4. Start

This page opens automatically in your browser after updating or first installation of Little Navmap and is a part of the Little Navmap online manual.

It gives valuable links and information for first time users and provides a list of first steps.

Other chapters helpful for beginners:

See also User Aircraft Centering for general information about centering the aircraft during flight, as this feature can be confusing to new users.

The chapter Main Menu and Toolbars explains all main menu items. You can navigate through the menu structure in the user manual contents on the left. Note that most toolbar items have an equivalent in the main menu.

Context menus are an important element in Little Navmap. All context menus and items are explained in the following chapters:

Tip

Explore the chapters on the left side of this page or use the search function on the top left.

4.1. First Steps

Little Navmap shows a several dialog windows on first start to give hints for better usage. You can dismiss these dialogs for future starts by pressing Do not show again but keep at least the message in mind. Make all the dismissed dialog windows reappear by selecting Reset all Messages in the menu Tools if you need them.

Tip

If you’d like to use a dark mode when flying: Enable this in menu Window -> Style -> Dark (Style). The darkness of the map window can be adjusted in options on page Map. Look for section Map dimming in dark style. See Style.

4.1.1. Preparing

4.1.1.1. Files and Directories

The program suggests to create a recommended directory structure on startup. You can choose to ignore this and save your Little Navmap files in arbitrary places. The program does not require a fixed directory structure for its files.

See Directories for more information.

You can also create the directories manually later by selecting menu Tools -> Create Directory Structure for saving Files.

4.1.1.2. Load Scenery Library Load Scenery Library

Little Navmap will copy and prepare the included Navigraph database on the first startup.

The first dialog window pops up automatically. You have to load the scenery library first to see the airports of your simulator. Select your simulator and click Load. Note that the loading process runs in background and the connection dialog window pops up immediately.

Go to main menu Scenery Library and select Load Scenery Library or click Load Scenery Library on the toolbar to load the scenery library database manually later.

Also have a look at Scenery Library Menu, Load Scenery Library and Navigation Databases about the different scenery library modes which can be selected in the menu.

4.1.1.3. Flight Simulator Connection Connect to Simulator

The connect dialog window pops up next and allows to attach Little Navmap to your flight simulator. Choose your simulator and click Connect.

Go to main menu Tools -> Connect to Flight Simulator or click Flight Simulator Connection on the toolbar to do this manually. See Connecting to a Flight Simulator for more information.

Important

The included Little Xpconnect plugin has to be installed for X-Plane. You can do this from the main menu Tools -> Install Little Xpconnect in X-Plane Plugins

See Little Xpconnect for more information.

4.1.2. Building a Flight Plan

This quick introduction shows only one of many ways to build a flight plan and select departure and destination airports.

  1. Right click into the map on an airport and select departure ( Set as Departure), destination ( Set as Destination) and intermediate waypoints ( Add Position to Flight Plan and Append Position to Flight Plan) from the context menu.

  2. Save the flight plan into Little Navmap’s own format LNMPLN by clicking Save Flight Plan. This file format is only for Little Navmap and allows to keep all flight plan features like remarks, departure as well as arrival runways and more. Do not try to load it into simulators or other tools.

  3. Configure the flight plan export in menu File -> Multiexport Flight Plan Options. Select desired formats by clicking one or more checkboxes on the left and adapt the paths and filenames for export. See Flight Plan Multiexport.

  4. Select File -> Multiexport Flight Plan to export the flight plan for your simulator, tools or aircraft.

  5. You probably see a few warning messages in Little Navmap about missing aircraft performance information. Ignore these for now.

See also in the menu Help -> Tutorials if you’re new to Little Navmap.

See here Tutorial - Creating an Aircraft Performance Profile for an tutorial which shows how to create your own aircraft performance files or download one here: Little Navmap Downloads - Aircraft Performance.

4.2. How to run a Network Setup

You can connect Little Navmap running on another (or remote, networked) computer to Little Navconnect running on the flying computer. This setup is helpful if you do not have a separate screen available on your flying computer but a spare old notebook or computer.

The remote computer does not need a simulator installation and there is no need to share the scenery library of the simulator.

The programs are inter-operable which means that you can connect Little Navmap from a Linux or macOS computer to Little Navconnect on a Windows computer. The same applies to 32-bit and 64-bit versions.

See Network Setup on information how to set up a remote/networked connection.