Flight Planning Flashcards
Island reserve
Additional fuel required for arrival at island or other isolated airfield
Final reserve
- description
- amount
- mass to use
An amount of fuel that should always be left on the aircraft on landing
Turbine: 30 min holding @ 1,500ft
Piston: 45 min holding/economical fuel flow (could be cruise)
[Use mass at destination ALTERNATE, not destination]
Block fuel
AKA ramp fuel: the total fuel loaded
- Taxy fuel
- Trip fuel
Reserve fuel
+ Contingency fuel
+ Alternate fuel
+ Final reserve fuel
+ Additional fuel (if required)
- Extra fuel (at discretion)
Basic Empty Mass (BEM)
Airframe, oil, unusable fuel and necessary equipment for all roles of the aeroplane.
Variable load (VL)
Weight of crew, their equipment and baggage, food etc.
Dry operating mass (DOM)
Sum of BEM and VL
Total mass of aeroplane before useable fuel and traffic load
[Operating mass - OM, is DOM plus fuel, but no traffic load]
Traffic Load
Payload plus non-revenue load
Useful Load
Traffic Load + Fuel
Zero-fuel mass (ZFM)
DOM + traffic load
Ramp Mass
Mass at ramp, includes fuel, traffic load, everything!
= Operating Mass + Traffic Load
= Zero fuel mass + Total fuel
Brake release weight
Maximum TAKEOFF weight (i.e. release brakes at start of takeoff run).
Includes all fuel EXCEPT TAXI!
LSS formula
38.94 x sqrt(K)
Conversion
- imperial gallons
- US gallons
- litres
1 imperial gallon =
1.2 US gallons =
4.54 litres
Conversion
- kilograms
- lbs
1kg =
2.2lb
Impact of specific gravity on fuel burn
Change in specific gravity affects the number of litres burned, but not the mass which needs to remain constant
Minimum IFR Obstacle Clearance
At least 1000ft above any obstacle within 8km
High terrain: increase to 2000ft
3 types of RNAV route
- Fixed RNAV routes (RNP-5 required)
- Contingency RNAV routes (RNP-5)
- Random navigation routes (Random RNAV) for aircraft own preferred route (between the established RNAV waypoints)
Conditional routes
Cat 1: Permanently plannable (within times in the AIP)
Cat 2: Only at designated times (published daily)
Cat 3: Not to be planned on, only allocated by ATC
Conditional Route Availability Message (CRAM)
Gives times at which cat 2 conditional routes are designated available.
Published at 1500 UTC to cover 24 hours from 0600 UTC the next day.
ATS route identifier designation
- K, U, S
- F, G
5 or 6 characters
Optional prefix K - kopter, U - upper, S - supersonic.
Letter indicating type of route.
number from 1 to 999.
Last character sometimes not displayed, F - advisory on portion of route, G - only FIS on part of route
Airway markings:
- First FL or number
- Number followed by “A”
- Number followed by “T”
- “MAA” then number
First number or FL is Minimum Enroute Altitude (MEA)
1500a: Minimum Off-route altitude (MORA)
4000t: Minimum Obstruction Clearance Altitude (MOCA)
MAA4000: MAXIMUM Authorised Altitude
MOC(A) definition
Following clearance required based on “VARIATION IN TERRAIN ELEVATION”:
<= 3000ft: +1000ft
3000 - 5000ft: +1500ft
>= 5000ft: +2000ft
MEA vs MOCA
MEA covers the whole width of airway, segment or route.
In many countries MEA ensures navaid signal coverage.
Standard Instrument Departure (SID)
An IFR route linking an aerodrome or runway with a specified significant point, usually on an ATS route (where en-route segment begins).
Standard Instrument Arrival (STAR)
An IFR route linking a significant point (normally on an ATS route) with a point from which a published IAP can be commenced.
[In UK ends at a holding point from which ATC vector you to IAP or follow an Arrival Transition]
RNAV Transition
A PBN flight segment linking the STAR to the final approach segment.
RNAV SID/STAR
Design of an RNAV or RNP procedure that follows as close as possible the ground track of the conventional procedure, using waypoints.
These can then be followed by FMS, but may be issues with noise preferential routings as routing won’t match the conventional procedure exactly.
Approach stages and points
En-route phase
- Arrival segment (usually STAR)
Initial Approach Fix (IAF)
- Initial approach segment
Intermediate Fix (IF) [within 30 deg of CL]
- Intermediate approach segment
Final Approach Fix/Point (FAF/FAP)
- Final approach segment
Missed Approach Point (MAPt)
- Missed approach segment
Specified point (NDB/radial & DME)
Non-precision vs precision approaches
Precision have minima below 250ft
Non-precision is 2D only.
Note: Use of DA (instead of MDA) in RNAV terminology doesn’t imply precision approach.
ILS categories
Cat I: DH>200ft, RVR > 550m
CAT II: DH 100ft-200ft, RVR > 300m
CAT IIIA: DH <100ft, RVR > 200m
CAT IIIB: DH <50ft, RVR > 75m
CAT IIIC: No DH, No RVR
[Cat I can use barometric altimeter, Cat II and above need radio altimeter]
Type A & B approaches
Type A: >250ft DA
Type B: <250ft DA
Approach type diagram
Minimum satellites for RAIM
5
Fault Detection and Exclusion
Uses an extra satellite compared to RAIM (so 6 total) to perform predictive checks and exclude failed satellites.
RVSM
Reduced Vertical Separation Minima
Instead of going to 2000 gaps at FL290 (Easterly), maintain 1000 gaps to FL410 (Easterly).
2000ft gaps remain above FL410. Need criteria specific authorisation to enter this flight area.
Action if communication lost
- VMC
- IMC no radar
- IMC radar
- IMC no clearance
- IMC radar climb
VMC - Stay in VMC, land at nearest aerodrome and report to ATC.
IMC & no radar service - Maintain last cleared speed & level for 20 mins beyond failed reporting point, then follow flight plan.
IMC & radar service - Maintain cleared speed & level for 7 mins beyond failed reporting point (or 7600 setting time or time reaching last assigned level if later) then re-join flight plan.
IMC no clearance (inc. offset RNAV) - Proceed to flight plan before next significant point.
IMC radar climb - Climb to and maintain cleared level for 3 mins then continue with flight plan.
When is a flight plan required
- Crossing international borders
- Any portion to be provided with ATC
- IFR within advisory airspace
- Flight includes designated route or area where ATS require a flight plan to:
+ provide FIS & alerting service; or
+ coordinate with military or neighbouring states to prevent interception
Flight plan “departure time”
Estimated Off-Block Time (EOBT)
[i.e. pushback from gate]
Flight Plan time submission rules
If before the flight, at least 60 minutes before departure time (EOBT).
If in flight, at least 10 mins before point of entry to control/advisory area or point of crossing airway/advisory route
Air Traffic Flow Management special flight plan rules
Needs to be submitted at least 3 hours in advance.