Garmin GNS 530/430 Flight Plan
-
Hi,
is it possible to load a flight plan into the Garmin ?
Thanks.
-
If you're in MSFS 2024, then using the MSFS EFB's, "Send to Avionics" button should work as normal. I realize that's a very obvious answer, so I might be misunderstanding your question.
-
If you're in MSFS 2024, then using the MSFS EFB's, "Send to Avionics" button should work as normal. I realize that's a very obvious answer, so I might be misunderstanding your question.
@Black-Square Thank you very much for your fast answer. It's my fault I didn't write my flight simulator is 2020. I tried to create a flight plan with Simbrief and Little Navmap exporting it in FS2020. I put the flight plan into different directories like MicrosoftFlightSimulator/Plans but nothing happens. I can't find the flight plan from the GNS 530 with the menu FPL and looking for it with the little botton right knob.
I tried to load the flight plan into FS2020 successfully but when I turn on the GNS 530 the flight plan is empty.
I would like to know if it's possible to load a flight plan into the Garmin 530 and how to do it.Thank you very much.
Best regards.
-
Unfortunately, this has come up from time to time with MSFS 2020 users. The issue is that the GNS 530/430 will only look for flight plans exactly once when it is loaded, so aircraft that have hot-swapping instruments that have them disabled by default will never pick up the flight plan. I have asked Working Title about this in the past, and I have spent a substantial amount of time trying to create my own modification of their code that I could present to them as a fix. Unfortunately, I think their priorities are elsewhere now with MSFS 2024, very understandably. Sorry that we have this limitation in MSFS 2020. I know that there are some cockpit builders who have modified my aircraft to always load with the same avionics configuration active to avoid this limitation, but that would only be sufficient if you always wanted to fly with the GNS 530/430. Sorry for the inconvenience! I wish there was something I could do.
-
Unfortunately, this has come up from time to time with MSFS 2020 users. The issue is that the GNS 530/430 will only look for flight plans exactly once when it is loaded, so aircraft that have hot-swapping instruments that have them disabled by default will never pick up the flight plan. I have asked Working Title about this in the past, and I have spent a substantial amount of time trying to create my own modification of their code that I could present to them as a fix. Unfortunately, I think their priorities are elsewhere now with MSFS 2024, very understandably. Sorry that we have this limitation in MSFS 2020. I know that there are some cockpit builders who have modified my aircraft to always load with the same avionics configuration active to avoid this limitation, but that would only be sufficient if you always wanted to fly with the GNS 530/430. Sorry for the inconvenience! I wish there was something I could do.
@Black-Square Thank you very much for the detailed explanation, I really appreciate the time you took to clarify the situation.
Now I understand that this is a limitation related to how the GNS 530/430 reads the flight plan only once at initial load, and that aircraft with hot-swappable avionics disabled by default will therefore never detect the flight plan in MSFS 2020. That explains exactly the behavior I am seeing.
I also completely understand why the current development focus is shifting toward MSFS 2024, being the latest platform. At the same time, I must admit there is a certain level of disappointment, as a very large portion of the community is still actively using MSFS 2020. Unfortunately, MSFS 2024 still suffers from several significant stability and development issues, which makes it difficult for many users to migrate at this stage.
Precisely because of BlackSquare’s well-known professionalism and attention to realism, I believe that continued support — even limited — for MSFS 2020 would further reinforce the seriousness and reputation of your work. For a team with your level of expertise, addressing impactful limitations like this one would be greatly appreciated by many long-time users.
Just to be sure I fully understand the available options:
- There is currently no supported way in MSFS 2020 to have the GNS 530/430 reliably load a SimBrief / Little Navmap flight plan unless the aircraft is forced to always load with that avionics configuration active from startup.
- Loading the flight plan in the World Map after the aircraft is already loaded will not be picked up by the GNS 530/430.
If that is correct, then at least I now know this is a platform limitation rather than a configuration mistake on my side.
Thank you again for your transparency, your support, and for the excellent work you do on these aircraft. Even with this limitation, the level of realism you deliver remains outstanding.
Best regards.
-
Hi,
is it possible to load a flight plan into the Garmin ?
Thanks.
@Dinamika70 a work around that i found is have your vfr map open before you end the flight, go to world map, make your flight plan then start flight. Hopefully this works for you.
-
@Black-Square Thank you very much for the detailed explanation, I really appreciate the time you took to clarify the situation.
Now I understand that this is a limitation related to how the GNS 530/430 reads the flight plan only once at initial load, and that aircraft with hot-swappable avionics disabled by default will therefore never detect the flight plan in MSFS 2020. That explains exactly the behavior I am seeing.
I also completely understand why the current development focus is shifting toward MSFS 2024, being the latest platform. At the same time, I must admit there is a certain level of disappointment, as a very large portion of the community is still actively using MSFS 2020. Unfortunately, MSFS 2024 still suffers from several significant stability and development issues, which makes it difficult for many users to migrate at this stage.
Precisely because of BlackSquare’s well-known professionalism and attention to realism, I believe that continued support — even limited — for MSFS 2020 would further reinforce the seriousness and reputation of your work. For a team with your level of expertise, addressing impactful limitations like this one would be greatly appreciated by many long-time users.
Just to be sure I fully understand the available options:
- There is currently no supported way in MSFS 2020 to have the GNS 530/430 reliably load a SimBrief / Little Navmap flight plan unless the aircraft is forced to always load with that avionics configuration active from startup.
- Loading the flight plan in the World Map after the aircraft is already loaded will not be picked up by the GNS 530/430.
If that is correct, then at least I now know this is a platform limitation rather than a configuration mistake on my side.
Thank you again for your transparency, your support, and for the excellent work you do on these aircraft. Even with this limitation, the level of realism you deliver remains outstanding.
Best regards.
@Dinamika70 Just to clarify, it is not my priorities that have shifted away from MSFS 2020. Personally, I agree with you that MSFS 2024 still hosts many bugs that I find offensive to the "seriousness" of my simming, as you put it so well. I don't just plan on fully supporting my 2020 aircraft for the foreseeable future, but I also plan on releasing all my future aircraft for 2020, as well. Also to clarify, the Black Square team is just me

In this case, it's Working Title, the creators of the GNS 530/430, who would be responsible for a fix to this issue. I have spent many hours trying to edit their code, just so I could present them with a working solution as a way of encouraging the change, but alas, it's a very hard problem, at least for someone of my skill level.
It does seem that there are some users who have found workarounds for this, but I don't completely understand how they function, so I have been weary to recommend them. There has been more discussion about this on the various MSFS Official Forum threads regarding my aircraft, and a few other high quality addons. I hope you can find something there, or someone might come here with an explanation of their workaround too. Sorry again that you're dealing with this limitation. Trust me, I would do something about it if I could, but it would still be a mod-to-a-mod without Working Title releasing the update for all platforms.
-
@Dinamika70 Just to clarify, it is not my priorities that have shifted away from MSFS 2020. Personally, I agree with you that MSFS 2024 still hosts many bugs that I find offensive to the "seriousness" of my simming, as you put it so well. I don't just plan on fully supporting my 2020 aircraft for the foreseeable future, but I also plan on releasing all my future aircraft for 2020, as well. Also to clarify, the Black Square team is just me

In this case, it's Working Title, the creators of the GNS 530/430, who would be responsible for a fix to this issue. I have spent many hours trying to edit their code, just so I could present them with a working solution as a way of encouraging the change, but alas, it's a very hard problem, at least for someone of my skill level.
It does seem that there are some users who have found workarounds for this, but I don't completely understand how they function, so I have been weary to recommend them. There has been more discussion about this on the various MSFS Official Forum threads regarding my aircraft, and a few other high quality addons. I hope you can find something there, or someone might come here with an explanation of their workaround too. Sorry again that you're dealing with this limitation. Trust me, I would do something about it if I could, but it would still be a mod-to-a-mod without Working Title releasing the update for all platforms.
@Black-Square Thank you very much for taking the time to explain this in such detail — and also for the clarification.
First of all, I really appreciate your honesty and the fact that Black Square is essentially a one-person operation. That actually makes the level of quality, realism, and support you provide even more impressive. It also means a lot to hear that you plan to continue fully supporting MSFS 2020 and even release future aircraft for it — that commitment is rare and genuinely appreciated.
I also completely understand now that this issue ultimately sits with Working Title’s implementation of the GNS 530/430, and that any fix without their involvement would effectively be a mod-on-a-mod solution. Knowing that you have already spent many hours digging into their code just to try to encourage a proper fix says a lot about your dedication, even if the problem itself is outside your control.
Your hesitation to recommend workarounds that you don’t fully trust makes perfect sense, especially given the level of seriousness and reliability your products are known for. I’ll take a look through the MSFS Official Forum threads you mentioned and see if any of those solutions are clear and robust enough to experiment with.
In any case, thank you again for the transparency, the effort you’ve already put into this, and for the exceptional aircraft you create. Even with platform limitations like this one, your work remains among the most realistic and enjoyable experiences in MSFS.
Best Regards.
-
@Dinamika70 a work around that i found is have your vfr map open before you end the flight, go to world map, make your flight plan then start flight. Hopefully this works for you.
@Moonflower_414 Thank you very much for sharing this workaround, I really appreciate you taking the time to explain it.
I’ll give it a try and report back if it works for me. Thanks again! -
My solution was to put the PMS 750 free version in the Community folder. You don't have to install it, just put it in the folder. Then when you need the FP in the 530/430, open the PMS from the menu and add the FP there, it will then populate in the 530/430. Definitely not elegant, but it does work.