Long XC over multiple sectionals

[Matthew]

Through trial and error, mostly error, I can transfer a course from the front page of a sectional to the back using the method described on the sectional itself.

I have a course I'm trying to plot that covers both front/back of one sectional, then cuts across the corner of another sectional and also crosses front/back.

Are there any tricks to this? This is a direct route, so my hope of using intermediate points won't necessarily work, the origin/destination are all I have to work with. Now I know the REAL reason my CFI chose this route.

Thanks for any tips.

 

[Skip Miller]

Through trial and error, mostly error, I can transfer a course from the front page of a sectional to the back using the method described on the sectional itself.

I have a course I'm trying to plot that covers both front/back of one sectional, then cuts across the corner of another sectional and also crosses front/back.

Are there any tricks to this? This is a direct route, so my hope of using intermediate points won't necessarily work, the origin/destination are all I have to work with. Now I know the REAL reason my CFI chose this route.

Thanks for any tips.

Plan the trip using flight planning software or your hand-held GPS. Use the indicated course to draw your line on the map.

Note please that this works best if the route is North-South or nearly so (or the reverse) and works least well with a course that is nearly east-west.

You can also find the departure and arrival airports' latitude and longitude. Somewhere on the internet is a program that will let you put in the two lat long's and it will give you course and distance. Don't forget to convert from True to Magnetic if needed. *edit* here is a web link:

http://www.islandwaterworld.com/greatcircle.htm

-Skip

 

[Matthew]

The course is from NE to SW, almost directly SW.

I've considered using flight planning s/w, then transferring the course line. I'm trying to be honest and use only the charts, pencil, paper, and plotter.

 

[SkyHog]

well - there's always the cheating way. Buy 2 of each sectional. line up the sectionals, and transfer the line across it. Then, copy the line onto the backside of the other sectional, so that you are only using one of each. Its a PITA, but it works.

 

[Ed Guthrie]

The course is from NE to SW, almost directly SW.

I've considered using flight planning s/w, then transferring the course line. I'm trying to be honest and use only the charts, pencil, paper, and plotter.

The same method as going front to back on one sectional, but you need two surrogate "charts" to serve as the backs (or fronts) of each sectional. I would use two pieces of butcher paper to fill in for the backs of both charts. Mark the overlap lines (the lines where the front & back of each chart overlap, plus the line where the back of chart #1 overlaps the front of chart #2). Mark indexing points on the charts and the butcher paper. Next transfer the destination airport to the butcher paper representing the back of chart #2. Align all of the reference lines. Draw the course line from chart #1 front, across butcher paper surrogate for back of chart #1, onto front of chart #2, and then onto butcher paper surrogate for back of chart #2, ending at the destination airport.

Unfortunately, the above gets you a straight line, not a great circle route.

The alternative is to ask DUATS to figure for you a VOR/DME RNAV course and then plot the radial/distance from each VOR as indicated on the flight plan the software generates. Connect the dots for a great circle course.

Personally, if a student of mine brought me a route line drawn using the later method I'd be suitably impressed.

 

[fgcason]

If I only have one sectional I'll use something closely resembling Ed's butcher paper trick.

You can even use an unrelated sectional for this if you pay attention to what you are doing. It's really about locating the off chart point in space and lining the actual chart up properly to that, not about the specific piece of paper you're using for the off chart point.

An alternative to having something to draw on: If you're really careful you can set a small object on the table at one of the airports, watch your chart alignment very carefully with a small piece of paper on each side of the chart to mark the flip point and do quite well. Takes practice to get it right.

If I fly an area more than once I keep the out of date chart. I also collect charts from anyone (including FBO's) who will give me one that they're going to throw out. The information is obviously out of date but the airports usually don't move very far and you're going to transfer the line to the current chart anyway. If you're flying by navaids and plotting between them you have to pay attention to any planning done on the old chart. I've seen a few navaids moved several miles or added or vanish completely.

 

[Matthew]

After laying out the charts on the table last night, I was able to do a combination of things.

Using the method described on the sectional, I extended one of the charts by getting the destination airport transferred onto a piece of notebook paper. Then, I lined up the lat/long lines between the two charts side-by-side. As it turns out, the course does not use both sides of the first chart, it just comes into the lower left corner but stays on the same page. The course then crosses onto the lower right corner of the 2nd sectional and continues onto the upper right corner of the back page of the 2nd sectional. By using the notebook paper extension on the 2nd sectional, I was able to trace from the origin to the destination using a looong straightedge.

No, it won't be a great circle route, but 150NM is probably not going to see much difference.

The return leg follows Victor airways so I didn't need to worry so much on that.

It was a good excersise.