"Planning a Cross-Country Flight" Forum, Natfly, 11th of March 2009

The PDF file above only shows the first frame of each screencast movie. Below are links to the full movies.

Identify the Destination

The first step in flying somewhere is deciding where to go. You can use iVFR.net's map browse tool to get a lot of information about a location's attractions.

Check the Airfield

What's the elevation? Runway length? Fuel? You can find a lot of this info from the iVFR.net database or its link to the ERSA pages.

Airspace: ATC, PRD etc.

iVFR.net gives you details of all airspace boundaries, both on the map and in the list of flight segments. It also gives you all the information available, including vertical limits, contact details, hours of operation etc.

Select Waypoints and Alternates

You can add waypoints to your plan by searching for them by name or code, or choosing from your favourite locations, or clicking on the map to show the locations nearby, or defining your own locations.

Which charts do I need?

iVFR.net can't mark the charts for you. You have to do that yourself with a pencil. But iVFR.net tells you all the charts that apply to your flight path, including VTC, VNC, WAC etc.

Calculate Fuel

No more prayer wheels! iVFR.net will calculate your remaining fuel and time, both for the planned flight segments and all the alternates. For the alternates, it uses the worst-case scenario of arriving at that waypoint then having to go all the way to the alternate.

Calculate Weight

iVFR.net doesn't yet do the balance calculations, but it will calculate overall weight, including automatic adjustment of weight for the density of the fuel your aircraft uses. It will warn you if you go above MTOW for your selected aircraft.

Export to GPS

You can save all your waypoints and route to a GPX file, which can be loaded into your GPS. Too simple!

Cruise Levels

The airfields in the database have their elevation recorded, and some of the locations as well. These are displayed while you are planning your cruise levels, and you can also specify the Lowest Safe Altitude for a segment, which you have determined from your charts.

Plan Communications

The map will show you the area frequencies and boundaries. The printed plan will show you the frequencies for each airfield along the way.

First and Last Light

Check that you fly between first and last light.

Accommodation

You can use the iVFR.net map to find lots of details of all web-accessible accommodation at your destination.

Overall Weather Prognosis

iVFR.net gives you links to the weather overview and prognosis.

Area Forecast

iVFRnet works out which weather areas you will be flying in, downloads that information, and lists them in order of flight. You can also see this information in your printed flight plan.

En-route METAR and TAF

You can get the weather observations and Terminal Area Forecasts for any airfields on your route or selected as alternates. This is all listed in order of your flight in a handy table format. You can also see this information in your printed flight plan.

En-route NOTAMs

If any airfields on your route or selected as alternates have active NOTAMs, they will be downloaded and displayed. This is all listed in order of your flight in a handy table format. You can also see this information in your printed flight plan.

Recalculate from Wind

Just enter the wind speed and direction (worst case for the flight) and your ground speed, headings, times and fuel use will be recalculated automatically. Fuel use is calculated conservatively: you will never see lower fuel use with tail wind, but it will go up with a headwind.

Print the Plan for In-flight Use

The printed plan contains an enormous amount of information, laid out in the order you need it. There are a number of different plan formats from which you can choose.

Safety Audit and Flight Note

You can use our Safety Audit Checklist (adapted from RA-Aus) or develop your own. You can generate an AusSAR Flight Note form, automatically filled in with all your details, details of the aircraft, and details of the route. You can email this form to a colleague who can raise the alarm on your behalf, or you can send it to AusSAR for an official SARtime.

Tell Your Friends - With Photos

Before the flight, you can publish the plan to the public or just to other members. After the flight, upload your photos and place them on the map so everybody can share your experience.