How do I plan a round-the-world simulator flight?

To plan a round-the-world simulator flight, split the circumnavigation into separate legs, choose an aircraft with practical range for the hardest crossing, and verify each airport, route, weather forecast, payload, alternate and fuel reserve. Save and log every leg separately; one giant flight plan is fragile and unnecessary.

This general method applies to Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 and 2020, X-Plane, Prepar3D and FSX, although route-import formats and avionics differ. We use ‘world flight sim’ as a generic description of a global tour, not the name of a particular game or .com service.

Can one world flight simulator plan cover the whole globe?

Keep one master itinerary for the complete route, but fly it as a series of independent origin-to-destination plans.

A single enormous plan can exceed an aircraft’s waypoint capacity, confuse simulator ATC and leave obsolete runways or procedures embedded in later sectors. It also creates one point of failure: a damaged save or incompatible route import could affect the entire tour.

Before choosing airports, define what completion means for your tour:

• Start and finish at the same airport.
• Travel continuously in one general direction and, for a geographical circumnavigation, cross every longitude.
• Decide whether aircraft changes, repositioning, refuelling anywhere and mid-flight saves are allowed.
• Set a maximum sector time that fits your normal simulation sessions.
• Choose live or fixed weather and decide how missed or abandoned legs will be repeated.

Your master record can be a simple table containing leg number, origin and destination ICAO identifiers, distance, estimated time, aircraft, runway requirement, alternate and completion status. Our detailed method for splitting, naming and tracking multi-leg simulator flights covers the record-keeping side without turning the whole tour into one active route.

Which aircraft and leg length should I choose?

Choose the aircraft and the hardest unavoidable sector together, using practical range rather than the maximum range quoted for ideal conditions.

Published range normally assumes a particular weight, altitude, speed and reserve policy. Headwinds, climb fuel, airway deviations, an approach, a missed approach and diversion fuel all reduce the distance available for the planned sector. There is no reliable percentage that can be applied to every aircraft.

Use the performance data supplied with the exact simulated model. Detailed add-ons may burn materially different fuel from a generic planning profile, so compare planned and actual consumption over early legs and adjust later estimates without cutting the reserve.

Can I use one aircraft for the whole world flight sim?

Yes, provided its practical range covers the largest ocean or remote-land gap on the chosen route. Using one aircraft produces a clearer challenge; allowing aircraft changes gives more freedom to mix bush flying, regional sectors and long ocean crossings.

If the aircraft cannot complete one critical gap with forecast wind and diversion fuel, change the route or the aircraft. Do not make the figures fit by removing reserves or assuming an implausible refuelling point.

Should I take a northern route around the world?

A northern route often shortens major ocean crossings, but it exchanges distance for harsher weather, terrain and fewer reliable diversions.

• Northern route: North Atlantic staging points and a North Pacific island chain can break large oceans into shorter sectors. Expect strong winds, cold temperatures, icing, winter darkness, mountainous approaches and occasional runway contamination.
• Mid-latitude route: This provides more major airports, instrument approaches and alternate choices. The remaining Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Ocean gaps still determine the aircraft required.
• Lower-latitude or southern route: This avoids polar conditions but may create longer overwater legs. Tropical thunderstorms, cyclones, trade winds and limited island runways need careful treatment.

Is eastbound or westbound better?

Neither direction is best in every season or at every altitude. Mid-latitude upper winds often favour an eastbound flight, while westbound flying can extend local daylight; lower-latitude trade winds may reverse the wind advantage.

Plan the difficult crossings before adding easy continental stops. A flat world map exaggerates some high-latitude distances, so compare great-circle distance with the actual routed distance. For the Atlantic sector, use our guidance on aircraft choice, oceanic routing, fuel and diversion planning.

How do I turn the route into a working flight simulator plan?

Build and validate one flight plan per leg, while keeping the complete sequence in a separate master itinerary.

A line drawn between airports is not a complete aircraft path simulation. The flown track also depends on airways, SIDs, STARs, approaches, ATC vectors, wind correction and the turn anticipation calculated by the aircraft’s flight-management system.

1. Set the tour rules. Record the starting airport, permitted aircraft, refuelling policy, weather mode, maximum sector time and whether diversions count as completed legs.
2. Solve the longest gaps first. Identify ocean crossings and remote regions, then confirm that the aircraft can cover them with realistic payload, headwind and reserves.
3. Add intermediate stops. Select airports that keep ordinary legs inside your preferred flight time rather than operating every sector near maximum endurance.
4. Verify airports inside the simulator. Check that each identifier exists in the installed scenery. Confirm runway length, surface, elevation, lighting, approach availability and parking; online or planner data can disagree with older simulator scenery.
5. Set an appropriate altitude and flight rule. VFR may suit scenic sectors, while IFR is usually more practical for poor weather, controlled airspace and long crossings. Check terrain and oxygen or pressurisation limits instead of reusing one cruise altitude worldwide.
6. Create the individual route. For IFR sectors, our guide to building a SimBrief route, fuel plan and operational flight plan explains the process. Compare the selected aircraft profile with the add-on you will actually fly.
7. Dispatch shortly before departure. Recheck wind, temperature, runway, payload, alternate and fuel. Months-old weather assumptions should not control the active leg.
8. Load and inspect the route. Confirm the origin, destination, first and last en-route fixes, cruise altitude and approach. Resolve discontinuities and use the actual runway conditions when selecting compatible SIDs, STARs and transitions.
9. Record the result. Log actual times, fuel used, landing airport and final parking position before preparing the next sector.

How much fuel does each leg need?

Calculate fuel independently for every sector; copying the previous leg’s fuel percentage ignores distance, wind, weight and diversion requirements.

A useful general model is block fuel = taxi + trip + contingency + alternate + final reserve + extra. Adapt those components to the aircraft and level of operational realism being simulated. A VFR piston flight and an airline-style IFR dispatch will not use identical reserve rules.

Payload affects both fuel burn and the amount of fuel that can be carried. If the aircraft exceeds its take-off or predicted landing limit, reduce payload, shorten the sector or select another stop. Reserve fuel is not the first item to remove.

For oceanic and remote legs, distinguish the destination alternate from en-route diversion airports. An airliner being physically capable of reaching a diversion in the simulator does not by itself reproduce real-world operational approval or diversion-time rules.

What should I check before every departure?

Each leg needs a final go or no-go review after the route and weather have been loaded.

• The aircraft, payload, centre of gravity and fuel are within the modelled limits.
• Take-off and landing performance suit the expected wind, temperature, elevation and runway surface.
• The route in the avionics matches the filed or simulator route, especially the first and last fixes.
• The selected procedures belong to the active runway and do not appear twice.
• The destination, alternate and useful en-route diversions remain suitable.
• The planned landing fuel retains the chosen reserve after forecast headwind and expected delays.

What usually breaks a round-the-world simulator plan?

Most failed world flight sim tours are caused by range assumptions, mismatched navigation data, unsuitable scenery or lost progress rather than the broad global route.

• Straight-line distance was used: calculate fuel from the routed distance and expected wind, not only the great-circle line between airports.
• The runway looked long enough on a map: account for aircraft weight, wind, temperature, elevation and surface. Runway length alone does not establish safe performance.
• The airport is absent or different in the simulator: inspect the installed scenery before relying on a remote stop. Identifiers, runway layouts and approach availability can vary by simulator and scenery package.
• The planner and aircraft use different navigation data: a waypoint, airway or procedure may be missing from one database. Rebuild the affected segment using fixes available in both rather than forcing an invalid import.
• A SID or STAR appears twice: imported routes may already contain part of a procedure. Remove the duplicate and check every transition and flight-management-system discontinuity.
• Fuel predictions drift over several legs: calibrate later plans against actual cruise flow and flight time for the same aircraft, while preserving contingency and reserve fuel.
• A saved flight restores incorrectly: complex aircraft may not reload every switch, route, failure or system state. Test save-and-resume behaviour before depending on it during a very long sector.

How should I save and track progress?

Use an external master record as the authoritative history of the tour, because simulator logbooks and saved flights can miss or misclassify a leg.

• Number sectors consistently, for example Leg_001_ORIG_DEST.
• Record departure and arrival in UTC so crossing the International Date Line does not make the sequence appear to move backwards.
• Keep each route file separate and retain a backup of the master itinerary.
• Record the exact arrival airport and parking position if continuity matters.
• If a leg ends at an alternate, decide whether the next flight departs there or whether the original sector must be repeated under your rules.