next up - Farmville! and the AOPA flight planner

woodstock

woodstock

Final Approach
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the 99s are flying to Farmville, I'm going to fly a leg.

I'm going to make the plan the old fashioned way but also use the AOPA flight planner. any tips? once I figure this out I think I'll use it as a backup each time.
 
woodstock said:
the 99s are flying to Farmville, I'm going to fly a leg.
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Well I would recomend you use a plane and not a leg. Legs are not very aerodynamic and have poor stability in the single configuration

woodstock said:
I'm going to make the plan the old fashioned way but also use the AOPA flight planner. any tips? once I figure this out I think I'll use it as a backup each time.
Click to expand...
Well if you are dead set on using RTFP I would say first start with a direct route and then start adding your way points.

If you also want to try one of the other flight planners download DUATS' Golden Eagle and do your flight planning on there, then you will have a better idea of which one works better for your needs.

IMHO RTFP is ok for IFR and not too great for VFR, DUATS Golden Eagle is much better for IFR and pretty good for VFR. I also like being able to have my W&B figured out with Golden Eagle for the flight and I like the format of the flight log better than RTFP. I also really like the Golden Eagle will work offline and behind a proxy server. RTFP will not.
 
smigaldi said:
Well I would recomend you use a plane and not a leg. Legs are not very aerodynamic and have poor stability in the single configuration.
Click to expand...

Depends on the leg, doesn't it? Since I've never seen Elizabeth's leg(s), I can't comment about it's aerodynamic properties.

Now, let me take my tongue out of my cheek. Elizabeth, enjoy Farmville. I got stranded there once when I landed for fuel and the starter in The Aluminum Mistress wouldn't engage. Got a lift to a little hotel in town, was able to walk to a nice restaurant for dinner, and when I went out the next morning (to try one more time before my partner drove down to rescue me) the starter engaged, so I then flew it to Martinsburg for a new starter. I really liked the airport and the town.
 
I have to second golden eagle flight planner. I haven't checked out AOPA's RTFP in a while, but I think golden eagle is way easier to deal with, and the features are more fun.
 
Golden Eagle could be great, but it falls short in several areas.

Pros:
* VFR terrain representaiton
* Profile view
* Runs disconnected from the internet

Cons:
* You can't rubber band anything to zoom in. There are only 8 fixed zoom levels.
* The "Set Insert Before" business setting up the route is very counterintuitive.
* The thing is huge (>100MB) and every 2 months you have to download a large (~30MB IIRC) update.

Basically, GE has more features but IFP is easier to use.
 
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