Use the FlyByWire A32NX tablet in MSFS: import SimBrief, load fuel and payload, calculate performance, and fix a black or missing flyPad.
In Microsoft Flight Simulator on PC, switch on the FlyByWire A32NX flyPad with its bezel power button, configure units and your SimBrief Pilot ID, import a generated flight plan, then use its Fuel, Payload, Ground and Performance pages. Verify all imported or calculated data in the MCDU before flight.
Where is the FlyByWire A32NX tablet?
The flyPad is mounted beside the cockpit side window in the FlyByWire A32NX; it is not a pop-up panel opened from the MSFS toolbar. The captain’s unit is to the left of the seat, and some forward-facing camera presets crop it out.
For readers asking simply hvor? (“where?”) or looking for la tablet, pan the cockpit camera towards the captain’s left window. If no tablet model is present, confirm that you selected the aircraft named FlyByWire A32NX rather than another Airbus.
| Aircraft or EFB | Does it have the A32NX flyPad? |
|---|---|
| FlyByWire A32NX on PC | Yes. The flyPad is part of this aircraft package. |
| Default Airbus A320neo | No. The A32NX is a separate selectable aircraft, not a tablet extension for every A320neo. |
| Boeing 737 | No. The Airbus A320neo and 737 are different aircraft families with unrelated avionics and tablet systems. |
| MSFS 2024 simulator EFB | No. The simulator-wide EFB and the aircraft-specific flyPad are separate systems. |
The FlyByWire A32NX is a PC community add-on. Its flyPad will not appear merely by selecting an A320neo in a console edition of Microsoft Flight Simulator.
How do I switch on and set up the A32NX tablet?
Press the flyPad’s bezel power control, wait for it to boot, then configure its settings before importing or loading anything.
- Power on the flyPad: press the physical control on the tablet bezel once. Clicking repeatedly in the centre of a dark display will not switch it on.
- Open Settings: choose the units used by your flight plan, plus the preferred brightness, sound and boarding or refuelling behaviour. Matching the flyPad’s kilograms or pounds to the operational flight plan prevents serious loading errors.
- Enter the SimBrief identifier: use the Pilot ID or other account identifier requested by the installed build. Do not enter a flight number, aircraft registration or operational flight-plan number in this field.
- Select one loading method: use the flyPad for A32NX fuel and payload. Do not keep adjusting the same values through the MSFS Weight and Balance panel, because the two interfaces can overwrite one another.
- Check aircraft options: review realism, synchronisation and ground-service settings before starting the engines. Labels can move as the aircraft develops, but the same functions remain grouped under Settings, Ground or Dispatch areas.
Should I use the Stable or Development A32NX build?
Choose the Stable build for a more predictable interface; choose Development when you need a specific newer change and accept frequent updates or altered page layouts. The underlying flyPad workflow is similar, but instructions and screenshots made for one branch may not match another exactly.
Do not retain duplicate manual copies of Stable and Development in the Community folder. When reporting a fault, identify the branch in use because a flyPad problem may already be fixed—or newly introduced—on the other branch.
How do I import a SimBrief flight plan into the flyPad?
Generate the SimBrief operational flight plan first, then retrieve it from the flyPad’s Dashboard or Dispatch page using the configured account identifier.
- Generate the OFP: creating or editing a route is not enough. SimBrief must have produced the operational flight plan that the aircraft can retrieve.
- Import or refresh: use the SimBrief import control in the flyPad. Page names vary between A32NX branches, so look under the Dashboard, Dispatch or flight page.
- Verify the flight: check the origin, destination, flight number, route and generation time. An unexpected route usually means the flyPad retrieved an older generated plan from the same account.
- Apply the load separately: move to the Fuel and Payload pages and start refuelling or boarding. Importing the briefing does not always place its block fuel, passengers and cargo into the aircraft automatically.
- Request data in the MCDU: use the available INIT or flight-plan request function in the MCDU, then inspect the F-PLN pages. Retrieving an OFP into the flyPad and uplinking a route into the flight-management system are separate actions.
A mistake we see constantly is loading one route through the MSFS World Map and a different route through SimBrief. Use one authoritative plan, or make certain both routes agree. Differences in navigation-data cycles can also produce missing procedures, rejected waypoints or a route that needs manual correction.
What can I control from the flyPad?
The flyPad handles A32NX dispatch, loading, ground services, performance calculations, checklists and broad aircraft-state presets.
| flyPad page | What it does | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Dashboard or Dispatch | Displays the imported flight and operational flight plan. | A visible OFP does not prove that the MCDU route has loaded. |
| Fuel | Sets the target block fuel and starts instant or timed refuelling. | Confirm that refuelling has started and that the aircraft fuel indication is changing. |
| Payload | Sets passengers, baggage and cargo while calculating weight and centre of gravity. | Avoid changing payload through the MSFS panel at the same time. |
| Ground | Controls supported doors, chocks, external power and ground equipment. | Some services are inhibited when the aircraft is moving, an engine is running or another service conflicts. |
| Performance | Calculates take-off data and, where provided by the installed build, landing data. | Runway, intersection, wind, temperature, pressure, surface condition and aircraft configuration must be correct. |
| Checklists and Presets | Tracks checklist items or applies broad states such as Cold and Dark or Turnaround. | A checklist does not operate the switches, while a preset can undo work already completed manually. |
Imported fuel is a target, not proof that the tanks have been filled. Timed refuelling and boarding can take several minutes, so monitor progress before concluding that nothing happened. Check the resulting fuel, zero-fuel weight and centre of gravity against the OFP and the aircraft indications.
For take-off performance, enter the actual runway or intersection, weather, runway condition, flap configuration, anti-ice and pack assumptions requested by the calculator. Transfer or enter the resulting V-speeds and thrust data on the MCDU PERF take-off page, then verify them; a completed calculation is not the same as a correctly configured aircraft.
Does the A32NX tablet program the MCDU?
No, the flyPad supports the flight-management workflow but does not replace checking and configuring the MCDU.
Before departure, verify these items in the MCDU:
- origin, destination and alternate;
- route legs, duplicate waypoints and flight-plan discontinuities;
- departure runway, SID, STAR, approach and transitions;
- cost index and cruise level;
- zero-fuel weight, centre of gravity and block fuel;
- take-off flap setting, thrust data and V-speeds.
If the correct flight appears on the flyPad but the MCDU remains empty, the SimBrief briefing import worked and the MCDU request did not. Repeat the MCDU uplink after checking the account identifier, aircraft power and generated OFP.
The cockpit flyPad is also different from displaying the MCDU on an iPad, Android device or browser. That remote display requires SimBridge; our guide to using the A32NX MCDU on a separate tablet covers that setup.
Is the flyPad the same as the MSFS 2024 EFB?
No, the flyPad belongs to the A32NX, while Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 also provides a simulator-level EFB.
A route opened in the MSFS 2024 EFB should not be assumed to have populated the flyPad or MCDU. Use the A32NX flyPad for aircraft loading, ground handling and its performance tools, then confirm the route and performance entries in the cockpit avionics.
Why is the A32NX tablet black, missing or not responding?
A missing flyPad usually indicates the wrong aircraft or a bad installation; a visible but black flyPad is more likely powered off, still loading or affected by an aircraft-package conflict.
- No tablet model at all: if
tidak adadescribes the problem—there is no tablet—confirm that the selected aircraft is the FlyByWire A32NX on PC. SimBrief settings cannot make a physically absent tablet appear. - Black screen: press the bezel power control once and wait for the boot sequence. Also check that brightness has not been reduced to its minimum.
- Visible but unclickable: restore focus to the cockpit, close overlapping toolbar windows and test the other MSFS cockpit interaction mode. A camera or input issue can make a working display appear frozen.
- SimBrief says no flight: generate a fresh OFP, verify the Pilot ID and make sure online services are available. Refreshing an ungenerated draft will continue to return no usable plan.
- Fuel or payload does not move: check whether timed loading is enabled, start the relevant boarding or refuelling process, keep the aircraft stationary and stop using the simulator’s Weight and Balance panel concurrently.
- OFP present but MCDU route absent: make the separate INIT or flight-plan request in the MCDU. Resolve rejected waypoints and discontinuities manually rather than assuming the uplink is complete.
- Pages missing or behaving oddly: remove duplicate or obsolete A32NX package folders, reinstall through the supported installer and restart Microsoft Flight Simulator.
For a missing aircraft in MSFS 2020, follow our A32NX installation and Community-folder checks for MSFS 2020. MSFS 2024 users should instead use the installation procedure and package-path checks for MSFS 2024.
If these basic checks give auch kein Erfolg (“still no success”), stop changing unrelated SimBrief or performance settings and diagnose the display itself. Our dedicated black, frozen and unresponsive flyPad troubleshooting steps cover clean-install conflicts, loading failures and input problems in more detail.