because if its going to be bad I like being on a route flown by other aircraft
just in case something happens.
I live in the desert, If you go down there is not alot of places to land, so if
it has to happen, I want to be where people can easily find me. Plus with all
the mountains I like to follow the charts and the MEA's just to be safe. There
is no guessing when it comes to following the airways, its all laid out for you.
Another benefit is radar coverage, there are places out here where you dont get
radar coverage. You follow the airways, your good to go.

John Clonts wrote:

"Jeff" wrote in message
...
I use duats also to get a general idea of time and winds aloft and to pick
my
best altitude. I always select the user selected way points so I can do a
direct. Their direct uses waypoints, I dont care much about way points.
When I
file I call FSS. If I am going to be in IMC I will use the airways, if
not, then
I go direct.

If your not familiar with the area, and you expect bad weather, I would
use the
airways. If the weather was good and I wanted to cut time, I would go
direct or
a combination of the two, depending on weather and terrain.

Why does the weather affect whether you go direct?

Cheers,
John Clonts
Temple, Texas
N7NZ