FS-PRO - Flight Planner Module - Series 6

        IMPORTANT NOTE: This Flight Planner uses the Flight
        Simulator "world coordinates" for all calculations.
        If you use latitude and longitude as positioners in
        your AIRPORT DIRECTORY, then calculations in this
        module will be "mars-talk!" A "real" flight planner
        will be issued in our upcoming PILOT MASTER that
        will base calculations on DEGREES, MINUTES, SECONDS.

FSFP.EXE

This MODULE allows you to fill out a simplified FLIGHT PLAN
for your PC flying enjoyment. It is designed to work with
your AIRPORT DIRECTORY module as part of the FS-PRO series.

MENUS:

The menus are controlled by positioning the highlight bar
over the item and pressing return. Move the highlight bar
with the SPACE BAR or TAB key. Now, forget all of that and
simply press the first letter of the menu item for single-key
entry.

DEPARTURE and DESTINATION AIRPORTS:

When you select AIRPORTS from the main menu, you will see
the AIRPORT DIRECTORY screen pop up and a prompt for you to
enter the DEPARTURE AIRPORT. If you keep your airports using
the 3 character ID, then you can simply enter the ID. If you
know the airport number, you may also enter the number. If
you don't know any of this, then enter as many letters of
the airport name as you can and we'll try to find it.

Anyway, once you get an acceptable airport to takeoff from,
then just enter Y at the prompt. Bingo! The DEPARTURE
AIRPORT is loaded and zippo comes the prompt for your
DESTINATION. Figure out where you're going and nail it!

Now that you have successfully chosen your DEPARTURE and
DESTINATION airports you will get rewarded with a strange
color screen (depending on your personal color selections)
that we call the AP Screen. It shows some of the positioning
data for each airport selected in a "dual" window mode.

The first calculation that is made by FSFP is the distance
between your two points. This is based on a simple algorithm
to determine a straight-line point between the WORLD
COORDINATES that exist in your AIRPORT DIRECTORY. If you
don't have any data in your directory, then this program is
worthless and deserves to be thrown in the garbage
forthwith.

We think the algorithm holds up pretty well in most locations
and, we would be interested in any unusual reading you may get
so that we can improve this calculation in future releases.

The second calculation that is made is the GENERAL HEADING.
The accuracy is unknown. We need more experience with this
algorithm. However, we attempt to give you some "general
idea" of which way to point yourself, once airborne. We will
improve the accuracy in later releases. For now, we give you
octagonal positioners for N,S,E,W,NE,NW,SE,SW and "pray"
it's in the ballpark.

CALENDAR:

Finally, our calculations are made depending on the data
that you enter into the FLIGHT PLAN SHEET. If you want to
select a particular day for your flight, then you can select
the CALENDAR option and from then on, everything you do will
be referring to this date, such as your printed flight plans
and screen headers. If you enter no date, then the current
day is automatically selected.

FLIGHT PLAN HEADER:

Once you decide to "file a flight plan" from the prompt on
the AP Screen, then another screen pops up with a second
menu. This is your BASIC, everyday, run-of-the-mill, garden
variety flight plan header (sans wx info). You may elect to
EDIT this screen and enter all of the flight data.

We present you with some "known" data from previous stuff.
You get to "fill-in-the-blanks" and then we will make a few
more calculations. We normally use MODE DESCRIPTION to note
the scenery disk for this flight. Sometimes I give it the
actual MODE name or ADVENTURE name. It's up to you.

Your ESTIMATED GROUND SPEED is very important. Future
calculations will be based on this number. Do your wind and
fuel stuff first (we will provide a new MODULE for most
pilots calculations in a later series) and then enter the
correct data.

Enter your time as prompted and an integer in the space for
GALS PER HOUR. Estimated time in route will be calculated
and positioned in the appropriate space.

CHECKPOINTS:

If you fail to enter GROUNDSPEED or FUEL COMSUMPTION in the
HEADER then you MUST enter it before you can enter
checkpoints. Use your sectional and enter your waypoints for
the trip. We will calculate the necessary goodies to
present you with a fairly decent printout of your flight.

THE SUMMARY:

We take a little info from the "filing of your flight plan"
and present you with a brief FLIGHT CHECKPOINT SUMMARY to
let you know of impending undocumented milage, legs and
waypoints. If you want to re-enter your checkpoints, then
you must start from the first checkpoint and continue,
undisturbed, to the end of your trip. Previous checkpoints
are erased. ZAP!

OLD FLIGHT PLANS:

You may elect to resurrect an OLD FLIGHT PLAN and these are
kept in your directory noted in your PARAMETER SETUP. (See
main menu FS-PRO - "EDIT PARAMETERS") It works just like the
ADVENTURE and MODE LIBRARY selections. Names for flightplans
are automatically determined from your selection of a
departure and destination airport. If you keep airports
using the 3 character ID then the name may appear as...

              DFW-LAX.FPN

...which, of course, is DALLAS-FT. WORTH, TX to LOS ANGELES, CA.

Full names will be truncated to the first three letters of
the airports selected.

We hope that you like the FS-PRO series of doo-dads and that
it will add to your enjoyment of PC flying. If you feel that
you would like to participate as a member of our

                        FLY CONFERENCE

and that this software is worth the $2.00 registration for a
LIFETIME, SUPER-DUPER, DYNAMITE and SECRET SOCIETY membership
with a bunch of FS NUTS, then slip a couple of bucks into an
envelope, stamp the thing and trust U.S. Post to get it to...

                        Joe Lincoln
                        15307 Parkville
                        Houston, Texas 77068
                        LINX BBS (713) 440-7364
                        24 HOURS - 300 to 2400
                        8N1
                        100 minutes FREE daily access
                        "CheapWare" and other stuff


Finis! Good luck! Happy flying!

