On 2006-10-30, Jay Honeck wrote:
When I first started flying, flight planning was laboriously done with
a sectional chart and a pencil. I would carefully plot my course,
figure out VOR frequencies, plan waypoints where I could triangulate my
position with multiple navaids, and make note of visual checkpoints. It
could take 20 minutes to plan a 1-hour flight. It could take DAYS to
plan a multi-day, truly "cross-country" trip.

Even with manual flight planning, the time spent planning is more a
function of experience. I had about 1000 hours when I flew my Cessna 140
coast to coast in the United States. It was all done by hand, and by
looking out the window - the fun of the trip was partly in the
navigating.

It didn't take days to plan - indeed, planning took about as long as
reviewing the charts and drawing a line (which I like to do when using
GPS anyway, so I'm well aware of special use airspace). Also, with
experience, you can divert off track and not have to go back to where
you diverted - being able to match up ground features and map features
becomes vastly easier with practise, as does estimating intercept
courses and estimating ETE.

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