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Flight Planning
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Basic flight plans:
After selecting your departure and
arrival airports you can choose to select your waypoints manually or
to have them created automatically. In this case there are three
types of basic flight plans:
- navaid-to-navaid plan
- low-altitude airway plan
- high altitude airway plan
Airports and waypoints can be selected either from a list with a
mouse click on the map.
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Advanced flight plans:
Different route types can be
combined: so you can start your flight e.g. with a navaid-to-navaid
section, then proceed to a jet airway route, and finally finish with
a victor airway route. You can also select some waypoints
manually and have the rest completed automatically.
Furthermore you can insert into your flight plan:
- SIDs/STARs
- Natracks (North Atlantic Tracks)
- user-defined route segments
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Flight plans are created on the flight
plan panel as shown in the screenshot below. Most of what you see is
largely self-explanatory. Note that the course is given both as true
track and magnetic heading. As you enter an airway, flight level
restrictions follow the name of the airway (airway UZ29; flight
levels 250 through 660). For your departure airport you can choose
either the runway (not recommended) or the gate from which you will
start (as in real life). |
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Flight plan panel before takeoff
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After takeoff the flight plan panel
slightly changes its appearance. First, the real takeoff time
(Flight Simulator time, not system time) appears below the table. In
the example below we took off at 07:05 and are estimated to arrive
at 08:21. Estimated arrival time is re-calculated at each waypoint.
On the right hand side data are displayed (in red) which are
recorded at each waypoint. For example, at intersection TINIK we
were estimated to arrive at 07:11, but in fact arrived there at
07:14; so we were roughly 3 minutes late. At that time we were
flying at FL 270 with a ground speed of 431 knots. Furthermore we
had used up 15% (= 20348kg) of our fuel. (Fuel quantity can be
displayed in kg, lbs, or US gallons). |
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Flight plan panel after takeoff
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The printed flight plan
combines a large variety of information from both the flight plan
panel as well as other windows in FlightSim Commander. Thus apart
from the waypoint list which is identical with the table of the
flight plan panel, detailed textual information is given on
departure and arrival routes for each runway, fuel consumption,
alternate airport, aircraft, frequencies at both departure and
arrival airport, etc. |
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General Page |
Departure Routes |
Arrival Routes |
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