefing screen, the route information is shown in window title line for your convenience. You can easily move the window off screen, so that only the title bar is visible, and concentrate on programming your autopilot, FMC, GPS or any other equipment you have onboard - while still having the route details on front of your eyes.

If you decide to fly the selected route, please make your alternate airport selection by clicking on the appropriate row:

Then click on "Fly this route" to proceed to next screen. If you don't want any of the EUroute Module "products" (export files, PDF documents, etc.) - you can close the module and simply go flying.

Flight Details page

You will move to the Flight Details page. There you can fill some final, additional information about your flight - and download one or more of the following:

Flight Progress Card - PDF document with complete route description, weather, alternate routes etc. - all you need at hand while flying;
SquawkBox3 / FSInn export file - load it into your favorite pilot client application to submit flight plan to VATSIM easily;
FSNavigator Export file - with just a few clicks your FMC will be programmed and ready to go;
you can also submit your flight plan directly to VATSIM servers via web (requires you to enter your PID and VATSIM password).

Before you choose any of the final options, please look at the flight details and make sure the information there is correct. The most important things to fill are your callsign (either aircraft registration such as D-AGHK or airline flight number - for example KLM1369); your flight level and your aircraft type. Settings are stored in a cookie on your computer and will be retrieved during your next flight, so that you don't have to re-enter all details every time you fly.

The following fields are shown in the Flight Details table:

TYPE - type of flight, IFR or VFR. All EUroute flight plans are intended for IFR.
CALLSIGN - callsign of your flight,
DEP - departure airport ICAO code,
ARR - arrival airport ICAO code,
FL - flight level for the cruise part of your flight,
ALTN - alternate airport,
AIRCRAFT - self explanatory,
TAS (kts) - true airspeed, default is 430 kts which is suitable for most high-speed jets,
RTE - route of flight,
VOICE - your voice preferences for flying online (either voice, text or receive only),
REMARKS - any other comment you want to include in the flight plan,
REG - aircraft registration numbers (optional),
DEP TIME (est) - estimated departure time in UTC, by default this is 30 minutes from now rounded to nearest 10 minutes,
FLT DURATION - expected duration of your flight, block to block (from brakes off at ramp to brakes on after landing), calculated automatically by EUroute,
FUEL - your maximum duration of flight in standard conditions, must include flight to alternate and holding. This is calculated automatically by EUroute taking into consideration the distance to selected alternate airport.
PILOT NAME & HOME BASE - your full name and ICAO code of home base airport,
VATSIM PILOT ID - your VATSIM account number (six digits) - optional.

If you forget the meaning of any of the fields, hold the mouse pointer over it and read the short help message available in bottom line of the table.

When you are finished with checking the flight details, review the available output options and make your selection. If you select the Flight Progress Card document (requires free Adobe Acrobat Reader), you will be taken to the next screen where the PDF will be downloaded. In order to print the PDF, click on the printer icon shown in task bar.

In the VATSIM flight plan filing screen you need to manually enter your PID and password and later click on "File flight plan". Once you're ready with filing the flight plan, click on "Back to Flight Details screen" to review other options.

FS Link feature

FS Link plugs into Flight Simulator to read information about the current position of your aircraft. Normally, you would have to select your departure airport before choosing where to fly. With FS Link, the departure airport will be filled in for you when you start EUroute Module.

FS Link requires a freeware program called FSConnect by Russel Dirks (www.dirks-software.ca) which is includeed in the EUroute Module package. A green "FS Link" light in EUroute Module will tell you if the connection is properly established.

Other options

On the bottom of main screen, some additional options are shown:

Here's what they do:

Start from selecting the arrival airport - by default, you select your departure airport first, and then the arrival airport based on flight plans available. But sometimes you might prefer to set your arrival (destination) first, for example if you want to visit Israel but don't know what routes are available from Sweden.
Switch to classic mode - the "classic" mode is similar to web-based EUroute Flight Plan Database and shows airports in your home country (according to what you selected when signing up). In the classic mode, you can also search by simply typing ICAO codes for airports. Use of wildcards (*) is permitted.
See configuration options - here you can update your personal preferences. More items will be placed there as EUroute Module is expanded.
Submit your own route to our database - use this if you have a route that does not exists in our database. Please note that only European flights are accepted, and all submissions are subject to detailed verifications. If the route is accepted, you will be able to fly it immediately.

FSNavigator export notes

EUroute Module can save your selected routes in FS Navigator format, so that you can simply load it and fly it - no need to re-type, search for waypoints etc. Please note that the selected flight altitude is also exported. No aircraft information is stored in the flight plan - your default settings from FSNavigator will be used.

FAQ

1. Does EUroute Module affect the Flight Simulator performance?

It should not. The small module (30 kBytes) is the only thing constantly loaded in Flight Simulator. Everything else is started only when needed - typically while your airplane is on the ground. We recommend that you close EUroute Module when it is no longer needed, to recover the system resources for other applications.

Please send your questions to support@euroutepro.com and we will do our best to help.

Page last updated on 31.08.2005.
(c)2004-2005 by Michał Rok