SimBrief Integration

vAMSYS generates SimBrief operational flight plans (OFPs) through the SimBrief v2 API using your own Navigraph login. Every OFP is created inside your own SimBrief account, which is what makes the plan available to anything else that reads that account the moment vAMSYS has dispatched — there is no extra step in vAMSYS to publish it.

Linking Your Navigraph Account

1. In Phoenix, open the user menu and choose My vAMSYS Account.

2. In the account sidebar, go to Social, Online & 3rd Party.

3. Under the 3rd Party section, find Navigraph and press Link Navigraph.

4. Approve the Navigraph authorisation request.

Once the link is in place, a SimBrief Settings entry appears in the account sidebar, and the same page is reachable from the Manage SimBrief Integration button on the Social, Online & 3rd Party screen. Unlink Navigraph on that screen removes the link. Navigraph Unlimited members also get airport layouts drawn on the vAMSYS maps.

Your SimBrief Airframes

The SimBrief Settings page lists the airframes saved in your own SimBrief account and syncs them when you open it. It shows Our ID, SimBrief Airframe ID, Airframe Base Type, Airframe Name, Airframe Registration, Comments, Default for Base Type and Updated.

Each row has a Make Default / Remove Default action. Marking an airframe as the default for its base type tells vAMSYS which of your own airframes to pre-select when you dispatch that aircraft type.

• The sync is cached for 60 minutes, so an airframe you have just created in SimBrief may not show up straight away. Use the Update Airframes link in the dispatch page's SimBrief Settings panel to force a refresh.

• Airframes you delete in SimBrief are removed from vAMSYS on the next sync.

Dispatching via SimBrief

In Phoenix, open Flight Centre and pick a route to book — the dispatch page opens for that route. The Aircraft & Callsign section carries a Dispatch via SimBrief switch. vAMSYS creates the booking first and then queues the plan, so the OFP starts generating the moment you dispatch.

The switch is not always available:

• No Navigraph link — the switch is replaced by a Using SimBrief? Click me button, which opens a Dispatch via SimBrief Disabled modal pointing you at the account screen. Link Navigraph in the other tab, then press Understood | I have linked the account to re-check.

• No profile for the type — the switch is disabled with 'No SimBrief profiles are available for this aircraft type'. At least one airline profile, one of your own, or a SimBrief default must match the fleet.

• Service unavailable — the switch is disabled with 'SimBrief service is currently unavailable'.

The switch remembers itself: its state is saved with every dispatch and restored on your next booking.

Choosing a Profile

The Profile / Airframe select groups options into Airline Profiles, Your Profiles and Default Profiles, matched on the fleet code. vAMSYS pre-selects the first of these it finds: the profile you pinned to that tail when you favourited it, then your own profile marked default for that base type, then an airline profile, then a SimBrief default profile for the type.

If your Virtual Airline has set an enforced profile list on the fleet, it filters both the Airline Profiles and the Default Profiles groups. Only Your Profiles — the airframes on your own SimBrief account — stay available regardless.

Two links sit beside the select: Update Airframes forces the airframe sync, and Manage Profiles & Defaults opens your SimBrief Settings page. SimBrief's own default profiles are re-imported platform-wide once a day, so new default airframes appear without anyone at your VA doing anything.

You can also attach a preferred SimBrief profile when you favourite an aircraft in Phoenix → Resources → Aircraft — favourited aircraft are prioritised when vAMSYS picks a default aircraft for dispatch.

The SimBrief Settings Panel

The collapsible SimBrief Settings panel on the dispatch page controls the rest of the request:

• Map — No Map, Nicer Route Map or Advanced Route Map.

• Alternates — a stepper from 0 to 4, with Takeoff, Enroute and Primary, 2nd, 3rd and 4th alternate inputs, plus an Alternate Finder button.

• Options — Navlog, ETOPS, Stepclimbs, TLR, NOTAMs and FIR NOTAMs.

• Fuel & Weight — Taxi Out, Taxi In, MEL, ATC, WXX, Tankering and Extra, alongside read-only Min FOB, Min FOD, Contingency and Reserve figures.

• Save SimBrief settings for next Dispatch — keeps the panel's settings for your next booking.

Previewing Before You Book

With the switch on, Preview SimBrief Flight Plan at the bottom of the dispatch page calculates the plan without creating a booking. Preview SimBrief Overrides shows the exact data vAMSYS sends to SimBrief; pilots only see it when the VA enables Enable SimBrief Overrides Preview, and staff always see it.

While the OFP Generates

Generation runs in the background. The booking page shows a SimBrief OFP card reading 'Generating OFP… this page will refresh automatically when it is ready.' and polls every four seconds, and vAMSYS pushes a live notification when the OFP is generated, updated or fails.

The window is three minutes by default. Past that the card switches to 'OFP generation is taking longer than expected or has failed. You can try generating it again.' and offers the Generate button.

vAMSYS is limited to 30 SimBrief API calls per minute across the whole platform rather than per pilot, so during busy periods a preview can fail on the rate limit and generation can be pushed into a retry. Waiting is usually more effective than pressing the button again.

Working With the Generated OFP

The booking page sidebar gains a SimBrief Actions card:

• Open OFP — opens the plan as a PDF. vAMSYS serves its own stored copy where it has one and falls back to SimBrief's file link otherwise.

• Edit SimBrief OFP — opens the plan on SimBrief's dispatch page so you can change it and regenerate.

• Open Navigraph Charts — imports the plan into Navigraph Charts. Only shown when your Navigraph token reports a charts subscription.

• SimBrief Downloads — a multi-select of every file SimBrief produced for the plan. Selecting files and pressing download opens each one in a new tab.

The plan is also rendered inline in two collapsible sections: SIMBRIEF OFP SUMMARY (dispatcher and system remarks, runway, TLR, performance, fuel, weight, and speed, time, altitude and distance) and SIMBRIEF OFP, the full plan document. Weights follow your imperial or metric preference.

Loading the Plan Into Your Simulator

vAMSYS never creates the plan on a shared or service account. The generate call is authenticated with your own Navigraph token, so the finished OFP is simply the latest flight plan on your own SimBrief account — anything that reads that account picks it up with no extra step in vAMSYS. Your SimBrief username is also passed to the Pegasus ACARS client automatically.

Booking Page Actions

• Generate SimBrief OFP — shown when Navigraph is linked and the booking has no OFP yet.

• Import From SimBrief — lists the flight plans on your own SimBrief account, filtered to the booked city pair, and attaches one to the booking. Attaching overwrites the booking's route with the route from the OFP.

• Update SimBrief OFP — appears only once a plan has been imported or attached. A booking whose OFP came straight from dispatch does not show it until SimBrief has called back and the plan has been re-imported.

• Manual SimBrief — opens a pre-filled SimBrief dispatch form for bookings that were not dispatched through SimBrief. It is off unless your VA enables it, and Orwell itself describes it as the inferior, less capable option.

Sending the Plan to an Online Network

When an OFP exists and the booking's network is VATSIM, IVAO, PilotEdge, POSCON or APOC, a Send to button for that network appears on the booking page. It opens the prefile link SimBrief generated, with your VA's remarks substituted into it.

Staff: SimBrief Integration Settings

In Orwell, go to HQ → Settings → SimBrief Integration, in the Flight group. You need the Can Manage Airline Settings permission; vAMSYS staff have access as well. The page has three sections.

OFP

• OFP Format — the SimBrief layout used for your VA's plans. It provides the default for Fleets and Aircraft, which can each override it. Layouts include LIDO - SimBrief Default alongside airline formats such as BAW - British Airways, DLH - Lufthansa, RYR - Ryanair and WZZ - Wizz Air.

• Pilot OFP Format Override — lets pilots choose their own layout instead. The pilot-side control is SimBrief OFP Format in Phoenix profile settings, which is disabled with the hint 'Set by the Virtual Airline' when this is off.

• SimBrief Airline - ICAO — sends the airline field to SimBrief as an ICAO code. On, vAMSYS sends the first three characters of the callsign; off, it sends the first two characters of the flight number.

vAMSYS resolves the layout in this order:

1. The pilot's own SimBrief OFP Format, but only when Pilot OFP Format Override is enabled.

2. The aircraft's SimBrief override.

3. The fleet's SimBrief override.

4. The VA's OFP Format.

5. LIDO, if nothing else is set.

Online Network Prefile

• Online Network Remarks — remarks sent to every online network prefile. Maximum 100 characters.

• IVAO Remarks — appended to the above for IVAO only. Maximum 100 characters, with no check on the combined length.

• VATSIM Radar Remark — appends VATSIM Radar remarks to the VATSIM prefile.

• VATSIM Radar Remark - Include VA Name — adds the VA name to those remarks. Only shown when the toggle above is on.

For VATSIM, vAMSYS appends the operator callsign (optionally with the VA name) and your website to the remarks. It only does this when an Airline Parameters record matches both the callsign's ICAO prefix and the flight number's IATA prefix, so configure the ATC callsign in Callsign Parameters first.

The remarks are pasted into the prefile link SimBrief generates, replacing a placeholder inside it. For VATSIM only, vAMSYS falls back to appending a remarks item when that placeholder is missing — the other networks have no fallback, so remarks can quietly fail to appear.

Custom Aircraft Profiles

This section lists the SimBrief airframes your VA owns and offers to its pilots, showing Type Code, Airframe ID and Last Update. The list is hidden entirely until you import your first airframe — only the Import SimBrief Airframe and Update Airframes buttons show.

To add one:

1. Save the airframe in SimBrief, on the SimBrief account of the person doing the import.

2. In SimBrief, open Saved Airframes → Edit and copy the Internal ID from Airframe Info. It looks like 123456_1582090020.

3. In Orwell, press Import SimBrief Airframe, paste the value into Airframe ID and save.

If you change an airframe's configuration in SimBrief, press Update Airframes so vAMSYS picks up the change.

Fleet, Aircraft and Airport Overrides

Deeper SimBrief configuration lives on the records themselves:

• Fleet — Orwell → Fleet → (fleet) → SimBrief Integration tab. Holds Enforced SimBrief Aircraft Profile Options (leave it empty to allow all), the override fieldsets, and Alternate Management search parameters.

• Aircraft — Orwell → Fleet → Aircraft → (tail) → SimBrief Integration tab. The same override fieldsets, without the enforced profile list.

• Airport — Orwell → Airports → (airport) → Alternate Management → Search Parameters, applied when SimBrief looks for alternates on routes arriving there. SimBrief's own defaults are a 447 nm radius, a 3000 m minimum forecast ceiling and a 7000 ft minimum runway; fleet settings override the airport settings.

Both SimBrief Integration tabs carry the same fieldsets: Airframe Info (OFP Layout), Airframe Equipment, Airframe Weights, Airframe Fuel Planning and Airframe Performance. Only the fields you fill in are overridden; everything else comes from the SimBrief profile. Aircraft settings take priority over fleet settings, and route configuration can override the fuel and cost index values set here.

The weight fields use SimBrief's units, not vAMSYS's. Passenger Weight and Baggage Weight are in pounds, while Empty Weight, Max Zero Fuel Weight, Max Takeoff Weight, Max Landing Weight and Max Fuel Capacity are in thousands of pounds.

What vAMSYS Keeps

The OFP data — the summary figures and the plan itself — stays on the booking and its PIREP. Only the stored PDF is cleaned up:

• The PDF vAMSYS stores is deleted 90 days after the OFP was generated. Open OFP then falls back to SimBrief's own file link.

• OFPs attached through Import From SimBrief, Update SimBrief OFP or SimBrief's callback never get a vAMSYS-stored PDF at all, so those bookings always link straight to SimBrief.

• Superseded OFP versions older than 30 days are removed daily, leaving the latest plan for each booking.

• If a booking is cancelled, cancelled and rebooked, or expires without producing a PIREP, its OFP and PDF are deleted straight away rather than after 90 days.

• The heaviest parts of the plan are dropped before storage: the navlog, alternate navlog, SIGMETs, tracks, database updates and images are not kept in the vAMSYS copy.

For staff, a PIREP that came from a SimBrief dispatch shows the OFP link and the fuel figures from the plan on its dispatch panel in Orwell.

API Access

The vAMSYS API exposes GET /bookings/{id}/simbrief for the latest OFP linked to a booking, returning 404 when there is none, and PUT /bookings/{id}/simbrief to attach an externally generated plan by its request or static ID. Attach failures come back as navigraph_not_linked, invalid_dispatch_id, route_mismatch or simbrief_unavailable.

Related

• How to Book a Flight — dispatching, booking actions and the rest of the Flight Centre

• Fleet — the SimBrief Integration tab and enforced profiles per aircraft type

• Aircraft — per-tail SimBrief overrides

• Booking & Dispatch Settings — Enable Manual SimBrief and Enable SimBrief Overrides Preview

• Airports — alternate search parameters per airport

• Callsign Parameters — the ATC callsign used in VATSIM Radar remarks

• API — authentication and the rest of the endpoints