| So, how do you obtain a flight plan? Well, as a BAV pilot you have a head start! We give you fantastic free software in the OSP and ACARS. Most, if not all our flights in the OSP have a preferred flight plan ready for you to copy. The OSP will also show you other flight plans which have been recently filed by other pilots. In most cases you should use the 'preferred' flight plan. Just run your chosen flight plan through the OSP Flight Plan Audit to check that it is still valid, and, if necessary, note any alterations which are required.
If you are joining one of our regular 'events' or 'flyins' then you will be supplied with the flight plan. This will be published on the Events page or on Flo's Flyin pages.
Understanding a flight plan
For large commercial aircraft operating out of busy airports a flight plan normally consists of three parts.
- Standard Instrument Departure (SID)
- The en route section
- Standard Terminal Arrival Route (STAR)
SIDS and STARS are basically a series of waypoints coupled with constraints in the form of speed and altitude restrictions. These ensure that departing and arriving aircraft fly set patterns in busy airspace without the need for constant instructions from Air Traffic Control. SIDS and STARS are well documented and you should aim to print copies of those you use on a regular basis. Find these in Operations/Chart Library and select the relevant area.
To understand a basic en route flight plan we'll take a flight from London Heathrow to Glasgow. It might look like this:
WOBUN DCT WELIN UN57 POL UN601 MARGO
WOBUN, WELIN and MARGO are waypoints located on radio beacons (either VOR's or NDB's) whilst UN57 and UN601 are airways (like motorways of the skies).
So, what this flight plans tells us is that we fly to WOBUN then direct (DCT) to WELIN where we join Airway UN57. We leave Airway UN57 at POL (Pole Hill) where we join Airway UN601 to MARGO.
If you are used to travelling by road then you can equate a flight plan to a road route such as Winchester M3 Chertsey M25 South Mimms A1M Hatfield where Winchester, Chertsey, South Mimms and Hatfield are waypoints and M3, M25 and A1M are motorways.
How to choose a flight level
Written by our Flight Operations Manager Michael Koehler; this invaluable document will help you decide which flight level is correct for the airspace you are about to transit. Well worth printing and keeping on the flight deck. Find it in Training/Guides
Alternate Airports
When planning a flight you will always need to specify an alternate airport for landing in case the weather at your destination is below minimums. You may also need to divert during a flight in the event of an emergency. You can download a list of BA Alternates. This is in Exel spreadsheet form and has been compiled by our long-standing member Ralph Watson from contributions on the BAV forum. It will be updated from time to time.
Software
If you wish to buy commercial software to assist you in flight planning then we can recommend FSNavigator (available here ) which runs as a module within Microsoft Flight Simulator and FSBuild (available here ) which is a stand alone product and can be run on a separate PC if required.
For Regional flights then we recommend UK Route which was written by our pilot Graham Sumner. This can be updated by installing new AIRAC cycles as they are published. UK Route is freeware and can be found in Training/Software
Kosovo - Special Rules
Please be aware that since 1999 special rules apply to flying in the vicinty of Kosovo. Visit this link and scroll down to find "About Kosovo Province"
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