A aviation & planes forum. AviationBanter

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Go Back   Home » AviationBanter forum » rec.aviation newsgroups » Instrument Flight Rules
Site Map Home Register Authors List Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read Web Partners

What fixes do you use for flight planning?



 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old May 10th 04, 06:27 PM
Paul Tomblin
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default What fixes do you use for flight planning?

I'm trying to improve my database generators for CoPilot and other
programs (see http://navaid.com/ and http://xcski.com/~ptomblin/CoPilot/
for details). The problem I'm trying to deal with is that the FAA is
totally inconsistent on how they name waypoints, DAFIF isn't any better,
and there are literally thousands of them. And because of that, I am
having real problems giving people a way to select just the types of
waypoints they want. I look through my databases and find instances of
what I would consider en-route waypoints labelled "WAYPOINT", "REP-PT",
even "RNAV-WP". One guy suggested that I just give the option of only
selecting waypoints if they are 5 alphabetic characters, with no numbers.
The problem I have with that is that I still end up with a lot of IAP
waypoints, including GPS ones, which bloats the database.

Now I don't know about you, but I don't put in the waypoints for an
instrument approach when I flight plan - I generally put the departure
airport, the first fix on the filed route, then I find the last waypoint
on the en-route chart that would apply to the STAR or normal approach, put
that in and the airport, and then apply a fudge factor for how long a
departure procedure and approach should take. Do other people do any
differently? Are you likely to want every named step-down fix and GPS
fly-over waypoint on your flight planning tool?

Another possibility I was looking at was that the FAA waypoint file lists
what charts a waypoint appears on, and DAFIF categorizes their waypoints
as "HI", "LOW", "BOTH", "RNAV" or "TERMINAL". So I was thinking maybe
of categorizing waypoints that way and allowing people to pick any
combination of:
- points that appear on High Altitude En-Route charts
- points that appear on Low Altitude En-Route charts
- points that appear Instrument Approaches ("Terminal")
The only problem I have is with SIDS (sorry, DPs) and STARS - should they
be classified as "terminal" or as "en-route"?

--
Paul Tomblin http://xcski.com/blogs/pt/
The problem with this country is that half of the population is below
median intelligence
  #2  
Old May 10th 04, 11:13 PM
Stan Gosnell
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

(Paul Tomblin) wrote in
:

I'm trying to improve my database generators for CoPilot and other
programs (see http://navaid.com/ and
http://xcski.com/~ptomblin/CoPilot/ for details). The problem I'm
trying to deal with is that the FAA is totally inconsistent on how
they name waypoints, DAFIF isn't any better, and there are literally
thousands of them. And because of that, I am having real problems
giving people a way to select just the types of waypoints they want.


I don't have a solution, Paul, but if you do find a solution let me know.
I don't use any of these very often, because I rarely fly on airways, but
it would be nice to be able to easily get what I do need. I have room on
my SD card for lots of waypoints, but the more you have, the longer sorting
and searching takes.

--
Regards,

Stan

  #3  
Old May 11th 04, 12:06 AM
Bob Noel
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

In article ,
(Paul Tomblin) wrote:

[snip]
Are you likely to want every named step-down fix and GPS
fly-over waypoint on your flight planning tool?


If you are referring to points in approaches, then no, I wouldn't
want them.


Do you know what the DAFIF/Arinc 424 rules are for naming points?
Might that help a little?

--
Bob Noel
  #4  
Old May 11th 04, 12:15 AM
Paul Tomblin
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

In a previous article, Bob Noel said:
Do you know what the DAFIF/Arinc 424 rules are for naming points?
Might that help a little?


The DAFIF WPT.TXT file only uses a few type classfications, "I" (Unnamed,
charted or computer nav fix), "IF" (same, but off-route), "R" (named fix),
"RF" (named, off-route), "NR" (named NDB fix), "NF" (off-route NDB fix)
and "V" (vfr reporting point). Not terribly helpful since "R" "named fix"
doesn't distinguish between en-route and approach named waypoints. And
they don't see very consistent. That's why I'm looking to combine that
Type field with the Usage Code field.


--
Paul Tomblin http://xcski.com/blogs/pt/
Died. Woke up in Hell. Punched in PIN, logged on. Just another day.
-- David Gerard
  #5  
Old May 11th 04, 02:51 AM
John Clonts
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default


"Paul Tomblin" wrote in message
...
I'm trying to improve my database generators for CoPilot and other
programs (see http://navaid.com/ and http://xcski.com/~ptomblin/CoPilot/
for details). The problem I'm trying to deal with is that the FAA is
totally inconsistent on how they name waypoints, DAFIF isn't any better,
and there are literally thousands of them. And because of that, I am
having real problems giving people a way to select just the types of
waypoints they want. I look through my databases and find instances of
what I would consider en-route waypoints labelled "WAYPOINT", "REP-PT",
even "RNAV-WP". One guy suggested that I just give the option of only
selecting waypoints if they are 5 alphabetic characters, with no numbers.
The problem I have with that is that I still end up with a lot of IAP
waypoints, including GPS ones, which bloats the database.

Now I don't know about you, but I don't put in the waypoints for an
instrument approach when I flight plan - I generally put the departure
airport, the first fix on the filed route, then I find the last waypoint
on the en-route chart that would apply to the STAR or normal approach, put
that in and the airport, and then apply a fudge factor for how long a
departure procedure and approach should take. Do other people do any
differently? Are you likely to want every named step-down fix and GPS
fly-over waypoint on your flight planning tool?

Another possibility I was looking at was that the FAA waypoint file lists
what charts a waypoint appears on, and DAFIF categorizes their waypoints
as "HI", "LOW", "BOTH", "RNAV" or "TERMINAL". So I was thinking maybe
of categorizing waypoints that way and allowing people to pick any
combination of:
- points that appear on High Altitude En-Route charts
- points that appear on Low Altitude En-Route charts
- points that appear Instrument Approaches ("Terminal")
The only problem I have is with SIDS (sorry, DPs) and STARS - should they
be classified as "terminal" or as "en-route"?


This would be great for me, because I often use the waypoints to
georeference approach charts and enroute charts, (e.g. see
alt.binaries.pictures.aviation "TPL GPS 33").

I remember once before having trouble that you're talking about, with the
categorization WAYPOINT", "REP-PT", "RNAV-WP", etc.

Thanks a lot for your service!

Cheers,
John Clonts
Temple, Texas
N7NZ


  #6  
Old May 11th 04, 03:27 AM
Blanche
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

As a rule I don't download any of the waypoints for CoPilot. I
manually enter the handful I need for VFR (already on the computer
in a file so I can download easily if they ever disappear). If I
go someplace where I need more, it's usually just a few, so those
can be manually loaded too.


  #7  
Old May 11th 04, 05:09 PM
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default



Paul Tomblin wrote:

I'm trying to improve my database generators for CoPilot and other
programs (see http://navaid.com/ and http://xcski.com/~ptomblin/CoPilot/
for details). The problem I'm trying to deal with is that the FAA is
totally inconsistent on how they name waypoints, DAFIF isn't any better,
and there are literally thousands of them. And because of that, I am
having real problems giving people a way to select just the types of
waypoints they want. I look through my databases and find instances of
what I would consider en-route waypoints labelled "WAYPOINT", "REP-PT",
even "RNAV-WP". One guy suggested that I just give the option of only
selecting waypoints if they are 5 alphabetic characters, with no numbers.
The problem I have with that is that I still end up with a lot of IAP
waypoints, including GPS ones, which bloats the database.


In NACO's DAI CD-ROM those fixes are segregated by:

DPs, IAPs, STARs, en route low, and en route high.

Seems using the en route low file would solve your problem.

 




Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Planning on RV10 MR Home Built 4 December 28th 04 03:51 AM
Want simple flight planning software marc Home Built 13 December 20th 04 05:36 AM
Route planning question Paul Tomblin Instrument Flight Rules 3 April 4th 04 02:40 PM
Global Aviation Flight Planning Software – Free Greg Siemon Instrument Flight Rules 0 December 20th 03 06:42 PM
Flight Planning software PA28Rdrvr Instrument Flight Rules 6 August 12th 03 12:18 AM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 06:03 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 AviationBanter.
The comments are property of their posters.