You know, flying in Infinite Flight isn’t just about taking off and landing—it’s about the full experience! But let’s be real… how many of us actually follow a proper checklist? 😆
🛫 Pre-Flight – Are You Really Ready?
👉 Do you plan your routes on SimBrief, or just wing it?
👉 Ever forgotten to check METAR/TAF and ended up in a storm? 🌪️
👉 Be honest… have you ever overfilled fuel just to be “safe”? ⛽
✈️ Climb & Cruise – How Realistic Are You?
⚠️ Are you step climbing like the pros? FL320, then FL360, then FL380? Or just straight to cruise altitude?
⚠️ Do you follow proper climb speeds—250 knots below 10,000ft, then cruise at M0.78-M0.85?
⚠️ Ever had a flight go wrong because you ignored winds and fuel burn? 😬
🛬 Descent & Landing – Are You a Pro?
👉 VNAV or manual descent—what’s your style?
👉 Do you follow STARs and realistic arrival procedures or just eyeball it? 😅
👉 What’s the smoothest landing you’ve ever done?
🔥 Now It’s Your Turn!
✅ What’s the one thing you ALWAYS do before takeoff?
✅ Got a funny Infinite Flight fail story? Maybe you forgot gear down on final? 😆
Drop your thoughts below, and let’s see who’s the most realistic Infinite Flight pilot here! 🚀👇
Calibrating multiple times— smart move! And landing without gear at a VA event? That must’ve been a moment of pure panic! 😆Bet that replay was interesting to watch!
When it comes to climbing straight to cruise versus step climbing, it really depends for me. If it’s a short flight, there’s not generally a need to step climb. I will do that/switch around altitudes if the winds or turbulence conditions are more favorable at a different altitude, but it’s not standard practice on short-medium haul flights.
On long haul flights, I do step climb whenever possible.
Great approach! In real life, pilots file a flight plan before departure, considering winds, fuel, and step climbs for efficiency. Step climbing is essential on long hauls to manage fuel burn and weight, while short flights typically don’t require it— unless adjusting for winds, turbulence, or ATC instructions!
I go as real ops as IF allows it. Simbrief flight plan, fuel planning. Takeoff diversion airport, fuel route diversion airport and 2 destination diversion airport options. Taking off on time if possible. Everything I can do to be the most realistic experience to me is what I enjoy.
In my early days playing IF, I’d just go straight to the destination. So, it’d be like Airport → SID → STAR → Airport
but I use SimBrief most of the time now
I always check METAR. It’s just that when I resume my flight and the weather condition at destination changes so the runway changes as well, I’d have to modify my FPL a bit.
I did in my early days playing IF. Now that I always step climb and use SimBrief, I always have extra fuel when landing.
I am, I always use SimBrief recommended step climbs if it’s a long haul but rarely on a short haul.
Yep. My most recent flight in which I ran out of fuel was when I tried WSSS-SKBO using A359. The problem is SimBrief directed me not through the equator while I was heading westbound. In theory, I should have got much tailwind if I did so, but since I entered the threshold of northern hemisphere (about 30° latitude) I got lots of headwinds instead. Another thing is I was overweight. I should have limited the amount of people boarding into my aircraft😂.
I use VNAV unless radar controllers assign me altitudes and take me off from my FPL.
Most of the time, I don’t. I just use SimBrief recommended altitudes. It’d be a different story if the approach requires much of visual like in St. Barts.
I don’t remember the details but I remember it was on A320 and the aircraft calls out retard like 3-5 times.
Flight planning
Filling out my logbook with flight details (airports, aircraft, loads, etc.) while I am
Generating a flight plan from SimBrief
Calculate V1, VR, V2 using SimBrief and input the results to IF Assistant
Moving each step climb altitude(s) to one waypoint before, adding some pseudo-waypoints 5-10NM before each step climb, and configuring IF assistant so it can automatically step climb with a V/S of 1000±200 fpm
Sometimes I’d check the gates on FlightStats just to match real world operations
I often check the seat map of each aircraft & airline to better suit my FPL on SimBrief
Pushback checklists
Main battery → APU start
No smoking sign
Set initial cruise altitude and runway heading on autopilot
Jetbridge/passenger stairs
NAV & beacon lights
(if auto-pushback available) set auto-pushback
Pushback
Seatbelt sign
Engine 2 (or engine 1 if it’s A330)
Flaps, trim, and autobrake to MAX
HUD (since I always fly in cockpit view)
Taxi
APU off
Engine 1 (or engine 2 if it’s A330) 2-3 minutes before approaching the runway
Landing & strobe lights after passing the hold short line
I crashed on final because, yes, I forgot to deploy the gears
Ran out of fuel just after landing the first time I did a long haul (WIII-EHAM) using B77W
I spawn in at the exact time the aircraft is at the gate and conduct a full preflight and briefing. I push back at the exact scheduled time, taxi using the same taxiways, and take off from the same runway. During climb, I follow the exact same headings and vertical speeds. In cruise, I maintain the same altitudes and speeds. For descent and approach, I follow the same procedures as climb and takeoff, using the exact same headings and speeds. After landing, I taxi via the same taxiways to the same gate. I also use a checklist at every step of the flight.
Love the level of realism you’ve built into your flights! Using SimBrief, step climbing, and proper flight planning really makes a difference. That WSSS-SKBO headwind situation is a perfect example of why real-world pilots carefully plan their routes. And yes, forgetting the gear on final — we’ve all been there at some point! 🥹
I ALWAYS have realistic flights, maybe too realistic but ALWAYS lol. I use simbrief all the time and follow the speed given or altitude (step climb or not).
100% I want to fly like a real pilot and as realistic procedures as I can, but for the most part I don’t really know how/guess most of the way.
I would say one of the most enjoyable ways I use infinite flight is matching real-life flights in real time and listening to real ATC from ramp to ground to tower to radar!
For obvious reasons this is technically only possible on the Casual server. And I can only do this at KSFO since I’m more familiar with it (and it has LiveATC). With LiveATC on I pushback when the real plane is cleared to, will do the engine start, check controls, and set flaps. Then start taxi when cleared to, and will follow all real ATC instructions to takeoff.
In real life the plane flies over my house at 2000-3000 ft agl (depending on aircraft), so hearing it while flying in infiniteflight at the same time is pretty cool.
I switch frequency when handed off and follow vectors from radar ATC freqs. I’ve never done a complete flight though, but I imagine I can fly KSFO-KLAX with full real ATC.
My goal is to learn more realistic ways to use InfiniteFlight. I’ll be monitoring this thread for sure for some insight!
On U.S.-origin flights I just copy the flight plan from FlightAware. I’ve never used simbrief but I am planning to soon!
I always check IRL METAR/TAF at both destination and departure airports. And it’s mainly to know what kind of landing I’m in for lol
On long hauls I always go estimated flight time + 2-2.5 hours. I definitely want to know how IRL pilots calculate it.
I always step climb
I always follow proper climb and cruise speeds
I have never had a flight go wrong due to winds/fuel burn.
I have VNAV on, but many times I adjust the altitude setting based on observations from flightradar24.
I always use a STAR
I’ve done some good landings on 777’s and A380’s but none really stands out and if it did, that replay is probably gone lol
I aim to use IRL takeoff and climb speeds. Many of my long hauls I will do the same time as the real flight and I’ll have flightradar24 open on another device. There are plenty of times that i have intercepted a waypoint the same time as the IRL life, and there have been times I’ve landed within seconds of the real flight on long hauls too!
Once, a while ago, I was on a long haul with the C-17 from Djibouti International to Ramstein Air Force Base, and I packed extra fuel. However, the headwinds were crazy. I was descending into ETAR when all the engines shut down. I tried to land safely at the nearest airport, but it was in the middle of rural Germany, so I ended up crashing into a field.
for me, i use simbrief and i check weather occasionally if i have time. i also use simbrief so it does fuel for me automatically. but in my early days of playing i had no idea what flight planning was and just put my destination airport on the map. when flying back then, i didnt know what lnav did and thought it threw me off course so i stayed at my device the entire time i was flying to adjust headings. i also didnt know what the 5x option was so i was staying by my device for hours to make sure i dont go off course. and i couldnt land. i just accepted my flight and ended early.
i use simbrief alts and the preset alts which is really useful. most of the time i miss the alts since my vs isnt high enough, but sometimes i can, and most of the time i can make them as i climb. if i have a chance to make them, i actually calculate the vs i need to have in my head to make sure i climb smoothly. i always follow the 250kts rule even though in IF its 260 before a vio. i go to m.78 now but before i used to go to m.80, and always m.85. i accidently didnt pack enough fuel because i was using the wrong measuring system. safe to say that ended in a few nose dives and barrel rolls that somehow made me able to land at different airport. keep in mind i was halfway across the middle of the pacific.
i use vnav most of the time, but sometimes i catch the glideslope so i start manually doing it. sometimes i forget i dont have vnav when im manually doing it so i uncapture the glideslope, but i just turn vnav back on. simbrief most of the time gives me a star so i just have to add an approach and im fine. most of the time i use appr to stabilize myself, but if im manually descending, its clear and sunny, and im a little under or over glideslope ill disengage autopilot so appr doesnt mess up what i already have, and do my best to land.
i always during taxi get what im going to say to atc ready before takeoff so i dont have to make other people wait (even if im the only one at the airport). also i do a double check of everything and make sure i actually have a fpl because i have been taking off so many times without a fpl.
i once buttered the belly of an b77w when landing at ksfo coming back from yssy.