| There's currenly an issue with the PMDG aircraft which is unique to it. When the simulator is puased, it continues to allow fuel to burn. This also seems to be the same with the builtin pause at TOD feature. I'll be looking to relase a workaround in the enxt couple of days,
Instructions
Welcome to the TOD calculator and Pause utility which will provide you with pause at the top of descent based on live metrics from the simulator and a descent profile based on a default glide angle of 3 degrees (however, you can modify this,) which is also based on live information from your simulator.
The utility is easy to use. It will auto connect to the simulator once it detects that it has started. It can be used either on your local machine or a remote machine that has Simconnect setup for networking. Please use the guides published with MSFS to achieve this if you haven't already. There are also plenty of good guides on Google.
Light blue text boxes indicate boxes that you can type in
White text boxes are there to provide additional information and context
There are three ways to achieve a TOD figure.
- Auto calculate using GC - This method auto calculates your TOD based on your great circle distance from your destination
- TOD Manual Entry - This method allows you to enter your own TOD distance
- Use simBrief TOD - This option sets the utility up based entirely on information in simBrief. (Provide your username in the settings menu.)
Auto Calculate Mode
Simply enter your destination ICAO into the 'Destination ICAO' box and click 'find airport.' This will populate the airport name, elevation, lat & lon of the airport used to calculate your great circle distance from the airport.
Next, enter the altitude you want to descend to in the MSL altitude box. Please note this is MSL, i.e. your altitude read from your aircraft after you have set your BARO pressure. As with real descent profiles, sudden changes in BARO pressure and/or ground speed will affect the descent profile and can make it seem to jump during drastic changes.
Finally enter how many nautical miles before your destination, you would like to arrive at your chosen MSL. Your TOD will then be calculated.
TOD Manual mode
Simply enter your destination ICAO into the 'Destination ICAO' box and click 'find airport.' This will populate the airport name, elevation, lat & lon of the airport used to calculate your great circle distance from the airport.
Finally, enter your TOD in the TOD box
simBrief TOD mode
Selecting this will populate the entire utility with information from your simBrief flight plan. As the TOD is predetermined, so therefore is the angle and rate of descent which is why this is all auto calculated, to execute as the simBrief flight plan intended.
NOTE: You must enter your simBrief username under the settings menu to allow simBrief mode to work.
If you click on the arrows on the right edge of the utility, it will extend to expose your simBrief flight plan.
Here you can:
- Delete waypoints you haven't passed yet (Remember to mirror in your aircraft FMS)
- Go 'Direct To' because you have passed a point, but it hasn't registered as passed in the utility (Remember to mirror in your FMS)
- Monitor the utilities progress through the simBreif flight plan
- Add altitude restrictions as per your STAR charts, for the descent phase
NOTE: The green bar denotes your progress and the waypoint you are heading towards at that moment. The distance column denotes how many nm it is to get to that waypoint.
The utility will automatically adapt to the changes, and these will be reflected in your VNAV descent path and distance to your destination.
All modes
The utility can be started any time before descent. Where a simBrief flight plan is being used, the utility will try to understand your current progress through the flight plan and put you at the correct point automatically.
Whilst on the ground your 'current aircraft info' will not populate. However, once you have taken off, this will instantly populate and form part of your TOD calculations.
Once you have reached your configured number of minutes before TOD (See settings menu,) the simulator will pause and the unpause button will highlight green. Clicking this button will unpause the simulator again.
NOTE: due to a bug in MSFS, you cannot unpause the simulator within the sim when paused this way. You must use the unpause button in the utility.
Once you have clicked the unpause button, your descent profile will become live and provide a recommended fpm descent rate and live progress against your descent path.
Should TOD pause accidently kick in too early, due to mistyping your MSL altitude or distance from airport, then you can click 'reset TOD' to put yourself back in 'cruise mode' and ensure TOD pause kicks in again when needed.
The other check boxes are:
- 'Alarm at TOD' which will sound 3 bleeps once TOD has been reached
- 'Always on top' which will ensure the utility always stays on top of all other windows
- 'In-sim msg at TOD' which will provide you with an advisory message in the simulator, when you have reached your TOD.
NOTE: You must have Assistance Options > Notifications > "Software Tips" enabled in the sim to see in-sim messages
Although 3 degrees is considered a reasonably standard descent angle for most aircraft, you can modify this when in Auto calculate mode, in the 'Descent Angle (degrees)' text box.
NOTE: in TOD Manual Entry and Use simBrief TOD modes, the TOD distance has been predetermined by either yourself or simBrief, respectively. Therefore, you will not be given the option for a custom descent angle as the utility must dictate this, to achieve the descent in the specified distance.
Menus
- Settings Menu - This is where you can save your simBrief username to allow you to use simBrief for your TOD figure and set the number of minutes you wish the utility to pause, before TOD is reached, Default is two minutes.
- Mode Menu - This allows you to reduce the window to show the descent profile only. In combination with the 'Always on top' checkbox, this will allow you to perch the utility in the corner of the sim and take up minimal room.
Finally, this utilises Pete Dowson's Runways.xml generated by his MakeRunways utility. I've included a Runways.xml for the vanilla version of MSFS. If you have installed add-on airports that didn't exist in MSFS before, you may want to run Pete's utility for yourself and once it's finished, copy the Runways.xml into the root directory of TOD calculator and Pause and replace the existing one.
That's it!
Have fun!!!
Thanks to.....
Thanks to Pete Dowson as it actually uses his Runways.xml generated by his MakeRunways utility for airport information
Known Issues
- You cannot unpause within the simulator once the utility has paused at TOD. This must be done using the unpause button within the utility
- The aircraft must be following the simBrief plan in its entirety for the utility to be able to track your progress properly. This includes SIDS & STARS. Please note at the time of writing, the FlyByWire A320 'custom flight management system' feature (Experimental version) is still under development and therefore not all waypoints are currently extracted from the simBrief flight plan, or when selecting a SID/STAR. These need to be entered manually when this occurs however, this will change over time. Also, some distances to waypoints in the FlyByWire A320 aren't always accurately represented. I'm sure future development will resolve these issues.
- The aircraft must pass within 5nm of the waypoint for it to move onto the next. Should you pass close to the point, but not close enough, you can use the 'Direct To' feature to advance the utility in-line with the FMS.
- Manipulating waypoint in the flight plan after the descent phase has begun has some undesired effects. Probably best not to do this for now......
- When in always on top mode on the same machine as your simulator, it will cause an FPS hit of around 5FPS. This is not unique to this utility, this happens no matter what window you have open in front of your simulator screen, including Windows Explorer, so there's nothing I can do about this.
User Reviews
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Write a reviewmseder
Installed on my new computer but it doesn't work, it do not recognize any ICAO codes. Is the app tested with Windows 11?
StuMac
This is an awesome program. No 737 pilot should be without it. I finally managed to slow my aircraft down enough to get a stable approach. Thank you
Shookable
Does this still work with the latest sim update and is this project dead?
rgtornich
Hello there,
First of all I would like to thank you for the excellent work
I can open and change the values in the application, but the diamond that illustrates in the descent profile window does not appear.
Am I doing something wrong?
Please could someone help me?
rgtornich 5 month(s) ago
found the problem, the option "Pause at TOD" must be activated
here is a suggestion, if possible for the next version remove the mandatory option "Pause at TOD" activated for the diamond to appear.
Aria
Looks like the iniBuilds A310 shares the same issue as the PMDG where fuel continues to burn when paused
Lockdown345
I love this addon but a friend and myself are unable to get this app to pause the Headwind A330-NEO. Unlike the PMDG the aircraft just seems to ignore the pause even though its highlighted in the app the the aircraft/sim just doesn't react.
In the flybywire A20N works fantastically well and I love the simbrief integration.
Dreamflight767
Hi:
I'd like to report an issue with the FlyMaddogX.
The sim pauses as expected however when you "unpause", the sim has huge, huge lag and stutters. Unflyable. You have to not only restart the sim, but reboot computer too. As a matter of fact, I couldn't even get the sim to respond to the menu command and had to shut MSFS down via task manager.
Thank you for the nice tool but unfortunately MSFS pause ability is broken.
AirPred
I love this calculator, but I cannot use it fully. When it starts, I got the following message- "Error initializing: Configuration system failed to initialize." What am I doing wrong?
HighFlyer525 9 month(s) ago
Hi,
I'm going to hazard a guess at this point and that your user file is corrupt. Please browse to c:\users\{username}\AppData\Local\TOD_Calculator_and_Pause\TOD_Calculator_and_Pause{some random GUID}\1.0.7.0 and in there you'll find a file called user.config. Please delete it whilst the app is off and then start the app again and see if that works.
If you have more than one folder called TOD_Calculator_and_Pause{some random GUID} then please go into them all and find version 1.0.7.0 and delete the user.config file.
Please let me know if this works.
Thanks,
AirPred 9 month(s) ago
I deleted the Config file and when I restarted it, I did not get the Error initializing message! That's very much for your assistance.
fs4JM
Hello will this program pause the sim completely?? the pause on pmdg just stops the aircraft but it keeps running. Im running out of gas
HighFlyer525 10 month(s) ago
Working on a fix for this now
cteixeira
How to connect to MSFS running the app on a network pc?
cteixeira 11 month(s) ago
AH2 and MSFS across a network with SimConnect - Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020) - The AVSIM Community
Perseus
when I click the settings and about menus I get an unhandled exception error and those two menus are unclickable, the file and mode menus work fine ?
avantime
Great addon, a few requests:
1) A "Pause at TOD armed" message in bold red font when armed.
2) A FPS limiter (similar to Rivatuner) that sets the MSFS to 1 FPS or thereabouts when paused, so the CPU/GPU load drops to idle. Some people may be AFK for hours and they don't want to waste electricity.
Also it seems that the program cannot be closed and restarted with MSFS running. The program won't start.
xRodx
great addon, but i can't make it work, the alarm goes on but it is not pausing the sim, that was on FBW devel version. Is there any problem with that plane?. Thanks
HighFlyer525 1 year(s) ago
Hi,
I will test myself tomorrow, as I have not tried with this aircraft for a while, however, it was working with this fine last time I tried.
Thanks,
HighFlyer525 1 year(s) ago
Interesting, it's not working for the FBW anymore. I've contacted the devs to see what's changed and why the sim is ignoring the command when using the FBW. It is a sim command after all and should work irrespective of aircraft.
Get back to you with a fix ASAP.
xRodx 1 year(s) ago
Thanks a LOT!
2Cas 12 month(s) ago
This should be resolved in the next stable release (0.8.2 release date tba), the fix is already in the dev branches (dev/exp).
sjatoi
BEST free add-on!!
MSGamer
Is this project dead? The Simbrief T/D isn't matching my STAR descent requirements so I was hoping there was a way to change the T/D and be able to still enter altitude restrictions. Any updates?
HighFlyer525 1 year(s) ago
Hi,
No this project isn't dead, but I've not been able to get back to it for a while due to work commitments.
I've already created the next iteration which may resolve your issue. It does not allow you to put your own TOD in with using SimBrief, however, it will allow you to put your altitude restrictions in and then automatically change the TOD to allow you to hit the restriction at your chosen rate of descent.
I publish it tomorrow.
Sorry for the delay in replying.
Faize34
Hello
Thank you for the answer, on the other hand when I use myself twice during the day without turning off the PC, but closing MSFS and TOD and Pause, I can no longer work it, I have to restart the PC, are you aware of the problem and / or did you have a solution.
thank you and congratulations again for your software
HighFlyer525 2 year(s) ago
Hi,
Ahh now that I’ve noticed before. I need to find the bug. What is happening is, even though you close it, something keeps it open in the background and stops it from closing completely.
Open Windows task manager and find it in the background services list and end the task, this should let you start it again.
Let me know if it works.
Thanks,
CentrumSilver 1 year(s) ago
Check task manager as I've seen TODC remain active in the background. Manually closing in the task manager will enable to restart the app.
Faize34
Hello,
Bravo for your utility which is really powerful and very practical and intuitive.
I have a question to ask: in what form do we enter the restrictions in a simbrief plan, for example above FL 140, below 5000 or 4000.
thank you for your reply
HighFlyer525 2 year(s) ago
Hi,
Sorry for the delay, it did not inform me of your comment.
Just a normal number in feet. 1000, 5000, 37000 without any commas or decimals.
Thanks for your rating.
clivedorsman
Hi. This is a fantastic utility - hats off to you for a great piece of work. I’m so used to X-Plane 11 ToLiss A321 mod (which also provides TOC and TOD on the ND!) that I’ve been waiting for this feature for a long time. Just wanted to get a clarification - nice TOD is populated, is the distance calculated from GC to destination of from actual track distances? I see you use the actual waypoints/SIDS/STARs etc. Gatefold for any clarification or whether I’m just not understanding how this works!
Ps worked first time for me no issues (except within FBW experimental version itself)
HighFlyer525 2 year(s) ago
Hi,
Thanks, I'm glad you are finding it useful. I'm so used to it too, that I found it was detracting from the experience quite a lot, especially not being able to monitor my progress on descent, hence creating this.
With regards to your your point, in GC mode, it is just that, Great Circle distance from your location to the airport, which is great for GA, but not so good for plans with SIDS/STARS etc.
In simBrief mode, it does use actual track distance. I take the TOD as defined by simBrief and then calculate the distance to the airport using the waypoints. It's the most accurate method to use.
I've just developed an update, due to be released soon, which is a variant of simBrief mode where it still uses the simBrief plan for track distance, however, it will calculate it's own TOD from live metrics in the sim. I've noticed that sometimes the simBrief TOD is a little out because it doesn't take into account any altitude restrictions. It can leave you in a bit of a nose dive trying to reach your first restriction otherwise.
Hope this help,
Cheers,
pioneer
First time I ran it no problems. Second time it won't start. Have .NET 4.8 so not sure why it won't start. Probably something I'm not doing but would appreciate any thoughts.
HighFlyer525 2 year(s) ago
Hi,
It maybe, that it's still running in the background. It won't start twice.
Next time it happens, try looking in Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Escape) to see if it's still in running processes and if it is, end it.
Thanks,
dihedral
Hi, I can't seem to get the simbrief connection to work. I enter my user name which is actually the "Pilot ID" which is the 6 digit number and it won't load the flight plan. I get an error msg. Any suggestions?
Thanks!
HighFlyer525 2 year(s) ago
Hi,
Its your actual username you login with.
Let me knowing that works.
Thanks,
dihedral 2 year(s) ago
Stupid me... Thanks!
HighFlyer525 2 year(s) ago
You’re welcome 🙂