SkyDemon Forums

Improving SD-generated FPLs (compliance with Doc 4444, etc)

http://forums.skydemon.aero/Topic12782.aspx

By joanna - 7/26/2014 11:42:59 AM

Hello,
I've noticed (or been pointed to by a Warsaw Briefing Office) the following problems with SkyDemon-generated ATS Flight Plans (as of SD 3.0.7 for iPad):
  1. The name of the VFR navigation points used in the route field (item 15) should be given in the following format: <4-letter-ad-code><1-letter-vfr-point>. E.g. "EPMOY" which denotes the Yankee VFR point of the EPMO aerodrome. At least in Poland they won't accept routes where VFR points are named only with a single letter (e.g. "Y"), which is what SD currently does (Doc 4444 doesn't allow 1-letter significant point designations either).
  2. There should be no "DCT" inserted between route points if the points are defined by geographic coordinates (See Doc 4444).
  3. At least in Poland, it is a good practice to repeat the route in the Other Information field (Item 18) as a RMK/ giving common names of the turning points, such as a name of a Town in place of the geographic coordinates (which were given in Item 15). This is said to be helping ATS people, especially FIS. It would be nice if SD offered an option to create such RMK/ entry automatically, using the names of the Waypoints.
  4. I was also told that some extra info that is placed by SD in Item 18, such as the pilot name, phone, and especially that it was created by SD Wink is unnecessary, distracting, and apparently even annoying to some ATS people... An option to permanently configure this extra info in Setup would thus be much appreciated.
So, to sum it up here's an exemplary FPL generated by SD:
(FPL-SPXYZ-VG-R44/L-V/C-EPMO1730-N0102A012 DCT I DCT Y DCT 5249N02018E DCT 5234N01943E DCT C DCT V DCT U DCT-EPMO0115-RMK/PILOT XYZ XYZ +48 XYZ, CREATED BY SKYDEMON, SUPP INFO RQSKBLIHAEX DOF/140726)

... and here is how it (apparently) should look like:
(FPL-SPXYZ-VG-R44/L-V/C-EPMO1730-N0102A012 DCT EPMOI DCT EPMOY DCT 5249N02018E 5234N01943E DCT EPMOC DCT EPMOV DCT EPMOU DCT-EPMO0115-RMK/ROUTE EPMOI EPMOY GLINOJECK PLOCK EPMOC EPMOV EPMOU RMK/EPPL LOWPASS DOF/140726)

The Plock airfield (EPPL) in the route above has been correctly written as geo coordinates by SD in Item 15, because it is not a final destination and the intention was only to do a low-pass over it.
Thanks!
joanna.
           
							
		

	
		
				      		    
		

		
            
            
            By Tim Dawson - 7/28/2014 3:04:00 PM				
            

                    
            Hello,
We already implemented the five letter ICAO and then VRP identifier convention for Poland, ready for the next version. This appears to be an anomaly specific to Poland but we were happy to do it to help. VRPs in other countries will still be single letters.
It's important to note that Doc 4444 is not strictly enforced in many/most European countries when it comes to VFR flightplans, in fact strictly enforcing it would cause flightplans generated by SkyDemon to be rejected in some locales. We simply have to take a pragmatic approach given the perspective we have.
Do you have a specific reference for your point number 2, please? I don't think we've come up against this before and although a minor point, there may be something we can do to help.
We have considered reiterating the route as remarks in Item 18, but rejected the thought as in most cases it would make the length of the FPL message too long.
The things we output in Item 18 have been decided upon after many years of sending VFR flightplans to all European countries. Pilot name and telephone number are absolutely essential as lots of ATC units make contact with the pilot as a matter of course. The inclusion of SkyDemon is not vanity; it's also very important that ATC units know what software created the flightplan to make it easy for them to get in touch.