Plan the flight, fly the plan Flight Planning Plan the flight, fly the plan Whiz 1950 Phillies

Technique 1. Plot Course a. Get true course b. Select checkpoints (9 – 22nm) c. Start nav log 2- Weather briefing a. Go/no-go decision b. Adjust route if necessary c. Select altitude 3- Performance Calculations a. Wt/Bal b. Takeoff/ldg dist c. Time/fuel/dist to climb d. Time/fuel in cruise e. Complete nav log 4- File if desired and execute

Plot Course Find your true course Using your plotter, draw a line from center of departure point to center of destination airport Look for hazards along your route Special Use Airspace Terrain Large bodies of water Adjust course if necessary Find your true course Lay plotter down with top edge along route Place center on a line of longitude Read true course on East or West scale Mark mileage in 5 or 10 mile intervals on your route Example: SBN to SMD (Smith Field in Fort Wayne)

Checkpoint Selection What makes a good checkpoint? Precision An intersection of two roads is more precise than the point where your course is supposed to intersect a road Visibility Radio towers make poor checkpoints because they are difficult to see from the air Airports make great checkpoints because they are very easy to see from the air Distinctiveness Using a lake as a checkpoint when flying across New Mexico makes sense Using a lake as a checkpoint when flying across east Texas increases your odds of mistakenly identifying your checkpoint

Checkpoint Selection Selecting the first checkpoint Should be within 5-10 miles of departure point Establishes your initial heading as correct Additional checkpoints Select additional checkpoints every 9 – 22 miles thereafter Example: I chose the following checkpoints: Golden Dome / Basilica (initial point) Bypass road south of Elkhart Syracuse Merriam

Weather Briefing Adjust route if necessary Select altitude Get a weather briefing from an official source 1-800-WX-BRIEF DUAT or DUATS Make a go/no-go decision “VFR flight not recommended” Conditions beyond your ability Winds MVFR or IFR clouds and weather Convective activity Precipitation Adjust route if necessary Select altitude Winds Aloft will inform this decision

Performance Calculations Weight and Balance Weight information will be required for performance calculations Example: Assume max gross weight Takeoff / Landing distance Ensure your aircraft is capable of making it out of your departure airport and in/out of your destination airport

Performance Calculations Time / Fuel / Distance to Climb Cessna charts make this calculation very simple Take value at your cruise altitude and subtract value from departure pressure altitude Make approximations as appropriate There is no need calculate to a level of precision beyond what is given in the chart Therefore, find: Time to the nearest minute Fuel to the nearest tenth gallon Distance to the nearest mile

Performance Calculations Time / Fuel / Distance to Climb Example Climb from SBN (799 ft) to 4,500 ft Weather: SBN 07010G15 10SM CLR 13/M02 A2997 Approximations Difference between pressure alt. & true alt is 50 feet, negligible Difference between SBN elevation and 1000 foot entries is negligible Values for 4,500 feet (by interpolation) Time: 7 min Fuel: 1.7 (conservative estimates dictate rounding up) Distance: 10 miles (only valid in zero wind) Values for 1,000 feet Time: 1 min Fuel: 0.4 gal Distance: 2 miles Climb totals Time: (7 – 1) = 6 minutes Fuel (1.7 - .4 ) = 1.3 (+ 1.1 for tax & takeoff) = 2.4 gal Wind is nonzero, so note avg climb speed: 76 knots

Performance Calculations Before we can complete nav log, we need to find our top of climb (TOC) & top of descent (TOD) points Procedure Use Winds Aloft to find groundspeed Use time-to-climb to find distance Example Winds Aloft 3000 6000 FWA 0416 3615 For climb, use winds at 3000 Interpolate: winds at cruise altitude (4,500) are 020 at 16

Performance Calculations E6-B Turn to wind side Set wind direction (040) opposite true index Mark wind velocity (16) up from grommet Set true course (123) opposite true index Slide the TAS arc (76) under the wind dot Read ground speed under grommet (72) Read wind correction angle at wind dot (12 deg left)

Performance Calculations Top of Climb point Turn to computer side of E6-B First question: How fast? 72 (our calculated groundspeed for the climb) Earlier, we computed the climb would take 6 minutes Read distance (7.2) above minute (6) scale For the mathematically astute, 6 minutes is 1/10 of an hour, so the TOC distance is a tenth of our groundspeed

Performance Calculations Top of Descent point Figure a 500 foot per minute descent From 4500 to 1800 (Traffic Pattern Altitude at SMD) is a 2700 foot descent, or 5.4 minutes 130 knots is a good descent airspeed in the 172 Use same winds (040 at 16) Flip to wind side of E6-B Wind dot is still valid; slide up to 130 knot TAS arc Read groundspeed under grommet (127) Read WCA under wind dot (7 deg left) Flip to computer side of E6-B How fast? 127 knots Read descent distance (11.5 miles) over descent time (5.4 minutes)

Performance Calculations Check cruise performance to find TAS and GPH en route Plan on max continuous power setting (75% BHP) Temperature is standard 500 foot difference on performance chart is negligible Use 4000 foot data KTAS is 114 knots GPH is 8.6

Complete Nav Log Measure distances between each checkpoint Don’t forget to factor in your TOC and TOD points Fill in each checkpoint and leg distance Compute cruising groundspeed Find cruising wind correction angle Apply magnetic variation Find ETE between checkpoints Find fuel consumption between checkpoints

Complete Nav Log Example: Find cruising ground speed (Previously interpolated) winds are 020 at 16 Go to wind side of E6-B Set wind direction (020) opposite true index Mark wind velocity (16) up from grommet Set true course (123) opposite true index Slide TAS arc (114) under wind dot Read groundspeed under grommet (116) Read WCA under wind dot (8 deg left)

Complete Nav Log Apply WCA to True Course Apply magnetic variation -L, +R Apply magnetic variation A check of the sectional indicates one isogonic line along route of flight, +5 deg W -E, +W (East is least, West is best) Result is magnetic heading This is as far as we can go until we look at the compass card in the aircraft

Complete Nav Log Example (cont) Find ETE between checkpoints Already computed ETE (6 min) and fuel consumption (2.4 gal) to TOC point Fill values in on nav log Flip to computer side of E6-B How fast? 116 knots Read ETE underneath distance Round off to nearest minute Find fuel consumption between checkpoints E6-B How fast? 8.6 GPH Read fuel consumed over minutes scale Round to nearest tenth gallon Subtract en route fuel from total Assume a full fuel load (53 gal)

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