Using DUATS or other planners doesn't necessarily mean letting the software
select your waypoints. You can choose those yourself, and just let the
planner perform the tedious calculation of each leg's distance, course,
ground speed, wind correction angle, elapsed time, and fuel consumption.

But I don't find it tedious to plot each leg's course and distance.
It is part of being a pilot; how can it be tedious?

It's analogous, I think, to an amateur photographer's saying that
planning his composition and deciding what shutter speed and f-stop to
use, are tedious.

Obvously, I can't calculate GS, WCA and ET because I won't know the
wind until the day of the trip--and even then, wind forecasts are
notoriously inaccurate. My airplane's fuel consumption is something I
already know.

vince norris