GTE DUATS Flight Planning System Operating Instructions TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Introduction 1.1. Limitations 2. Using the Flight Planner 2.1. General Information 2.2. Interactive Use 2.2.1 Departure, Destination, and Departure Time 2.2.2. Route Selection 2.2.3. Aircraft Performance Information 2.2.4. Cruise Altitude 2.2.5. Flight Planner Output 2.3. Stored Profile Information 2.3.1. General Profile Information 2.3.1.1. Default Flight Plan 2.3.1.2. Flight Plan Output Format 2.3.1.3. Latitude/Longitude Output Format 2.3.1.4. Flight Plan Intersection Output 2.3.1.5. Flight Plan Output Page Mode 2.3.2. Aircraft Profile Information 2.3.2.1. Display Stored Aircraft Profile 2.3.2.2. Add New Aircraft Profile 2.3.2.3. Modify Stored Aircraft Profile 2.3.2.4. Delete Stored Aircraft Profile 2.4. Entering a Flight Plan using Quick Path 2.5. Interface to Other Parts of DUATS 3. Flight Planner Output -- Detailed Information 3.1. Prologue and Summary 3.2. Navigation Log 3.2.1. Three-Line Staggered Output Format 3.2.2. Latitude/Longitude, Fix Name, Morse Code (no Fuel Data) Output Format 3.2.3. Fix Name, Morse Code, Fuel Data (no Latitude/Longitude) Output Format 3.2.4. Latitude/Longitude, Morse Code, Fuel Data (no Fix Name) Output Format 3.2.5. Narrow, 60 Column format, Fix Name Only Output Format 4. Flight Planner Inputs -- Detailed Information 4.1. Departure Point and Destination 4.2. Departure Time 4.3. Route Selection 4.3.1. Route Selection Interaction 4.3.2. Example of Route Selection Interaction 4.3.3. Samples of Routing Options 4.3.4. Comparison of LORAN vs. RNAV Direct Routing 1. Introduction ---------------- The flight planning module is designed to assist the pilot by computing and printing a flight log. The flight planner can be directed to produce a route from the departure airport to the destination airport completely automatically, or it can be given an origin, intermediate points, and a destination. The flight planning module utilizes sophisticated algorithms to rapidly compute a true shortest-path route. It utilizes the full FAA database of airways, airports, and navigation aids for the continental U.S, and automatically takes advantage of the up-to-date winds aloft information available on DUATS. 1.1. Limitations ----------------- The flight planner can only assist you in planning a safe flight. You must - verify that the performance data you supply to the flight planner is correct for the particular aircraft and conditions - obtain a thorough weather briefing and understand how any enroute weather may affect the planned route of flight - verify that the planned route of flight does not encroach on any airspace restrictions, either charted or issued by NOTAM - check that navigational aids or airways which you will be using are not affected by NOTAMs - ensure that the planned altitudes will provide adequate terrain separation, and, in the case of instrument flights, that they are above required minimum altitudes - add appropriate reserve amounts to the fuel you carry for the flight -- the flight planner does not include any reserve fuel in its computations Each requested flight will be planned at the altitude specified by you. The flight planning module does NOT take into account obstacles, terrain, controlled airspace (ARSAs and TCAs), and special use airspace (prohibited areas, restricted areas, alert areas, warning areas, military operation areas, etc.). The pilot MUST verify the suggested route against current aviation charts to ensure that it can be flown safely. The flight planner computes the fuel burn based on known distances and winds and does NOT include reserve fuel in its calculations. It is the responsibility of the pilot to ensure that reserve fuel adequate for the flight is available -- both to meet the minimum FAR requirements, and to meet potentially unanticipated conditions such as stronger headwinds or re-routings by air traffic control. The flight planner computes the magnetic course for each leg of the flight, which may differ from the official definition of an airway segment by a few degrees. Always consult current VFR or IFR charts for the published radial for an airway. 2. Using the Flight Planner ---------------------------- To plan a flight, you must supply the flight planner with several basic pieces of information: 1. Departure point. 2. Destination. 3. Departure time. 4. Route selection. 5. Aircraft performance information. 6. Cruise altitude. This data is usually entered through a combination of prompts and menus. Advanced users may use Quick Path to input this information rapidly, bypassing the menus and prompts. See section 2.4 for information on using Quick Path commands with the flight planner. For convenience, the flight planner allows users who access DUATS as registered pilots to store preference information, including output formatting choices and performance information for frequently-used aircraft. 2.1. General Information ------------------------- Input to the flight planner is not case sensitive -- you may use upper and lower case input interchangeably. Certain special inputs are valid at any time you may enter information: ? At any time, you may enter "?" for on-line help. In some cases, multiple sections of help are available -- if a help section concludes with a message that additional help is available, entering "?" again will show that new information. Q If you type "Q" at any prompt, you will be returned to the most recent "major" menu. Most data you may have entered up to that point will be saved as default information. ! You can enter the DUATS encode/decode function at any time by entering "!". The encode function will assist you in determining the correct identifier for an airport or navigation aid. $ You can enter GTE DUATS Golden Eagle Services at any time by entering "$". # You can enter a Quick Path command at any time by beginning a line with "#". See section 2.4 for information on using Quick Path commands with the flight planner. When entering information, if you see a value displayed in brackets ("[RHV]"), that is a default value. You may use the default value by entering an empty line -- simply press . You may change the value to something else by entering a new value. 2.2. Interactive Use --------------------- When you enter the flight planner from the Flight Planner Menu, you will be prompted for required information one item at a time. If you previously obtained a weather briefing or filed a flight plan, data items which were entered during that portion of the current session will appear as defaults to the corresponding entries in the flight planner. The flight planner is designed so that if you first obtain a weather briefing and you have stored the performance profile for the aircraft you are flying, you will be able to simply press at most prompts to obtain your flight plan. 2.2.1 Departure, Destination, and Departure Time ------------------------------------------------- The first prompt you will see is Departure point: Enter the 3 or 4 character identifier for your departure point. Your departure point may be an airport, a navigation aid, or an intersection. If you depart from an airport, climb calculations will be performed; if you depart from a navaid or an intersection, the planner will assume that you are already at your cruise altitude. If you don't know the identifier for your departure point, type '!' to enter the encode/decode function. After you enter the identifier, the type of facility, its identifier, and its name will be displayed for verification. If this is incorrect, enter 'q' to start over at the Flight Planner Menu. If you already had specified a departure point during your DUATS session, that location will be shown in square brackets: Departure point [RHV]: To re-use the value shown in brackets, simply press . If you wish to change that value, enter the new value. Once you enter the departure point, you will be asked for the Destination: Enter the 3 or 4 character identifier for your destination. Your destination may be an airport, a navigation aid, or an intersection. If you end your flight at an airport, descent calculations will be performed; if you end at a navaid or an intersection, the planner will assume that you will conclude your flight at cruise altitude. If you don't know the identifier for your destination, type '!' to enter the encode/decode function. After you enter the identifier, the type of facility, its identifier, and its name will be displayed for verification. If this is incorrect, enter 'q' to start over at the Flight Planner Menu. Note: if the identifier you use for the departure point or the destination refers both to a navigational aid and to an airport, the planner will assume that you wish to depart from or fly to the airport. For either the departure point or the destination, you may also enter a user-specified waypoint. You may specify the waypoint in one of two ways: by a radial and distance from a known navigational aid or fix, or by its latitude and longitude. Radial/distance waypoints are specified as "VVVrrrddd" where VVV is the known navigational aid or fix (this may be from two to five characters), rrr is the radial (3 digits), and ddd is the distance (3 digits). No intervening spaces are permitted. Latitude/longitude waypoints are specified as "lat/lon" where lat and lon are coordinates and "/" is a slash. Latitude and longitude coordinates may be specified as: - 2 digits (degrees: dd) - 3 digits (degrees: ddd) - 4 digits (degrees and minutes: ddmm) - 5 digits (degrees and minutes: dddmm) - 7 digits (degrees minutes seconds tenths: ddmmsst) - 8 digits (degrees minutes seconds tenths: dddmmsst) No intervening spaces are permitted. For example, 37:19:59 121:49:07 could be specified with varying degrees of precision as as 37/122, 3720/12149, or 3719590/12149070. The next data item you will be asked to enter is Current Time: Wed Jul 8 06:34 (UTC) Departure time (UTC) hhmm or "NONE" for no-wind plan: Enter the estimated time of departure; this is used to obtain appropriate winds aloft. If you intend to depart shortly, be sure to specify a time at least a few minutes in the future -- if the time is even one minute in the past, winds aloft for 24 hours in the future will be used. If you wish to bypass the winds aloft computations and use zero winds and standard temperatures aloft, enter "NONE". 2.2.2. Route Selection ----------------------- The flight planner can automatically determine a route of flight for you in several different ways, as shown by the Flight Planner Routing menu: Flight Planner Routing Low-Alt Airway Auto-Routing 1 Jet Route Auto-Routing 2 VOR-Direct Auto-Routing 3 Direct Routing for LORAN 4 Direct Routing for RNAV 5 User Selected Routing 6 Select function (or 'Q' to quit) [1]: Low-Altitude Airway Auto-Routing selects the shortest path from your origin to the destination using low-altitude (Victor) airways. No attempt is made to circumnavigate airway segments which travel over high terrain, nor airway segments on which bad weather is present. It may not be possible to be provide automatic airway routing for certain airports which are very remote from any navigational facilities. Jet Route Auto-Routing selects the shortest path from your origin to the destination using high-altitude airways (Jet Routes). Since the climb profiles of different aircraft may be quite different, it is necessary for the user to specify a route from the origin to the first fix in the jet route system and from the final fix in the jet route system to the destination airport. You will be prompted for the departure and arrival routings, which may be SIDs, STARs, or an explicit route such as the identifier of a VOR. VOR-Direct Auto-Routing is similar to Low-Altitude Airway Auto-Routing except that direct paths between VORs which are within reception range of one another are used in addition to Victor airways. Note that most of the route segments in a VOR-Direct plan are likely to be Victor airways, since there are Victor airways between most VORs which are within reception range of one another. Direct paths between two VORs will be chosen only when the VORs are within reception range of each other given standard navaid service volumes and when the direct route would be shorter than an airway routing. Note that terrain and restrictions on usability of VORs is not taken into account. Direct Routing for LORAN and Direct Routing for RNAV compute a great-circle route between the origin and destination and then locate a number of waypoints along that route. The waypoints are defined by nearby VOR/DME facilities, and a radial and distance from the VOR/DME to the waypoint is provided. The flight plan generated by LORAN and RNAV direct routing is identical, except that for the RNAV option, the distance from the VOR/DME to the waypoint is adjusted for slant-range error. User Selected Routing allows extensive control over flight routing; this is described in section 4.3 below. Once you have selected one of the flight planner routing options, the planner will compute the optimum route. This route will be displayed, along with the distance along the route. If this route is not a great-circle route, for comparison purposes, the great-circle distance will be shown, as well as the percentage by which the planned route is longer than the great-circle distance. *** Warning: The flight planning module does NOT take into *** account obstacles, terrain, controlled airspace *** (ARSAs and TCAs), and special use airspace *** (prohibited areas, restricted areas, alert areas, *** warning areas, military operation areas, etc.). *** The pilot MUST verify the suggested route against *** current aviation charts to ensure that it can be *** flown safely. For a low-altitude airway auto-routing from RHV (Reid-Hillview, San Jose, CA) to TRK (Truckee, CA), the route display would appear as follows: Routing options selected: Automatic low altitude airway. Flight plan route: KRHV SUNOL V195 ECA V113 LIN V338 SWR KTRK Total distance for this route is 152.6 nm. Great circle distance is 143.1 nm -- this route is 7% longer. You will then be asked if you wish to continue with this route, or whether you wish to change your routing options: Use this route [Y/N]? [Y] If you enter "Y" or simply press , the flight planning process will continue. If you enter "N", the Flight Planner Routing menu will be displayed again, and you will be able to select a different routing option. If you wish to change your departure or destination, enter "Q", which will return you to the main Flight Planner Menu. If you usually choose the same routing option, you may wish to set up a default routing option so that you may enter at this prompt each time -- see section 2.3.1.1. 2.2.3. Aircraft Performance Information ---------------------------------------- Once you have selected a route, the flight planner needs to know about the performance of the aircraft you will be flying. The flight planner uses a simplified model of aircraft performance, which includes the following information: Climb: average airspeed, knots or Mach number average rate, feet per minute Cruise: average airspeed, knots or Mach number Descent: average airspeed, knots or Mach number average rate, feet per minute Fuel consumption may be expressed in any of the following units: 1. Gallons per hour 2. Pounds per hour 3. Liters per hour 4. Kilograms per hour Fuel consumption data may be provided using one of two methods: 1. Climb, cruise, and descent 2. Flight hour Climb, cruise, and descent fuel consumption allows you to specify fuel consumption in each of the three modes of flight. This is typically the correct choice for piston-engine aircraft. Flight hour fuel consumption allows you to specify fuel consumption for each hour of flight, up to 10 hours. This is typically the best choice for turbine-powered aircraft, where the fuel consumption is strongly affected by aircraft weight. If you are using DUATS as a registered pilot, you may store aircraft performance information on DUATS so you need not enter this information on every flight. At this time, you may store performance information for only one aircraft; in the near future, you will be able to store information for a number of different aircraft. Detailed information on stored profiles may be found below in section 2.3. If you are using DUATS as a registered pilot, the planner will first prompt you for the aircraft tail number: Enter aircraft tail number: If you have stored performance information for this aircraft by tail number, the planner will retrieve this information and will then ask you if you wish to make any changes for this flight: Adjust stored aircraft performance data for this flight [Y/N]? [N] You may wish to make changes if, for example, the stored data is for cruise at 65% power and you wish to use 75% power for today's flight. If you wish, you can also use the "adjust stored aircraft performance data" option to review the aircraft performance data you have selected without making any changes. If you have not stored performance information for this aircraft by tail number, you will be given a menu of possible sources for aircraft performance information: Select Aircraft Performance Data N6506C 1 B767 2 C-152 3 C-172 4 Input Data For This Flight 5 Modify Stored Aircraft Profiles 6 Select function (or 'Q' to quit): The first several choices show the performance data which has been stored for this registered user. The last two choices allow you to input performance information for this flight alone -- this data will not be saved -- or to make changes to the stored aircraft profiles and return to this menu. If you choose to input the performance data for this flight, or to enter a new stored aircraft profile, you will be asked to specify 1. Fuel Units (menu choice) 2. Fuel Burn Specification Method (menu choice) 3. Climb information (rate, speed, and possibly fuel) 4. Cruise information (speed and possibly fuel) 5. Descent information (rate, speed, and possibly fuel) 6. If the flight-hour fuel burn method was selected, then you will enter the fuel consumption per hour *** Warning: Flight time and fuel burn are calculated based on *** the data you input at this point. Incorrect entry *** of values here can lead to erroneous flight plan *** outputs. Climb and descent rates are average values specified in feet per minute. Speeds are average values for each phase of flight, and are specified either as knots or Mach number; the flight planner will determine which you have specified from the value you input. Fuel consumption may be specified in the hourly unit of your choice: gallons per hour, pounds per hour, liters per hour, etc. You must use the same unit for each fuel consumption value you enter. *** Warning: The flight planner computes the fuel burn based *** on known distances and winds and does NOT include *** reserve fuel in its calculations. It is the *** responsibility of the pilot to ensure that reserve *** fuel adequate for the flight is available -- both *** to meet the minimum FAR requirements, and to meet *** potentially unanticipated conditions such as *** stronger headwinds or re-routings by air traffic *** control. 2.2.4. Cruise Altitude ----------------------- Enter the cruise altitude for this flight either in feet or as a flight level (i.e., 120 is 12,000 feet). This altitude will be used for the entire flight. *** Warning: The flight planning module does NOT take into *** account obstacles, terrain, controlled airspace *** (ARSAs and TCAs), and special use airspace *** (prohibited areas, restricted areas, alert areas, *** warning areas, military operation areas, etc.). *** The pilot MUST verify the suggested route against *** current aviation charts to ensure that it can be *** flown safely. As soon as the cruise altitude is entered, the flight planner will compute and display the flight plan. If you are using a computer system which will allow you to capture and/or print the flight plan and you are not recording the entire session, you should turn your capture buffer or printer on before pressing when you enter the cruise altitude. Normally, the flight planner will print your flight log without pausing, regardless of the lines-per-page setting in your DUATS user profile. If you would like the flight planner to pause between pages ("--MORE--"), you must set the Output Page Mode option in the Flight Planner Profile. This is described below in section 2.3.1. When the plan has finished printing, you will be asked if you wish to recalculate the plan at a different cruise altitude: Recalculate plan at a different cruise altitude [Y/N]? [N] If you enter "Y", you will be asked to enter the cruise altitude only, and the plan will be recalculated and re-displayed. If you forgot to turn on your capture buffer or printer, you may re-print the same plan by entering the same cruise altitude (simply press to re-enter the old, default value). If you wish to change any of the other parameters of the flight plan, or if you wish to file a flight plan at this time, you should enter "N" or , and you will be returned to the main Flight Planner Menu. 2.2.5. Flight Planner Output ----------------------------- Each flight plan which is output by the flight planning module consists of three components: (1) The prologue, which includes: - the departure airport or fix - the destination airport or fix - the departure time for which the flight was planned - a summary of the routing options used for the plan - the flight plan route, which is retained for filing a flight plan - a summary of the fuel, time, and distance for the flight (2) The navigation log. Five formats are available for the navigation log; these are described in section 3 below. (3) The summary, which includes: - the warning "fuel calculations do not include required reserves" - a summary of the fuel, time, and distance for the flight - the average ground speed for the flight in knots - if the flight plan route is not a great circle route, a comparison between the flight plan distance and the (optimum) great circle distance The flight planner supports a number of different output formats; these are described in detail in section 3 below. If you do not change your output format using stored profile options, your flight plans will be printed using the Three-Line Staggered Format. The Three-Line Staggered Format utilizes three lines for each point in the plan and is "staggered" -- the left and right portions of the flight plan refer to a given point in the plan and the center portion, which is shifted downwards by a few lines, refers to the leg of the flight which connects one point in the plan with the next. 2.3. Stored Profile Information -------------------------------- The flight planner maintains a profile for each DUATS user. In the profile, the user may store preferences which determine how the final flight plan will look. The user also may store performance data for frequently-used aircraft if the user accessed DUATS as a registered pilot. When you select the "Modify Flight Planner Profile" option from the main Flight Planner Menu, you will see a menu of available planner profile options: Modify Flight Planner Profile Aircraft Profiles 1 Show Current Profile 2 Default Routing Choice 3 Output Format 4 Lat/Lon Output Format 5 Intermediate Intersections 6 Output Page Mode 7 Aircraft Profiles allows you to display and modify stored aircraft performance information. Show Current Profile will display the current settings of all profile values except for aircraft profiles. The other options allow you to control various parameters relating to the output format of the flight planner. 2.3.1. General Profile Information ----------------------------------- Show Current Profile will display a list of option settings similar to the following: Default flight plan: Low-Altitude Airway Auto-Routing Output format: Three-line: Staggered Format Lat/lon output: Degrees : Minutes : Seconds Intersections: Navigational intersections only Page log output: NO The setting of each of these options may be changed by selecting the corresponding entry in the Modify Flight Planner Profile menu. 2.3.1.1. Default Routing Choice -------------------------------- You may store a default value for the Flight Planner Routing menu which will allow you to simply press to select the routing option you most frequently use. The choices are: Select Default Routing Option Low-Alt Airway Auto-Routing 1 Jet Route Auto-Routing 2 VOR-Direct Auto-Routing 3 Direct Routing for LORAN 4 Direct Routing for RNAV 5 None 6 If "None" is selected, no default value will be present, and you will need to select a routing option for each plan. 2.3.1.2. Flight Plan Output Format ----------------------------------- The flight planner supports five different output formats, which may be selected using the Flight Plan Output Format menu: Select Flight Plan Output Format Three-line: Staggered Format 1 Two-line: Lat/Lon, Fix, Morse 2 Two-line: Fix, Morse, Fuel 3 Two-line: Lat/Lon, Morse, Fuel 4 Two-line: Narrow Format-60 col. 5 These formats are described in detail in section 3 below. 2.3.1.3. Latitude/Longitude Output Format ------------------------------------------ Select Latitude/Longitude Output Format Degrees:Minutes:Seconds 1 Degrees:Minutes.Tenths 2 Degrees:Minutes.Hundredths 3 Latitude and longitude information within the flight plan may be displayed in one of the three formats listed above -- for example, 37:19:59, 37:19.98, or 37:20.0. If you are using a LORAN, you may wish to select the same output format which the LORAN uses for its interface. 2.3.1.4. Flight Plan Intersection Output ----------------------------------------- Select Flight Plan Intersection Output Navigational intersections only 1 All intermediate intersections 2 The flight planner normally includes only intersections which have navigational significance to the pilot -- the route is switching from one airway to another, or there is a turn within an airway between navaids. You may wish to have all intermediate intersections listed, which will give you many more checkpoints during the flight. These additional intersections are typically of interest only on long airway segments. Caution: selecting "all intermediate intersections" will increase the size of your flight log by a factor of two to four -- you may find that it is too long for your taste. 2.3.1.5. Flight Plan Output Page Mode -------------------------------------- Select Flight Plan Output Page Mode Print without stopping 1 Stop at each page 2 Normally, on long outputs, DUATS pauses between pages of output and displays a "--MORE--" prompt to allow you to read the information which was just produced. When printing the flight log, the planner normally does not pause -- it simply prints the entire flight plan without stopping. The expectation is that the user will either be capturing the session using the user's own computer, or will be printing the information as it is received. In these cases, it is not desirable to put "--MORE--" prompts in the middle of the plan. Should you wish for DUATS to pause while printing a flight plan, select the "Stop at each page" option. Should you wish for DUATS to scroll all output (weather briefings, etc.) without stopping, set the Lines Per Page parameter to 0. (This is available in the DUATS Main Menu, "Modify Default Parameters" selection.) 2.3.2. Aircraft Profile Information ------------------------------------ If you entered DUATS as a registered pilot, you can store aircraft profile information. At present, you can store only one aircraft profile. In the near future, you will be able to store up to seven different aircraft profiles; the information below shows how the system will work with multiple stored aircraft profiles. When you select "Aircraft Profiles" from the "Modify Flight Planner Profile" menu, the list of available aircraft profiles is displayed followed by the Planner Aircraft Update menu: Available aircraft profiles: 1. N6506C 2. B767 3. C-152 4. C-172 Planner Aircraft Update Display stored aircraft profile 1 Add new aircraft profile 2 Modify stored aircraft profile 3 Delete stored aircraft profile 4 2.3.2.1. Display Stored Aircraft Profile ----------------------------------------- If you select "Display stored aircraft profile", you will be asked to specify which aircraft profile you wish to see: Available aircraft profiles: 1. N6506C 2. B767 3. C-152 4. C-172 Display which profile? 1 And then the profile for the selected aircraft will be shown: Profile for N6506C: gallons rate speed /hour ft/min Climb 14.00 500 90 kts Cruise 10.00 130 kts Descent 10.00 500 140 kts If the aircraft uses the flight-hour fuel burn method, the display is in a slightly different format: Profile for B767: rate speed ft/min Climb 3000 250 kts Cruise Mach 0.840 Descent 4000 250 kts Fuel consumption, pounds per hour: Hour 1: 4000.00 Hour 2: 3500.00 Hour 3: 3000.00 Hour 4: 2500.00 Hour 5: 2000.00 Hour 6: 1500.00 2.3.2.2. Add New Aircraft Profile ---------------------------------- If you select "Add new aircraft profile", you will be prompted for the name of the aircraft and the for a number of performance figures: Aircraft name: c-182 Fuel Units Gallons per hour 1 Pounds per hour 2 Liters per hour 3 Kilograms per hour 4 Select function (or 'Q' to quit) [1]: 1 Fuel Burn Specification Method Climb, cruise, and descent 1 Flight hour 2 Select function (or 'Q' to quit) [1]: 1 *** Climb profile *** Rate of climb (feet/minute): 1000 Climb speed (knots or Mach number): 100 Climb fuel consumption (gallons/hour): 16 *** Cruise profile *** Cruise true airspeed (knots or Mach number): 135 Cruise fuel consumption (gallons/hour): 13 *** Descent profile *** Descent rate (feet/minute): 500 Descent speed (knots or Mach number): 140 Descent fuel consumption (gallons/hour): 13 Once the entry is complete, the profile will be displayed for confirmation: Profile for C-182: gallons rate speed /hour ft/min Climb 16.00 1000 100 kts Cruise 13.00 135 kts Descent 13.00 500 140 kts Store this profile [Y/N]? [Y] If you enter "Y" or press , the profile will be stored. If you enter "N", you will be able to modify the profile (see below) and then answer this question again. If you enter "Q", this profile will be discarded and you will be returned to the "Modify Flight Planner Profile" menu. 2.3.2.3. Modify Stored Aircraft Profile ---------------------------------------- If you select "Modify stored aircraft profile", the available aircraft profiles will be shown and you may choose one to modify: Available aircraft profiles: 1. N6506C 2. B767 3. C-152 4. C-172 5. C-182 Then, you will go through a similar series of prompts to those shown above in "Add new aircraft profile", except that the existing values for each item will be shown as defaults. An individual old value may be retained by simply pressing . In the example below, only climb speed and cruise fuel consumption are being modified. Aircraft name [C-182]: Fuel Units Gallons per hour 1 Pounds per hour 2 Liters per hour 3 Kilograms per hour 4 Select function (or 'Q' to quit) [1]: Fuel Burn Specification Method Climb, cruise, and descent 1 Flight hour 2 Select function (or 'Q' to quit) [1]: When entering fuel consumption data, use EITHER gallons per hour OR pounds per hour in each case -- do not use different units for different portions of the flight. *** Climb profile *** Rate of climb (feet/minute) [1000]: Climb speed (knots or Mach number) [100]: 95 Climb fuel consumption (gallons/hour) [16]: *** Cruise profile *** Cruise true airspeed (knots or Mach number) [135]: Cruise fuel consumption (gallons/hour) [13]: 13.5 *** Descent profile *** Descent rate (feet/minute) [500]: Descent speed (knots or Mach number) [140]: Descent fuel consumption (gallons/hour) [13]: Profile for C-182: gallons rate speed /hour ft/min Climb 16.00 1000 95 kts Cruise 13.50 135 kts Descent 13.00 500 140 kts Store this profile [Y/N]? [Y] 2.3.2.4. Delete Stored Aircraft Profile ---------------------------------------- If you select "Delete stored aircraft profile", the available aircraft profiles will be shown and you may choose one to delete: Available aircraft profiles: 1. N6506C 2. B767 3. C-152 4. C-172 5. C-182 Delete which profile? Simply enter the number of the profile you wish to delete. If you decide to not delete any of the profiles, enter "Q". 2.4. Entering a Flight Plan using Quick Path -------------------------------------------- Only registered pilots with stored performance information can use the Quick Path option for the Flight Planner. The Quick Path option for the flight planner differs slightly form Quick Path entry for other parts of DUATS. Since the flight planner is highly interactive, and different input options will result in different prompts, the Quick Path option for the planner has been set up to always accept a single form of input: #log\from\to\time\routing\tail\type\altitude For example: #log\rhv\trk\0200\*a\n6506c\\115 would request a plan from Reid-Hillview (RHV) to Truckee (TRK) departing at 0200 UTC, routed via shortest-path airways (*A), in aircraft N6506C, using stored parameters for that aircraft, cruising at 11,500 feet. That same request could also be entered as: #log\rhv\trk\0200\1\n6506c\n6506c\11500 Note that "*a" is replaced by "1", which is the menu choice number for automatic routing via low-altitude airways. "*a" will work even if the routing menu is revised at some future time; "1" may refer to a different option in the future. A more complex user-specified route request can also be given: #log\rhv\smo\1700\*g gmn *a\n2901t\warrior\7500 would request a plan from Reid-Hillview (RHV) to Santa Monica (SMO) departing at 1700 UTC, routed via LORAN direct (*G) to Gorman (GMN) and then via shortest-path airways (*A) to Santa Monica,in aircraft N2901T, using stored parameters for a Warrior, cruising at 7,500 feet. #log\\\\*a\\\ would request a plan via low-altitude airways using previously- entered data for all other inputs: departure airport, destination airport, departure time, N-number, and cruise altitude. The N-number also specifies the aircraft type, and performance data must have been stored for this N-number. Routing may either be specified by a menu choice number or may be a user-selected routing string (e.g., *a); valid menu choices are: 1. automatically selected shortest path, via low altitude airways 3. automatically selected shortest path, via a combination of low altitude airways and VOR-direct segments 4. great-circle routing for LORAN 5. great-circle routing for RNAV (fix/radial/distance) equipment Automatic routing via jet routes cannot be specified using menu choice 2 -- instead, it may be specified by stating the departure procedure or fix, *J, and the arrival procedure or fix. Explicit routing options are described in detail in section 4.3. As an example, from San Jose to Chicago, the routing "loupe8.sac *j dbq.jvl1" could be used: #log\sjc\ord\1400\loupe8.sac *j dbq.jvl1\n302ua\b737\330 The aircraft type may be: (1) null ("\\"), in which case the current tail number will be used (2) a string, in which case the stored aircraft profiles will be searched for aircraft performance data with this name (3) a menu item number from the "Select Aircraft Performance Data" menu, in which case that selection will be used As with all other input to the flight planning system, input is case-insensitive (upper or lower case will be accepted). No interactive confirmation will be performed. If any problems are detected with the Quick Path string, the entire command will be rejected and you will be returned to the DUATS main menu. 2.5. Interface to Other Parts of DUATS --------------------------------------- All of the principal data fields which are used by the flight planner are automatically transferred to other parts of DUATS, such as weather briefing and flight plan filing. If, for example, you elect to 1. obtain a weather briefing using a direct (unspecified) routing, 2. plan the flight, allowing the flight planner to determine your detailed routing, and 3. file a flight plan (only applies to pilots) you will only need to enter each data item once. In order to obtain the weather briefing, you will enter Aircraft tail number (only applies to pilots) Departure point Destination Departure time Altitude Route of flight (null) Estimated time enroute Then, when you transfer to the flight planner, the information you entered for each of the above fields (except estimated time enroute, which the planner will compute for you) is available as a default value to the planner. If you use menus and prompts to enter your information, the previously-entered data will be shown in brackets, for example: Departure point [SJC]: You can override the previously-entered data by entering another value, or you can accept this value by simply pressing . If you have selected a default routing option for the flight planner, you will be able to press for the Flight Planner Routing menu. If your default routing option is User Selected Routing (choice 6), the route of flight you entered to obtain the weather briefing will be made available to the flight planner. Typically, you will want to choose a different route of flight for the planner than you did when you obtained a weather briefing. If you wish to bypass winds aloft calculations, you will need to change the departure time to NULL. If the aircraft tail number you entered is one of your stored profile entries, you will not need to enter an aircraft type; if it is not one of the stored profile entries, you will need to either select a stored aircraft type or enter the aircraft performance information for the flight. If you accessed DUATS as a pilot, once the flight plan is complete, you may choose to file an FAA flight plan. The default values for each data item will be the most-recently-entered information, either from the weather briefing or as overridden during the flight planning process. The actual route of flight which was determined by the flight planner and the estimated time enroute will be passed on to the flight plan filing system. Fuel on board must be specified by the pilot -- be sure that you have adequate reserves over and above the fuel use predicted by the planner! 3. Flight Planner Output -- Detailed Information ------------------------------------------------- This section provides detailed information on the output of the flight planner, including each of the five different flight log formats. Each flight plan which is output by the flight planning module consists of three components: (1) The prologue, which includes: - the departure airport or fix - the destination airport or fix - the departure time for which the flight was planned - a summary of the routing options used for the plan - the flight plan route, which is retained for filing a flight plan - a summary of the fuel, time, and distance for the flight (2) The navigation log. Five formats are available for the navigation log; these are described in section 3.2 below. (3) The summary, which includes: - the warning "fuel calculations do not include required reserves" - a summary of the fuel, time, and distance for the flight - the average ground speed for the flight in knots - if the flight plan route is not a great circle route, a comparison between the flight plan distance and the (optimum) great circle distance The flight planner supports a number of different output formats; these are described in detail below. If you do not change your output format using stored profile options, your flight plans will be printed using the Three-Line Staggered Format. The Three-Line Staggered Format utilizes three lines for each point in the plan and is "staggered" -- the left and right portions of the flight plan refer to a given point in the plan and the center portion, which is shifted downwards by a few lines, refers to the leg of the flight which connects one point in the plan with the next. Several different two-line-per-fix formats are also available. Due to space limitations, some of the information present in the three-line format must be omitted from the two-line formats. 3.1. Prologue and Summary -------------------------- In the example below, the flight plan "RHV *A RBL *G SEA" is used -- from Reid-Hillview Airport in San Jose CA via airways to Red Bluff CA then via great-circle LORAN to Seattle WA. Each flight plan output is preceded by a flight plan prologue. GTE DUATS FLIGHT PLAN From: KRHV -- San Jose CA (Reid-Hillview Of Santa Clara County) To: KSEA -- Seattle WA (Seattle-Tacoma Intl) Time: Wed Jun 17 17:00 (UTC) Routing options selected: Automatic low altitude airway, Great circle. Flight plan route: KRHV MABRY V107 V334 ALTAM V392 SAC V23 JINGO V195 RBL LMT240024 OED060029 EUG060041 UBG060029 BTG060013 OLM060025 KSEA Flight totals: fuel: 50 gallons, time: 4:50, distance 616.3 nm. The flight plan route is automatically saved by DUATS and will be the default route available for flight plan filing and weather briefings. (The 9-character locations above are fix/radial/distance waypoints.) A summary follows the flight plan: NOTE: fuel calculations do not include required reserves. Flight totals: fuel: 50 gallons, time: 4:50, distance 616.3 nm. Average groundspeed 128 knots. Great circle distance is 607.4 nm -- this route is 1% longer. 3.2. Navigation Log -------------------- This section describes in detail each of the five available navigation log formats: 1. Three-line: Staggered Format 2. Two-line: Lat/Lon, Fix, Morse (no fuel data) 3. Two-line: Fix, Morse, Fuel (no latitude/longitude) 4. Two-line: Lat/Lon, Morse, Fuel (no fix name) 5. Two-line: Narrow Format-60 col. (fix name only) 3.2.1. Three-Line Staggered Output Format ------------------------------------------ Here is a sample of the three-line "staggered" output format: Ident Type/Morse Code | | Fuel Name or Fix/radial/dist | | Time Latitude Longitude Alt. | Route Mag KTS Fuel | Dist ---+--------+---------+-----| Winds Crs TAS Time |------ 1. KSJC Apt. | Temp Hdg GS Dist | 0.0 San Jose CA |--------+----+---+------| 0:00 37:21:42 121:55:39 1 | Direct 3.3 | 86 ---+--------+---------+-----| N/A 311 102 0:15 |------ 2. OAK --- .- -.- | +9 C 311 102 26 | 3.3 d116.8 Oakland |--------+----+---+------| 0:15 37:43:34 122:13:21 55 | V301 0.7 | 60 ---+--------+---------+-----| N/A 288 130 0:05 |------ 3. --- Int. | +4 C 288 130 9 | 4.0 |--------+----+---+------| 0:20 37:48:45 122:22:43 55 | V87 0.6 | 51 ---+--------+---------+-----| N/A 342 130 0:03 |------ 4. REBAS Int. | +4 C 342 130 8 | 4.6 SAUr035/8 SGDr165/14 |--------+----+---+------| 0:23 37:56:27 122:22:57 55 | V87 1.1 | 43 ---+--------+---------+-----| N/A 345 130 0:07 |------ 5. SGD ... --. -.. | +4 C 345 130 14 | 5.7 d112.1 Scaggs Island |--------+----+---+------| 0:30 38:10:46 122:22:19 55 | Direct 2.0 | 29 ---+--------+---------+-----| N/A 297 139 0:12 |------ 6. KSTS Apt. | +9 C 297 139 29 | 7.7 Santa Rosa CA (Sonoma C |--------+----+---+------| 0:42 38:30:33 122:48:42 1 | | 0 ---+--------+---------+-----| |------ The information on the edge (fix portion) includes the following: Ident Type/Morse Code | ... | Fuel | Name or Fix/radial/dist| ... | Time | Latitude Longitude Alt.| ... | Dist | ---+--------+---------+----| ... |------| 2. OAK --- .- -.-. | ... | 4.7 | d116.8 Oakland | ... | 0:20 | 37:43:34 122:13:21 103| ... | 60 | ---+--------+---------+----| ... |------| 4. REBAS Int. | ... | 6.0 | SAUr035/8 SGDr165/14 | ... | 0:28 | 37:56:27 122:22:57 100| ... | 43 | ---+--------+---------+----| ... |------| Left Side (Information about the fix) Line 1: - the sequence number of the fix in the flight plan - the fix identifier or type; "---" indicates an unnamed intersection - the type of fix or, if the fix is a navaid, the Morse code for the fix identifier Line 2: - for navigational aids: - the frequency, preceded by "d" if the facility has DME capability - the facility name - for airports: - the facility name - for intersections: - identifiers, radials, and if available, distances of navaids which define the fix (i.e., the SAUr035/8 is the Sausalito VOR, 035 radial, 8 nautical miles) Line 3: - the latitude and longitude of the fix in degrees:minutes:seconds or degrees:minutes.fraction - the expected altitude at which the aircraft will be at this fix expressed in hundreds of feet Right Side (Cumulative fuel/time/distance information) Line 1: - the cumulative amount of fuel burned during the flight Line 2: - the cumulative time for the flight Line 3: - the distance remaining to the destination in nautical miles Information for waypoints is slightly different than for other fixes: ---+--------+---------+----| 2. Wpt. d116.8/030.0/3.1 | OAK --- .- -.-. | 37:45:39 122:10:31 104| ---+--------+---------+----| Left Side (Information about the fix) Line 1: - the sequence number of the fix in the flight plan - the fix type: RNAV or Wpt. - The frequency, radial, and distance in nautical miles to the fix off which this waypoint is referenced; this distance is compensated for slant range errors for RNAV fixes but not for Wpt. fixes - the cumulative amount of fuel burned during the flight Line 2: - the identifier of the fix off which this waypoint is referenced - the Morse code for the fix identifier - the cumulative time for the flight Line 3: - the latitude and longitude of the fix in degrees:minutes:seconds or degrees:minutes.fraction - the expected altitude at which the aircraft will be at this fix expressed in hundreds of feet - the distance remaining to the destination in nautical miles The information in the center (leg portion) includes the following: | Route Mag KTS Fuel | | Winds Crs TAS Time | | Temp Hdg GS Dist | |--------+----+---+------| | V301 0.8 | | 170/6 288 126 0:05 | | -3 C 286 130 9 | |--------+----+---+------| Line 1: - the type of route, which may be an airway designator, "Direct", or a SID or STAR name - the fuel consumption for this leg Line 2: - the average forecast winds aloft for this leg at the average altitude; N/A indicates that winds aloft are not available for this position and time, or that a no-wind flight plan was requested - the magnetic course for this leg (ground track) - the expected true airspeed for this leg in knots - the time to fly this leg Line 3: - the forecast temperature aloft at the leg's average altitude - the magnetic heading for this leg (wind corrected) - the expected ground speed for this leg in knots (wind corrected) - the distance covered by this leg *** Note: The flight planner computes the magnetic course for each leg *** of the flight, which may differ from the official definition *** of an airway segment by a few degrees. Always consult current *** VFR or IFR charts for the published radial for an airway. 3.2.2. Latitude/Longitude, Fix Name, Morse Code (no Fuel Data) Output Format ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ident Freq Latitude Longitude Location Total Dist Via Mag Mag Dist TAS GS Leg Time Rem. Alt Crs Hdg NM KTS KTS Time ---+------+-----+--------+---------+----+----+---+----+---+---+----+-----+----- 1. KRHV Apt. 37:19:59 121:49:07 San Jose CA (Reid-Hillview Of S 0:00 616 Direct 1 355 355 6 90 90 0:04 ---+------+-----+--------+---------+----+----+---+----+---+---+----+-----+----- 4. SUNOL Int. 37:36:20 121:48:33 OAKr093/21 ECAr229/33 0:13 597 V334 65 358 358 12 90 90 0:08 ---+------+-----+--------+---------+----+----+---+----+---+---+----+-----+----- 6. SAC d115.2 38:26:37 121:33:02 Sacramento 0:40 546 V23 ... .- -.-. 115 329 329 55 130 130 0:25 ---+------+-----+--------+---------+----+----+---+----+---+---+----+-----+----- 10. LMT d115.9 42:03:42 122:15:10 Klamath Falls 2:22 323 240.0/024.1 .-.. -- - 115 343 343 30 130 130 0:14 ---+------+-----+--------+---------+----+----+---+----+---+---+----+-----+----- Line 1: information about the current fix - the sequence number of the fix in the flight plan - the fix identifier or type; "---" indicates an unnamed intersection - for navigational aids: the frequency, preceded by "d" if the facility has DME capability; for Airports or Intersections, "Apt." or "Int." - the latitude and longitude of the fix in degrees:minutes:seconds or degrees:minutes.fraction - the facility name, or, for intersections: - identifiers, radials, and if available, distances of navaids which define the fix (i.e., the SAUr035/8 is the Sausalito VOR, 035 radial, 8 nautical miles) - the cumulative time for the flight - the distance remaining to the destination in nautical miles Line 2: more information about the current fix, and information on how to get to the next fix in the plan - the type of route, which may be an airway designator, "Direct", or, in the case of an RNAV or LORAN-direct route, the radial and distance in nautical miles from the navaid to which this waypoint is referenced - the Morse code for the fix identifier - the expected altitude at which the aircraft will be at this fix expressed in hundreds of feet - the magnetic course for this leg (ground track) - the magnetic heading for this leg (wind corrected) - the distance covered by this leg - the expected true airspeed for this leg in knots - the expected ground speed for this leg in knots (wind corrected) - the time to fly this leg 3.2.3. Fix Name, Morse Code, Fuel Data (no Latitude/Longitude) Output Format ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ident Freq Alt Name and Morse Identifier Total Dist Total Mag Mag Dist TAS GS Leg Leg Time Rem. Fuel Via Crs Hdg NM KTS KTS Fuel Time ---+------+-----+---+----+---+----+---+---+------+----+-----+-----+------ 1. KRHV Apt. 1 San Jose CA (Reid-Hillview Of San 0:00 616 0.0 Direct 355 355 6 90 90 0.9 0:04 ---+------+-----+---+----+---+----+---+---+------+----+-----+-----+------ 4. SUNOL Int. 65 OAKr093/21 ECAr229/33 SJCr009/15 0:13 597 3.0 V334 358 358 12 90 90 1.9 0:08 ---+------+-----+---+----+---+----+---+---+------+----+-----+-----+------ 6. SAC d115.2 115 Sacramento ... .- -.-. 0:40 546 8.1 V23 329 329 55 130 130 4.2 0:25 ---+------+-----+---+----+---+----+---+---+------+----+-----+-----+------ 10. LMT d115.9 115 Klamath Falls .-.. -- - 2:22 323 25.2 240.0/024.1 343 343 30 130 130 2.4 0:14 ---+------+-----+---+----+---+----+---+---+------+----+-----+-----+------ Line 1: information about the current fix - the sequence number of the fix in the flight plan - the fix identifier or type; "---" indicates an unnamed intersection - for navigational aids: the frequency, preceded by "d" if the facility has DME capability; for Airports or Intersections, "Apt." or "Int." - the expected altitude at which the aircraft will be at this fix expressed in hundreds of feet - the facility name and Morse code identifier, or, for intersections: - identifiers, radials, and if available, distances of navaids which define the fix (i.e., the SAUr035/8 is the Sausalito VOR, 035 radial, 8 nautical miles) - the cumulative time for the flight - the distance remaining to the destination in nautical miles - the cumulative amount of fuel burned during the flight Line 2: information on how to get to the next fix in the plan: - the type of route, which may be an airway designator, "Direct", or, in the case of an RNAV or LORAN-direct route, the radial and distance in nautical miles from the navaid to which this waypoint is referenced - the magnetic course for this leg (ground track) - the magnetic heading for this leg (wind corrected) - the distance covered by this leg - the expected true airspeed for this leg in knots - the expected ground speed for this leg in knots (wind corrected) - the fuel consumption for this leg - the time to fly this leg 3.2.4. Latitude/Longitude, Morse Code, Fuel Data (no Fix Name) Output Format ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ident Freq Latitude Longitude Fix Information Total Dist Total Mag Mag Dist TAS GS Leg Leg Time Rem. Fuel Via Alt Crs Hdg NM KTS KTS Fuel Time ---+------+-----+---+----+----+----+---+---+------+----+-----+-----+------ 1. KRHV Apt. 37:19:59 121:49:07 San Jose CA (Reid-H 0:00 616 0.0 Direct 1 355 355 6 90 90 0.9 0:04 ---+------+-----+---+----+----+----+---+---+------+----+-----+-----+------ 4. SUNOL Int. 37:36:20 121:48:33 OAKr093/21 0:13 597 3.0 V334 65 358 358 12 90 90 1.9 0:08 ---+------+-----+---+----+----+----+---+---+------+----+-----+-----+------ 6. SAC d115.2 38:26:37 121:33:02 ... .- -.-. 0:40 546 8.1 V23 115 329 329 55 130 130 4.2 0:25 ---+------+-----+---+----+----+----+---+---+------+----+-----+-----+------ 10. LMT d115.9 42:03:42 122:15:10 .-.. -- - 2:22 323 25.2 240.0/024.1 115 343 343 30 130 130 2.4 0:14 ---+------+-----+---+----+----+----+---+---+------+----+-----+-----+------ Line 1: information about the current fix - the sequence number of the fix in the flight plan - the fix identifier or type; "---" indicates an unnamed intersection - for navigational aids: the frequency, preceded by "d" if the facility has DME capability; for Airports or Intersections, "Apt." or "Int." - the latitude and longitude of the fix in degrees:minutes:seconds or degrees:minutes.fraction - the facility name or Morse code identifier, or, for intersections: - identifiers, radials, and if available, distances of navaids which define the fix (i.e., the SAUr035/8 is the Sausalito VOR, 035 radial, 8 nautical miles) - the cumulative time for the flight - the distance remaining to the destination in nautical miles - the cumulative amount of fuel burned during the flight Line 2: information on how to get to the next fix in the plan: - the type of route, which may be an airway designator, "Direct", or, in the case of an RNAV or LORAN-direct route, the radial and distance in nautical miles from the navaid to which this waypoint is referenced - the expected altitude at which the aircraft will be at this fix expressed in hundreds of feet - the magnetic course for this leg (ground track) - the magnetic heading for this leg (wind corrected) - the distance covered by this leg - the expected true airspeed for this leg in knots - the expected ground speed for this leg in knots (wind corrected) - the fuel consumption for this leg - the time to fly this leg 3.2.5. Narrow, 60 Column format, Fix Name Only Output Format ------------------------------------------------------------- Ident Freq Location Total Dist Via Mag Mag Dist TAS GS Leg Time Rem. Alt Crs Hdg NM KTS KTS Time ---+------+-----+----+----+---+----+---+---+----+-----+----- 1. KRHV Apt. San Jose CA (Reid-Hillview Of S 0:00 616 Direct 1 355 355 6 90 90 0:04 ---+------+-----+----+----+---+----+---+---+----+-----+----- 4. SUNOL Int. OAKr093/21 ECAr229/33 0:13 597 V334 65 358 358 12 90 90 0:08 ---+------+-----+----+----+---+----+---+---+----+-----+----- 6. SAC d115.2 Sacramento 0:40 546 V23 115 329 329 55 130 130 0:25 ---+------+-----+----+----+---+----+---+---+----+-----+----- 10. LMT d115.9 Klamath Falls 2:22 323 240.0/024.1 115 343 343 30 130 130 0:14 ---+------+-----+----+----+---+----+---+---+----+-----+----- Line 1: information about the current fix - the sequence number of the fix in the flight plan - the fix identifier or type; "---" indicates an unnamed intersection - for navigational aids: the frequency, preceded by "d" if the facility has DME capability; for Airports or Intersections, "Apt." or "Int." - the facility name, or, for intersections: - identifiers, radials, and if available, distances of navaids which define the fix (i.e., the SAUr035/8 is the Sausalito VOR, 035 radial, 8 nautical miles) - the cumulative time for the flight - the distance remaining to the destination in nautical miles Line 2: information on how to get to the next fix in the plan: - the type of route, which may be an airway designator, "Direct", or, in the case of an RNAV or LORAN-direct route, the radial and distance in nautical miles from the navaid to which this waypoint is referenced - the expected altitude at which the aircraft will be at this fix expressed in hundreds of feet - the magnetic course for this leg (ground track) - the magnetic heading for this leg (wind corrected) - the distance covered by this leg - the expected true airspeed for this leg in knots - the expected ground speed for this leg in knots (wind corrected) - the time to fly this leg 4. Flight Planner Inputs -- Detailed Information ------------------------------------------------- This section provides detailed information on some of the input values to the flight planner. 4.1. Departure Point and Destination ------------------------------------- Enter the three or four-character identifier for the airport or navigational fix at which you wish to start and end the flight. If a known identifier is entered, the planner will respond with the type of identifier (Airport, Navaid, or Intersection) and its full name. If the identifier code is used for both an airport and a navaid, a "K" will be prepended to the identifier. If the response (identifier and full name) is not what you expect, enter 'Q' at the next prompt to start over. If you specify airports (as opposed to navaids or intersections) for departure and destination points, the planner will compute climb and descent profiles between the field elevations and cruise altitude. 4.2. Departure Time -------------------- The departure time is used by the flight planner to select appropriate winds aloft. In general, winds aloft data is available for about 24 hours in advance. If your flight plan extends into a period for which winds aloft data is not available, a message will be displayed to that effect when the plan is being printed. If you do not wish to have winds aloft computations performed, enter "none" instead of a time. 4.3. Route Selection --------------------- The flight planner will automatically determine your route for you in several different ways, as shown by the Flight Planner Routing menu: Flight Planner Routing Low-Alt Airway Auto-Routing 1 Jet Route Auto-Routing 2 VOR-Direct Auto-Routing 3 Direct Routing for LORAN 4 Direct Routing for RNAV 5 User Selected Routing 6 Low-Altitude Airway Auto-Routing selects the shortest path from your origin to the destination using low-altitude (Victor) airways. No attempt is made to circumnavigate airway segments which travel over high terrain, nor airway segments on which bad weather is present. It may not be possible to be provide automatic airway routing for certain airports which are very remote from any navigational facilities. Jet Route Auto-Routing selects the shortest path from your origin to the destination using high-altitude airways (Jet Routes). Since the climb profiles of different aircraft may be quite different, it is necessary for the user to specify a route from the origin to the first fix in the jet route system and from the final fix in the jet route system to the destination airport. The flight planner will assist you in selecting an appropriate fix by displaying available SIDs and STARS, as well as VORs up to 100 nautical miles from the airports. SIDs, STARs, and VORs marked with an asterisk (*) may be used as jet route transitions: Standard Instrument Departures (SIDs) from SAT: ALAMO2.ELA ALAMO2.GOBBY ALAMO2.HENLY* ALAMO2.HUB* ALAMO2.LFK* ALAMO2.SAT* ALAMO2.SCY ALAMO2.SEEDS* BOWIE1.LEJON* BOWIE1.SAT* BOWIE1.SHUCK* BOWIE1.THX VORs near SAT: SAT* CSI* AUS* JCT* STV Standard Terminal Arrival Routes (STARs) to PDX: BONVL.BONVL2 *DLS.BONVL2 *IMB.BONVL2 *PDT.BONVL2 HELNS.HELNS2 *SEA.HELNS2 *YKM.HELNS2 *LMT.MOXEE2 MOXEE.MOXEE2 *OED.MOXEE2 VORs near PDX: UBG* PDX BTG* RDM* EUG* CVO* DLS* OLM* ONP* "*" indicates a transition which may be used to enter or leave the Jet Route system. (Do not enter the "*" as part of the procedure name) When entering a departure or arrival transition, you may specify - a SID or STAR (ALAMO2.SAT or LMT.MOXEE2, for example), or - a VOR (AUS or UBG, for example), or - a route (SAT JCT, which would be via direct San Antonio, direct JCT, for example). VOR-Direct Auto-Routing is similar to Low-Altitude Airway Auto-Routing except that direct paths between VORs which are within reception range of one another are used in addition to Victor airways. Note that most of the route segments in a VOR-Direct plan are likely to be Victor airways, since there are Victor airways between most VORs which are within reception range of one another. Direct Routing for LORAN and Direct Routing for RNAV compute a great-circle route between the origin and destination and then locate a number of waypoints along that route. The waypoints are defined by nearby VOR/DME facilities, and a radial and distance from the VOR/DME to the waypoint is provided. The flight plan generated by LORAN and RNAV direct routing is identical, except that for the RNAV option, the distance from the VOR/DME to the waypoint is adjusted for slant-range error. User Selected Routing allows the most control over flight routing. A user-selected route is specified as a series of fixes (VORs, airports, and/or waypoints). Each pair of fixes along the route may be connected by one of the following routing options: o If nothing else is specified, a great-circle route (direct) is used. o An airway may be specified, such as V192 or J8. The fixes on either side of the airway specification must be navigation aids on the specified airway. Note that in some cases, it will be necessary to specifically name an appropriate navigation aid. The route SJC V485 PANOS won't work because the airway V485 does not begin at the San Jose airport, nor does it connect to the San Jose VOR -- SJC LICKE V485 PANOS would need to be specified instead. Two airways or more may be listed without specifying the fixes at which the transitions are to take place between airways. (For example, VINCO V107 V137 V23 V186 V459 SLI is a valid route.) In this case, the planner will automatically choose the best fixes at which to make the inter-airway transitions. o Automatic routing via the low-altitude "Victor" airway system may be specified by "*A" -- i.e., RHV *A ECA. If an airport is specified adjacent to "*A", automatic routing will be performed to an intersection or VOR near the airport. o Automatic routing via the jet routes may be specified by "*J". Jet airway routing must be requested between VOR or high-altitude intersection fixes; automatic routing from airports into the jet route system is not performed due to variances in climb capabilities of aircraft and air traffic control system routing requirements. o Automatic routing via a combination of direct VOR-to-VOR paths plus low-altitude airways may be specified by "*V". Note that most of the route segments in a VOR-Direct plan are likely to be Victor airways, since there are Victor airways between most VORs which are within reception range of one another. Direct paths between two VORs will be chosen only when the VORs are within reception range of each other given standard navaid service volumes and when the direct route would be shorter than an airway routing. Note that terrain and restrictions on usability of VORs is not taken into account. If an airport is specified adjacent to "*V", automatic routing will be performed to an intersection or VOR near the airport. o Automatic routing via a great-circle (direct) course with intermediate fixes may be specified by "*G" or "*R". The intermediate fixes are defined in terms of latitude/longitude and in terms of radial/distance coordinates from nearby VORs. "*G" (great-circle) is designed for use with LORAN equipment and does not do slant range compensation on the distances; "*R" does slant range compensation for VOR/DME-based RNAV units. o A great-circle (direct) course with no computation of intermediate fixes may also be specified by either of the words "DIRECT" or "DIR". Airport and navaid names are specified as three to five letters and digits. A waypoint may be specified as: o fix/radial/distance, which is a VOR identifier followed by 3 digit degrees magnetic and 3 digit distance in nautical miles with no spaces between characters (e.g., SAC360020 would be 360 degree radial, 20nm from SAC) o latitude/longitude, which is a pair of coordinate values separated by a slash ("/") -- for lat/lon waypoints, fix/radial/distance information to the nearest VORDME or VORTAC facility will be automatically computed and displayed as part of the waypoint information in the flight plan Latitude and longitude information is specified in the form "lat/lon" where either lat or lon may be: - 2 digits (degrees: dd) - 3 digits (degrees: ddd) - 4 digits (degrees and minutes: ddmm) - 5 digits (degrees and minutes: dddmm) - 7 digits (degrees minutes seconds tenths: ddmmsst) - 8 digits (degrees minutes seconds tenths: dddmmsst) For example, 37:19:59 121:49:07 could be specified with varying degrees of precision as as 37/122, 3720/12149, or 3719590/12149070. *** Warning: when entering latitude or longitude *** information, be sure to use one of the *** forms above -- entering a different *** number of digits could lead to *** extreme off-course errors -- *** example: 12345 would be interpreted *** as 123 degrees 45 minutes rather than *** 12 degrees 34.5 minutes Whenever a fix name could be either an airport or a VOR name, the VOR is assumed. If you wish to specify the airport, precede the identifier with the letter "K" -- i.e., SJC is the VOR, KSJC is the airport. There is considerable latitude when using user-selected routings. For example, if one was planning a trip from RHV (Reid-Hillview Airport, San Jose CA) to OSH (Oshkosh WI) and wished to preview a northerly route rather than the direct route, one could enter *g boi *a ggw *a inl *a as a user-selected route, which would route via great-circle RNAV from RHV to Boise ID, then via Victor airways to Glasgow MT, airways to International Falls MN, and airways to Oshkosh. 4.3.1. Route Selection Interaction ----------------------------------- The flight planner is designed to allow you to experiment with several routes before actually printing a final flight plan. Whenever the planner computes a route, you are shown the route of flight in an abbreviated form, followed by distance information. If the distance for the shown route is substantially longer than the great-circle distance and you entered a user-specified route, that route should be carefully examined for an incorrect intersection name. For example, a flight plan from RHV (Reid- Hillview Airport in San Jose CA) to TRK (Truckee CA) in which the user-specified routing "*A TRUST" was specified would produce this output: Routing options selected: Automatic low altitude airway. Flight plan route: RHV SUNOL V195 ECA V244 LAA V10 DDC V74 LIT V54 HLI V159 VUZ V18 TRUST KTRK Total distance for this route is 3410.4 nm. Great circle distance is 143.1 nm -- this route is 2284% longer. Clearly, this routing is much too long -- TRUST intersection was specified instead of TRUCK intersection. If you wish to include SIDs (Standard Instrument Departures) and/or STARs (Standard Terminal Arrival Routes) in your flight plan, you may do so using the User Selected Routing choice. If you enter "%" at the "Enter route" prompt, the flight planner will automatically determine the names of SIDs, STARs, and nearby VORs for the selected departure and destination airports: Departure Point: SFO Airport KSFO: San Francisco CA Destination: ORD Airport KORD: Chicago IL (Chicago O'Hare Intl) ... Enter route: % Standard Instrument Departures (SIDs) from SJC: ALTAM6.ALTAM ALTAM6.LIN* ALTAM6.SAC* DANV1.DYBLO* DANV1.LIN* DANV1.RBL* DANV1.SAC* LOUPE8.DYBLO* LOUPE8.LIN* LOUPE8.RBL* LOUPE8.SAC* MOONY1.AVE* MOONY1.MOONY MOONY1.PXN SJC7.AVE* SJC7.MOONY SJC7.PXN SUNOL3.ECA* SUNOL3.SAC* SUNOL3.SUNOL VORs near SJC: SJC ECA* MOD SFO OSI OAK* PYE* SAC* LIN* SNS* Standard Terminal Arrival Routes (STARs) to ORD: BAYLI.BDF1* BDF.BDF1* IRK.BDF1* DBQ.JVL2* JVL.JVL2 MCW.JVL2* BSV.OXI2 DJB.OXI2* FWA.OXI2* OKK.OXI2 OXI.OXI2 VWV.OXI2 FNT.PMM2* PMM.PMM2* SVM.PMM2* TVC.PMM2* VORs near ORD: ORD CGT GSH* GIJ* JOT* DPA PMM* OBK* BVT* BDF* BAE* "*" indicates a transition which may be used to enter or leave the Jet Route system. (Do not enter the "*" as part of the procedure name) In this case, one might select the route: Enter route: LOUPE8.LIN *J DBQ.JVL2 which would depart San Jose using the Loupe Eight departure, Linden transition, then automatically routed via jet airways to Dubuque, then via the Janesville Two arrival into O'Hare. The route produced by the planner would be: KSJC LOUPE8 LIN J84 DBQ JVL2 KORD 4.3.2. Example of Route Selection Interaction ---------------------------------------------- The pilot can use the interactive nature of the flight planner to great advantage. Let us examine several possible routes which the planner could generate for a flight from RHV to TRK. Using menu choice 1 or the "*A" routing option for automatic low-altitude airways would produce the following routing: KRHV SUNOL V195 ECA V113 LIN V338 SWR KTRK Examining a sectional would show that the portion of this route which goes over the Sierra Nevada mountains takes a path over relatively hostile terrain. A better solution might be to fly to Sacramento and then to Truckee, which could be specified by the user-specified route (menu choice 6) "*A SAC *A". The result: KRHV ALTAM V334 SAC V6 SWR KTRK Unfortunately, this also travels over hostile terrain. Choosing a slightly different point along the route would cause the routing to go via airways which are very near to Interstate 80, which is a better choice in terms of safety. Specifying "*A SIGNA *A" would yield: KRHV ALTAM V392 SIGNA KTRK Comparing the distance of this route, 160.1 nautical miles (12% longer than a great circle, which is 143.1), to the first (*A) routing, which was 152.6 nautical miles (7% longer than great circle), would tell you that a more conservative route would add only 7.5 nautical miles to the trip. Now let us examine a flight from RHV to STS (Santa Rosa, CA). Utilizing menu choice 1 or the "*A" routing for automatic low-altitude airways would produce the following routing: KRHV OAK V107 V87 SGD KSTS The pilot might prefer to avoid the San Francisco Terminal Control Area, so a departure via the SUNOL intersection is requested using the user-specified route "SUNOL *A": KRHV SUNOL V301 V87 SGD KSTS Unfortunately, V301 goes from SUNOL to Oakland, so the pilot chooses to revise the routing request to "SUNOL *G SGD *A", which utilizes a great-circle (straight-line) routing from SUNOL to the Scaggs Island VOR (SGD): KRHV SUNOL OAK030011 SGD KSTS The pilot then realizes that the automatically-selected route from Scaggs Island VOR (SGD) to Santa Rosa airport is direct, and the pilot would prefer an airway to be shown for this portion of the route. "SUNOL *G SGD *A STS" produces: KRHV SUNOL OAK030011 SGD V108 STS KSTS 4.3.3. Samples of Routing Options ---------------------------------- The first example compares user-selected airway routings with automatically-selected airway routings: Departure point: oak Destination: dpa User-Specified Route: oak v6 dpa This specifies a flight from the Oakland Airport, which has an on-field VOR named OAK, to Chicago-DuPage Airport, which has an on-field VOR named DPA, via the airway V6. The flight plan route would be shown as: KOAK OAK V6 DPA KDPA Note that the user-specified route must include the VOR names at both ends of the flight, even though the airport and VOR names are identical. This is because the flight planner modifies the airport identifiers to begin with a "K" so it can distinguish airports from navigational aids. Using the *a (airway) or *v (vor-direct) routing option for this example would produce a different and slightly shorter route than V6: KOAK SALAD V244 HVE V8 JNC V134 DEN V8 IOW V6 DPA KDPA The second example compares different kinds of direct routings: Departure point: oak Destination: dpa User-Specified Route: direct A direct (great-circle) flight from Oakland to DuPage is computed. The total time and distance for this flight are the same as the great-circle path, so a comparison at the end of the plan with a great circle route is not given. No intermediate fixes are shown for the flight plan, and the flight plan route would KOAK KDPA To get intermediate fixes, use either "Direct Routing for LORAN" (*g) or "Direct Routing for RNAV" (*r). The Direct LORAN option would produce the following flight plan route: KOAK LIN150001 MVA330015 BAM150085 ELY330015 DTA330042 MTU330017 CHE330021 CYS150001 SNY330018 HCT330069 OBH360023 OMA360043 DSM360030 IOW360026 DBQ180027 KDPA 4.3.4. Comparison of LORAN vs. RNAV Direct Routing --------------------------------------------------- There are two menu choices which produce identical flight routes but display them with slightly different values. The Direct Routing option is available with waypoint computations for LORAN and for RNAV. The difference between the two is how the mileage from a nearby VOR to a waypoint is computed: for RNAV, the height of the aircraft above the navigation aid is taken into account in computing the distance from the VOR; for LORAN, the aircraft's altitude is not taken into account. The distance shown for a LORAN Direct Routing is suitable for measuring on an aeronautical chart. The air distance shown for an RNAV Direct Routing is suitable for loading into an RNAV computer such as a King KNS-80, or for in-flight verification using DME. Let us examine a Direct Routing from RHV (Reid-Hillview Airport in San Jose) to SAN (Lindberg Field in San Diego), and compare a selected waypoint for the LORAN and RNAV routing options. This plan was computed at 10,500 feet; the waypoint chosen is relatively close to the Avenal VOR. This waypoint using Direct Routing for LORAN would be: 3. Wpt. d117.1/210.0/2.3 | AVE .- ...- . | 35:37:14 120:00:40 105 | and using Direct Routing for RNAV, the waypoint would be: 3. RNAV d117.1/210.0/2.8 | AVE .- ...- . | 35:37:14 120:00:40 105 | Notice that the waypoint is in exactly the same place (35:37:14N, 120:00:40W), but the mileage shown from the Avenal VOR differs -- it is 2.3 nautical miles for the LORAN waypoint, and 2.8 DME for the RNAV waypoint.