Maximizing the SimBrief Integration Tool

[Trey]

Happy Update Day!

I’ve noticed a few questions about inconsistencies with aircraft weights since Infinite Flight introduced the new SimBrief integration tool. After thoroughly testing this feature, I’ve found a method to closely match the weights as accurately as possible. I’d like to share this approach with you all.

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Step 1: Airframes

Before we create a flight plan, we’ll need to create airframes using the aircraft data from Infinite Flight. The aircraft in Infinite Flight differ from the default airframes on SimBrief. With this, no matter what you do, the weights will be off.

To create an airframe:

1. Open SimBrief and click “Saved Airframes” on the side menu.
2. Click on New Airframe
3. Spawn in on Infinite Flight
4. Click “Weight & Balance”
5. Edit the settings in SimBrief to match Infinite Flight

Don’t forget to match your units (lb/kg)

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Step 2: Flight Plan

Now that we have our airframes matched up, it’s time to create a flight plan. For me, I’m a little extra when it comes to the flight plan stage, so feel free to skip these tips if you wish.

For added realism here are some websites that I like to use:

FlightAware: This website will show me the real-world flights and provides useful information that I will include in my flight plan:

• Aircraft
• Total Travel Time
• Departure Taxi Estimation
• Arrival Taxi Estimation
• Route (Select Flights)
• Altitudes (Select Flights)

Flightradar24: In the event that FlightAware does not show altitudes or routes, this website and app comes in handy when creating a flight plan.

AeroLOPA: This website will show the aircraft information for each airline. I like to use this when figuring out the number of passengers on my flight.

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Step 3: Import

Once you have created your flight plan, import it into Infinite Flight. For more information on how to do that, check out the the update post by @jasonrosewell:

Infinite Flight 24.3

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Step 4: Revision

Once you have imported your flight plan into Infinite Flight, you will get a pop-up that looks like this:

Check to ensure that the weights match from your SimBrief plan:

Pay close attention to the cargo section. In the pop-up, SimBrief has loaded both cargo and bag weights, and you’ll notice they are identical. This means your cargo weight will be doubled or capped at the maximum cargo weight, whichever is lower.

SimBrief calculates your cargo weight by combining the freight and bag weights, meaning the cargo weight already includes the bags. This makes adding the bag weight separately redundant. To correct this, adjust the slider manually to match the correct weight. Once done, the total weight will closely align with what’s displayed on SimBrief.

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Conclusion

Following these steps will help match your weights and improve your experience with the SimBrief integration tool.

[Mattchew]

Great topic, nice job!

[pilot_tommie]

Thanks for this topic! Helps a lot for many people I think. Well done

[DJSunfire]

Excellent! This will be helpful for a lot of people.

[Walter]

Very useful topic, thanks, Trey!

[Axevertis]

Thanks for pointing this out, unfortunately I was so eager to fly I didn’t even check to assure if my weights were correct or not 😅

[DanilVL]

Thanks for the topic, I bookmarked it for later use. As for this issue, I hope it gets worked on in the nearest hotfix.

[AviatorVJ]

Nice tutorial, is the airframes part in the beginning really that important?

[Trey]

The airframes allow you to set the aircrafts’:

• Empty weight
• Zero fuel weight
• Max number of seats
• Max cargo weight
• Max takeoff weight
• Max landing weight
• Fuel capacity

This makes SimBrief adhere to aircraft restrictions in IF, but this isn’t required. This tutorial is about maximizing the feature.

[headstock]

I have made some custom airframes for the B738 and the A320 that can be saved to your SimBrief and used by anyone.

You may save them from the links below!

Airbus A320 - 200 - SimBrief - Dispatch
Boeing 737 - 800 - SimBrief - Dispatch

[FlightGT]

Some more tips when creating the aircraft profile:

1. Don’t use the max number available in IF. Instead, go search for the seat layout of your desired airline and use that number. This prevents the flight plan always loading nearly full passengers. You can even create different profiles for multiple airlines, or domestic/international configurations.

2. Set pax weight as 77kg and baggage weight as 10kg.
   
   This way you can get accurate (tried a few plans and they all match) passenger number in IF, and have more realistic cargo load instead of carrying way too much cargo.

Below is an example of a B787-9 profile, based on Air France seat layout.

B787-9 profile

I generated a VHHH-LFPG route, and here’s the load after reducing the carry-on luggage weight. Everything looks fine, nothing too much.

If you would like to carry more cargo, you can set the baggage weight higher. But I don’t recommend going over 20kg. And do not try to get rid of the carry-on luggage by setting its weight to 0. This way you won’t have any cargo planned.

[Nithin_Gowtham]

Usefull content ill follow this steps in my next flight.

[Abif12]

I have made some custom airframes for the 772, 77L and A333 that can be saved in your SimBreif. These aircraft profiles are from the IF max number.

You can save by using the links below ⬇️:

77L - SimBreif Airframe
772 - SimBreif Airframe
A333 - SimBreif Airframe

I intend to make custom profiles for all IF aircraft but , here is the first batch!

[Basilisk]

Their is a little issue with the cargo figures when you load it from SimBrief. But its the best FPL tool for IF ever

[anon50574668]

/e steals
cough cough
i mean thanks-

[Petre2026]

I’ve found the hack for the simbrief cargo issue. Whatever the standard amount of weight per bag that is normally carried on the airline is, cut it in half and put that as your bag weight when setting up your airframe. That way it’ll be doubled when loaded in and you won’t even have to worry about editing the weights.

For instance, I often fly with SWA, on which two 50lb bags fly free, and most passengers take two bags. Since most people don’t check exactly 50lbs per bag, I estimate it to be about 40lbs per bag, and since each person gets two, the total baggage weight per person would be 80lbs. So, I cut that in half and enter that into my bag weight selection.

Then, when the plan is loaded into IF, it doubles the weight and I get the perfect weight for the airline.

However, when I fly with AAL, most people only check one bag, meaning the typical weight is about 40lbs per passenger. Thus, I put 20lbs in my bag weight selection

Also, in case people are wondering or it hasn’t been said, by IF numbers, Pax weight is about 169lbs per passenger, not the default 175. This isn’t that big of a deal, unless you are flying a wide body, as they excess weight adds up very fast.

I do apologize to those who don’t use pounds, but the same principles should apply

I think this is what you were saying @FlightGT , but with perhaps more explanations as to why you put what you put.

[Rayviator]

I never knew this was a thing. Nice one. Be good if we can fix the fuel burn on 346

[Tando]

I took a closer look at how IF in its current version is processing SimBrief’s data to figure out how to get IF weight&balance values that match those of Simbrief’s when importing a Simbrief flight plan.

IF calculates the total pax weight as follows:

IF_pax_total_weight = simbrief_pax_count × simbrief_weight_per_pax

IF then takes this value and divides it by 77 to display the pax count. I.e., in order to get the same pax count displayed in IF, simbrief_weight_per_pax needs to be set to 77 kg since this is the weight IF seems to be using for a pax.

Regarding the cargo, IF calculates it as follows:

IF_cargo_total_weight = simbrief_pax_count × simbrief_weight_per_bag + simbrief_cargo_total_weight

The problem here is that

simbrief_cargo_total_weight = simbrief_pax_count × simbrief_weight_per_bag + simbrief_additional_cargo

hence, IF is adding the bags weight a second time to the overall cargo weight, although it’s already included in the total cargo weight supplied by simbrief:

IF_cargo_total_weight = 2 × (simbrief_pax_count × simbrief_weight_per_bag) + simbrief_additional_cargo

In order to fix this issue, I set simbrief_weight_per_bag = 0 so that

IF_cargo_total_weight = simbrief_additional_cargo

I.e., the IF total cargo weight is now only determined by the additional cargo and automatically calculated bag weight is not included. Simbrief’s cargo value is either AUTO generated or a manual value chosen.

The Simbrief airframe values for IF’s A320-200 as an example:

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TL;DR: When importing a Simbrief flight plan, in order to get correct values without manual adjustments on the IF weight&balance screen, in addition to entering the correct IF-specific aircraft’s weight values, set pax weight to 77 kg, bag weight to 0 kg (and default freight mode to AUTO) in the Simbrief airframe weights section. When creating a Simbrief flight plan, let Simbrief determine a freight value (AUTO) or manually enter a value to add cargo.

EDIT: This solution only works with passenger aircrafts. I haven’t figured out yet how IF is processing simbrief’s data in regards to freighter aircrafts.

[Petre2026]

My method above is still simpler. No manual inputs at all. Since the conversion over doubles the baggage weight, halve the baggage weight when you edit or make a new air frame. Then it’ll be exactly where you want it.

[Tando]

By using your method and cutting the value of what you actually want for simbrief_weight_per_bag by half, you are giving Simbrief a wrong cargo value to calculate fuel, takeoff performance etc. with. In your case, while you’re flying with your target bags weight in IF, Simbrief calculates fuel, performance etc. based on half of the (target) bags weight. In other words, you’re calculating fuel and performance for a specific weight and then when loading the aircraft, you’re increasing the weight while still using fuel and performance values for a flight with less weight.

@Petre2026

No manual inputs at all.

If freight is set to AUTO, no manual input is required for cargo when creating a flight plan with my method, unless you want to use a specific bags weight value.