How do I use aviation charts in a flight simulator?

Use aviation charts in a flight simulator by selecting the chart that matches the airport, runway, procedure and navigation-data cycle; briefing its route, frequencies, courses, altitude limits, minima and missed approach; then checking the aircraft’s instruments and position against it throughout the simulator session instead of trusting the magenta line alone.

This is general guidance for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 and 2024, X-Plane, Prepar3D, FlightGear and similar simulators. Menus and avionics differ, but the underlying chart-reading and cross-checking skills are the same.

Which flight simulation charts do I need?

Choose the chart for the phase of flight because no single chart covers everything from route planning to parking.

Flight simulation charts are normally real-world aeronautical charts rather than a special simulator format. The simulator’s airport and navigation data may represent a different date, so a real chart is not automatically a perfect match.

Where can I get flight sim charts?

Get charts from an official aeronautical publication, a recognised chart provider or a chart system integrated with the simulated aircraft, then verify their effective date and coverage.

For flights in the United States, we provide downloadable FAA sectionals, terminal charts and approach plates. Charts are jurisdiction-specific, so use publications covering the country or region being simulated rather than applying US conventions everywhere.

Before accepting any chart, check the airport identifier, procedure title, runway, edition or revision and effective period. Not every visual chart carries an AIRAC cycle label, while an aircraft’s navigation database usually does.

A simulator world map is useful for creating a flight, but it is not a replacement for a chart. It may omit chart notes, minimum altitudes, equipment requirements, airspace detail, hot spots and the full missed-approach procedure. If the symbols or altitude notations are unfamiliar, our guide to interpreting aeronautical chart symbols and routes explains the essential conventions.

How do I use charts during a simulator session?

Use the same chart workflow before, during and after each simulator session so that a missing fix or wrong procedure is caught before it becomes a cockpit problem.

1. Select the exact chart. Match the country, airport, runway, procedure name and transition. Similar identifiers and several procedures for the same runway are frequent causes of errors.
2. Compare the data dates. Check the chart against the navigation data used by the simulator and aircraft. Some add-on aircraft maintain a database separate from the simulator’s core data. An AIRAC mismatch can produce renamed fixes, missing procedures, altered constraints or different runway designations.
3. Read the title, legend and notes. Confirm required equipment, units, magnetic or true course references and any restrictions. Do not assume that colours, symbols and altitude formats mean exactly the same thing across every chart system.
4. Trace the route leg by leg. Note fixes, tracks, distances, altitude restrictions and speed limits. Distinguish between mandatory, at-or-above and at-or-below altitudes rather than treating every printed altitude as an exact crossing level.
5. Load or tune the procedure. Enter the route in the GPS or FMS, or tune the required VOR, NDB, localiser or ILS. Set the published course where applicable and select the correct GPS or navigation-radio source.
6. Verify what the avionics built. Compare the displayed waypoint order, tracks, constraints and transitions with the chart. A vectors leg or manual discontinuity may be intentional; deleting every discontinuity without reading the chart is a mistake we see constantly.
7. Prepare useful references. Set altitude, heading, speed and minimum bugs where the aircraft supports them. Brief terrain, the next frequency, likely mode changes and the first action required if guidance is lost.
8. Cross-check while flying. Monitor position, active leg, track, altitude and navigation source against the chart. An autopilot can follow a wrongly loaded procedure with perfect precision.

Published instrument courses normally describe a ground track, not the exact heading to hold in wind. Keep the published course set for radio or course guidance and allow the aircraft’s heading to vary as needed to maintain that track.

What should I brief on an approach chart?

Brief an approach from its title through to the missed approach before starting the final descent.

• Airport, procedure and runway: confirm that all three match the intended landing.
• Transition and initial fix: choose the transition appropriate to the route or simulated clearance.
• Navigation method: establish whether the procedure uses ILS, localiser, VOR, NDB, RNAV or visual references, and check that the simulated aircraft supports it.
• Frequencies and inbound course: tune and identify the required aid where the simulator models identification. Do not assume that automatic FMS tuning selected the correct facility.
• Plan and profile views: trace the lateral route, crossing altitudes, step-down fixes, final descent point and any procedure turn or hold-in-lieu.
• Minima: select the row matching the aircraft’s equipment and approach category. Category is based on approach-speed criteria under the chart provider’s rules, not simply aircraft size.
• Missed approach: know the missed-approach point, initial track or heading, climb altitude and holding fix before reaching final approach.

Our detailed explanation of approach-plate fixes, profiles, minima and missed approaches covers the chart-reading detail without tying it to one avionics package.

A minimum sector altitude is not an FMS constraint or automatic clearance to descend. It provides protected reference altitude information for a defined area described on the chart; the published route and profile determine the normal procedure altitudes.

What do DA, DH and MDA mean on a chart?

DA is decision altitude, DH is decision height, and MDA is minimum descent altitude; they are different minima and must not be used interchangeably.

• Decision altitude: a barometric altitude used on approaches with an applicable decision point. If the required visual reference is not established at DA, initiate the missed approach rather than levelling off there to search for the runway.
• Decision height: the corresponding height above a stated datum. Charts often present decision altitude with decision height in parentheses.
• Minimum descent altitude: the lowest altitude permitted during the applicable segment of a non-precision or circling approach. Do not descend below it without the required visual reference and position, and begin the missed approach no later than the published missed-approach point.

Set barometric or radio-altimeter minima only when that choice matches the chart and aircraft. A cockpit call-out is an aid to the briefing, not a substitute for understanding which minimum applies.

Why does the chart disagree with the simulator?

A disagreement usually means the chart, navigation database, aircraft or scenery represents a different dataset or date.

• The procedure is absent from the FMS: compare AIRAC cycles and check that the correct airport and runway were selected. Use a procedure common to both datasets or align the data; a manually drawn direct-to route does not preserve the design of an RNP procedure.
• The runway number differs: runway designations change as magnetic variation shifts, while older scenery can retain the former number. Match the physical runway location and scenery rather than selecting a similarly numbered procedure blindly.
• The ILS frequency or course differs: scenery, simulator navaids and the chart may come from separate dates. Our guidance on checking ILS frequencies, courses and simulator data explains how to identify which source the aircraft is actually using.
• The aircraft turns towards the wrong fix: inspect the selected transition, duplicate waypoint identifiers, active leg, route discontinuities, direct-to state and OBS mode.
• The course is displayed but the aircraft ignores it: confirm the CDI or navigation source. Loading an approach does not always switch the avionics from GPS to the required navigation radio automatically.
• No vertical guidance appears: not every approach provides it, and some avionics show advisory vertical guidance that is not the same as a published precision path. For an ILS, establish the localiser and intercept the glideslope from below unless the procedure specifies otherwise.
• The altitude profile appears wrong: check the altimeter setting, pressure units, transition altitude, feet-versus-metres notation and whether a figure is altitude above mean sea level or height above the aerodrome or threshold.
• Simulator ATC gives different instructions: vectors or a clearance can legitimately replace part of a published procedure. Built-in ATC may also use different data, so decide whether the session is practising the charted procedure or following the simulator’s generated clearance.

For present-day procedure practice, align the chart and aircraft navigation data first, then use scenery compatible with them. For a historical aircraft or airport add-on, period charts may be the more coherent choice, but the session should be treated strictly as a historical simulation.

Do I need charts for VFR flying?

Use a VFR chart for realistic cross-country flying, even though a short local familiarisation flight can be completed without one.

Plot the intended track and distance, apply magnetic variation and wind correction where appropriate, estimate groundspeed and time, and choose checkpoints that should be recognisable in the simulator. Check terrain, obstacles, controlled or restricted airspace, airport details and useful communications before departure.

During flight, compare outside features, elapsed time and instrument indications with the chart. A moving-map aircraft symbol is useful for checking your work, but following it continuously removes most of the visual-navigation task.

Can simulator charts be used for real flying?

Do not treat a chart as operationally valid merely because it appears in a simulator or simulation library.

The displayed document may be incomplete, expired or mismatched with real navigation data, notices and procedures. A genuine aeronautical chart may look identical, but real operations require authorised, effective information obtained and checked through approved aviation channels.