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PC Flt Plan 2.2 Computer Flight Planning for DOS Copyright (c) 1990-1994 Geir A. Granviken. All rights reserved. D O C U M E N T A T I O N ---------------------------------------------------------------- C O N T E N T S 1. GENERAL 2. TERMS FOR USING PC FLT PLAN 2.1 General 2.2 Disclaimer of all warranties and liability 3. INTRODUCTION 3.1 About the program 3.2 Documentation 3.3 Hardware requirements 3.4 Files 3.4 Data entry keys 4. INSTALLING 5. STARTING PC FLT PLAN 6. PREPARING THE PROGRAM FOR USE 6.1 Configuring 6.2 Aircraft Data 6.3 Nav-Database 7. HOW TO MAKE A FLIGHT PLAN 7.1 Data making up a flight plan 7.2 The Flight Plan Menu 7.3 Create/Edit a Route 8. ROUTE EDITOR 8.1 Legs 8.2 Leg data items 8.3 SID's, approaches etc 8.4 Alternates 8.5 Diversion fields 8.6 Climb-/Descent data 8.7 Map View 9. PRINT/VIEW A FLIGHT PLAN 9.1 Flight Plan Data 9.2 Print or Show the flight plan 10. ABOUT THE FLIGHT PLAN 10.1 Leg Times 10.2 Fuel 10.3 Corrections 10.4 How to use the ETO/RTO/ATO fields 10.5 Vertical Navigation 11. COURSE-/DISTANCE COMPUTER 12. TERMS & ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THE PROGRAM ---------------------------------------------------------------- 1. GENERAL PC Flt Plan is a flight planning program for IBM compatible PC's. It is run from MS-DOS, or as a DOS program from Windows or OS/2. It may be used for VFR or IFR flight planning. Consult the included README file for any updates of the information in this documentation. CREDITS: The world map database (named FPLMAP.DTA in this program) was found in a public domain mapper program, by Steve R. Sampson, USA, and was described as follows: "The database is Micro World Data Bank II. It's based on the CIA WDB-II tape available from NTIS. Micro WDB-II was created by Micro Doc. Placed in the public domain by Fred Pospeschil and Antonio Riveria." The original database seems to have 5 resolution levels, where 1 is the highest. The file supplied here only covers levels 4 and 5, which is very crude on small map areas, but if you are able to obtain the original, it should be possible to use it in PC Flt Plan (see 8.8.7. for details on the data structure). Note: For file size considerations, the map database may not be supplied with all BBS versions. PC Flt Plan is made by: ------------------------------------------------------------------- Geir A. Granviken Phone: (Intl+47) 31 28 55 65 Norway E-mail: geir.granviken@thcave.bbs.no ------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. TERMS FOR USING PC FLT PLAN 2.1 General The terms for use of this program are found in the text file TERMS.DOC. The program may only be used if the user agrees to the terms stated in this file. THERE IS NO LIABILITY OR WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. 3. INTRODUCTION 3.1 About the program PC Flt Plan is used to make operational flight plans for VFR or IFR flights, - fixed wings or helicopters. (VFR = Visual Flight Rules, IFR = Instrument Flight Rules.) A flight can be defined to the destination and to one or two alternates. In addition, a list of other diversion fields may be created. The program has a nav-database with lat/long coordinates, magnetic variation, elevation and frequencies for airfields, navigational aids, intersections or other frequently used waypoints. The data included are examples only (they are correct though), but the user can enter his own waypoints into the database as he creates or edits a route, and in that way build up a database. The program also provides a small register where some key data for the different aircraft used may be stored. The routes created may be saved on disk. There are 4 different flight plan printouts to be selected from. One of these is a knee-board size flight plan. 3.2 Documentation This file makes up the documentation. The program should hopefully be fairly easy to use, and if you take a close look at the sample routes, it should be possible to make some sense of it. And there are no hidden features not shown in the menus or input options. 3.3 Hardware requirements - IBM PC/XT/AT/PS2 or compatible. - 512 KB RAM. - Any display type, but to use the map view function, a VGA, EGA, CGA, Olivetti-/AT&T type or Hercules display is required. - Hard-disk not required, but the program will work much faster. On a floppy disk system, the drive should be at least 720 KB. - A disk cache program is recommended but not required. SMARTDRV.EXE (or .SYS) which is included with DOS 5.0 and Windows is such a cache program, and works very well. - To be able to print out all four flight plan variants, the printer should be able to print IBM's graphic characters (line drawing characters). 3.4 Files The list may be slightly different between the sw/demo version and the registered disk. A complete list of all files in your current version is found in the README file. - README - Text file, General info and last update - TERMS.DOC - Text file, terms for use and distribution - FPL22.DOC - Text file, documentation (This file) - PCFPL22.PIF - Windows 3.1 Program Information File - INSTALL.EXE - Install program (only with reg. version) - FPHELP.EXE - Program to read the text files above - FPL.EXE - Program file, main - FPLSETUP.EXE - Program file (normally called from main program) - FPL.DTA - Data file (will be made by program if not present) - FPL2.DTA - Data file ( " " " " " " " " ) - FPLFLY.DTA - Data file, aircraft data - FPL???.PRF - Data files, a/c performance data - FPLMAP.DTA - Data file, world map coordinates - FPLFAC.DTA - Data file, nav database - FPLFAC.IDX - Data file, nav database - FPLFAC.TXT - Nav database in ASCII text format - FPLFIL.DIR - Route file remarks (used by the program) - *.RT? - Examples, saved routes - FPL.REG - Data file, registration data. 3.4 Data entry keys The following keys are used when entering or editing data in input boxes throughout PC Flt Plan and the install program: - Quit, restoring the old data. <Esc> - Toggle Insert on/off......... <Ins> - To beginning of line......... <Home> - To end of line............... <End> - Next field................... <Tab> or <Dn> or <Enter> - Previous field............... <Shift><Tab> or <Up> - Accept the data and quit..... <Enter> in last field, or <Ctrl><Enter> in any field As in most programs, if you start typing anything in a field where the old content is highlighted, the latter will be erased. Use a direction key to remove the highlighting if you just want to edit the existing data. 4. INSTALLING Note: Disk versions are supplied with an install program. If this is used, the instructions below may be disregarded. If you have a hard-disk, make a directory and copy the required files into this. The program may also be installed on a floppy disk. Even if you have a hard-disk, it might be convenient to also have the program on a floppy which you can bring with you. The files required to run the program are: - FPL.EXE - FPLFAC.DTA - FPLSETUP.EXE - FPLFAC.IDX - FPLFLY.DTA - FPLnnn.PRF (where "nnn" = "001", "002" etc.) The following files should also be copied into the directory if you want to see an example of data making up a flight plan: - FPL.DTA - FPL2.DTA If these files are not present, they will be made by PC Flt Plan during program run. They contain the route and flight plan data from the last run. If you want to be able to load the sample route files, you should also copy the following files: - FPLFIL.DIR - Files ending with .RTx, where "x" is a number If the nav database is not prepared in your copy of the program (you will see this by the files FPLFAC.DTA and FPLFAC.IDX missing, and that there are no records in the nav database), a file called FPLFAC.TXT will be included. In that case you will need to build the nav-database from FPLFAC.TXT, - unless you want to make your own database. This is done by selecting IMPORT in the Nav-Database editor. 5. STARTING PC FLT PLAN Make the disk and directory where the program was installed the current directory (i.e. CD C:\FPL), then type FPL <Return>. The first time, before you have gone through the configure option, you may enter a switch for display type. (This is not necessary if the install program was used, as this creates a configuration file with the default colour settings for the display type chosen.) The switches are: - M = Mono display connected to a mono adapter (MDA, Hercules) - B = Black & White display connected to a colour adapter - C = Colour display and colour adapter. To use a switch, type FPL, a space, the switch and then <Return>. Example, which starts PC Flt Plan with mono colour settings: fpl m<Return> FPLSETUP.EXE may be run directly, but is normally called from the PC Flt Plan Main menu. If you go through the CONFIGURE option in the Setup menu, a configuration file, FPL.CFG, will be created. Do not delete this. After you have configured the program, you no longer need to use any of the switches, nor will you be asked what display type you have on start-up. Note: Even if you have configured the program, starting it with a display switch will override the settings in your configuration file. 6. PREPARING THE PROGRAM FOR USE 6.1 Configuring The first time the program is run, you should go through the CONFIGURE option in the Setup menu. When you press <Return>, you store the data in the input field and proceed to the next item. If you press <Esc>, configuring is terminated and all items are restored to their original settings. The various items are explained as you work your way through, but if you find any of them hard to understand, just leave the item unchanged and press <Enter>. None of the items are really required, except the colour settings, and maybe the printer codes (if you have problems getting the flight plan printed out). 6.2 Aircraft Data The next thing you should do, is to enter data for the aircraft you will use. This is done with the option AIRCRAFT DATA in the Setup menu. You may also specify aircraft data when making a flight plan, but it is much more convenient to have it in this little database. The aircraft data that can be stored are: - AIRCRAFT: You may do this two ways: You can store the AIRCRAFT TYPE, i.e. Cessna 172. Or, if you will operate several different aircraft of the same type, you may have one entry for each aircraft and instead use the AIRCRAFT REGISTRATION here. - REMARKS: The data here are not used in the flight plans so far, but the entry will be shown when you select an aircraft. If you have stored the aircraft by registration, you may put the type and configuration here. - ICAO FLIGHT PLAN NAME: Not used by the program so far, but the entry is reserved for the aircraft code used in ICAO flight plans. Example: Cessna 172 is "C172". - WEIGHT UNIT: K=Kg/L=Lbs. All weight data for an aircraft must be in the unit you enter here. - DRY OPERATING WT: Aircraft weight, with full oil tanks, equipment, catering and crew. Includes everything except Payload and Fuel. - MAX ZERO FUEL WT: If applicable. If not, enter 0. - MAX TAKE-OFF WT: Max structural take-off weight. - MAX LANDING WT: If applicable. If not, enter 0. - START/TAXI FUEL: Fuel normally used for start-up and taxi before take-off. - RESERVE FUEL FLOW: Fuel consumption rate normally used when calculating the reserve required by the flight rules you operate under. - HOLDING FUEL FLOW: Fuel consumption rate normally used when calculating extra holding, extra reserves, company fuel etc. - MAX FUEL CAPACITY: Max tank capacity, in same unit as all fuel flow figures. - WEIGHT OF MAX FUEL CAPACITY: The WEIGHT of MAX CAPACITY above. Must be in the same unit as the other weight data. If they are in the same unit, lbs for example, you may enter 0. - UNUSABLE FUEL: On some aircraft, some of the fuel in the tanks is considered not usable, or there may be a restriction on the aircraft not to be operated below a certain fuel level. If so, this fuel can not be counted as available fuel when planning a flight. - ACTUAL FUEL LOAD: Typical Fuel Load in the same unit as the fuel-data above . If Fuel Load varies, you may enter 0, and enter the number when making the flight plan. - PERFORMANCE DATA: A separate table for each aircraft that contains climb-, cruise- and descent performance for as many altitudes as you want. - CLIMB: Average TAS, Fuel burned and Minutes used for climb from sea level to the altitudes specified. - DESCENT: Average TAS, Fuel burned and Minutes used for descent from altitudes specified to sea level. - CRUISE: TAS and Fuel Flow for the altitudes specified. Note: If FUEL FLOW-data and WEIGHT-data are in different units, for example gallons and pounds, PC Flt Plan must know the relationship between these to be able to calculate landing weights etc. This relation is found when the program is given MAX FUEL CAPACITY and WEIGHT OF MAX FUEL CAPACITY in their respective units. 6.3 Nav-Database GENERAL: The Nav-Database is accessed from the Setup menu. This is where airfields, navigational aids, intersections and other facilities or waypoints are stored. Any frequently used point may be stored here, like special check-points, landmarks, oil-rigs - you name it... When preparing the program for use, it is a good idea to enter the facilities in your local area. You can later add points as you create routes, since the route editor allows you to enter data for a facility not found in the nav-database, and save it. PC Flt Plan performs searches in the database on the facility's identifier. It uses an alphabetically sorted index file which is maintained automatically whenever records are added, imported or deleted. If the index file's sort order for some reason should be disturbed, the program will still find an existing facility in the nav- database manager (considerably slower though), but not in the route editor. The REINDEX option will correct this problem however. This option rewrites the index file, and can therefore also be used if the index file is corrupted or missing. DATABASE STRUCTURE: The database consists of the files FPLFAC.DTA and FPLFAC.IDX. It is strongly recommended to maintain backup copies of these files on a separate disk! Each facility makes up a record. Each record consists of the following fields: - IDENT: Airport 3 or 4 letter code, VOR/NDB identifier, 5 letter intersection names etc. - TYPE OF FACILITY: Airfield, VOR, NDB, intersection, VFR reporting point etc. Special codes are used, which appear in a window whenever needed. - NAME: Name of the facility - LATITUDE: North/South geographical coordinates - LONGITUDE: East/West geographical coordinates - MAGNETIC VARIATION - FREQUENCY: As many airfields may have an array of different frequencies, this is mostly intended for nav-aids. - ELEVATION: Only for airfields and heliports. IMPORTANT: Commas should not be used in any of the text fields, as these are used for separating the fields when exporting to- or importing from an ASCII file! Note that in most countries, the three letter and four letter airfield codes are totally different. The 3 letter codes are those used by airlines and their international SITA network, while in most countries the 4 letter ICAO codes are used in ATC flight plans, notams, weather forecasts etc. USA is a bit special though, if you take a 3 letter US airfield code and put a "K" in front of it, you have the 4 letter ICAO code. In PC Flt Plan, it is recom- mended to use the four letter codes for airfields, to distinguish them from the airport VOR's (In the US, the idents are often the same). Examples: 3 letter code ICAO code London/Heathrow LHR EGLL New York/Kennedy JFK KJFK For those who want some more technical info: The file (fplfac.dta) is a random access file. All ident searches are done in a separate index file (fplfac.idx), which contains the idents and pointers to the corresponding record in the database file. The alphabetical quick search is very fast, even on large databases. Sequential search after a failed quick search is initiated only in the Nav- database manager, not in the route editor. This is also done in the index file.The PACK/REINDEX function completely rewrites the database in sorted order, leaving out records marked for deletion, and creates a new index file. CREATING/EDITING FACILITIES: From the Main menu, select SETUP, then select NAV-DATABASE. Here, facilities may be viewed, edited, added, listed or written to a text file in ASCII format. When you add a new facility, it will be placed in it's correct alphabetical position in the index file. This may become a bit slow if the database is large, but may be turned off in the configuration. If turned off, it will be necessary to use the REINDEX option to resort the index file after adding new records! When a record is deleted, it is not removed from the database, it will only be marked for deletion. To recall a deleted record, just select DELETE again, and the mark will be removed. To permanently remove records marked for deletion, use the PACK/REINDEX option. An alternate way to edit the database, is to use the EXPORT function (in the Nav-Database menu) to export it to an ASCII file. The file is comma delimited, which means that it may be imported into and edited in most database- or spreadsheet systems, or simply in a text editor. After external editing, use the IMPORT function to rebuild the database from the ASCII file. If you have specified a text editor in the configuration, you may call this from the function EXPORT/IMPORT/EDITOR. Otherwise, you have to leave PC FLT Plan, run your editor, then restart PC Flt Plan. The format of the ASCII file, necessary to import records correctly, is explained in detail in the program. ENTERING LAT/LONG & VARIATION WITH THE NUMERIC KEYPAD: When entering lat/long coordinates or magnetic variation, PC Flt Plan supports the numeric keypad for faster data entry. Instead of entering "N" and "E", you may press "+". In the same way, "S" and "W" may be replaced by "-". If your numeric keypad has the comma in place of the period (.), no worry, the program will translate all commas to periods when entering lat/long or variations. FUNCTIONS IN THE NAV-DATABASE EDITOR: - NEW RECORD: To add a new facility. The program first asks for the identifier, and checks for no others records with the same ident. If the database covers several countries, you may run into duplicate identifiers. A way to handle that is to add the two letter ICAO country code. (Some large countries, like USA, Canada, Australia and Russia have one letter country codes. Except for USA, the second letter then indicates the region within the country.) An example: Midhurst VOR in England has the identifier "MID". The country code for Great Britain is "EG", so the ident may be entered as "MID EG". This will never be necessary for airfields however, as long as their 4 letter ICAO codes are used. - FIND RECORD: Searches for a facility with a given identifier. - SEARCH ON NAME: Searches the NAME fields, instead of the IDENT fields. Will find all records containing the name, or part of a name, you specify. For example "okman" will find "Brookmans Park". - EDIT RECORD: Change any item in a record. If you change the ident, a search for duplicates will be performed. - DELETE RECORD: Deletes the facility presently shown, and replaces it with a blank record. - LIST RECORDS: Lists out facilities on screen. If anything is entered in the input field which appears, only records with identifiers starting with the letters you type will be listed. - REINDEX: Recreates the index file. Use if the index is out of sort order, damaged or missing. The database file itself is not sorted. - PACK/REINDEX: Will permanently remove all records marked for deletion, sort the database file itself, and rebuild the index file. - EXPORT/IMP./EDITOR: From here, you may export the database to a comma delimited ASCII file, or import from the same. When importing, the records may be appended to the existing database, or replace the existing database. If an external editor is specified in CONFIGURE, this is also accessed from here. See below for the ASCII record format. The index file is automat- ically sorted after an import. - HELP: A brief help screen. - QUIT: Returns to the Setup menu. ASCII RECORD FORMAT FOR EXPORT/IMPORT: Ident Name Fac Lat Long Var Freq Elev <------> <-------------> <> <-----> <------> <----> <-------------> <---> ZZZZZZZZ,Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz,ZZ,Yddmm.m,Xdddmm.m,ddd.dX,nnnnnnnnnnnnnnn,nnnnn Examples: BIRK ,Reykjavik ,A ,N6407.9,W02156.3, 21.8W, , 45 OA ,Asker ,L ,N5951.0,E01028.1, 0.9W,352 , LAU ,Lichtenau ,N ,N5112.3,E00941.5, 0.9W,341 , DANDI EG, ,I ,N5520.6,E00500.0, 4.4W,D122DHE , OTR EG ,Ottringham ,VD,N5341.9,W00006.1, 5.4W,D113.9 , The lines may be truncated like this if desired: BIRK,Reykjavik,A,N6407.9,W02156.3,21.8W,,45 OA,Asker,L,N5951.0,E01028.1,0.9W,352, 7. HOW TO MAKE A FLIGHT PLAN 7.1 Data making up a flight plan A flight plan is made from two sets of information: - ROUTE DESCRIPTION: The route to be flown from point of depar- ture, through several waypoints to the destination, and if required, to one or two alternates and/or a list of diversion fields. Altitude/flight level and winds are entered for each leg. If you have stored aircraft performance data in the aircraft database, true airspeed, fuel burn and vertical speed for climb-, cruise- and descent will be inserted automatically. For IFR flights, special legs like SID's, approaches etc. may be entered. - FLIGHT PLAN DATA: Aircraft (and it's data), reserves, fuel load and payload. When a route is saved to disk, most of the flight plan data are stored together with the route. When you load a route; winds, altitudes etc. may be changed quickly for the entire flight without having to edit each leg. Normally, you will first create the route to be flown, or load a previously saved route and make the necessary changes, - and then enter the flight plan data. The program takes you through an input screen for these data when you select PRINT/VIEW FLIGHT PLAN from the Flight Plan menu. 7.2 The Flight Plan Menu The Flight Plan Menu is the main "control center" when making a flight plan. From here you can perform the following tasks: - ROUTE EDITOR: Create or edit the route to be flown. - AIRCRAFT: Select the aircraft to be used. If the new aircraft has a performance file, all legs will be updated with the correct data. For manual TAS/ff legs or special legs, the data must be updated manually however! You should also go through the CLIMB/DESCENT page for an automatic update of climb- & descent perfomance. - CLIMB/DESCENT (VNAV): Enter winds for the climb- and descent segments, and optionally replace the winds in all legs with a new value. Select destination or a waypoint as target for top of descent calculation. Note: Also when leaving the route editor, you are taken through this screen. - GLOBAL CHANGE TAS/WIND/FF: Change winds, altitude, TAS etc. for all or several legs in one operation. - SAVE ROUTE: Save the route and flight plan data to disk. - LOAD ROUTE: Load a previously saved route. When loading, the progam will go through an update process. First it tries to look up all waypoints in the nav-database and update them if found (the index file must be in sort order for this to work). Then, all courses and distances are recalculated, in case lat/long or variation should have been changed. - NEW ROUTE: Delete the present route from the work area, to create a new route. - PRINT/VIEW FLIGHT PLAN: View-, print out- or write to a text file the finished flight plan. First takes you through a data entry screen for all other information concerning the flight, then shows an info screen with summary information along with the output menu. - MAP VIEW: Show a graphical representation of the route, and optionally all other facilities within the mapped area. If a world map database is available, it can show all this on a land map. - QUIT: Return to the Main menu. 7.3 Create/Edit a Route Select FLIGHT PLAN from the Main menu, this will bring you to the Flight Plan menu. To clear the route in the work area, if any, and start from scratch; select NEW ROUTE and answer Yes to erase. If you want to use a route saved on disk, select LOAD ROUTE, and select from the routes shown. Any route present in the work area will be deleted when loading a new one. You may edit the loaded route in the Route Editor, or you may change FL/Alt, TAS, Wind or Fuel Flow globally for all or several legs by selecting GLOBAL CHANGE from the Flight Plan menu. 8. ROUTE EDITOR 8.1 Legs Enter the Route Editor from the Flight Plan menu. If an aircraft has not been selected for the route, you will be prompted for this first. Enter the aircraft directly, or press <F10> to bring up a pick list. You may input an aircraft not found in the aircraft register, and manually insert all necessary data when making the flight plan. In the route editor, select ADD LEG to create new legs. When some legs have been created, the <Down>, <Up>, <PgDn>, <PgUp>, <Home> and <End> keys can be used to move between the legs. Select EDIT if you want to make changes. The <Left>, <Right> and <Return> keys are used for menu selection. If you edit or delete a leg, you will notice a little delay while the program goes through all legs to connect the route automatically. Leg #0 holds the point of departure only. No further data are entered for this leg. 8.2 Leg data items LEG TYPES: - NORMAL: Straight leg from one point to another. Course & distance calculated automatically, based on the lat/long coordinates and magnetic variation. - MANUAL CRS/DIS: Straight leg, but course and distance are input manually instead of calculated by the program. May be used if measuring legs on a map without entering coordinates for the checkpoints, or if you want to enter course and distance exactly as they appear on an IFR chart. - ALTERNATE: Legs after this make up the route to an alternate (or two). - DIVERSION LIST: Legs after this make up a list of optional diversion fields. Must appear AFTER the main route legs and alternate legs. - OTHER: Used for special legs like approach or SID. Anything may be entered in the little text box, like "Appr", "ILS", "STAR", "SID" etc. TO: The point where the leg ends. You enter the facility's identifier, and if necessary, the facility type code. The program then searches the nav-database. Unless you have two facilities with the same identifier (for example an airfield and a VOR), you do not need to enter the facility type code. (The codes are shown in the program when needed.) If the facility is not found in the nav-database, you may enter it's data manually. You will then also be asked if you want save it to the database. If entering facility data manually, the lat/long coordinates may be left blank if you want to enter course and distance manually instead of letting the program calculate these (See LEG TYPE CODES above). This may be useful if you plan a trip where you just pick landmarks on the map as waypoints and measure course/ distance with a ruler. FLIGHT DATA: Note: These data are cruise data. TAS, wind etc. for the climb- and descent segments will be applied on the legs/part of legs which fall into these segments by the program when producing the flight plan. Therefore you do not need to worry about climb and descent numbers when editing the route. Just start right out with cruise altitude, winds, TAS and fuel flow. Exception: Manual TAS & Fuel Flow, or special legs (approaches etc.) overrides climb- and cruise numbers! - FL/ALT: Flight Level or Altitude. Mandatory if you want PC Flt Plan to automatically get TAS and fuel flow from the performance data file, and if you want climb-/descent calculations. The altitude must be written with an "A", for feet, or "F" for flight level, followed by the altitude in hundreds of feet. Examples: "F090" = Flight Level 90, "A050" = 5000 feet. - WIND: Wind Direction (what direction the wind comes FROM), and Wind Speed in knots. - AUTOMATIC-/MANUAL TAS & FUEL FLOW: To the left of the TAS & Fuel flow window is a little window where you enter "A" or "M". "A" means automatic mode; TAS and fuel flow will be obtained from the aircraft's performance data file, based on the altitude given. If you want to specify these data manually, enter an "M". If no performance data for the aircraft exist, only manual mode will be possible. - TAS: True AirSpeed in knots. - F.FLOW: Fuel consumption per hour. 8.3 SID's, approaches etc. (Mostly IFR-related) Since a normal leg is calculated as a straight line between the two waypoints, it will be incorrect if a SID or approach involves extra turns and manoeuvring (which they usually do). There is a feature which allows you to reserve a certain distance or time for such cases. If you want to start out on a Standard Instrument Departure (SID), you put the departure field in leg #0 as usual. In leg #1 you enter SID in the LEG TYPE field, and in the TO field you enter where the SID ends. After typing in TAS etc., you will be asked for GS, DIST and TIME for the SID. You need only enter two of these items. What you enter here will not be affected by the TAS and Wind given for the leg. But the program uses these data, if given, to tell you time and GS if the leg was flown direct. You can then adjust the GS and/or time figures as appropriate. Similarly, for an instrument approach, you enter "APP", "ILS" or whatever you like, except for the reserved codes, in the LEG TYPE field and in the TO field enter where the approach terminates (usually the airfield...). Note: If a SID or approach is just a straight leg (for example a straight in approach from a beacon), you may enter the data as for any other normal leg, without using the procedure described above. 8.4 Alternates When you have reached your destination, you may add legs to an alternate (or two), if needed. First you create a leg with an "A" as the Leg Type. No further data are entered in a leg with this code, it is used as a separation line. In the following legs, the route to the alternate is described. If you want a second alternate, enter a new leg with the "A" code after reaching the first alternate, then specify the route to the second alternate. If you have used the code twice, the route will now be divided into the following sections: - Before any "Alt" leg.... From DEP.FIELD to DESTINATION - After first "Alt" leg... From DESTINATION to ALTERNATE 1 - After second "Alt" leg.. From ALTERNATE 1 to ALTERNATE 2 (The reason you can have two alternates is that under some regul- ations, you can file an IFR flight plan to an airfield which is below weather minimums, - provided that you have two alternates. The first alternate must then have landing minimums, the second must be above alternate minimums.) 8.5 Diversion fields (IFR and VFR) In the real world, you sometimes have to change alternate right before departure, and you do not have the time to make a new flight plan. But this may be prepared for by having a list giving the time and fuel burn from the destination to various diversion fields on your flight plan. Even if you are flying VFR, such a list may become handy. A diversion list is created by entering a "D" or "Div" as the Leg Type, and a diversion field in each subsequent leg. Note that all this MUST be placed after the last leg in the main (and alternate) route! Each leg after the one with the code in contains only your DESTINATION as the FROM field, and a DIVERSION AIRFIELD in the TO field. You enter fuel flow etc. as normal, but note that these values should be an average for the entire flight from destination to the diversion field. But there is an additional item asked for; extra time in minutes for approach etc. This item may also be used for adding some extra minutes if the flight cannot be expected to be a straight line. When this feature is used, the list will appear in the flight plan, with time and fuel burn from the destination field to each of the optional diversion fields. Also, it will show the total fuel required if the airfield is used as the alternate instead of the planned alternate(s). 8.6 Climb-/Descent data After leaving the route editor, you should select CLIMB/DESCENT (VNav). You may also go directly to this from the route editor. Here you are taken through a data entry window for climb- and descent data. Note however that input for cruise winds will not be there when going directly from the route editor, because if anything is entered here, it will replace all winds you just tediously entered in the single legs.... The first and last cruising altitudes, as guessed by the program, will be shown, but can be changed if incorrect. For top of descent calculation, the target for the descent may be set by pressing <S> when this button is highlighted. The program will calculate where you should start your descent according to what you want to aim for. You may select DESTINATION, and optionally an altitude above it's field elevation (for example the landing pattern altitude), or a WAYPOINT and altitude (in hundreds of feet) over this. Winds for climb and descent are the average values for these segments respectively. TAS, Fuel Flow and vertical speed for climb and descent, as obtained from the aircraft's performance data file, are displayed and may be adjusted manually if desired. If the cruising altitudes do not match any in the performance file, the values will be inter- polated between those for the nearest altitudes. If no performance data exist, the values must be entered manually. 8.7 Map View (Selected from the Flight Plan menu or in the Route editor) This function requires a graphics display. When you select MAP VIEW, you will see a graphical representation of the route and waypoints. From the Route Editor, the map will be centred around the current waypoint, while from the Flight Plan menu, the map will fit the entire route. If the program finds a world map database with the name FPLMAP.DTA, you may select M to draw a map on the screen. The database included only covers resolution levels 4 and 5, where 1 is the highest, so it is very crude on a small map area. Even with this resolution, it takes time to get the map drawed, since the database covers the whole world. Therefore the program is designed so that when you select any changes on the map, you will have to press M again to have the map redrawed. The program does not have graphical printing capability, but if you load the DOS program GRAPHICS.COM (which is a resident program) before starting PC Flt Plan (and before starting Windows, if used from here!), you can print out the display by pressing <Prt Scrn> (doesn't work on all printers). Note however that if running from Windows, the image will be pasted to the clip board instead (still requires GRAPHICS.COM)! Before you press <Prt Scrn>, press P to change all the colours to black & white. This also removes the menu from the display. To get the colours and menu back, press P again, or simply press <ESC> to quit the map display. This is somewhat crude of course, but it does work. If you are able to obtain a world map database with a higher resolution than the one included, it should be in the format of a random access file with each records made up by: - 1. Integer - Code for res. level and startpoints - 2. Integer - Latitude in decimal degrees/minutes times 60 - 3. Integer - Longitude in decimal degrees/minutes times 60 Rememeber to name the file FPLMAP.DTA. The original level 1 database is reported to be around 1 Mb, so it will probably take considerable time to have a map drawed! 9. PRINT/VIEW A FLIGHT PLAN 9.1 Flight Plan Data When the route has been defined, you select PRINT/VIEW FLIGHT PLAN from the Flight Plan menu. You will then be taken to an input screen, where the Flight Plan Data are entered. The following data may be entered or changed here: - DATE: Date of flight. - FLTNO/CS: Flight Number or Call-sign. - SKED DEP: Scheduled time of departure (block). - SKED ARR: Scheduled time of arrival. - FINAL RESERVE: Reserve required by the flight regulations you operate under. Enter minutes and fuel flow. - ROUTE RESERVE: Additional reserve in PERCENT. If used, the amount will be calculated as the specified percent of fuel required to destination and to the alternate(s), if any. - EXTRA HOLDING: May be used for expected holding, company fuel or similar. Enter minutes and fuel flow. - START/TAXI: Fuel used for start-up and taxi, before take-off. The minutes are estimated time from off block to airborne. Will be counted when ETA is calculated. - UNUSABLE FUEL: On some aircraft, the last rest of fuel in the tanks is considered not usable, and can therefore not be counted as available fuel. - ACTUAL RAMP FUEL: Planned fuel load. AMOUNT must be in the same unit as the fuel flow figures above. WEIGHT will be calculated automatically in relation to what you have specified in the aircraft database as weight of max fuel capacity. - DRY OPERATING WT: Aircraft weight, with full oil tanks, equipment, catering and crew. Includes everything except payload and fuel. - ACTUAL PAYLOAD: Planned payload. - FLIGHT PLAN REMARKS: Two lines of remarks, that, if filled out, will be printed on the flight plan. 9.2 Print or Show the flight plan When you have entered the Flight Plan Data, a screen with a summary of the flight will be shown. From here you may print out the flight plan, view it on screen or write it to an ASCII text file. Explanation of some of the items showed: - TIME: Airborne time (hr:mins) to destination. - BURN: Start/Taxi-fuel + trip-fuel to destination. - DIST: Distance (NM) to destination. Includes approaches. - AVG.WC: Average wind component to destination (plus=tail-wind, minus=head-wind). - DEP: Scheduled Time of Departure (block). - ETA: Estimated Time of Arrival at destination. Taxi time at the departure field is counted in. - NO WIND: Burn/Time to destination if there had been no winds. - REQUIRED FUEL: Total fuel required, considering flight to destination, alternates(s) (if any), winds, reserves and start/taxi. - EXTRA FUEL: The difference between Required fuel and Actual fuel load. The time shown is the approximate flight time this represe- nts, calculated from the average consumption to destination and alternate(s). If you have trouble printing out the flight plan, try to find the proper printer codes and enter them under the configuration option in the Setup menu. If this doesn't work, you may try another solution: Select PRINT FLIGHT PLAN TO FILE. The file written is in plain ASCII, and may be imported into a word processor and printed from here. For the "knee-board size", select a font with a pitch of around 17 characters/inch and normal line height. The two A4-variants send only plain ASCII-text to the printer, and should therefore be usable on most printers. 10. ABOUT THE FLIGHT PLAN 10.1 Leg Times In the flight plan produced, the time for each leg is rounded up or down to the nearest whole minute. But the small difference between the accurate leg time and the whole minute is added or subtracted to the next leg time. This is the same method used in professional flight planning systems used by airlines. The reason for this is that on a trip with many legs, the total time may become several minutes wrong if for example most of the legs happen to be rounded down. 10.2 Fuel The fuel amount shown in the last column of the flight plan is the remaining fuel you would have over the checkpoint if you departed with the TOTAL FUEL REQUIRED. This way you can see if you have all your specified reserves intact along the flight. If you have less fuel, you have started to consume your reserve, route reserve or extra holding fuel. 10.3 Corrections The correction factors shown on the flight plan are fuel and time to destination, and total fuel required if the conditions were: - NO WIND: No winds at all. - +20KT: 20 knots more TAIL-WIND than the average wind component you get from the winds you have planned for. - -20KT: 20 knots more HEAD-WIND than the average wind component you get from the winds you have planned for. Example: If you get an average wind component of +7 knots (tail- wind), the "+20" will be the figures for 27 knots tail-wind, while the "-20" will be the figures for 13 knots head-wind. The "no wind" will be for no winds, no matter what the planned winds are. 10.4 How to use the ETO/RTO/ATO fields After take-off, you start filling out all the Estimated Time Over- head (ETO) fields all the way down to destination, using the leg times given. Usually, you will only put down the minutes, except when starting on a new hour. When you pass a waypoint, you write down the time in the Actual Time Overhead (ATO) column, then calculate the new estimated time for the next waypoint, and put this in the Revised Time Overhead (RTO) column for that point. This way, you will have a fresh estimate for the next reporting point for ATC (and yourself). As you now pass the waypoints, it will be very easy to see if you are ahead or behind the flight plan by comparing ATO and the original ETO (the latter was calculated in relation to the take-off time). 10.5 Vertical Navigation IMPORTANT: In the current version, climb- and descent calculations are only applied on the main route, not to the alternates! For the alternate legs, you must therefore take climb- and descent perfor- mance into account when filling out TAS, wind and fuel flow! If you have entered cruising altitudes in your legs, and climb- & descent performance data exists (from aircraft database or input manually), the program will calculate Top of Climb and Top of Descent. This is done when selecting PRINT-/VIEW FLIGHT PLAN. On legs that fall entirely into the climb- or descent segments, the appropriate TAS, wind and fuel flow values will be applied. Most often, ToC/ToD will end up between two waypoints, for these legs, TAS, wind and fuel flow will be interpolated using the values found in the leg (which should be cruise values) and the climb-/ descent data. When interpolating, the program will take into account how much of the leg is cruise and how much is climb/descent. 11. COURSE-/DISTANCE COMPUTER This function is entered from the Main menu. It does nothing to your flight plan, but is used if you want to look up quickly how far it is between two points, and optionally how long it will take with various airspeeds and winds. It also provides more information on a track than the route editor: GREAT CIRCLE: - Initial course, in true & magnetic - Final course, " " " " - Average course, " " " " - Distance. RHUMB LINE: - Course, in true & magnetic - Distance. (Great circles and rhumb lines are explained in chapter 12.) 12. TERMS & ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THE PROGRAM Acc...... Accumulated time AMT...... Average Magnetic Track ATC...... Air Traffic Control ATO...... Actual Time Overhead (when passing a waypoint) ATT...... Average True Track Alt...... Altitude Arr...... Arrival Burn..... Fuel Burn CS....... Call Sign Dist..... Distance in nautical miles DOW...... Dry Operating Weight. Weight of everything except payload (cargo/passengers) and fuel Dep...... Departure Dest..... Destination ETA...... Estimated Time of Arrival ETD...... Estimated Time of Departure ETO...... Estimated Time Overhead FF....... Fuel Flow (Fuel consumption per hour) FL....... Flight Level Flt No... Flight Number GS....... Ground Speed. Speed in relation to the ground after wind effect is taken into account Kts...... Knots ( = speed in nautical miles per hour) LWT...... Landing Weight MH....... Magnetic Heading MLWT..... Max Landing Weight MT....... Magnetic Track MTOW..... Max Take-off Weight MZFW..... Max Zero Fuel Weight NM....... Nautical Miles (1 NM = 1.852 meters) RoC...... Rate of Climb (vertical speed in feet per minute) RoD...... Rate of Descent ( " " " " " " ) RTO...... Revised estimated Time Overhead. (You may also encounter RTO used as an abbreviation for Rejected Take-Off.) Rte Res.. Route Reserve. In percent of fuel used to destination and alternate(s) TAS...... True AirSpeed ToC...... Top Of Climb. The point where cruising altitude is reached ToD...... Top Of Descent. The point where descent is initiated TOW...... Take-off Weight VNav..... Vertical Navigation. Climb-/descent calculations. WC....... Wind Component (Headwind or tailwind) ZFW...... Zero Fuel Weight. Weight of everything except fuel. Larger aircraft usually have a max limit on this. Great Circle... The shortest line between two points on the earth. Over a large distance, or at high latitudes, the course may change considerably trough the flight. Rhumb Line..... (or loxodrome track) A line between two points on the earth which cross all meridians at the same angle, which means that the course is the same all along the route. Over a large distance, or at high latitudes, a rhumb line will be significantly longer than the great circle. Note: PC Flt Plan calculate all legs as great circles, using the average course.