2.3 Use the flight plan view
Use the flight plan view
Use the active flight plan to review the route while working with waypoint, performance, fuel and timing information.
In the Android and Apple apps, select a waypoint row in the flight plan table to open its details in Terminal. Select Flight Plan Show/Hide at the top-left to show or hide the table.
Android and Apple
INFO
A green cell can accept an entry or replace a value calculated by AvPlan EFB.
Open planning beside the map
- Open En Route.
- Select Flight Planning in the left dock.
- Select or open a plan if required.
- Review the selected route and stage on the map.
- Select supported route items or nearby features to review details and make available changes.
- Select Flight Planning again, or close the panel, when finished.
WARNING
Map edits affect the selected plan and stage. Confirm both before adding, editing or removing route items.
Read flight-plan fields
Each waypoint uses two rows of information.
| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| WPT ID | Waypoint identifier or user-waypoint name. It can also show a METAR icon, navaid frequency, airway identifier, user LSALT indicator or alternate-route shading. |
| ALT | Planned altitude or flight level. Enter three digits such as 015 or 220, or the full value such as 1500 or 22000. |
| TRK | Planned magnetic track. |
| TAS | Planned true airspeed from the selected performance profile or basic performance value. |
| WIND | Forecast wind for the leg at the planned time. |
| FUEL | Fuel volume or weight required for the leg. |
| DIST | Distance to the next waypoint in nautical miles. |
| ETD | Estimated departure time for the first waypoint; later waypoints show estimated time en route. Enter DDHHMM, or HHMM for a flight today. |
| LSALT | Route or grid lowest safe altitude. A grid value appears in parentheses. Select the cell to enter a user-calculated LSALT. |
| HDG | Planned magnetic heading after forecast wind is applied. |
| GS | Planned groundspeed in knots. |
| TEMP | Temperature deviation from ISA in degrees Celsius. |
| REM (fuel) | Planned fuel remaining, or the result based on an actual fuel-on-board value entered in Leg Details. |
| REM (distance) | Distance remaining to the destination of the stage in nautical miles. |
| ATA | Planned arrival time in italics or actual arrival time in bold. |
Apple
Apple
Use the TO row
During a flight, the TO row appears between the previous and next waypoints and updates live from the GPS position.
Apple
As each waypoint is passed, the row moves down the plan. Information above it is recorded actual data; information below it remains planned data recalculated from the previous waypoint. Enable Waypoint Auto Sequencing under Settings > User Settings to record waypoint arrival times automatically.
The TO row and HUD make it possible to compare planned and actual performance while assessing changes such as an unexpected headwind.
Route button
After entering the departure and arrival waypoints in the “Quick Plan Entry” Field, tapping the Route button will display different routing options.
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| Fly Direct | Selects a direct flight path between the two waypoints |
| Connecting IFR Routes | If a route has been promulgated between those to waypoints, it will appear here |
| Shortest IFR Route | This is using AvPlan EFB’s auto-routing engine to look for the shortest possible IFR route |
| Recently Filed Routes | This option brings up previously filed flight plans between those two waypoints that you can import and use as your own |
INFO
The Shortest IFR Route is auto-generated, and as such does not take into consideration preferred outbound/inbound routes from airports. Check with your airport’s documentation and adjust the route as necessary.
VFR/IFR toggle switch
Apple
The VFR|IFR toggle switch changes the entire plan (or stage in a multi-stage flight plan) to be under those flight rules.
To change from VFR to IFR or IFR to VFR within a plan, see here.
Plan/Fly toggle switch
Apple
The Plan/Fly switch changes the app from planning mode, to one that will be used in flight.
INFO
Note: The selected option is identified by the white section with blue writing. (e.g. in the above image, Fly is selected)
- When Fly mode is activated:
- Your ‘Off Blocks’ time is logged
- The GPS in your device is turned on (if not already running)
- Manually edited flight plan altitudes do not auto-fill down the plan
- The map scroll speed is slower (so a flick does not accidentally pan the map off screen)
- Changes the Terrain Overlay and the Flight Profile modes to show terrain proximity based on your GPS altitude and not flight plan altitude
- Requires a longer tap (≈0.2 seconds) to bring up the Nearest Items window within the En Route pane
- Your track flown is being logged to the currently open flight plan
- When Plan mode is re-activated:
- Track logging ceases
- Your ‘On Blocks’ time is logged
- Map scroll speed and Nearest Items tap length requirement returns to normal
- Manually edited flight plan altitudes auto-fill down the plan
INFO
It used to be recommended you place the flight plan back in Plan mode before closing the plan. This was to prevent a track line being created between where you last closed the plan and where you reopened it to review. It also prevented AvPlan EFB logging the track of your drive home. From version 7.10 onward, AvPlan automatically puts AvPlan back into Planning mode after you have landed and come to a stop.
Flight plan controls
Use flight plan controls
Android and Apple
The controls at the bottom of a flight plan are, from left to right:
- Edit mode
- Refresh Plan
- Aircraft and callsign
- Winds
- Send/Share Plan
Send or share a plan
Edit mode
Edit a flight plan
Select Edit Mode to edit the current plan. The button is orange while edit mode is active; select it again to return to normal mode.
Android and Apple
Edit mode allows you to:
- enter or clear a user wind in the WIND column
- enter true airspeed manually.
You can also:
- delete a leg using the red control to the left of its waypoint
- drag a leg using the grey control to the right
- select Add (+) to add a leg at the end of a stage.
The controls below the flight summary include:
- Clear for Reuse, which removes flight times, track logs, fixes, passenger lists and submission status. See Clear a plan for reuse.
- Reverse, which adds a return sequence to the end of the route; for example, A–B–C becomes A–B–C–B–A.
- Invert, which reverses the route; for example, A–B–C becomes C–B–A.
- Append, which adds waypoints from another saved plan to the end of the current plan without changing the saved source plan.
Refresh button
Refresh flight information
Select Refresh Plan to recalculate the flight plan. Weather and wind information more than 15 minutes old is downloaded and applied to the plan.
Android and Apple
If the information is less than 15 minutes old, AvPlan recalculates the plan without downloading it again.
Cancel a weather download
Select Refresh Plan again to cancel a weather download that is in progress.
Select an aircraft and performance profile
Select an aircraft and performance profile
Select the aircraft button to choose a different callsign for the current plan. AvPlan EFB applies that aircraft’s performance data and recalculates the plan.
Android and Apple
AvPlan EFB initially selects the callsign from the last-used flight plan.
- Select the callsign at the top-left of the flight plan.
- Select the aircraft.
- If the aircraft type has more than one detailed performance profile, select the required profile. Otherwise, AvPlan EFB uses its basic performance values.
Select Add (+) at the top of the aircraft pop-up to create an aircraft. Select the performance button at the top-right to change the performance profile.
Winds toggle button
Show or hide forecast winds
Android and Apple
Select Winds to include or exclude forecast winds from the current flight plan. Turning winds off provides a baseline calculation for time and fuel when planning beyond the available forecast period.
The icon turns red when winds are off. Select it again to restore forecast winds.
Flight plan description
Apple
You can optionally give your flight plan a particular name, which overrides the automatically generated one AvPlan EFB creates for you. This will be displayed in the list of flight plans in the Flight Plan Library.
Automated names consist of:
- For a single stage flight plan:
- [Departure waypoint code] – [Arrival Waypoint code]
- For a multi stage flight plan:
- [Departure waypoint code] – [Intermediate waypoint codes] – [Arrival Waypoint code]
Flight plan table
Android
The flight plan table contains information about the flight plan.
- Tap on a row in the flight plan to short-cut to the Terminal pane and details on that leg.
- To hide/show the flight plan, press the Flight Plan Screenshot for 5.2.1. Flight plan table icon on the top left of the screen.
Android and Apple
All fields that appear within the flight plan table shaded green are inviting you to either;
- enter information in that cell, or
- edit the automatically calculated information in that cell.
Each waypoint in your flight plan contains two rows of cells:
| Left | | --- | --- | --- | | WPT ID | Contains the waypoint identifier, or User Waypoint name. | Top Row | | ALT | Planned altitude for that leg. You can type either the flight level ‘A’ or ‘F’ style altitude figure (e.g. A015 or F220), or type the full number (e.g. 5500 or 25000) and AvPlan will automatically convert it. | | TRK | Planned track for the leg in ºmagnetic | | TAS | Planned True Airspeed for that leg. | | WIND | Planned wind for that leg in ºmag/speed in kts | | DIST | Distance in NM to the next waypoint | | ETD | Estimated Time of Departure. This field only appears in the first waypoint of a stage. Subsequent waypoints contain the Estimated Time Enroute (ETE) for that leg. The cell is expecting a six-figure entry (i.e. DDHHMM), however as a shortcut, if you are flying today simply type in the time (i.e. HHMM) and tap the return key. AvPlan will automatically enter the correct date. | | Bottom Row | | LSALT | Lowest Safe ALTitiude. The Grid LSALT will be placed in this cell as a placeholder. This figure will appear in parentheses. You can override the figure by tapping in and typing in your own user-calculated LSALT. To remove a user LSALT, delete the entered figure. | | HDG | Planned heading in ºmagnetic, accounting for forecast winds (unless the winds are toggled off, where the plan is presented in a zero-wind scenario) | | GS | Planned groundspeed in knots | | TEMP | Deviation from ISA in ºC | | REM | Distance in NM to the destination of that stage | | ATA | This field can either display Planned time of arrival (based on your ETD, which is displayed in italics), or it will display times based on your Actual Time of Arrival (ATA) in bold. |
TO row
In-flight, an extra row is inserted between the previous and next waypoints. This TO row displays live calculated data (recalculated every second) derived from your devices’ GPS location.
Apple
As you fly past each waypoint in your flight plan, the TO row sequences down the waypoint list. Above the TO row is historical data (Actual time of arrival, etc), below is planned information (based on planned winds and performance calculated from the time you passed the last waypoint).
Some of the information presented in the TO row can be replicated in the “HUD”. However, having the TO row inserted in the electronic flight log in this way makes a comparison of planned versus actual flight performance a breeze, therefore you can make informed decisions for diversions/extra fuel stops earlier and easier, should you experience un-forecast headwinds, etc.
Quick plan entry field
Android
To quickly enter flight plan waypoints, tap within the Quick plan entry field and type their identifiers in order with a space between each. When finished, tap return on the keyboard and your waypoints will be entered into the flight plan below. Air routes can also be included in the plan.
For example:
YMMB YTYA YTDN YLTV YMMB
Or you could include navaids:
YWGT WGT ELW MB YMMB
If some waypoints are already entered in your flight plan, typing more in the Quick plan entry field will add them to the end of the plan.