Archive for the 'Flight Planning' Category

AOPA Expo

Published November 10, 2008 Flight Planning , General Stuff 3 Comments
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Last Friday I took the day off from work and headed down to San Jose for AOPA Expo.  I had originally planned to be there both Friday and Saturday, but I decided not to attend any of the Seminars, and stick just to the vendor exhibits.  From what I have heard, the seminars are good but I just wasn’t willing to devote the time to them.  Yes, I know, my loss.

Garmin GPSMAP 696So, did I see anything new and exciting?  Yes and no.  Since my visit to AirVenture in July, there have only been a few new products released.  The first one that comes to mind is the Garmin GPSMAP 696/695, which was just released a week or two ago.  I did get to play with it, and I think it is a great unit with loads of features.  I was however a touch disappointed in the image quality of the IAPs (approach plates).  I had to play with the zoom a bit to get it to a point where I thought the image was acceptable, but perhaps I was doing something wrong.  Overall the unit was very nice, and while I didn’t buy one I probably would if I had a spare $3,300 laying around.

Really the only other new product or service that got my attention was AOPA’s new web based flight planner which is currently in Beta.  I spent about 15 minutes at the AOPA flight planning booth talking with their developers about the new interface, and the features they say they are working on for future releases.   I was really impressed with the new web-based user interface, as it requires no software to be downloaded and is therefore always up-to-date.   I mentioned that one thing I didn’t like with the current flight-planning software was the fact that you cannot modify the altitude of a specific leg.  Not only did they tell me they are working on that, but they said future releases should include the ability to recommend altitudes based on winds aloft.  Cool, very cool!

aopa_fp_sm

Overall, I was very impressed with it and after just a brief preview you can tell that a lot of thought went into its design.  I’ve posted a screen shot above, which you can click for a larger version, but you can also play around with it yourself by using the link above.  A huge benefit of making it web-based is that you can now access your profile, aircraft, and routes from any computer with an internet connection.  One of the developers also showed me a paper mock-up of perhaps one of the most exciting proposed new features… an iPhone interface that will allow you to file and close flight plans right from the phone (among other things).  Ooooh, I can’t wait!

Not in the new product department, but I did spend a bit of time in the Scheme Designers booth talking to founder Craig Barnett.  I’ve heard Craig on the UCAP podcast, and it was a pleasure to meet him in person.  He is a really nice guy, and offers a great service at an attractive price.  He walked me through the process of how they design paint schemes for airplane, and I was very impressed with not only the attention they give to detail, but their customer focus.   I’ve got some ideas (colors) in mind for my RV-7, and when I get a little bit closer, I’ll be giving Craig and his team a call to help me make my ideas into reality.

Even thought AOPA Expo doesn’t offer too much for the experimental market, I had a good time, and I am glad I went.   I got to meet up with Paul, a local student pilot who I’ve been been communicating with for several month, and spending time with him talking about avaiaiton was in many ways the best part of my day.

iPhone Aviation Resources

Published October 24, 2008 Flight Planning , Pilot Gear 2 Comments
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Now that I have a little more free time, I am in the process of putting together something I have wanted to for a few weeks… a list of aviation related iPhone applications and web sites.  I’ve made it a seperate page (tab above) on my blog, and while it’s currently just a simple list I am hoping to put together some sort of table that will summarize the features of each and identify any associated costs.

It’s simply a first cut and I have a few more to add, but if you know of any that are missing please leave a comment to this post with the names and a link if you have it.

FAA: GA Pilot’s Weather Guide

Published September 26, 2008 Flight Planning 0 Comments
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Perhaps this is old news, but today I came across a web site I haven’t seen before; The FAA’s General Aviation Pilot’s Weather Guide.

Regardless of your experience, I think there is a lot really good information and useful tools posted there.   Be sure to check out the download section on the lower left.  I like the “Weather Products and Weather Providers” comparison, and the forms and worksheets… good stuff!

Ground - Flight Planning & Filing

Published September 24, 2008 Flight Planning , Ground Lessons 0 Comments

Lesson Date: 08.20.08

With Stage 2 completed it was time for us to move on to stage 3, cross-country (enroute) planning.  Since I hadn’t had one in a while, Nick thought it would be best if we made the day’s lesson a ground lesson, and covered a few new topics.  So we grabbed a briefing room, got out the dry erase markers, low-altitude enroute chart and Instrument Approach Procedures (IAPs).

We reviewed the notion that an IFR flight is one that basically connects a departure to an enroute segment of flight which in turn connects to an approach.   Using VORs and Airways for the enroute planning can sometimes lead to a less than straight route of flight, and while it is possible to file direct using GPS there are altitude and airspace considerations to be made, especially in congested and mountainous California.  Using the chart and plates we walked through several “how would you get from here to here” scenarios before turning our attention to the topics of weather briefings and flight plan filing.

Nick is a proponent of the online method of briefing and filing, with his weapon of choice being CSC Duats.  This is good because I tend to favor the online method as well, as opposed to calling 1-800-WXBRIEF.  While we had already walked through much of the data required when filing, Nick reminded me that I need to give at least 30 minutes from the point of filing to when I request my clearance for the flight plan to be available to ATC.  This is usually not an issue because it takes about that long to get out to the airplane (we have to drive), pre-flight, and for me to get all my gear setup in the cockpit.

To finish up the day’s lesson we entered into a discussion about potential destinations for my cross-country flight with Nick simply asking me, “Where do you want to go?”  Not being satisfied with the standard run-of-the-mill locations the flight school usually uses (i.e. Fresno) I said, “Let’s go someplace different, how about Paso Robles and then on to Monterey?”  We got out the plotter and found that a flight from Livermore to Paso Robles, then on to Monterey and back to Livermore does in fact meet the 250nm distance requirement, and would provide us with a good variety of approaches to choose from.  It was settled, it would be KLVK-KPRB-KMRY-KLVK and after a quick look at the schedule we decided on a date August 31st.

With the lesson finished I left with a homework assignment to prepare flight planning logs for each portion of our flight.  After all these approaches, I am really looking forward to the cross-country flight.

I can see the wind

Published June 24, 2008 Flight Planning 0 Comments

A few weeks ago, I showed up for a lesson on what was a fairly windy afternoon.  Nick said that given what he wanted to accomplish, it might not be the best day for us to go flying.  While I never like to hear that, I do understand why he said it and I do trust his judgment.   Before we made the final call, we sat down at the flight schools computers to check the weather. 

I pulled up the usual sources and found that conditions varied greatly in the area, but that the winds definitely seemed to increase as we got closer to the practice area around Stockton, where it was reportedly gusting around 25 knots.  We quicly came to the conclusion that it would be more productive if we stayed on the ground, but as one last check of the conditions Nick showed me a page on the USGS web site where you can see a dynamic graphical model of the  winds in and around the San Francisco Bay Area.  A picture doesn’t do it justice, you have to see it in motion for the full affect.  The best time to look is in the afternoon (Pacific time) when the afternoon winds have picked up.

Bay Area Wind Model

Pretty neat huh?  What’s interesting to me is that you can see the influence the local topography has on wind speed and/or direction, with areas visible where the wind quickly accelerates or changes direction.   It is simply a model that describes the flow of wind at a given time, so I guess that means that it simply shows you what it thinks the winds are doing based on observed data.  It models the winds at the surface so it is of minimal use for flight planning information, and who know how accurate it really is, but it is cool!



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