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Altitute Information in exported flight plan


Altitute Information in exported flight plan
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Hero77
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Hero77
posted 10/30/2021 10:42:58 AM
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Hi,

I am using SkyDemon to plan a VFR flight to be performed in Microsoft Flight Simulator. One of the most important features for me is to set safe altitutes for each waypoint to circumvent entering restricted airspace.

I can export the flightplan created in SkyDemon to .fpl and use an online tool to convert this into the .pln format, which I can import into MSFS as well as an application called Pilot2ATC.

However, I have now figured out that the .fpl file created by SkyVector does not contain the altitute information of the waypoints, but only lat and long information. Example:

<waypoint>
  <identifier>MISC1</identifier>
  <type>USER WAYPOINT</type>
  <country-code />
  <lat>50.264950</lat>
  <lon>12.951460</lon>
  <comment />
</waypoint>

Therefore I have to re-enter the altitute information for each waypoint in Pilot2ATC, which is a lot of work.

Not sure if this is a limitation of the garmin fpl format, but I found this the only export option in SkyDemon that I could convert to anything I can import to MSFS and Pilot2ATC.

Does anyone have an idea how I can get the full flight plan from SkyDemon over to the other applications?



Edited 10/30/2021 10:52:27 AM by Hero77
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BJS
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BJS
posted 10/30/2021 1:56:25 PM
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AFAIR, the altitude information is put at the waypoints where the level change takes place. Did you check making a flight plan and introduce a level change at a waypoint? If I remember correctly, this was also taken by the Garmin equipment, but it required at least one level change to get the altitude information into the .fpl - a plain single cruise level generates no altitude information in the .fpl by Garmin definition, if I remember correct.
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Hero77
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Hero77
posted 10/30/2021 3:19:38 PM
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Hi,

I think I did, unless I am doing something wrong. To illustrate, I have created very simple test route from EDLP to EDDL. I have introduced two additional waypoints MISC1 and MISC2 and changed the altitude by dragging the leg up in the Virtual Radar Screen:


Then, I went to Route > Save as... and exported the file as .fpl.

This is the resulting file:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<flight-plan xmlns="http://www8.garmin.com/xmlschemas/FlightPlan/v1">
  <created>2021-10-30T15:11:48Z</created>
  <waypoint-table>
    <waypoint>
      <identifier>EDLP</identifier>
      <type>AIRPORT</type>
      <country-code>ED</country-code>
      <lat>51.614080</lat>
      <lon>8.616320</lon>
      <comment />
    </waypoint>
    <waypoint>
      <identifier>MISC1</identifier>
      <type>USER WAYPOINT</type>
      <country-code />
      <lat>51.506410</lat>
      <lon>8.017436</lon>
      <comment />
    </waypoint>
    <waypoint>
      <identifier>MISC2</identifier>
      <type>USER WAYPOINT</type>
      <country-code />
      <lat>51.389710</lat>
      <lon>7.340399</lon>
      <comment />
    </waypoint>
    <waypoint>
      <identifier>EDDL</identifier>
      <type>AIRPORT</type>
      <country-code>ED</country-code>
      <lat>51.280930</lat>
      <lon>6.757306</lon>
      <comment />
    </waypoint>
  </waypoint-table>
  <route>
    <route-name>EDLP EDDL</route-name>
    <flight-plan-index>1</flight-plan-index>
    <route-point>
      <waypoint-identifier>EDLP</waypoint-identifier>
      <waypoint-type>AIRPORT</waypoint-type>
      <waypoint-country-code>ED</waypoint-country-code>
    </route-point>
    <route-point>
      <waypoint-identifier>MISC1</waypoint-identifier>
      <waypoint-type>USER WAYPOINT</waypoint-type>
      <waypoint-country-code />
    </route-point>
    <route-point>
      <waypoint-identifier>MISC2</waypoint-identifier>
      <waypoint-type>USER WAYPOINT</waypoint-type>
      <waypoint-country-code />
    </route-point>
    <route-point>
      <waypoint-identifier>EDDL</waypoint-identifier>
      <waypoint-type>AIRPORT</waypoint-type>
      <waypoint-country-code>ED</waypoint-country-code>
    </route-point>
  </route>
</flight-plan>
Reply Like 23
Andreas
Andreas
Andreas
posted 10/31/2021 1:28:51 PM
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Hero77 - 10/30/2021 3:19:38 PM
Hi,

I think I did, unless I am doing something wrong. To illustrate, I have created very simple test route from EDLP to EDDL. I have introduced two additional waypoints MISC1 and MISC2 and changed the altitude by dragging the leg up in the Virtual Radar Screen:


Then, I went to Route > Save as... and exported the file as .fpl.

This is the resulting file:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<flight-plan xmlns="http://www8.garmin.com/xmlschemas/FlightPlan/v1">
  <created>2021-10-30T15:11:48Z</created>
  <waypoint-table>
    <waypoint>
      <identifier>EDLP</identifier>
      <type>AIRPORT</type>
      <country-code>ED</country-code>
      <lat>51.614080</lat>
      <lon>8.616320</lon>
      <comment />
    </waypoint>
    <waypoint>
      <identifier>MISC1</identifier>
      <type>USER WAYPOINT</type>
      <country-code />
      <lat>51.506410</lat>
      <lon>8.017436</lon>
      <comment />
    </waypoint>
    <waypoint>
      <identifier>MISC2</identifier>
      <type>USER WAYPOINT</type>
      <country-code />
      <lat>51.389710</lat>
      <lon>7.340399</lon>
      <comment />
    </waypoint>
    <waypoint>
      <identifier>EDDL</identifier>
      <type>AIRPORT</type>
      <country-code>ED</country-code>
      <lat>51.280930</lat>
      <lon>6.757306</lon>
      <comment />
    </waypoint>
  </waypoint-table>
  <route>
    <route-name>EDLP EDDL</route-name>
    <flight-plan-index>1</flight-plan-index>
    <route-point>
      <waypoint-identifier>EDLP</waypoint-identifier>
      <waypoint-type>AIRPORT</waypoint-type>
      <waypoint-country-code>ED</waypoint-country-code>
    </route-point>
    <route-point>
      <waypoint-identifier>MISC1</waypoint-identifier>
      <waypoint-type>USER WAYPOINT</waypoint-type>
      <waypoint-country-code />
    </route-point>
    <route-point>
      <waypoint-identifier>MISC2</waypoint-identifier>
      <waypoint-type>USER WAYPOINT</waypoint-type>
      <waypoint-country-code />
    </route-point>
    <route-point>
      <waypoint-identifier>EDDL</waypoint-identifier>
      <waypoint-type>AIRPORT</waypoint-type>
      <waypoint-country-code>ED</waypoint-country-code>
    </route-point>
  </route>
</flight-plan>




If your conversion tool deals with gpx format, you may use this instead. It is containg altitude information.
Reply Like 24
Hero77
H
Hero77
posted 10/31/2021 4:37:07 PM
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Andreas - 10/31/2021 1:28:51 PM


If your conversion tool deals with gpx format, you may use this instead. It is containg altitude information.

Unforunately, it doesn´t. 

This is the tool I found and it only supports .fpl, .fms and .pln:
https://fpc.kognise.dev

The only tool I found that supports gpx and exports to pln is this one, but the it seems to support only an outdated version of the pln format, which is not compatible to the other apps: 
http://www.flightutilities.com/
Reply Like 21
Tim Dawson
Tim Dawson
Tim Dawson
posted 11/1/2021 10:21:04 AM
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I don't think the .fpl format supports vertical planning so that information is not exported along with your route, when you save from SkyDemon.
Reply Like 22
Hero77
H
Hero77
posted 11/1/2021 11:53:31 AM
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Tim Dawson - 11/1/2021 10:21:04 AM
I don't think the .fpl format supports vertical planning so that information is not exported along with your route, when you save from SkyDemon.

According to the garmin XSD schema, its possible to include the waypoint elevation like this:

    <waypoint>
      <identifier>MISC1</identifier>
      <type>USER WAYPOINT</type>
      <country-code />
      <lat>51.509290</lat>
      <lon>8.374783</lon>
      <elevation>2000</elevation>
      <comment />
    </waypoint>


"Elevation (in meters) of the waypoint. This value is ignored by panel mount devices."
https://www8.garmin.com/xmlschemas/FlightPlanv1.xsd

However it does not say if it's supposed to indicate only ground elevation or also waypoint height in the air. Also upon testing I found that this information does not get carried over to the .pln or .fms flightplans when converted with the web tool.


Edited 11/1/2021 12:06:21 PM by Hero77
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