Now how I do my flight planning

[APenNameAndThatA]

I used to draw on maps and mark things on the map with removable sticky tape. That made flight planning take too long and stopped me taking advantage of iPads. However, I did not want to plan frequencies, calls, XPDR, QNH, and altitudes on the fly, as it were. Too much brain power. My new plan is to velcro a clipboard to my kneeboard and velcro an iPad mini to the clipboard. In the diagram, red is transponder and QNH, green in frequencies, purple is calls and checklists, blue is altitudes and obstacle heights, and black is the rout, airspace boundaries, and 10-mile range rings. 

[APenNameAndThatA]

Likewise, when I approach an aerodrome, telling my left from my right, and working out circuit height and overfly height is mental load that I need to avoid. Also, these are saved so I should avoid problems with writing down the wrong frequency. The green boxes are the active and standby frequencies (L and R) for COM 1 and COM 2 (top and bottom). The other pages are pages that are below the diagram, clipped to the clipboard. The blue bars are symbols of how long it will take to gain and lose altitude. All the diagrams are top to bottom of the page (not orientated) otherwise the writing takes too much room. I have 129 hours so this is not advice from an expert. Any reflections are welcomed. I think a bigger iPad would be too big, much as I would like to be able to see more. I hate having an iPad on the yoke as it changes the control feel. 

[Thruster88]

I use a tablet for every thing and produce a simple hand written backup.

Recent flight to mudgee, starter failed to work for the return journey 😬

 

[kgwilson]

I do my plan (Airmate)on my 10.1 inch tablet & download all of the ERSA plates for enroute, destination & alternates. The tablet is stuck on a magnetic holder on the panel & connected to the USG charge outlet. If it is somewhere I haven't been before I also fly the planned route on Google earth the night before to get an idea of terrain and landmarks. I print the ERSA plates out in A4 & have them on my clipboard in order and then one of the free CASA flight plan A5 forms with all of the frequencies in order, fuel tank changes etc & that goes on the top. The clipboard sits on the passenger seat or the passengers lap who I ask to check stuff as we go. Last thing is to lodge SARtime & have a fluorescent highlighted Sartime cancellation time noted so I don't forget & make sure the Spot tracker is set up & working. My wife checks my progress via the Spot tracker at home on the Google map overlay.

 

All of this is available on the tablet (some only within cellphone reception) but it is way too much hassle mucking around changing screens etc when flying as I prefer to look out the window.

Edited July 1, 2021 by kgwilson

[kasper]

For me in a trike its a little more constrained ...

 

I have laminated paper map in the knee bag with the plan in black chinagraph on it and use a red chinagraph on the clear plastic for actual - I can then see variance in actual from planned.

 

I have the airfield plates or mud mad drawings with frequencies in the clear pockets on the bar mits and have a chinagaph on a lanyard attached to the mits to update or note running details on them - generally new frequencies/squark codes on left and QNH changes and fuel use on the right.

 

On top of that I have a Avmap Geopilot II moving map colour GPS on the dashboard - its nice because its got nice easy to use with gloves on joystick and buttons - no touchscreen because I have yet to find conductive gloves that work on tablets and in open cockpit flying as gloves.

 

 I have been playing with a tablet and planning software but as I say in a trike I just can't get it to be as safe (not departing through the prop) and easy to use as chingraph and sleeved plastics.

 

Over to the other trike pilots - what do you do for planning and flight progression management?

[Old Koreelah]

2 hours ago, kasper said:

…no touchscreen because I have yet to find conductive gloves that work on tablets…

Kasper I fly with a pair of leather driving gloves cut so the two main fingers are free to feel stuff; bit cold, but works okey.

These are my new rescue gloves with special finger tips that work my iPad and phone screens:

 

[Old Koreelah]

Cursed with a brain that refuses to adapt to someone else’s way of thinking, I developed my own flight plan form.

It has way too many columns, but enough space for all the important stuff, especially if the iPad dies:

 

 

[Bosi72]

I use my School's flight plan form. Not the best in the World, but does the job and it helps when doing BFR..

[cscotthendry]

I made one with Excel with the static headings protected field so I can't edit those. I can only edit the fields that contain variables like frequencies and runway lengths. Each table is one third of an A4 page so I can get three legs to one sideof a page, or six legs to a double sided page. Each leg has three sections for waypoints/fuel stops.

I'll post a pic if anyone is interested…

[APenNameAndThatA]

On 01/07/2021 at 12:07 PM, kgwilson said:

I do my plan (Airmate)on my 10.1 inch tablet & download all of the ERSA plates for enroute, destination & alternates. The tablet is stuck on a magnetic holder on the panel & connected to the USG charge outlet. If it is somewhere I haven't been before I also fly the planned route on Google earth the night before to get an idea of terrain and landmarks. I print the ERSA plates out in A4 & have them on my clipboard in order and then one of the free CASA flight plan A5 forms with all of the frequencies in order, fuel tank changes etc & that goes on the top. The clipboard sits on the passenger seat or the passengers lap who I ask to check stuff as we go. Last thing is to lodge SARtime & have a fluorescent highlighted Sartime cancellation time noted so I don't forget & make sure the Spot tracker is set up & working. My wife checks my progress via the Spot tracker at home on the Google map overlay.

 

All of this is available on the tablet (some only within cellphone reception) but it is way too much hassle mucking around changing screens etc when flying as I prefer to look out the window.

This is the form? 

[APenNameAndThatA]

On 01/07/2021 at 11:37 AM, Thruster88 said:

I use a tablet for every thing and produce a simple hand written backup.

Recent flight to mudgee, starter failed to work for the return journey 😬

 

I think I’ll add course and distance to my summaries, as that will give me the basics while I get the paper map out. 

[cscotthendry]

I finally found my flight planning sheet

 

Three legs to a column, six columns to an A4 Sheet (double sided)

 

Most of the fields are self explanatory. I use the bottom section for enroute frequencies.

[Kununurra]

Oz Runways on my IPad and back up IPhone.

I run a paper fuel log with used, remaining, L or R tank time tanks are switched.

 

Before the traditionalists jump on me I am not after advice just replying to what I use.

 

For what it’s worth some of the longer journeys I have completed include.

Albany to Kununurra (Kimberley)

Kununurra to Albany

Bindoon to Birdsville

Bindoon to Airlie Beach and return via Archerfield.

 

To date around 260 hours of flight with no issues using these methods above.

I have had my IPad overheat a couple of times however the back up on on my phone while I cool the IPad back to a normal operating temperature has not caused any issues or concerns. It is only a couple of minutes whist I have held the Ipad under the vent to cool.

I trust the system that I use and it has worked for me.

 

OzRunways works great for me & I will continue use to use the premium subscription which provide me more information at the click of a button than I will ever need.

 

safe flying

cheers

 

 

[Hongie]

On 01/07/2021 at 10:00 AM, APenNameAndThatA said:

I used to draw on maps and mark things on the map with removable sticky tape. That made flight planning take too long and stopped me taking advantage of iPads. However, I did not want to plan frequencies, calls, XPDR, QNH, and altitudes on the fly, as it were. Too much brain power. My new plan is to velcro a clipboard to my kneeboard and velcro an iPad mini to the clipboard. In the diagram, red is transponder and QNH, green in frequencies, purple is calls and checklists, blue is altitudes and obstacle heights, and black is the rout, airspace boundaries, and 10-mile range rings. 

I'm confused at the QNH call outs of 120.9 and 127.05?

[KRviator]

I figured this'd be the best place to put my updated nav log for anyone that's interested. I'd originally done this up as a static Excel page that required external calculations, but have since updated it to do the calculations for me, as well as adding things like W&B and a few automated warnings and such that can utilise the additional inputs.

 

The basic idea is you plan on the left, fly from the right, and there should be no red boxes when you print it out. If you've done that, in theory, you'll have enough fuel to fly the plan, you won't be outside the CG or MTOW limits and you'll (hopefully), not get lost by screwing up the wind correction angle or introducing some other manual error. Orange boxes are used for inputs and the only spots that should be altered, grey for automatic calculations, whitespace (ETA/REV/Notes) for handwriting.

 

This form is customised for my RV-9A, but the limits can be changed to suit almost any aircraft by updating the various values used in the W&B or fuel calculations. By the same token, CG is shown as an arm location, but could easily be shown as a percentage of available, to give an at-a-glance indication as to whether you're forward or aft of neutral so you can set the trim accordingly. I may well end up changing it for that reason...

Here's a typical long-rage flight, two people, a bit of baggage and full fuel. The TOW & ZFW CG's are in limits, as is the MTOW, so they're all green. The CRZ END box up the top right shows how many minutes you have until you hit your fixed reserve on landing. Climb, cruise for 248 minutes, descend and land, and you should have your FR (only) left in the tanks. Fuel flow for all these calculations is hard-coded to 25LPH, typically what I get but you could introduce a variable if you wanted low-speed or high-speed cruise or something in between if you're really keen. Same for CLB/DES fuel. That's hard coded at 10.5L, which is what I've demonstrated I use to climb to 8,500 and descend from 8,500 - but that can be changed if you're keen.

 

I've uploaded the Excel file here too, but as always with everything I put out there, verify it works for you before you try to fly with it - if you get lost, run out of fuel and crash and die, that's on you! 😝 

If anyone want's help tweaking it to suit your CG/plane/fuel flow, let me know and I'll do what I can.

 

Here's an example with a ridiculous loading and insufficient fuel. The MTOW box is red, as it's above 1,800Lbs and it's also thrown a warning in notes box - as have/is the TOWCG & ZFWCG's as well as an Insufficient Fuel warning. The total fuel box is also bright red to draw attention to the fuel being less than required. In both this instance, and the one above, the Margin boxes are red, as the fuel margin, that is, fuel above what is required, is less than 30mins. They will turn yellow for a 30-60 minute margin, and green above 60 minutes. This is a "feel good" feature, nothing more, but is meant to draw attention to the fact you're getting close to using all your available fuel and should keep an eye on things.

And here's a more normal example. 2 POB, a bit of baggage, full fuel and a couple of hours airborne with a healthy 80 minute margin to the fixed reserve. Everything's green, no red & no warnings, nothing to worry about.

NavLog.xlsx

[APenNameAndThatA]

58 minutes ago, KRviator said:

I figured this'd be the best place to put my updated nav log for anyone that's interested. I'd originally done this up as a static Excel page that required external calculations, but have since updated it to do the calculations for me, as well as adding things like W&B and a few automated warnings and such that can utilise the additional inputs.

 

The basic idea is you plan on the left, fly from the right, and there should be no red boxes when you print it out. If you've done that, in theory, you'll have enough fuel to fly the plan, you won't be outside the CG or MTOW limits and you'll (hopefully), not get lost by screwing up the wind correction angle or introducing some other manual error. Orange boxes are used for inputs and the only spots that should be altered, grey for automatic calculations, whitespace (ETA/REV/Notes) for handwriting.

 

This form is customised for my RV-9A, but the limits can be changed to suit almost any aircraft by updating the various values used in the W&B or fuel calculations. By the same token, CG is shown as an arm location, but could easily be shown as a percentage of available, to give an at-a-glance indication as to whether you're forward or aft of neutral so you can set the trim accordingly. I may well end up changing it for that reason...

Here's a typical long-rage flight, two people, a bit of baggage and full fuel. The TOW & ZFW CG's are in limits, as is the MTOW, so they're all green. The CRZ END box up the top right shows how many minutes you have until you hit your fixed reserve on landing. Climb, cruise for 248 minutes, descend and land, and you should have your FR (only) left in the tanks. Fuel flow for all these calculations is hard-coded to 25LPH, typically what I get but you could introduce a variable if you wanted low-speed or high-speed cruise or something in between if you're really keen. Same for CLB/DES fuel. That's hard coded at 10.5L, which is what I've demonstrated I use to climb to 8,500 and descend from 8,500 - but that can be changed if you're keen.

 

I've uploaded the Excel file here too, but as always with everything I put out there, verify it works for you before you try to fly with it - if you get lost, run out of fuel and crash and die, that's on you! 😝 

If anyone want's help tweaking it to suit your CG/plane/fuel flow, let me know and I'll do what I can.

 

Here's an example with a ridiculous loading and insufficient fuel. The MTOW box is red, as it's above 1,800Lbs and it's also thrown a warning in notes box - as have/is the TOWCG & ZFWCG's as well as an Insufficient Fuel warning. The total fuel box is also bright red to draw attention to the fuel being less than required. In both this instance, and the one above, the Margin boxes are red, as the fuel margin, that is, fuel above what is required, is less than 30mins. They will turn yellow for a 30-60 minute margin, and green above 60 minutes. This is a "feel good" feature, nothing more, but is meant to draw attention to the fact you're getting close to using all your available fuel and should keep an eye on things.

And here's a more normal example. 2 POB, a bit of baggage, full fuel and a couple of hours airborne with a healthy 80 minute margin to the fixed reserve. Everything's green, no red & no warnings, nothing to worry about.

NavLog.xlsx 33.04 kB · 0 downloads

So you did the trigonometry for the wind? Wow.