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
<return>. 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 <return> 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 <return>.
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 <return>, 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 <return>
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
<return> 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 <return> 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 <return>, 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 <return> 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 <return>, 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 <return>.
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 <return>.
If you have selected a default routing option for the flight
planner, you will be able to press <return> 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 appear as:
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.
 
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