How do I create a SimBrief flight plan?

To create a SimBrief flight plan, sign in, open the flight-planning page, enter your departure and arrival airports, choose the correct aircraft profile, select or build a route, set payload and fuel, then generate the OFP. Review runways, procedures, altitude, weather, weights and fuel before exporting it to your simulator.

For general flight simulation across Microsoft Flight Simulator, X-Plane and compatible add-on aircraft, SimBrief acts as a dispatcher. It calculates an operational flight plan, or OFP, including the route, navigation log, weather briefing, fuel plan and estimated weights. Creating the plan is largely simulator-independent; loading it differs by simulator and aircraft.

How do you make a SimBrief flight plan?

A reliable SimBrief plan starts with the correct airports and aircraft profile rather than simply accepting every automatic choice.

1. Start a new flight. Sign in to SimBrief and open its flight-planning or dispatch form. Start fresh if an old generated flight contains different airports, aircraft or loading figures.
2. Enter the flight details. Add the origin and destination using four-letter ICAO codes such as EGLL or KJFK. Enter the planned departure date and time carefully, remembering that aviation planning normally uses UTC rather than local time.
3. Select the exact aircraft. Choose the correct type and, where available, the profile for the specific simulator aircraft or saved airframe. Check the engine variant, fuel capacity, weight limits and kilograms-or-pounds setting.
4. Choose the route. Let SimBrief propose a route if you do not have one, then inspect the distance, airways and waypoints. A suggested route is a starting point, not a guarantee that every waypoint exists in your aircraft's navigation database.
5. Set runways and procedures. Use automatic runway selection when you do not yet have reliable wind or ATIS information. If you specify a runway, make sure the SID or STAR suits that runway and joins the en-route portion without duplicated fixes.
6. Set altitude and alternate. Accept the suggested cruise level when appropriate, or enter one that suits the route direction, aircraft performance and airspace. Add a sensible alternate rather than leaving an unsuitable automatic selection unchecked.
7. Enter payload and fuel options. Supply passenger, cargo or zero-fuel-weight information using the method expected by the selected profile. SimBrief calculates taxi, trip, contingency, alternate, reserve and final block fuel; use extra fuel only when there is a specific reason for carrying it.
8. Generate and inspect the OFP. Generating the flight performs the full calculation. Read the resulting route, navigation log, fuel plan, weights, weather and warnings before exporting anything.

Which aircraft profile and route should you choose?

Choose the profile that most closely matches the aircraft you will actually fly, and use a suggested route unless you have a newer or specifically assigned route to enter.

If route structure, cruise levels or procedures are unfamiliar, our explanation of how IFR routes and procedures fit together covers the flying side without duplicating the SimBrief workflow. You can also inspect and edit the route visually in Little Navmap before committing it to the aircraft.

Why does a SimBrief flight plan fail to load?

Most SimBrief loading failures come from mismatched AIRAC data, the wrong export format, an incompatible aircraft profile or a plan that was edited without being regenerated.

• “Waypoint not found” or “not in database”: SimBrief and the aircraft FMS do not contain the same fix, airway or procedure. Match their AIRAC cycles where possible, or recalculate the route using waypoints available in both databases.
• The route loads without a SID, STAR or approach: Many importers transfer only the en-route legs. Select the runway and procedures in the aircraft, then confirm that their transitions connect to the first and last en-route fixes.
• A discontinuity remains: Check the legs on both sides before deleting it. A normal route gap should be resolved, but a VECTORS or manual leg can represent an intentional ATC-vector segment.
• Fuel or weights are wrong: Confirm that the profile uses the same aircraft variant and weight units as the simulator. Do not mistake trip fuel for total fuel; the aircraft normally needs the OFP's block or ramp fuel figure.
• The aircraft fetches an older plan: A generated OFP is a snapshot. After changing the route, runway, payload or fuel, generate it again and re-import or refetch it.
• The route imports twice: Clear the previous route before loading the replacement, especially if the avionics or EFB retains the last fetched flight.

How do you export and use the SimBrief plan?

Generate the OFP first, then choose the export format intended for the exact simulator or aircraft. Some aircraft fetch the latest OFP using a SimBrief account identifier, others import through an EFB, and simpler avionics require a saved flight-plan file.

An import may transfer only the route. Fuel, payload, runway, SID, STAR, approach, cruise performance and reserves may still require manual confirmation. Microsoft Flight Simulator users can follow our MSFS 2024 SimBrief import procedure for the simulator-specific steps.

Before departure, compare the imported plan with the OFP: origin, destination, runway, first en-route fix, arrival transition, cruise altitude, zero-fuel weight, take-off weight and block fuel. Recalculate take-off speeds and performance inside the aircraft using the planned runway and conditions; SimBrief's dispatch plan does not replace the aircraft's performance calculation.