Anyone do flight plans like the feds?

[rumpletumbler]

I'm studying for the CFII and some of the questions on the written (same as the instrument) are just ludicrous. What do you do when you fly? Do you plan the climb length/time, measuring arc's and even calculating the time for the approach at the end? If you crossed the SXO vor at 1340 and the shutup intersection at 1453 after flying off the airway at a magnetic bearing of 040 degress FROM the AC NDB then back onto the airway via radar vectors while eating lunch then what time will you arrive over the stfu intersection?

 

[minitour]

when in doubt, go with "C"

 

[bobbysamd]

Flight planning

I learned to include top-of-climb in my flight planning when I went to work for ERAU. You can plan for top-of-decent/beginning of decent. I recall that rule-of-thumb was multiplying altitude times 3 to determine nm needed for the decent. The rule-of-thumb section of the board recommends multiplying altitude times three and adding 10. For approaches, a good rule-of-thumb is to add fifteen minutes to your flight time from departure to the IAF.

Hope this helps a little. Good luck with your written.

 

[HMR]

What do you do when you fly? Do you plan the climb length/time, measuring arc's and even calculating the time for the approach at the end?

ABSOLUTELY! I've lost several jobs over this. When I flew PT135 my CP would get so mad just because it took me 1 or 2 days to plan a flight. Call me "uptight" but I also order fuel in ounces.

 

[qmaster3]

I learned to include top-of-climb in my flight planning when I went to work for ERAU. You can plan for top-of-decent/beginning of decent. I recall that rule-of-thumb was multiplying altitude times 3 to determine nm needed for the decent. The rule-of-thumb section of the board recommends multiplying altitude times three and adding 10. For approaches, a good rule-of-thumb is to add fifteen minutes to your flight time from departure to the IAF.

Hope this helps a little. Good luck with your written.

I think this goes along with the rule of 3.

IAS or better GS X5=rate of descent.

 

[Lead Sled]

What do you do when you fly? Do you plan the climb length/time, measuring arc's and even calculating the time for the approach at the end?

It all depends where I'm going and what I expect to find when I get there. Personally, we use a flight planning program that is dead on accurate - coast to coast either direction within literally a minute or two and within a couple of hundred pounds on the fuel burn. (Yes, it is that accurate, I've used it for years including literally hundreds of coast to coast legs.) The program allows you to pick whatever routing you want, including DPs and STARS. Normally I always plan for an hour's fuel on landing and I always land with an hour's fuel. AS good as the program is, it only calculates "departure airport to overhead the arrival airport"; however that is more than adequate under all but the most abnormal circumstances. However, there are places where that's not enough. When you headed out to the east coast, they have a tendency to start you down early which translates into a few hundred pounds of additional burn. You've got to take into account along with whatever alternate, holding, etc. fuel that you need to carry.

'Sled

 

[HMR]

Rumple- Actually, in our dept. we do plan for all of those things. I use the same computer program as Lead Sled. He was kind enough to share all of his performance profiles for the Astra (fine tuned over years of use) with me. He takes flight planning very seriously- as we all should. On any given trip (i.e. Santa Barbara to Teterboro) I'll arrive within 0-5 minutes and 50-100 pounds of fuel from what I planned. It's that accurate. Thanks Lead!

 

[rumpletumbler]

That is wonderfull but it does me little good on the written.

 

[flyer172r]

Three words: DUATS flight planner.

Yeah, may not be much help on the written, but after the written it works really, really well

 

[jimpilot]

If god had ment pilots to flight plan he wouldn't have invented computer flight planning programs.