best flight planning sheet?

korben88

Line Up and Wait
Joined
Apr 22, 2015
Messages
587
Location
Salt Lake City
Display Name

Display name:
Troy
Now that I'm in the cross country flight planning phase of training I'm just wondering which of the various flight planning worksheets you guys recommend.
 
I just typed vfr flight log into google and picked the first one. They are pretty much all the same
 
This is one of the ones I found online. I added in an extra column for frequency changes along the route. I liked having the frequencies there handy before I needed them when I was on flight following. If you fill everything in and then fold along the bold lines it will fit a kneeboard. You do have to fill in the fuel usage for the first leg and it will compute the rest.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B-pja7mdegUqQlF2VXQzNnhkVEk
 
I, for one, am a HUUUUUUUGE fan of this particular flight log. Not that there's any sort of extra information on there (actually, there is a bit), but its really helpful in that it folds up nicely (if you follow their "user instructions") and fits onto a kneeboard.

http://www.dauntless-soft.com/PRODUCTS/Freebies/VFRFlightPlanner/

EDIT: If you click on the link and scroll down to the bottom of the page, it actually gives you a few variations of which planner to download. They all contain the same information, just organized differently. Check it out to see which one you like the best!
 
Make your own using a piece of notebook paper. You can customize it to your needs.
 
I prefer the kind that are folded in half, such that most of the calculations are hidden from view in flight (e.g. the ASA one). You don't need to be looking at dozens of different numbers in small boxes while trying to fly the plane.
 
I, for one, am a HUUUUUUUGE fan of this particular flight log. Not that there's any sort of extra information on there (actually, there is a bit), but its really helpful in that it folds up nicely (if you follow their "user instructions") and fits onto a kneeboard.

http://www.dauntless-soft.com/PRODUCTS/Freebies/VFRFlightPlanner/

EDIT: If you click on the link and scroll down to the bottom of the page, it actually gives you a few variations of which planner to download. They all contain the same information, just organized differently. Check it out to see which one you like the best!
This is what I ended up liking the most when I was doing my student cross countries. The feature I liked most is that it is set up to fold in half and give you these panels:

Outside front cover: Frequencies, large area for notes, and area to copy ATIS, all of which you might write while in flight
Inside left panel: Flight planning information that you wrote down before the flight and won't have to change in the air
Inside right panel: Flight planning information that you may have to change or fill in in the air, like actual leg times
Rear cover: Flight plan, weight and balance, and various other information that you will fill out on the ground and maybe refer to in the air, printed upside-down

So you fold it and clip the inside right panel to your kneeboard. You can close it to look at and write on the front cover, open it to see the left panel and write on the right panel, and lift it up (still clipped to the kneeboard) to read the back cover. I liked it so much that I copied that format for my own VFR and IFR navlogs. I used Word but should re-do them in Excel to get some automatic calculation. The difference between the VFR and IFR versions is that the IFR one has a lot of navaid information while the VFR one has a bigger box to describe the checkpoint. Both of them are somewhat simplified from Dauntless. But there's is a great starting point.
 
Damn I wonder if I could figure one of those out again :)
 
I, for one, am a HUUUUUUUGE fan of this particular flight log. Not that there's any sort of extra information on there (actually, there is a bit), but its really helpful in that it folds up nicely (if you follow their "user instructions") and fits onto a kneeboard.

http://www.dauntless-soft.com/PRODUCTS/Freebies/VFRFlightPlanner/

EDIT: If you click on the link and scroll down to the bottom of the page, it actually gives you a few variations of which planner to download. They all contain the same information, just organized differently. Check it out to see which one you like the best!

This is what I ended up liking the most when I was doing my student cross countries. The feature I liked most is that it is set up to fold in half and give you these panels:

Outside front cover: Frequencies, large area for notes, and area to copy ATIS, all of which you might write while in flight
Inside left panel: Flight planning information that you wrote down before the flight and won't have to change in the air
Inside right panel: Flight planning information that you may have to change or fill in in the air, like actual leg times
Rear cover: Flight plan, weight and balance, and various other information that you will fill out on the ground and maybe refer to in the air, printed upside-down

So you fold it and clip the inside right panel to your kneeboard. You can close it to look at and write on the front cover, open it to see the left panel and write on the right panel, and lift it up (still clipped to the kneeboard) to read the back cover. I liked it so much that I copied that format for my own VFR and IFR navlogs. I used Word but should re-do them in Excel to get some automatic calculation. The difference between the VFR and IFR versions is that the IFR one has a lot of navaid information while the VFR one has a bigger box to describe the checkpoint. Both of them are somewhat simplified from Dauntless. But there's is a great starting point.

+1. That's the one I like, too. But you need to be able to print or copy on both sides of the page for it to work.
 
Back
Top