1. Flight Planning
ATC Chapter 4

2. Aim
To introduce the principals of pre-flight planning and discuss planning considerations

3. Briefing Objectives State the required equipment for flight planning
State the route selection criteria
State the pre-flight briefing requirements
State the VFR alternate requirements
Discuss flight planning form
Compile an accurate fuel plan

4. 1. Required Equipment Flight Planning
Prior to going flying we must ensure we have compiled an accurate flight plan more time spent planning on the ground will mean less to do in the air
To achieve this we must firstly ensure we have the right equipment for the job, determine the route which we are to fly then obtain a pre-flight briefing and apply this information to the plan

5. 1. Required Equipment Navigation Equipment
The following navigation equipment is required:
Scale Ruler Protractor Navigation computer Pencil – A spare pencil is highly recommended Eraser Knee board/Folder Current ERSA Current maps/charts
VTC
VNC
WAC
ERC
PCA

6. 2. Route Selection
Route selection is an integral part of pre-flight preparation. Items that should be considered include:
Forecast conditions – cloud, visibility, Sig.Wx
Planning requirements – VFR routes, hemispherical, visual fixes
Altitude – terrain, hemispherical, forecast winds/cloud
Airspace – clearances, OCTA, PRD’s
Departure/destination – Turning points
Traffic – LOE, Training areas, gliders
Nav Aids
Positive fixes

7. 3. Pre-Flight Briefing Pre-Flight briefing
During the planning stage we must obtain a detailed briefing of weather and NOTAMS
This can be obtained in a number of ways:
AVFAX
DECTALK
Telephone briefing service
Internet
Radio
Telephone and fax numbers can be found in the ERSA

8. 3. Pre-Flight Briefing
Weather and NOTAM information must be obtained from Airservices during the pre-flight planning stage prior to departure.

9. 3. Pre-Flight Briefing
It is highly recommended you resister for your own account. Until then the company user name is “USAFS” and password unisa12

10. 3. Pre-Flight Briefing
Select required briefing from the menu

11. 3. Pre-Flight Briefing Services Available
The briefing information available includes:
Area Forecast (ARFOR)
Terminal Area Forecast (TAF)
METAR
SPECI
Trend Type Forecast (TTF)
SIGMET
Notice To Airmen (NOTAM)

12. 3. Pre-Flight Briefing Weather and NOTAMS ARFOR
Weather forecast and NOTAM information is required for all aerodromes/areas that you are operating in
ARFOR
The Area Forecast system is designed primarily to meet the needs of pilots of general aviation. The system provides for the routine issue of forecasts for designated areas and the prompt issue of amendments when prescribed criteria are satisfied.
The ARFOR must be valid for the period of your flight

13. 3. Pre-Flight Briefing Weather and NOTAMS TAF METAR SPECI
A TAF is a coded statement of meteorological conditions expected at an aerodrome and within a radius of five nautical miles of the aerodrome reference point
The TAF must be valid for 30mins prior to your planned ETA and 60 mins after
METAR
A METAR is a routine report of meteorological conditions at an aerodrome
SPECI
A SPECI is a special report of meteorological conditions, issued when one or more elements meet specified criteria significant to aviation.
SPECI is also used to identify reports of observations recorded ten minutes following an improvement (in visibility, weather or cloud) to above SPECI conditions

14. 3. Pre-Flight Briefing Weather and NOTAMS TTF
The trend forecast is an aerodrome weather report (METAR or SPECI) to which a statement of trend, for the elements wind, visibility, weather and clouds, is appended, forecasting the weather conditions expected to affect the aerodrome for the validity period of the TTF which is normally the three hours following the time of the report.
The TTF supersedes the Aerodrome Forecast (TAF) for its validity period.
For aerodromes where the TTF service is not a 24 hour service, a statement in the remarks section during the last three hours of the service will indicate when the TAF supersedes the TTF, e.g. USE TAF FOR ARRIVALS AFTER 0800Z.

15. 3. Pre-Flight Briefing Weather and NOTAMS SIGMET NOTAM
A SIGMET is a warning issued to provide urgent advice to aircraft of the actual or expected occurrence, in areas over which meteorological watch is being maintained, of weather phenomena that are potentially hazardous.
NOTAM
Contains information concerning the establishment, condition or change in any aeronautical facility service, procedure or hazard
Ensure you are familiar with decoding forecasts. The BOM Knowledge centre is an excellent resources if you need extra study material

16. 4. Alternate Requirements
VFR Alternate Requirements
Part of the pre-flight planning process is to assess the weather and decide if it is suitable to fly in
There are some situations where it is perfectly legal for us to go flying (VMC exist), however, we must consider the possibility that we may not be able to land at our destination
For these situations we must provide a means of safely getting back on the ground
Our options are to either hold and wait for the weather to improve or to divert to a more suitable aerodrome

17. 4. Alternate Requirements
VFR Alternate Requirements
You must provide provision for an alternate if any of the following conditions are forecast within 30mins of your ETA:
More than 4/8ths below 1500’AGL
Visibility less than 8km
Crosswind greater than the aircrafts maximum
If an alternate is required the alternate aerodrome must not require an alternate itself

18. 4. Alternate Requirements
VFR Alternate Requirements
If conditions are forecast to improve or are only intermittently (INTER or TEMPO) below the alternate minima then we can elect to carry holding fuel instead of providing an alternate
Holding fuel must be sufficient to allow holding until 30mins after the forecast improvement time
Or in the case of INTER/TEPO:
INTER – 30mins
TEMPO – 60mins

19. 4. Alternate Requirements
VFR Alternate Requirements
A 30min buffer must be applied to forecast conditions exceeding alternate minima
Eg,
TAF YPPF Z 2206/ KT 9999 LIGHT SHOWERS OF RAIN SCT020 BKN030
FM KT 9999 LIGHT SHOWERS OF RAIN SCT020 BKN030
INTER 2207/ SHOWERS OF RAIN BKN015 BKN020
We must consider an alternate (or holding) from 0630 till 1530
Note: Buffers are NOT REQUIRED for a TTF

20. 4. Alternate Requirements
VFR Alternate Requirements
Holding fuel may also be specified for an aerodrome for operational reasons
Eg, 30mins traffic holding required for all arrivals
Consult ERSA and NOTAMS for any requirements

21. 5. Flight planning Form Navigation Plan
Once we have determined the route to fly and the weather conditions we expect we need to start compiling a navigation plan

22. 5. Flight planning Form Navigation Plan
DEP PT/ROUTE SEGMENT – Details of the route to be flown

23. 5. Flight planning Form Navigation Plan
LSALT – Lowest Safe Altitude – Not required for day VFR flight, however, it is required you remain 500’ above the highest obstacle on the route segment

24. 5. Flight planning Form Navigation Plan
FL/ALT – Altitude you intend to fly. When flying VFR we should always aim to fly at a hemispherical level. When flying West we should fly Evens +500.
When flying East we should fly Odds +500.

25. 5. Flight planning Form Navigation Plan
TAS – True AirSpeed – Obtained through performance charts

26. 5. Flight planning Form Navigation Plan
TR MAG – Track Magnetic – When measuring tracks ensure you take magnetic variation into account

27. 5. Flight planning Form Navigation Plan
Wind – Insert the wind you expect to encounter along the route segment – Remember that winds given in an ARFOR are in degrees True

28. 5. Flight planning Form Navigation Plan
HDG MAG – Heading magnetic – This is your measured track with a wind drift allowance applied

29. 5. Flight planning Form Navigation Plan
G/S – Groundspeed – This is your planned TAS with any headwind or tailwind component of the wind applied

30. 5. Flight planning Form Navigation Plan
DIST – Distance of the route segment in nautical miles

31. 5. Flight planning Form Navigation Plan
ETI – Estimated Time Interval – How long it is going to take you to fly the route segment in minutes

32. 5. Flight planning Form Navigation Plan
The last 3 boxes are for in-flight calculations of planned estimate, revised estimate and actual time of departure

33. 6. Fuel Planning Fuel Planning - Requirements
CAR 220 and 234 detail the requirement for the pilot in command of every flight to ensure sufficient fuel is carried
CAAP gives recommendations as to how to achieve this

34. 6. Fuel Planning Fuel Planning - Definitions
Flight Fuel – Fuel required for the flight from the departure to the destination then to a suitable alternate (if required)
Fixed Reserve – Sufficient fuel for 45mins flight. Emergency use only.
Variable Reserve – Safety margin for unpredictable in flight conditions. Usually 15% of the flight fuel
Note: Variable reserve is only required for charter/RPT flights unless specified in company policy
Holding Fuel – Fuel required to hold (if required)
Miscellaneous Allowances – Start up and taxi fuel etc.

35. Note: Due to the critical nature of the fuel plan, always round up
6. Fuel Planning
The fuel plan is used to pre-plan fuel requirements for the flight
Note: Due to the critical nature of the fuel plan, always round up

36. 6. Fuel Planning
Fill in cruise time from flight plan (121mins for this example)
YPPF

37. 6. Fuel Planning
Fill in cruise time from flight plan (121mins for this example)
Determine cruise fuel required, remember when fuel planning we plan to burn 35 litres per hour for the C172SP
YPPF

38. 6. Fuel Planning
Fill in cruise time from flight plan (121mins for this example)
Determine cruise fuel required, we can determine the fuel flow using performance data in the POH – 35lph has been used in this example
Fill in any alternate fuel if required
YPPF

39. 6. Fuel Planning
Fill in cruise time from flight plan (121mins for this example)
Determine cruise fuel required, we can determine the fuel flow using performance data in the POH – 35lph has been used in this example
Fill in any alternate fuel if required
Sub total = Cruise + Alternate
YPPF

40. 6. Fuel Planning
Fill in cruise time from flight plan (121mins for this example)
Determine cruise fuel required, we can determine the fuel flow using performance data in the POH – 35lph has been used in this example
Fill in any alternate fuel if required
Sub total = Cruise + Alternate
As per our ops manual we must carry 15% variable reserve.
Note: This is not a legal requirement as we are an air work operation
YPPF

41. 6. Fuel Planning
Fixed reserve is required for all operations
YPPF

42. 6. Fuel Planning Fixed reserve is required for all operations
Holding fuel should not be required for the first nav
YPPF

43. 6. Fuel Planning Fixed reserve is required for all operations
Holding fuel should not be required for the first nav
The ops manual states to plan 5 Litres for taxi fuel
YPPF

44. 6. Fuel Planning Fixed reserve is required for all operations
Holding fuel should not be required for the first nav
The ops manual states to plan 5 Litres for taxi fuel
Work out the total fuel required
YPPF

45. 6. Fuel Planning Fixed reserve is required for all operations
Holding fuel should not be required for the first nav
The ops manual states to plan 5 Litres for taxi fuel
Work out the total fuel required
Enter the Useable fuel on board at start up
YPPF

46. 6. Fuel Planning Fixed reserve is required for all operations
Holding fuel should not be required for the first nav
The ops manual states to plan 5 Litres for taxi fuel
Work out the total fuel required
Enter the Useable fuel on board at start up
The margin is the difference between Endurance and fuel required
YPPF

47. 6. Fuel Planning Fixed reserve is required for all operations
Holding fuel should not be required for the first nav
The ops manual states to plan 5 Litres for taxi fuel
Work out the total fuel required
Enter the Useable fuel on board at start up
The margin is the difference between Endurance and fuel required
Determine margin endurance at a fuel burn of 35 litres per hour
YPPF

48. 6. Fuel Planning
Add fuel required time and margin time to determine total endurance
YPPF

49. 6. Fuel Planning Fuel Planning – Multiple Stage Planning
Stage 1 should be planned as normal
Stage 2 planning is the same until we work out the margin and endurance (Lets assume a flight time of 90mins)
To calculate the endurance (FoB) for the second stage we must calculate the planned fuel burn for the first stage
FoB 2 = FoB 1 – Flight Fuel – Alternate Fuel – Variable Reserve – Holding – Taxi
FoB 2 = 201 – 71 – 11 – 5 = 114
Note: We assume all reserves and holding are used with the exception of the fixed reserve 90 53 - - 90 53 14 8 45 27 - - 5
149 93 36 21
185
114
YPPF
YWHA

50. 6. Fuel Planning Fuel Planning – Recalculating Reserves
It is possible to recalculate the variable reserve in flight
To do this we must be over a positive fix and know the current FoB
Once we know this we can calculate how much flight fuel we require for the remaining flight and base our new variable reserve on this
This technique is often used by airlines to depart with minimum fuel
For example, flight is planned from Perth to Melbourne
This flight can be initially planned with enough fuel to reach Adelaide then once airborne the reserves can be re-calculated to free up enough fuel to reach Melbourne

51. 6. Fuel Planning Fuel Planning – Recalculating Reserves
The re-Calculating method is as follows:
We are over a positive fix with 150ltrs on board in a C172SP. Determine the flight fuel available for the remainder of the flight.
FoB = 150ltrs
Fixed Reserve = 27ltrs
Flight Fuel + 15% Var.Res = 150 – 27 = 123ltrs
Flight Fuel = 123 ÷ 1.15 = 107ltrs

52. Questions?