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N62XS

Well Known Member
This may sound like a novice approach, but I am looking for a flight planning solution that will allow input of basic data, speed, fuel load, begin destination, ending destination, altitude, etc., that will output everything needed to safely complete a multi fuel stop coast to coast type trip. I want everything from freqs, to estimated fuel stops based on Winds, route terrain elevations, weather and more. Lastly, If this could interface with my GRT EFIS for input on a jump drive to tell the AP and EFIS where to go, it would be great!

Any ideas, thoughts, leads, etc are appreciated in advance.
 
I like the AOPA/Jeppesen flight planning software. It has the capability of downloading weather Data from Duats and overlaying the radar images over you flight plan. It also calculates fuel usage and fills out the nav log for you. You can download it free from AOPA's web site.
 
Good luck with such a request. There may be something out there that I'm not aware of. I don't have the EFIS etc. but do have a Lowrance 2000c and this is how I do it.

First, I go to AirNav.com and plan my route based on the following but not necessarily in order of priority:
Price of fuel
Terrain
Leg distance (duration of fuel plus safety)
Speed
Weather
Route

Sometimes you have to trick AirNav into giving you what you want by adjusting the distance of each leg and/or giving it different destination points for stopping along the way. AirNav will give you up to 10 routs based on Shortest Routs, Cheapest Routs and gives you the option of selecting your own routs. Once I have the basics based on Cheapest routs I then finess it even more by selecting my own route. This option gives you a list of all of the airports along the way and the price of their fuel. You can play with that until you have the best price for fuel and the route you like the best based on leg distance, terrain etc.

Once I have AirNav giving me what I want, I print it out and plug in the waypoints into my GPS. (very simple).

Then I develope a frequency chart in Word based on the information in AirNav for each of the Waypoints. I also go to my charts and note any frequencies along the way such as MOA's, Restricted areas, etc. They will give you good information in case you have problems along the way and need to contact help in a hurry. I make this up in Word and use a double column so that I can fold it and put it in my shirt pocket for easy access. I fly an RV-4 and space comes at a premium.

On this sheet I also print out the Web links for all of my information such as AirNav and weathermeister.com (run by Dan Checkoway) etc. I even use Accuweather as I have found it to be very helpful. This way anywhere along the way that I have a Web computer available I can double check things.

Be prepared to change plans also. On our recent flight from Vancouver WA. to Prescott AZ to Fullerton, CA and back home we had to change our route from Fullerton to home. This change was the simple result of the change in the price of fuel. We had planned to stop at Selma CA and Paradise CA for Fuel. Because of a change in the price of fuel it was much better economically to stop at Modesto CA and Colusa CA for fuel. Even though those two were only 42 minutes apart it gave us plenty of fuel to get on home. Changing the stops in the GPS was simple.

If you don't find what you were looking for I hope this was helpful. Also, I'm sure there are probably other services that I didn't mention that may do the same things or similar. I think that AOPA has something similar - maybe others too.

Tom
 
Why I don't use fancy planning software

Given the following:

1) I fly VFR
2) The trip is long with several fuel stops.
3) I have GPS map
4) I have fuel totalizer

I have tried some of the planning tools and find them too confining, too many assumptions, too much to learn and inflexible in the face of changing weather.

My planning looks like this now:

1) The night before study the weather from many sources.
2) Along the general route, mark on a IFR low alt chart:

a) cheap (and expensive!) gas
b) interesting stuff to fly over
c) interesting places to stop​
3) Pick possible destinations that are a tank away.

This process up to this point doesn't take that long because I haven't spent time trying to be precise. Now I sleep on it and get up early and do the following.

1) Let the morning weather pick my first destination (often different than expected!)
2) Get weather briefing and file.
3) Get sectional(s) ready (course line landmarks) and prefold
4) Program destination in GPS, make sure fuel totalizer is programmed.
5) Write brief notes for probable destination airports.

This process also doesn't take that long. The map folding and notes streamline things in the cockpit but aren't that crucial (day, vfr, cramped RV4). In the air I can get frequency information easily from my GPS, runway/airport info too. I have check points (typically airports since my GPS shows them) marked on the sectional that I follow.

Now I fly the route but plan on being as flexible as possible, not as rigid/pre-planned as possible. I have the sectional on my lap, the totalizer on 'fuel remaining' and the GPS map showing me where I am. I monitor these very carefully. I'm particularly afraid of loosing the GPS and thus SA so I'm comparing the sectional and the GPS carefully. I fly to my probable destination, if the winds are helping or hurting me I will happily land early/late. If the weather is iffy I'll divert.

The fuel totalizer makes it possible to remove much of the math that I used to do. Since the totalizer and the GPS are not connected the only math I do in route is taking the 'duration remaining' from the totalizer and subtracting the 'time to target' from the GPS and making sure that is more than my minimums. That delta (which is effectively 'fuel remaining at destination' is the number I use drive my decision making.

The GPS is also critical for the SA and the text information it provides on runways, altitudes and frequencies.

I always get the weather at my destination en route. It is not uncommon to change destinations en route because things can change in 3-4 hours. The ATC guys have been really good at providing this help.

A word of warning on using fuel price to pick stopping points. I landed in Mott, ND only to find a crop duster strip, far from town, no cell service and a plane in a low fuel condition...Luckily I found a quarter and made the call for the lady to come out, but it took over almost 2 hours and I had no access to flight planning tools other than calling flight service.
 
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Seattle Avionics

I use Voyager 3.0x from Seattle Avionics. It is an amazingly complete program that they very actively update. It is also reasonably priced. In general I like it, but I have to admit that:

1) It has a cluttered interface with lots of confusing buttons and toggles.
2) It has a few bugs that can cause it to crash
3) It is fairly slow to redraw some screens (they have promised to fix this).

The good news:

1) The guy that started the company and many of the employees are pilots and seem to really care about adding features that are useful.
2) You can get through to tech support easily on most any workday and they seem to want to solve whatever issue you might have.
3) They recently got one of the big glass plane companies (Cirrus or Columbia) to begin giving their product away with a new airplane meaning they will be around a while.

I would recommend this company.

Bruce
N297NW
 
If you are a Palm user...

I have a Palm handheld that I use for my appointments and such and use a really great (and free) flight planning software called CoPilot. You enter your aircraft data (weight and balance, fuel burn, etc) then plan your flight including airports, fuel stops, ground legs, etc. I've found it to be reasonably accurate and it fits nicely in my flight bag. Great for inflight diversions or planning a flight when you don't have access to a computer. It's being bundled with another product called FlightMaster and distributed by AeroPDA.

You can still buy FlightMaster directly from the developer and CoPilot has always been free. The author asks for donations if you like the product.
 
EAA

OK, since no-one has mentioned it yet....

I like, and use, the free AeroPlanner web site that comes with your EAA membership fee. I personally find it much easier to use than the AOPA one.

http://www.eaa.org/pilot_info.html

I set routes ahead of time, and log in just before departure to get all of the actual ground speeds with the reported winds aloft. I use a VFR log sheet and try for checkpoints 20 or 30 minutes apart....

Almost every FBO has a computer available now - and even wi-fi for some, or just sit with your laptop outside an major hotel... :)

For weather planning decisions in the days before departure, I like the AOPA for long range, and Dan's www.rvproject.com/wx site for next day forecasts.

All are free if you have AOPA and EAA membership.

Gil in Tucson - VFR rated only....
 
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