FSGuide - Flight Simulator Guide

First of all, what is the FSGuide? Well, basically, it is just a bunch of links. But arranged in a way that is very useful for the pilots of Microsoft Flight Simulator (MSFS). FSGuide is a database, that contains most of the worlds significant airports, as presented in MSFS, the count right now being 4554. For each of these airports, we present some basic information, such as location, region, available runways etc. But on top of this, you will find sceneries, charts, live weather information, links to the real worlds airport, links to the local VATSIM authority and a lot more. All information packed into one page for each destination. Let us have a look.

The Search

The main interface contains the most important feature of this site; the search function. Located at the top of the page, just below the logo, is the search line. Search for a specific ICAO identifier, part of a city name, a country or an airport name, and you will get a list of results (hopefully). An example. You want to find Kennedy International, New York. This can be achieved in 4 ways. If you know the ICAO identifier for this airport, just enter this, select "ICAO" in the dropdown list (default) and click 'search'. Since only 1 destination has this identifier, you will be brought directly to the KJFK page in the database. However, you could have searched for 'kennedy' in the 'Airport name', and the result would be a list of the 3 airports having 'kennedy' as part of their names. From this list, you just select the one you want. Another options; search for a country name, and you will get a list of the airports in that country, a nice feature when planning your next trip.

The Grand View

When you find your destination, you will be presented with a lot of information. For some airports, not much information is available. Some destinations has no sceneries, no available charts, no VATSIM, no nothing. But again, for some airports almost everything is available.

Scenery information

Most space on the airport detail page is used for the scenery information. Available sceneries for FSX, freeware as well as payware, are being included in the database, and you will find information on compatibility, where to download, where to buy, and in most cases, a short description of the scenery or special notices.

Charts, links and weather information

The right part of the airport detail page will give you a lot of valuable information. Whenever available, you will have links to the airports real world homepage, aerodrome and parking charts, and for the runways, you will find approach charts and standard departure and and arrival charts (APPR, SID and STAR). Below all these airport- and runway dependent options, you will find a link, the SVA METAR Lookup. This will open a new window, where you will get live weather information on every single airport in this database, even with an updated METAR string. The SVA METAR Lookup is developed and maintained by a member of 'Scandinavian VA'. All in all, a lot of useful information, and the work of keeping all this updated in an ongoing process. The same applies to the addition of new sceneries, charts and links. Constantly growing. I hope this short introduction has given you an idea on how to use FSGuide. I wish you happy flying.
Michael, FSGuide