CREATING A NEW FLIGHT (iOS)

The iOS app offers several ways of creating and filing a new flight plan:

You can create or edit a new flight when your device is not connected to the Internet; the iOS app will then synchronise with the web app the next time the device is online. 

Using a Flight Plan Template

  1. Tap  in the top left corner to view the app menu, and tap New Flight.
    A list of the flight plan templates saved on your FlightPlan account is displayed, divided into categories.
  2. Tap a template in either the Suggested, Recent or Created By Me tabs.
    Suggested templates are taken from the list saved on your FlightPlan account which are close to your current location.
  3. Choose whether to create a flight with the template, edit the template itself, create a copy or delete the template.
    If you create a copy, choose a new name for the template and tap Apply.
    The route is displayed on a map screen with a panel for adjusting the main settings.
  4. You can now follow the instructions below for using Quick File (from step 4) to edit your template or flight plan.

Using Quick File

  1. Tap  in the top left corner to view the app menu, and tap New Flight.
  2. Tap Quick File near the bottom of the screen.
  3. Select whether to create a VFR or IFR flight.
    A map screen is displayed with a panel for entering the main settings.
  4. Enter the departure and destination locations:
    You can search for airfields by their long name or their ICAO or IATA codes.
    You can enter latitude and longitude for the location.
    You can tap  to set the location to the Home Location in the Settings screen.
    You can tap  to set the location to your current position (if this is enabled on your device).
    Finally, you can tap any point on the map to select it as part of the flight.
  5. For VFR flights, you can define a flight using the route string panel.
    Alternatively, you can use the map.
    For IFR flights, tap Autoroute to generate routes for the flight plan, and then select one from the list displayed.
    You can find more details about the Autorouter here and in this online article.
    Once selected, you can modify an IFR flight route by editing the route string directly or by making changes to the route on the map. You can also tap  to select another route.
    Note: If you open an IFR flight from the Flights screen, you will need to tap Autoroute to regenerate the list of possible routes.
  6. Once the route is defined, tap Form near the top of the screen and enter other flight settings such as alternates, times, aircraft, etc.
  7. You can choose to automatically calculate the enroute time and endurance using the Auto sliders, or enter them manually.
  8. Click Save to save the flight plan to your account if you want to file it later.
    You can save the route as an individual flight or as a flight template for quick reuse later.
    OR
    Click File to save and file the flight plan immediately. You will need to check the route and Field 18 comments before confirming. If the plan is filed successfully then it is displayed with a green banner and listed in the Active tab in the Flights screen. 
    Follow this advice if the plan is rejected or suspended. 

 

Once a flight is filed, you can view the details from the Flights screen. You can manage and make changes to the flight in the same way as in the web-based software.

Creating or Editing a Route Using the Map

You can create an entire route or edit an existing route using the map screen. This is especially useful for VFR flights which do not require validation. These are the actions available to you:

  • Tap a location on the map to select it and choose whether to add it to the route as a departure, destination, waypoint or stay.
    Published waypoints are indicated by a series of symbols depending on their type (shown under the name of the waypoint when tapped). If an undefined location is tapped then this is shown by the symbol  and given a designation based on its bearing and distance from the nearest beacon or navigation transmitter.
    Note: When you add a stay, you need to enter a reason. 
  • Tap and briefly hold a location to display a table of nearby waypoints , airfields  and towns/cities  that you can select, and then choose where to insert this location in the route (after an existing point).
    Note: Certain accounts also allow you to search for postal addresses . If this option is available on your account, you first need to download the data using the Settings menu.
  • If you want to find a specific location, tap  on the map and then enter the first letters of the location to find nearby points matching your search term. Select the point and insert it as described above.
  • For any location you select, you can tap  in the pop-up box to display the great circle distance and bearing from your current location to the selected point.
    To remove this information from the map, tap .
  • To modify a route, you can tap a waypoint on the route and select Move from the pop-up menu. The waypoint is highlighted as shown below. Tap the new location for the waypoint and the route will be redrawn.

    You can cancel this operation by tapping Cancel in the message box at the bottom of the screen.
  • If you tap and hold any point along the route, a new waypoint appears on the map just above your finger (as shown below). You can drag this to the required location and then release to add a new waypoint to the route.
    You can also move an existing waypoint in the same way. Refer to this online article for further details.

Note: You can add a stay using the map as described above, but to avoid invalidating the route it is safest to select beacons or transmitters. Making changes to IFR flights on the map can invalidate the route in some cases. 

Building and Editing a Route String

To manually edit route strings for VFR or IFR flights:

  1. Tap  next to the route string.
  2. Modify the route string using the on-screen keyboard.
  3. When completed, tap .

For VFR flights, you can also tap  to insert a new point to the final stage of the current route. Select a waypoint, airfield or town/city as above and so gradually build a new route string which is displayed on the map.