Why does this FAQ have more questions than answers?

What is SimRoutes?

Who created SimRoutes?

Where does the SimRoutes data come from?

How do I join SimRoutes?

How much does SimRoutes cost?

If SimRoutes is free, where is the site hosted and how is the bandwidth paid for?

Wow, how can I contribute financially to SimRoutes? Can I make a donation?

Can I link to SimRoutes?

Why are the Routes listed here are different than the ones I see on Flightaware.com?

How do I add routes to SimRoutes?

Where do I report a problem with a Route?

Where do I report a problem with SimRoutes?

Are you interested in integrating with my VA?

Are you interested in integrating with my ARTCC/FIR/vACC?

Are you interested in integrating with my application?

Where do you get your Navigation Data from?

I heard that public access for the DAFIF will be cut off in 2006. How will you update your AIRAC after that?

Is SimRoutes only available for North American routes?

What is VATSIM?

I want to build my own flight planner. Will you share your code with me?

What sort of technology does SimRoutes run on?

Where do I make suggestions for a new feature?

Where do I make suggestions for new FAQ questions?

Q. Why does this FAQ have more questions than answers?

A. This FAQ was put together on 8/1/2006 and was meant to be a work in progress. My goal is to answer the most common questions I receive on a regular basis.

Q. What is SimRoutes?

A. SimRoutes.com is a preferred route database designed for pilots trying to fly from point A to point B. We try to match your route queries to a small set of route possibilities that are preferred by the ARTCC/FIR/vACC which you are flying from or to - rather than present you with 20 slightly different routes for each departure/arrival pair.  The intended Users of these routes are virtual pilots flying on the VATSIM network. The data contained on SimRoutes is NOT intended for real world use.

Q. Who created SimRoutes?

A. SimRoutes was created by Ian Elchitz, a Business Analyst in the Upstream Energy & Petroleum Industry. Ian lives in Calgary, AB with his family and works on SimRoutes during his "free" time to keep in touch with the latest technologies. SimRoutes is actually the fourth major release of a flightplanner that Ian first built in 2000.

Q. Where does the SimRoutes data come from?

A. The data is provided and maintained by volunteer administrators from various ARTCC, FIR, and vACC's within Vatsim. It may have been created based on FAA preferred routes, prefferred virtual traffic flows based on letters of agreement between centers, or simply based on suggestions by pilots. The Navigation data supplied is imported from the DAFIF.

Q. How do I join SimRoutes?

A. Interested ARTCC, FIR, or vACC can contact us at Admin -at- SimRoutes.com - the administrators can then start the process of setting up your area for SimRoutes integration, and provide you with the required access and support. We are always looking for new participants in our project.

Q. How much does SimRoutes cost?

A. SimRoutes is free. It costs the ARTCC/FIR/vACC's nothing and it costs the pilots who use it nothing. That's how it always has been and that's how it always will be.

Q. If SimRoutes is free, where is the site hosted and how is the bandwidth paid for?

A. SimRoutes is hosted with a service provider in North Eastern USA. The hosting, domain, and bandwidth have been paid for privately since 2000.

Q. Wow, how can I contribute financially to SimRoutes? Can I make a donation?

A. Thanks for the offer, SimRoutes is not taking donations at this time.

Q. Can I link to SimRoutes?

A. Yes of course you may. We only ask that you link directly to www.SimRoutes.com and not directly to any of our .aspx pages. There are lots of changes planned for the next few months and links directly to .aspx pages will more than likely stop working at some point. We will soon be releasing a "Powered by SimRoutes" image that you can place on your website as well.

Q. Why are the Routes listed here are different than the ones I see on Flightaware.com?

A. Flightaware.com is an amazing resource that lists current routes flown by carriers in real time. Here at SimRoutes our goal is to maintain a set of preferred routes for the VATSIM network. We'd rather offer you a small number of routings between each departure/arrival pair then have our pilots try and figure out which of the 15 routes returned for one departure/arrival pair to use. This doesn't mean that the SimRoutes Administrators aren't interested in keeping their routes up to date. If you have a specific route change to request - contact the ARTCC/FIR/vACC responsible for the airports involved and they will surely be ready to help.

Q. How do I add routes to SimRoutes?

A. Only SimRoutes Administrators may add or modify routes in the system. We do this in order to maintain our high level of route integrity. If you want a Route added to the system - contact the ARTCC/FIR/vACC responsible for the airports involved.

Q. Where do I report a problem with a Route?

A. You can either contact the ARTCC/FIR/vACC responsible for the airports involved or make a post on the SimRoutes forum detailing the problem.

Q. Where do I report a problem with SimRoutes?

A. You can either post the problem on the SimRoutes forum (with some details) or contact us directly at Admin -at- SimRoutes.com.

Q. Are you interested in integrating with my VA?

A. SimRoutes is currently not integrating with Virtual Airlines. SimRoutes does have the ability to integrate directly with VA's via XML Web Services but this feature is currently not enabled for security reasons. We realize the importance of your VA and hope to make the integration process with VA's available in the near future.

Q. Are you interested in integrating with my ARTCC/FIR/vACC?

A. Yes. In August 2006 SimRoutes will unveil two features that will allow ATC Websites to integrate with our database. One of these will feature a new NOTAM system while the other allows you to send simple queries to SimRoutes and receive routes with limited data. Both of these features will require your website to integrate via XML Web Services.

Q. Are you interested in integrating with my application?

A. Possibly, it all depends on who you are and what your application does. Feel free to contact us at Admin -at- SimRoutes.com with your idea.

Q. Where do you get your Navigation Data from?

A. SimRoutes currently gets its Navigation Database from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency's Digital Aeronautical Flight Information File (commonly known as the DAFIF).

Q. I heard that public access for the DAFIF will be cut off in 2006. How will you update your AIRAC after that?

A. This is true. The NGA will be moving the DAFIF to their private (and highly secured) intranet. Public access to this information will no longer be available. Over the past few months SimRoutes has been working hard to secure a reliable alternate data source and will likely make an announcement regarding this topic in the fall of 2006.

Q. Is SimRoutes only available for North American routes?

A. No No No No No No! SimRoutes was designed so that it could handle flightplan formats from all over the world. We are interested in having ANY ARTCC/FIR/vACC participate.

Q. What is VATSIM?

A. The Virtual Air Traffic Simulation Network (VATSIM) is a world-wide network for virtual air traffic simulation. VATSIM is intended primarily for simulating commercial and recreational air traffic. VATSIM users can both pilot (using a flight simulator, most commonly the current version of the Microsoft Flight Simulator) and provide air traffic control services (using freeware simulated radar screen program provided by VATSIM).

Q. I want to build my own flight planner. Will you share your code with me?

A. No, Sorry - not at this time.

Q. What sort of technology does SimRoutes run on?

A. SimRoutes was built using a combination of VB.NET, C#.NET, ASP.NET, and some C++ .dll's. The data is stored in the most recent version of Microsoft's SQL Server. The User Documentation pages are generated from a .php script provided by Ross Carlson.

Q. Where do I make suggestions for a new feature?

A. You can either make suggestions on the SimRoutes support forum, or send an email to us at Admin -at- SimRoutes.com.

Q. Where do I make suggestions for new FAQ questions?

A. You can either make suggestions on the SimRoutes support forum, or send an email to us at Admin -at- SimRoutes.com.