Preflight - Route Planning Flashcards
What are preferred routes and where can they be found?
Preferred routes are those established between busier airports to increase system efficiency and capacity
Preferred routes can be found in the Chart Supplement U.S.
What are Enroute Low-Altitude Charts? How often are these charts revised?
Enroute low-altitude charts provide aeronautical information for navigation under IFR conditions below 18,000 ft. MSL
Enroute low-altitude charts are revised every 56 days
Are the courses displayed on Enroute Low-Altitude Charts magnetic or true?
All courses are magnetic and distances are nautical miles
What are Enroute High-Altitude Charts?
Enroute high-altitude charts are designed for navigation at or above 18,000 ft. MSL
These charts include jet route structure, geographic coordinates, selected airports, reporting points
These charts are revised every 56 days
What are “Terminal Area Charts” (TACs)?
Area charts show congested terminal areas such as Dallas/Ft. Worth or Atlanta at a large scale
They are included with subscriptions to any U.S. set (Low)
These charts are revised every 56 days
Where can updated information be obtained about changes to aeronautical charts that occurred between chart publication dates?
Chart Supplement U.S.
The Chart Supplement U.S. provides a means for pilots to update visual charts between edition dates
The Chart Supplement U.S. republished every 56 days while sectional aeronautical and VFR terminal area charts are generally revised every six months
What other useful information can be found in the Chart Supplement U.S. which might be helpful in route planning?
Special notices - prohibited areas, aerobatic and glider practice areas, noise abatement areas, etc.
ARTCCs - low and high altitude transmitter site frequencies
FSS frequencies
Routes/waypoints - low and high altitude preferred routes; VFR waypoints
GPS Q routes
VOR Receiver checkpoints and VOTs
Aeronautical chart bulletins
How does a pilot determine the type and status of an instrument approach light system at the destination airport?
A pilot should check the Chart Supplement U.S. and any NOTAMs to determine availability and status of light systems, light intensities, and radio-controlled light system frequencies
Also, an FSS briefer will also have access to any recent changes in the status of airport light systems
What are NOTAMs?
Notices to Airmen (NOTAM)
Disseminated via the National NOTAM System
Time-critical aeronautical information, which is of either a temporary nature or not known sufficiently in advance to permit publication on aeronautical charts or in other operational publications
It is aeronautical information that could affect a pilot’s decision to make a flight
Includes such information as airport runway closures, changes in the status of navaids, ILS’s, radar service availability, and other info essential to planned en route, terminal, or landing operations
Explain the following types of NOTAMs: (D) NOTAMs, FDC NOTAMs, Pointer NOTAMs, Military NOTAMs, and SAA NOTAMs.
(D) NOTAMs - information that requires wide dissemination via telecom, regarding enroute navaids, civil public-use airports listed in the Chart Supplement U.S., facilities, services, and procedures
FDC NOTAMs - Flight information that is regulatory in nature including, but not limited to, changes to IFR charts, procedures, and airspace usage
Pointer NOTAMs - issued by a FSS to highlight and point out another NOTAM
Military NOTAMs - pertain to U.S. Air Force, Army, Marine, and Navy navigational aids/airports that are part of the NAS
SAA NOTAMs - issued when Special Activity Airspace active outside the published schedule times and when required; SAA includes special use airspace, instrument and visual military training routes, aerial refueling tracks and anchors
FICON NOTAMs: - (field condition) provide contaminant measurements for paved runways
All (D) NOTAMs will have keywords contained within the first part of the text. What are several examples of these keywords?
RWY, TWY, APRON, AD, OBST, NAV, CHART, SVC, AIRSPACE, ODP, etc.
Know what these keywords, often abbreviations, mean and how they fit into the NOTAM
Where can NOTAM information be obtained?
FSS
DUATS vendors
Foreflight
Notices to Airmen Publication (NTAP) - published every 28 days
NOTAMs are available on the FAA website
How can a pilot obtain the latest GPS NOTAMs?
A pilot can specifically request GPS aeronautical information from a FSS during preflight briefings
What do the NOTAM terms “UNRELIABLE” and “MAY NOT BE AVAILABLE” indicate when used in conjunction with GPS and WAAS NOTAMs?
Both of these terms indicate that the expected level of service may not be available
This does not mean that you cannot fly that level of service; instead, it’s advising the pilot that they may encounter an outage while using that cause for other means of NAV (if non-WAAS)
When flight planning an RNAV route, where should your route begin and end?
Plan the random route portion of the flight plan to begin and end over appropriate arrival and departure transition fixes or appropriate navaids for the altitude stratum (high vs. low charts) within which the flight will be conducted
The use of normal DPs/STARs is recommended, where available
