Navigraph Xplane 11

[Victorio Galindo]

Im a new user to Navigraph data, my first try today. I installed and ran the Navigraph FMS Data Manager, but it can't find my XP11 install. I'm on a Mac so the run-time file is "X-Plane.app". When the FMS Data Manager tries to find the run-time executable is appears to be looking for an .exe file- so it appears to spend hours searching for the install. I have tried to manually point it to XP11, but once inside the root folder it can never get to "open" as it's not finding the file-type that it's looking for- at least that's what appears to be happening.

Forget the FMS data manager. Just go to the "manual install" option on Navigraph's site (under Products, FMS data), and grab the XP 11 native data. This will come in as "xplane11_native_1705.zip". Unzip it, when it will appear as a folder called "xplane11_native_1705". Open it, and place all its contents into your X-Plane 11/Resources/default data folder - overwriting (replacing) the existing contents. There will be a CIPF folder, and 3 .dat files, plus two other files. That's it.

Open it, and place all its contents into your X-Plane 11/Resources/default data folder - overwriting (replacing) the existing contents. There will be a CIPF folder, and 3 .dat files, plus two other files. That's it.

The problem with that 'fix', is the next time you run the Installer/Updater because you have some other problem or LR issues an update to X-Plane the X-Plane 11/Resources/default data folder will get overwritten if your not very carefull. The prefered location for all user updates is X-Plane 11/Custom Data folder.

On a Mac too...to follow up on what @cessna729 said you may also in the future/now have multiple aircraft and/or multiple copies of XP11 (beta/non beta etc). I recommend the manager because it's so simple and it remembers everything...below are a few Mac mapping pics.

The cycle info I've highlighted is for default X-Plane 11 aircraft as well as some payware and freeware aircraft. You will also note a GNS430 and UFMC folder; these are for particular payware aircraft and need to be updated as well with the current AIRAC cycle info.

However, I'm surprised to learn that you could put the CIPF folder and the .dat files into the Custom Data folder as well. Does this mean that X-Plane 11 then ignores the Default Data folder when the new "proper" X-Plane 11 planes access the Navigation Data? If so, why bother to have the navigation data in Default Data?

@ fwattyov: For some weird reason my manager seems to have found XP11- something I would like to check is that it's not updating an older beta of XP11 that I had saved on my G: drive. How do I check the path that the manager is addressing?

1) You can check the path several ways the easiest is to scroll-over the shortened Navigraph path...see pic below. So your cursor sits on "Users/.../GNS 430" and you get your full path. I've made that error in the past with XP10/11 backups on my Promise Pegasus. That's why I use the manager now...easier to point back and forth etc...dragging and dropping tends cause files to go missing/corrupt etc.

2) Assuming you meant GNS 430(9)...check your path and try updating again: choose only "X-Plane GNS430" as shown above...I've noticed that Navigraph can stall 24 to 48 hours after a new AIRAC cycle is released...so I check/update them all but end up doing the last one GNS430 by itself...or I wait 3 or 4 days after Navigraph sends me the AIRAC update email.

I'm not positive but think LR/XP11 may be designed this way to further/help aircraft developers so they don't need to include or deal with NAV data as in the past...also the new XP11 default GPS/FMS is capable of handling complete AIRAC information.

I've always had two identical GNS430 folders (derived from my Navigraph sub.) in my XP10 installation - one in Custom Data, and one in Resources. That has been covered in another post, and the same reasoning applied. It all works fine, so I take the attitude "Who cares?", as it takes two seconds to put the folders in place!

This necroposting phenomenon is largely a result of the "you need two answeres before you can make a new thread" rule that is enforced on new members. So people find an old question with an easy answer and post their answer that is technically correct so it's not spam. You have to do that twice so you can then start your own thread and ask your own question.

I don't mind as long people post actual answers, even if they are to three year old threads. It shows that they have done basic research and can craft a post that is at least factually correct and not spam.

In X-Plane 11 and later, one single database is used for all purposes of navigational data in the simulator. All items defined in this common database will be used for the scenery, the map, ATC, AI and the GPS/FMS and radio navigation avionics. In X-Plane 10, it was possible to have a discrepancy between what you saw in the X-Plane world and what was available for GPS navigation. This lack of data integrity is no longer possible. X-Plane 11 has a redesigned navdata hierarchy and new formats, that strongly enforce referential integrity and correctness. Note that the format is not backwards-compatible to any of the old datasets, X-Plane 11 will only load data in the X-Plane 11 format.

Furthermore, all data about airports and runways is taken from the apt.dat, which has been extended so it can carry information necessary for the avionics. Previously, a separate airports.txt was used to hold information like transition level, longest runway length, etc. Now all this information is taken from apt.dat, which uses the 1302 row code for key-value pairs, which can be edited in WED. The following key-value pairs are part of the apt.dat 1050 specification and are used in X-Plane 11:

Note that this data is already populated for most airports in the scenery gateway. If you find an airport with these values missing or incorrect, use WED 1.5 or later to add/edit these values and upload your change to the scenery gateway.

As of X-Plane 12, the airport data is located in $X-Plane/Global Scenery/Global Airports/Earth nav data/apt.dat and is the one and only source for both scenery and GPS data, so what you see is what you get.

X-Plane 11 and 12 distinguish between global and terminal fixes and navaids. Terminal fixes and navaids must specify the arpt/heli ident of their terminal area, according to the 424.20 5.6 Airport/Heliport Identifier. All fixes and navaids must specify the region ICAO code according to the 424.20 5.14 ICAO code. Note especially the seven regions defined for the continental United States. See ICAO document No 7910 for details.

By classification into terminal vs global items and assigning the correct parent terminal area or ICAO region, each item in the database is addressable by a globally unique identifier. Only then it is possible to build the layered structure. X-Plane enforces integrity of this unique index, because it is needed to build the graph of the airway network.

If no global 424 file is present, X-Plane will instead load files of the XPNAV1150/XPFIX1101/XPAWY1100/XPHOLD1140 format. These look superficially similar to the data files of previous versions, but they are fundamentally different in that referential integrity is required, and globally uniqueness with respect to type, code, and region code is enforced at load time. Full file format specifications are available below.

It is important to understand that rather than a full replacement of data, X-Plane 11 and 12 allow the data to be organized in layers with increasing priority, where higher priority data overrides the data from all layers below.

X-Plane 11/12 ships with a global base layer of data that enables IFR navigation world-wide. The data cycle represented by those files will remain the same over the lifetime of X-Plane 12.

These files are:

This layer is what advanced hobbyist users care about. They want updated data, because they want to fly online. Participation in the online networks usually requires fairly recent data. Aerosoft and Navigraph offer newest data by a monthly subscription. This data consists of the files:

These files completely replace the base layer of X-Plane. If these files are present, the X-Plane base layer is ignored. Note that because of the referential integrity, it is not possible to update just the earth_fix.dat and not the earth_awy.dat. Upon load, it is checked that all files are of the same cycle number. Mix-matching different cycles is not supported.

Note that for integrity reasons, the cycle number of the FAA data must always match the cycle number of the underlying layer. Terminal procedures do reference waypoints out of the terminal area, therefore, the data source for global waypoints must be at the same cycle number.

Note also that when FAACIFP is in effect, terminal procedures are overridden on a per-airport basis. No attempt is made to mix-match terminal procedures from global data with those loaded from FAACIFP. As terminal procedures reference terminal waypoints, trying to build terminal procedures from global data with points loaded from FACCIFP could lead to unpredictable results. Therefore, once FAACIFP is in effect, Custom Data/CIFP/#ICAO.dat is overridden for each #ICAO with PD/PE/PF records in FAACIFP.

These files are where all custom waypoints are saved. Whenever a custom waypoint is created (through the default FMS) it is saved in the user_fix.dat file, which overrides previously loaded information. The user_nav.dat can hold custom navaids, though there is no way in the X-Plane UI to create them directly.

The user_fix.dat is first created once a pilot-defined waypoint was stored in the FMS. They are the highest layer and ensure user modifications are preserved even with updates from Aerosoft or Navigraph.

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