How/where to file flight plans

H

Hari Pammal

Filing Flight Plan
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May 30, 2018
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hari2000
Hey All,

Student pilot with a few solo hours, preparing for my solo XC. I've done one XC with the instructor & the 2nd one is on saturday.

The first time, he kinda filed the FP via his 'App' & we called flight services on the radio. Everything happened so fast, am still trying to catch up. Filling out the silly antiquated nav-log is stressing me out quite a bit.

What's the best way to file a flight plan ?
Can it be done online (free/paid) ?
Is there an easy way to fill/calculate nav-logs, using the damn slide rule is giving me the shivers.
I have some reservations about coughing up $550 for an Ipad & $100 for Foreflight

Any advice & explanation is much appreciated. (Noob level knowledge)
Ps. Applagize for identical posts - Haven't been on a forum in 10 years
 
Outside of IFR or international ops, I don't file, just fluff following or just not even that.
 
Hari Pammal said:
Hey All,

Student pilot with a few solo hours, preparing for my solo XC. I've done one XC with the instructor & the 2nd one is on saturday.

The first time, he kinda filed the FP via his 'App' & we called flight services on the radio. Everything happened so fast, am still trying to catch up. Filling out the silly antiquated nav-log is stressing me out quite a bit.

What's the best way to file a flight plan ?
Can it be done online (free/paid) ?
Is there an easy way to fill/calculate nav-logs, using the damn slide rule is giving me the shivers.
I have some reservations about coughing up $550 for an Ipad & $100 for Foreflight

Any advice & explanation is much appreciated. (Noob level knowledge)
Ps. Applagize for identical posts - Haven't been on a forum in 10 years
Click to expand...

You need to sit down with your instructor, tell him to slow it down, and have him go over it piece by piece, slowly.
 
@Hari Pammal

1800WXBRIEF.com is the website.

Same thing as a phone number if you’d like a weather briefing and to file via phone.

Check with your instructor and make sure they want you to file before filing.
 
+1 to working with your instructor on this.
 
Hari Pammal said:
Hey All,

Student pilot with a few solo hours, preparing for my solo XC. I've done one XC with the instructor & the 2nd one is on saturday.

The first time, he kinda filed the FP via his 'App' & we called flight services on the radio. Everything happened so fast, am still trying to catch up. Filling out the silly antiquated nav-log is stressing me out quite a bit.

What's the best way to file a flight plan ?
Can it be done online (free/paid) ?
Is there an easy way to fill/calculate nav-logs, using the damn slide rule is giving me the shivers.
I have some reservations about coughing up $550 for an Ipad & $100 for Foreflight

Any advice & explanation is much appreciated. (Noob level knowledge)
Ps. Applagize for identical posts - Haven't been on a forum in 10 years
Click to expand...

Take these notes with a little grain of salt as I typed them up when I was a student, but here are my then "noob" thoughts on how to fill out a flight plan form and various ways for filing, opening, and closing the flight plan.

Duat.com is gone, and the "by computer" part should now be supplemented with apps like Foreflight, but maybe this will be a good launching off point for a discussion with your instructor:

FlightPlans01.jpg


FlightPlans04.jpg
 
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Great post, eetrojan. Actually answered the OPs question. DUAT is dead, of course.

Bob
 
eetrojan said:
Take these notes with a little grain of salt as I typed them up when I was a student, but here are my then "noob" thoughts on how to fill out a flight plan form and various ways for filing, opening, and closing the flight plan.
Click to expand...


Oh WOW!
Thank you very much. :):):D:D

Very very helpful
 
Cool. Make sure you file at least a couple of flight plans by phone so you force yourself to learn how they want you to efficiently give them the info. As somebody said above, tell them that you're a student pilot and they'll help you out.
 
Someone please correct me if I am wrong or its already been said: Can you now activate the flight plan via a text message from your phone? So if the OP doesn't want to use a tablet during training (wow, rare!) he could still use his phone to activate while idling and just before takeoff. Same for closing it I thought, via text/sms.

For my training I did full wxbrief phone calls and filed with them for the dual X/C and all but one solo X/C. The one solo X/C where I used the tablet (Garmin Pilot) to file...I screwed up and got the dredded call from them when I was a bit late. Turns out the tablet version did not add any extra time, it just computed the flight time like any good computer will do. But we were doing lots of full stops at night to meet the 10 requirement. Plus we had to do some waiting at one Delta because of Guard Helicopter IFR night approaches with their fancy smancy NVG's.

So the lesson I learned on the electronic version was to override the arrival time to account for full-stops, etc.

If you have not done FF I would also suggest that your CFI have you do that a few times. I have already found it quite useful and perhaps more practical than the VFR flight plan. Neither of my CFI's covered FF except a few attempts to get into the Bravo which I did not realize at the time were FF.
 
If you file with Skyvector, they send you an email with a link to activate from your phone or connected tablet. They also send an email to close.

It will also create a nav log, but I would suggest the OP learn how to create the navlog manually to understand how it works and you can then check your work with skyvector.

@Sinistar - I've seen the same challenge with Garmin Pilot not letting you adjust the total time. I make sure to add comments and use skyvector to actually file when I'm doing a multi-stop (student XC), and duplicate the plan in Garmin Pilot for use while flying.
 
Register with www.1800wxbrief.com and you can open and close flight plans via text. They also send you texts (warnings, alerts, etc) by text during your flight.

"Leidos encourages all VFR pilots to file flight plans so they can receive the safety benefits of the Adverse Condition Alerting Service (ACAS) and, in the unlikely event of an accident, the Search and Rescue services initiated by Flight Services.

Many pilots have told us they choose not to file because they are concerned about forgetting to close their flight plan and triggering a Search and Rescue operation, or that they find it inconvenient.

We’ve provided several options for addressing these concerns. Pilots can activate (including assumed departures) and close flight plans directly from the Pilot Web Portal without having to contact Flight Services. Our partners in the commercial flight planning app marketplace can also provide Activate and Close capabilities directly from their apps using the free interfaces we’ve made available to them.

EasyActivate™ and EasyClose™ provide another alternative. Pilots that register for these services receive an EasyActivate™ email 30 minutes prior to the estimated time of departure for each filed VFR flight plan. The email contains a link to activate the flight. Select the link and that’s it – your flight plan is activated, and you do receive immediate confirmation. An EasyClose™ email is sent 30 minutes prior to your estimated time of arrival (based on your actual departure time) and works the same way.

It's a free service! Register using the EasyActivate™ EasyClose™ window, which can be opened from the pilot dashboard by selecting the EasyActivate™ EasyClose™ button."

Bob
 
1800 weather brief,or fore flight. Some times it’s good to talk to a real person.
 
Sinistar said:
Someone please correct me if I am wrong or its already been said: Can you now activate the flight plan via a text message from your phone? So if the OP doesn't want to use a tablet during training (wow, rare!) he could still use his phone to activate while idling and just before takeoff. Same for closing it I thought, via text/sms.

For my training I did full wxbrief phone calls and filed with them for the dual X/C and all but one solo X/C. The one solo X/C where I used the tablet (Garmin Pilot) to file...I screwed up and got the dredded call from them when I was a bit late. Turns out the tablet version did not add any extra time, it just computed the flight time like any good computer will do. But we were doing lots of full stops at night to meet the 10 requirement. Plus we had to do some waiting at one Delta because of Guard Helicopter IFR night approaches with their fancy smancy NVG's.

So the lesson I learned on the electronic version was to override the arrival time to account for full-stops, etc.

If you have not done FF I would also suggest that your CFI have you do that a few times. I have already found it quite useful and perhaps more practical than the VFR flight plan. Neither of my CFI's covered FF except a few attempts to get into the Bravo which I did not realize at the time were FF.
Click to expand...
I thought the 1800wxbrief text message required you to click an internet link to open/close but based on the site description it implies that you can open/close by text response. Maybe they added that feature since I used it. Last time I used it, I had to call them because my phone had no internet(imagine that).
 
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mscard88 said:
Y'all are saying the same thing the past 3-4 posts. Don't y'all read the thread before posting? :mad2::rofl:
Click to expand...
No, I was saying that I don't think the text messaging function works without internet, I just pasted one of the same blurbs that Bob pasted. I'll go back and delete that blurb for ya.
 
exncsurfer said:
No, I was saying that I don't think the text messaging function works without internet, I just pasted one of the same blurbs that Bob pasted. I'll go back and delete that blurb for ya.
Click to expand...

Not necessary, just that the same thing was posted 3-4 posts in a row. No worries.
 
mscard88 said:
Y'all are saying the same thing the past 3-4 posts. Don't y'all read the thread before posting? :mad2::rofl:
Click to expand...
Aw shucks, the main reason I said something is that as epic as @eetrojan 's post is, I didn't see the new text/sms feature which would keep the OP happy as he is the only student pilot on the entire planet who doesn't want to use a iPad :)

Bob nailed it though......now to go post the same thing in his other thread so they don't get out of synch :D
 
exncsurfer said:
No, I was saying that I don't think the text messaging function works without internet, I just pasted one of the same blurbs that Bob pasted. I'll go back and delete that blurb for ya.
Click to expand...
that has changed. now you reply with 1 to open and something similar to close
 
Hari - you don't need an expensive iPad to use the easiest way to file, activate, and close a VFR flight plan. Use the 1800wxbrief.com website like several mentioned previously. You will have to register to be able to use the service, but all you need is a smart phone - no tablet needed.

The main thing is to always use Flight Following. I don't always file a VFR flight plan, but I always use FF on any x country that I don't file IFR.

I am actually surprised your CFI would file a flight plan without going through it with you step by step. That kind of alarms me.
 
exncsurfer said:
I thought the 1800wxbrief text message required you to click an internet link to open/close but based on the site description it implies that you can open/close by text response. Maybe they added that feature since I used it. Last time I used it, I had to call them because my phone had no internet(imagine that).
Click to expand...
They are also in the middle of a series of focus group sessions to discuss updates/new features to make the site better/easier/more useful. As far as I know they don't have a final feature list and roll-out schedule (focus groups are on-going). Stay tuned...
 
Hari Pammal said:
...
Is there an easy way to fill/calculate nav-logs, using the damn slide rule is giving me the shivers....
Click to expand...

Come on...all the cool kids use the Whiz Wheel! All kidding aside, I got through 3.5 years of college with a slide rule. They are pretty amazing devices and teach you how to approximate and estimation (is that 0.3 gallons or 30?). The circular slide rule is easy to use once you get a the idea down and the wind correction thing has the directions right on it.

Re the paper flight log; I hate every one I've used so I finally whipped one up in Excel that had everything I wanted and I'm a happier camper.
 
Doug F said:
They are also in the middle of a series of focus group sessions to discuss updates/new features to make the site better/easier/more useful. As far as I know they don't have a final feature list and roll-out schedule (focus groups are on-going). Stay tuned...
Click to expand...

Better radar links to NOAA’s stuff would be nice. God their radar mosaics are straight out of the 90s and modem dial up. :)
 
zaitcev said:
P.S. Anyone remembers these:

View attachment 63638
Click to expand...
Sure do, my flight bag is full of them. I fill one out every time I file an IFR flight plan, then I read from them when I call flight services to file my flight plan. And Nope, I'm not an old guy. Are there more modern, simpler ways to do it, yep, don't care.
 
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