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Text File | 1992-07-24 | 26.0 KB | 552 lines

P C F L T P L A N 1.1ß Computer Flight Planning for PC's D O C U M E N T A T I O N Note: This is a beta test version of the program, but as it is late such, one should not expect any great changes in the final version 1.1. A program like this can always be improved however, so there will sure be later versions. Registrations will be valid for future versions. ------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. DISCLAIMER ---------- THIS PROGRAM MAY ONLY BE USED IF THE USER AGREES TO THE FOLLOWING TERMS: There is no warranty of any kind. In no event shall the author be liable for any damages, including any lost profits or other incidental or consequential damages arising out of the use of or inability to use this program, even if the author has been advised of the possibility of such damages. The author shall not be liable for any possible wrong calculations made by the program. 2. REGISTRATION ------------ This program is "shareware", which means that the program package can be freely distributed in its unmodified form and tested. If you find the program useful, a registration of USD 25,- would be appreciated. You will then receive a registration number to be inserted under the configuration option. The serial no. will appear in your program, showing that you have registered the copy. There are no crippled features without a serial no., - the only differ- ence is that the information screen will not be shown at startup. A registration will be valid for future upgrades of the program. This program must NOT be used by COMMERCIAL-, MILITARY- or GOVERNMENTAL operators without a special licence agreement with the author. Professional aviators may wonder how this should be app- lied, so I'll try to clarify: If for example you are a military pilot and you use this program to plan your flights on your home computer, or even have it on your private laptop PC, I consider it as personal use. But if you install the program on the squadron's PC, a special agreement will be required. You may print out the file MAILER and use the form to register the program, or just mail me your name, adress and payment. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Geir A. Granviken May be contacted via: Godheimvn. 85 -Thunderball Cave BBS (PCBoard) N-3440 Roeyken Oslo, Norway. (+47) 2 567018/567017 Norway -RelayNet: Aviation conference User name: Geir Granviken ------------------------------------------------------------------ 3. DISTRIBUTION ------------ The program package can be freely distributed, but all files must be included and they must not be altered in any way. The regist- ration number is private for one user and must not be given away. The configuration file FPL.CFG, which is created by the program, shall NOT be included. No fees must be charged, except for diskette costs etc. The package consists of the following files: - MAILER - Registration form - FPLINFO.TXT - This file, information on installing and usage - FPL.EXE - Main program file - FPLSETUP.EXE - Program file (normally called from main program) - FPL.DTA - Data file - FPL2.DTA - Data file - FPLFLY.DTA - Data file, aircraft data - FPLFAC.DTA - Data file, nav database - FPLFAC.IDX - Data file, nav database - FPLFAC.TXT - Nav database in ASCII text format - ********.RT* - Examples, saved routes 4. INTRODUCTION ------------ 4.1 The program is used to make operational flight plans for VFR- or IFR flights, - fixed wings or helicopters. (VFR = Visual Flight Rules, IFR = Instrument Flight Rules.) The author is an airline pilot with a background as a military helicopter pilot. But this program is not made with airline operat- ions in mind. Most such carriers use big main frame systems fed with wind prognosis for large parts of the globe from met centers several times a day.... This program should be quite useful for the pilot flying smaller airplanes or helicopters and who have access to an IBM compatible PC. This is not a complete program manual (One day maybe I'll get finished with it!), so the small details, like basic keyboard usage, are not covered. But the program should hopefully be easy to use, and if you take a close look at the sample routes, it should be possible to make some sense of it (I hope). 4.2 A flight can be defined to the destination and to one or two alternates. In addition, a list of other divertion fields may be created. 4.3 The program has a nav-database with positions, magnetic variations and frequencies for airfields, navigational aids, intersections etc. 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. 4.4 The program also provides a small register where some key data for the different aircraft used may be stored. 4.5 The routes created may be saved on disk, so that a collection of frequently used routes may be compiled. 4.6 There are 4 different flight plan print-outs to be selected from. One of these is a kneeboard size flight plan. 4.7 Hardware requirements: - IBM PC/XT/AT/PS2 or compatible. - Minimum 512 kb RAM. - Any display type. - Harddisk 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.SYS (or .EXE) which is included with Windows and DOS 5.0 is such a cache program, and works very well with PC FLt Plan. - 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). 5. INSTALLING ---------- If you have a harddisk, 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 harddisk, 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 - FPLSETUP.EXE - FPL.DTA - FPL2.DTA - FPLFLY.DTA - FPLFAC.DTA - FPLFAC.IDX The two EXE-files work fine if compressed with PKLite(tm), which is a shareware program that makes certain EXE- and COM files signifi- cantly smaller. Program files compressed with this product will self expand in memory when run. The programs do not load and start any slower either, rather the contrary; since the files are smaller, they are loaded faster from the disk. If not already used on your copies of the EXE files in this package, they will occupy about half the disk space if compressed with PKLite. Recommended! 6. STARTING PC FLT PLAN -------------------- Make the disk and directory where the program is located the current directory (i.e. CD C:\FPL). Start the program with the command FPL. 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. 7. PREPARING THE PROGRAM FOR USE ----------------------------- 7.1 CONFIGURING THE PROGRAM: The first time the program is run, you should go through the CONFIGURE option in the SETUP menu. If you have selected this option but do not want to change anything, just press ESC until you are back in the SETUP menu. 7.2 AIRCRAFT DATA: Then you should 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 most convenient to have them 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, but with slightly different Dry Operating Weights for example, you may have one entry for each aircraft and instead enter 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 air- craft when making a flight plan. 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 air- craft code used in ICAO flight plans. - 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 oiltanks, equipment, catering and crew. Includes every- thing except Payload and Fuel. - MAX ZERO FUEL WT - If applicable. If not, enter 0. - MAX TAKEOFF WT - Yes, just that. - MAX LANDING WT - If applicable. If not, enter 0. - START/TAXI FUEL - Fuel normally used for startup and taxi before takeoff. - 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 CAPASITY - Max tank capasity. Not mandatory. - UNUSABLE FUEL - On some aircraft, the last rest of fuel in the tanks is considered not useable, and can therefore not be counted as available fuel. - 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. - ACTUAL FUEL WT - The WEIGHT of ACTUAL FUEL LOAD above. Must be in the same unit as the other weight data. If ACTUAL FUEL LOAD and ACTUAL FUEL WT are in the same unit, i.e. lbs, you may enter 0. If FUEL FLOW-data and WEIGHT-data are in different units, i.e. 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 ACTUAL FUEL LOAD and ACTUAL FUEL WEIGHT in their respective units. 7.3 NAV-DATABASE: If you want to enter airfields, navaids etc., you can select NAV- DATABASE from the SETUP menu. But the records may also be entered as you create a route. When you enter a waypoint in the route editor, the program tries to look up the identifier in the nav- database, if it can't find it, the necessary data will be asked for, and the program then asks if you want to save it in the database. On how to edit the nav-database, select the NAV-DATABASE option in the SETUP menu. If you play around a little here, most things should hopefully be pretty straightforward. 8. HOW TO MAKE A FLIGHT PLAN ------------------------- 8.1 The flight plan is made from two sets of information: - ROUTE DESCRIPTION is 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 divertion fields. Altitude/flight level, winds, true airspeed and fuel flow are entered for each leg. For IFR flights, special legs like SID's, approaches etc. may be entered. This is the the information that is stored when you save a route. When you load a route, winds, TAS etc. may be changed quickly for the entire flight without having to edit each leg. - FLIGHT PLAN DATA are aircraft (and it's data), reserves, fuel load and payload. These data are not saved together with the route, but are contained between program sessions. 8.2 CREATE/EDIT A ROUTE: Select FLIGHT PLAN from the MAIN MENU. To clear the route in the work area, if any, select NEW ROUTE. Select ROUTE EDITOR and then NEW LEG to start entering legs. Leg# 0 is the point of departure. No further data are entered for this leg. To-/From: --------- In the TO-/FROM fields you enter the identifier for the airfield/ navaid/fix. The program searches the nav-database, and if the entry is not found, you may enter lat-/long positions, name, magnetic variation and frequency manually. You will then also be asked if you want to save the waypoint in the nav-database. You do not have to enter lat-/long positions if you want to enter corse and distance manually instead of letting the program calc- ulate these. 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. A star (*) as the first character in the FROM-field denotes a special leg, which is used for SID's, STAR's, approaches etc. They are also used together with codes to separate the route to destina- tion, to the alternate(s), and the divertion list: *xxxx - A "*" and up to 4 characters is used when you want to enter a SID, STAR, or approach instead of a straight leg. "xxxx" can be anything (i.e. "SID", "ILS", "APPR" etc.) except for the codes below. In the To-field enter the point where the leg ends. For these legs you will be asked for estimated average ground speed, time or distance. You only have to enter 2 of the values. For example if you want to reserve 10 minutes of fuel for an approach at the destination, you can enter 10 minutes and the average GS for the approach. The program will then calculate the distance this represents and add it to the total trip distance. *ALTx - Means that the route after this leg describes flight to the ALTERNATE(s). No further data are entered in a leg with this mark, it is used as a separation line. "x" may be anything, for example "1" or "2". This code may be used twice in a route description. If used, the route will be divided into the following sections: - Before any *ALTx : From DEP.FIELD to DESTINATION - After first *ALTx : From DESTINATION to ALTERNATE 1 - After second *ALTx: From ALTERNATE 1 to ALTERNATE 2 (The reason you can have two alternates is that under some regulations, you can file a flight plan to an airfield which is below weather minima, - provided that you have two alternates. The first alternate must then have landing minima, the second must be above alternate minima.) *DIV - Means that the following legs make up a DIVERSION list. These legs are shown on the flight plan as a list of optional alternates. They show time and fuel used for direct flight from DESTINATION to the various DIVERSION- fields, plus extra time for approach or extra route distance, which may be entered for these legs. Automatic or Manual calculation of Course/Dist: ----------------------------------------------- For straight legs you enter "A" or "M" for Auto-/Manual course & distance. If you select "A", course & dist will be calculated from the lat-/long positions and magnetic variations for the waypoints. If you find that the course differs a degree or so from what is found on your IFR-chart, you may select "M" and enter the same values as in the chart manually. Flight Data: ------------ When FROM and TO for a leg are defined, you enter the following data: - FL/ALT- Flight Level or Altitude. These data are not used by any calculations, but are shown as information about planned- or minimum altitudes on the flight plan. It is recom- mended to enter the values as in ATC flight plans; for example "F090" for Flight Level 90, "A050" for 5000 feet. Or you may use "CLMB", "DESC", "VFR" or what you like. - TAS - True AirSpeed in knots. - WIND - Wind Direction (what direction the wind comes FROM), and Wind Speed in knots. - F.FLOW- Fuel consumption per hour. 8.3 FLIGHT PLAN DATA When the route has been defined, you select PRINT-/SHOW 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 CallSign. - AIRCRAFT - The aircraft picked from the aircraft database, or one that you specify here. - 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 etc. Enter minutes and fuel flow. - START/TAXI - Fuel used for startup 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 useable, 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 must be in the same unit as the other weight data. If Fuel LOAD and WEIGHT are in the same unit, just enter 0 in the weight field. - DRY OPERATING WT - Aircraft weight, with full oiltanks, equip- ment, catering and crew. Includes everything except payload and fuel. - ACTUAL PAYLOAD - Planned payload. 8.4 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 or view it on the screen. Explanation of some of the items showed on the screen: - TIME - Airborne time (hr:mins) to destination. - BURN - Start/Taxi-fuel + tripfuel to destination. - DIST - Distanse (NM) to destination. Includes approaches. - AVG.WC- Average wind component to destination (plus=tailwind, minus=headwind). - DEP - Sheduled Time of Departure. - ETA - Estimated Time of Arrival at destination. Taxi time at the departure field is counted in. - NO WIND - Burn/Time to destination if 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 app- roximate flight time this represents, calc- ulated from the average consumtion to dest- ination and alternate(s). If you want to print out a flight plan in kneepad-size, you must have a printer that accepts the same codes for condensed pitch as IBM's dot matrix printers, and it must be capable of printing the IBM line drawing characters. If it doesn't work, you may try another solution: Select PRINT FLIGHT PLAN TO FILE. The file written is plain ASCII, and may be imported into your word proces- sor and printed from here. Select a font with a pitch of around 17 characters/inch and normal line height. The two A4-variants send plain ASCII-text to the printer, and should therefore be usable on most printers. 9. ABOUT THE FLIGHT PLAN --------------------- 9.1 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. 9.2 FUEL The fuel amount shown in the last column of the flight plan is the fuel you would have left 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. 9.3 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 TAILWIND than the average wind component you get from the winds you have planned for. - -20KT - 20 knots more HEADWIND 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 tailwind, while the "-20" will be the figures for 13 knots headwind. The "no wind" will be for a wind component of 0 no matter what the planned winds are. 9.4 HOW TO USE THE ETO/RTO/ATO FIELDS: After takeoff, you start filling out all the ETO-times 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 ATO column, then calculate the new estimated time for the next way- point, and put this in the 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 the ATO time and the ETO time (the latter was calculated in relation to the takeoff time). 10. 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 Takeoff Weight MZFW - Max Zero Fuel Weight NM - Nautical Miles (1 NM = 1.852 meters) RTO - Revised Time Overhead. Means Revised ETO Rte Res - Route Reserve. In percent of fuel used to destination and alternate(s) TAS - True AirSpeed TOW - Takeoff Weight WC - Wind Component (Headwind or tailwind) ZFW - Zero Fuel Weight. Weight of everything except fuel. Larger aircraft usually has a max limit on this.