How to Use the NG ROUTE Random Route Generator

Choosing the same city pair every session gets stale. NG ROUTE includes a random route generator below the main CREATE FLIGHT PLAN button so you can discover new airports, practice unfamiliar airspace, and build complete IFR plans without researching routes manually.

The two distance buttons

On the planner homepage you will see:

• RANDOM <500 NM — short to medium hops suitable for narrow-bodies, regional jets, and turboprops
• RANDOM >500 NM — longer sectors for airline cruise practice and fuel planning

Clicking either button picks a valid airport pair from the NG ROUTE database, fills departure and destination fields, and immediately runs the full planning pipeline — route calculation, METAR, fuel, terrain, and nav log — same as a manual plan.

Random departure inside the map view

Enable the checkbox Random departure airport inside the viewable map area before pressing a random button. NG ROUTE then limits candidate departures to airports visible in your current map zoom and pan position.

Use this when you want to fly somewhere near scenery you are exploring. Zoom over the Alps, Scandinavia, or the US West Coast, tick the box, and generate a short hop that starts locally instead of on another continent.

Keeping a fixed arrival

If you already typed an arrival airport before clicking random, NG ROUTE keeps that destination and randomizes only the departure. This is useful for hub-style practice:

1. Enter LFPG as arrival.
2. Click RANDOM <500 NM.
3. Receive a surprise departure airport within range that routes realistically into Paris.

Leave both fields empty for a fully random pair.

What happens behind the scenes

The planner requests a random airport pair from the navigation backend, filtered by distance range and optional map bounding box. It rejects pairs that fail routing — you may occasionally see a brief loading message while it searches for a valid path through the airway network.

If generation fails, pan the map or try the other distance button. Extremely remote areas with few airports can reduce success rates.

Suggested practice routines

Monday short hop: RANDOM <500 NM with map checkbox off — accept any global surprise.

Regional exploration: Zoom a country, enable in-view checkbox, generate short routes until you have visited five new airports in that region.

Long-haul night: RANDOM >500 NM with a wide-body selected — focus on cruise, fuel, and descent planning.

Fixed hub challenge: Set your home airport as arrival, randomize departure ten times, and fly the most interesting leg.

After the random plan appears

Treat the result like any other NG ROUTE plan:

• Review SIGMET/AIRMET if shown
• Check runway METAR cards
• Export to your simulator format
• Optionally edit waypoints on the map before export

Sign in with Google to save a random route you especially liked — saved plans store departure, destination, distance, and aircraft type for quick reload later.

Tips for online flying

VATSIM and IVAO pilots can use random routes for solo proficiency when no events are scheduled. File the displayed ICAO route string if flying online — controllers expect a coherent airway description matching your FMS.

When not to use random

Skip random generation when you are practicing a specific approach, replicating a real timetable route, or training for an event with a published city pair. Use manual entry or saved plans instead.

The random buttons turn NG ROUTE into a daily flight generator. One click separates you from a new IFR adventure with real weather and exportable files.