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  #1  
Old 08-23-2009, 08:11 PM
turbo's Avatar
turbo turbo is offline
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Stuart, FL /Hartford, CT/Virgin Gorda,BVI
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Arrow AOPA Internet Flight Planner v1.5.0

if you are an AOPA member check out the this software. it is very good!!!!!
vfr, ifr any R. try it. you will like it!!!!!:
http://www.aopa.org/aifp/welcome.cfm
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Last edited by turbo : 08-23-2009 at 08:18 PM.
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  #2  
Old 08-23-2009, 08:26 PM
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L.Adamson L.Adamson is offline
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: KSLC
Posts: 4,021
Default

Agree. I use it all the time. It's especially useful for up to date TFR's & weather. My Garmin 696 does that too, but it's great to know before you head to the airport.

L.Adamson --- RV6A
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  #3  
Old 08-23-2009, 09:57 PM
breister breister is offline
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Atlanta, GA
Posts: 1,231
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Two annoying things about it (I've contacted AOPA about both, but if they hear from lots of you they are more likely to fix it!):

- You cannot enter your flight plan as you would hear it "as a clearance" and have it draw out the flight plan you entered
- You cannot force it to pick a particular high/low route associated with a point

Both of these are annoying in different ways. If, for example, there are two airways between points A and B and only one airway between B and C (which is one of the two from A/B, then it is possible the flight plan it "generates for you" will list two airways rather than just the one that is common to the whole route. How it picks is a mystery. Likewise, if you are picking most of your waypoints independent of airways but specifically want to name one or more segments as using an available airway, you cannot force it to do so.

The bottom line is - you can't tell it which point is or is not part of an airway, nor specify which airway a part of the route is to be described as using when there are more than one.
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  #4  
Old 08-24-2009, 12:40 AM
PCHunt PCHunt is online now
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: San Diego, CA
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Default Ummmmm.....

Quote:
Originally Posted by breister View Post
The bottom line is - you can't tell it which point is or is not part of an airway, nor specify which airway a part of the route is to be described as using when there are more than one.
Not sure I follow, ........say again??
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  #5  
Old 08-24-2009, 09:54 AM
breister breister is offline
 
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Location: Atlanta, GA
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Ok, a concrete example.

I decide I want to go home to visit mom in Indiana, and I SPECIFICALLY want a flightplan which goes:

KLZU WOMAC HRS V51 ZORRO AZUMO KVPZ

So, I enter KLZU-KVPZ, low airways. The resulting flight plan is

WOMAC V463 HRS V267 VXV V97 CVG V517 RID V340 AZUMO

Hmmm, I want to go a different way. So I try typing the following into the flight plan section:

WOMAC HRS V51 ZORRO AZUMO

But, it does not update the chart or the route. Grrrr.

Next, I try to tell it the route using the mouse. I start out with KLZU - KVPZ Direct, and start inserting waypoints. I start with the routing tool - it has a button to delete a waypoint, but no tool to insert one. Right click for context menu? No go. Highlight the destination and press the INSERT button? Similar results.

Ok I've got a straight line between start and finish, on to the map. Right-click on WOMAC, select "Add to Route. Same for HRS, ZORRO, and AZUMO. But, no airway between HRS and ZORRO... Hmmm.

Right click on ZORRO again, select "What's here" and there is V51 as plain as the nose on my face along with a button "Add to Route." But, it is grayed out. Click on V51, double click (gives info); right click - all useless. I cannot add V51 to my route no matter what I do.

Back to the routing tools box - maybe I need to select both my entry and exit points? Select HRS then ZORRO - nothing. CTRL-select - no good. SHIFT-select - no good.

Ah, what's this? Drag and drop HRS to ZORRO - nuts, it just swaps the points.

Finally - go and add every single point along V51. Nope - it just gives a flight plan with all of those points.


So, something which is infinitely simple with paper and pencil, or with my GNS 480, is IMPOSSIBLE to do with their flight planning software. You cannot enter the flight plan in the way ATC gives it to you, which is our "natural language" as pilots.

And finally, lest you think "why would you not just accept the flight plan it gives you?" - think about how many times 50 miles variation on a long trip means the difference between sunny VFR an slogging through the ick...
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  #6  
Old 08-24-2009, 11:27 AM
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John Clark John Clark is offline
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Santa Barbara, CA
Posts: 1,324
Default Flight planner

I must be missing the point of Breister's complaints about the AOPA Flight Planner. I think the key here is flight planner. I use it to plan a flight, that is, get the big picture, pick out a route, and get the weather. I think Breister is looking for a "flight plotter" to make a map of his predetermined route. If you have a route picked out, enter the flightplan, and file it. Then enter it in the GPS and go. Or, be stone-age like me and highlight it on a (gasp!) paper chart. The AOPA product is great as is.

John Clark ATP, CFI
FAAST Team Member
RV8 N18U "Sunshine"
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  #7  
Old 08-24-2009, 12:04 PM
Frank Smidler Frank Smidler is offline
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Stoughton, WI
Posts: 473
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Quote:
Originally Posted by breister View Post
Next, I try to tell it the route using the mouse. I start out with KLZU - KVPZ Direct, and start inserting waypoints. I start with the routing tool - it has a button to delete a waypoint, but no tool to insert one. Right click for context menu? No go. Highlight the destination and press the INSERT button? Similar results.

Right click on ZORRO again, select "What's here" and there is V51 as plain as the nose on my face along with a button "Add to Route." But, it is grayed out. Click on V51, double click (gives info); right click - all useless. I cannot add V51 to my route no matter what I do.

Ah, what's this? Drag and drop HRS to ZORRO - nuts, it just swaps the points.

.
I have used the AOPA flight planner for at least 6 trips in the last 8 months with very good luck. I haven't used the low level route option and found it interesting to play with. I can understand your frustration. I could only make it work using direct than choosing the points along V51 manually.

I can help you with one issue. You said you could not add a way point? Simply put your cursor on the location where you want the way point (you do not highlight it), right click, select waypoint and fill in the info.

On your way to mom's house wave as you go by KLAF, I'll wave back.

Update: I worked on it a little more and if you choose all of the points along the low level route, the pull down routing tools list will show all of those points (WOMAC HRS HCH LVT IIU ABB SHB ZIPPY AZHUP BVT ZORO AZUMP) but the flight plan will not (WOMAC V463 HRS V51 SHB V97 ZORRO AZUMO). The nav log will show the same data as in the routing tools pull down, it even shows the VOR freq. and morse code identifier.
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Last edited by Frank Smidler : 08-24-2009 at 12:24 PM.
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  #8  
Old 08-24-2009, 04:43 PM
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dmaib dmaib is offline
 
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Location: New Smyrna Beach, FL
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I had the same complaints, but after playing with it recently, I figured out some of the tricks Frank mentions. You can delete fixes and add them at will, as Frank explains. I am getting more comfortable with it. I have been using Fltplan.com recently, and it has some of the same characteristics. You can drag course lines around in Fltplan.com (I believe) and change routes in that fashion. Lots of good wx, GPS RAIM calculations, etc with Fltplan.com. I tend to use a combination of DUATS, AOPA, and Fltplan.com depending on what I need. AOPA and Fltplan.com have good airport directories and fuel price info.
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  #9  
Old 08-24-2009, 04:51 PM
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Capflyer Capflyer is offline
 
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Posts: 1,082
Default Golden Eagle Flight Prep

Golden Eagle Flight Prep blows the AOPA planner away and it is also free. Once you start using Golden Eagle you'll wonder how you tolerated the difficult and feature poor AOPA by Jeppessen planner. http://flightprep.com/rootpage.php?page=infogoldeneagle
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  #10  
Old 08-24-2009, 05:25 PM
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L.Adamson L.Adamson is offline
 
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Location: KSLC
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Capflyer View Post
Golden Eagle Flight Prep blows the AOPA planner away and it is also free. Once you start using Golden Eagle you'll wonder how you tolerated the difficult and feature poor AOPA by Jeppessen planner. http://flightprep.com/rootpage.php?page=infogoldeneagle
I see that you have to sign up for the "free--limited flight planner", and the full service is $149.95 annual subscription. Just wondering the differences; since the free planner is limited.

L.Adamson
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