Flight planning spreadsheet

I'm working on an Excel spreadsheet to do flight planning using formulas
from Ed Williams site:

http://williams.best.vwh.net/avform.htm

Basically, it will duplicate what I used to do with an E6B and a paper form.

The log is set up so that all the information needed in flight is on one
half of an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet with the input data on the other half. You can
then fold it in half and have the rest of a clipboard size kneeboard
available for other stuff.

I like putting in the distance, course data, etc. well ahead of time and
then plugging in the weather information just before I go. Driving the
Sporty's E6B through it all is just too much work now that I'm no longer a
student and don't have to show my work to anyone. This spreadsheet should
make it easier.

(Yeah, I know there are all sorts of flight planners out there but I'm a
tightwad. Besides, I like simple, homebrew stuff that I can set up the way
I want.)

I've got good agreement between the spreadsheet and the E6B on heading but a
few percent disagreement on ground speed. I haven't done a complete hand
verification yet but the spreadsheet actually looks more accurate. When
there is an exact headwind, the spreadsheet give the right answer while the
E6B is off a couple knots. Does the Sporty's E6B use some approximations?

If anyone who is a wiz with formulas and Excel would like to take a look at
this, I'd appreciate it. Anyone who wants, to play with it, further develop
it, use it, whatever, feel free to download the in-progress file at:

http://home.maine.rr.com/rlma/Flightplan.xls

Strictly as-is, use at own risk, public domain. Just let me know if you
have any corrections, ideas, or comments.

--
Roger Long

I like putting in the distance, course data, etc. well ahead of time and
then plugging in the weather information just before I go. Driving the
Sporty's E6B through it all is just too much work now that I'm no longer a
student and don't have to show my work to anyone. This spreadsheet should
make it easier.

I'm not trying to throw cold water on your work but I guess I don't see
any advantage, Roger. Are you going to lug a laptop into the airplane to
work the spreadsheet? You mentioned paper folded onto a clipboard. After
you plug in the relevant info, how do you print it out -- copy by pencil?
So, I get this picture.... bags are loaded, preflight is done, now it's
time to call WXBRIEF. Uh oh, the winds at cruise altitude are 65 degrees off
the nose and blowing 22 knots. Later on, just past midway on my
cross-country, a check with flight watch reveals the winds have shifted
around to 20 or so degrees off the nose and picked up 5 knots.
In either of the above cases, a few movements of my whiz-wheel will
tell me: (1) the mag course to follow to correct for the cross-wind to hold
track, (2) the headwind(or tailwind) component and its affect on my ground
speed, and (3) the change in fuel consumption. By reverse logic, I can use
the whiz-wheel to estimate unknown wind directions and velocities
I do my planning on the "Flight Planner" sheets provided by AOPA Air
Safety Foundation. In addition to being handy for keeping all the
information organized, it is a great memory tickler for getting all the
information -- a flight planning checklist, so to speak.
I saw a favorably impressive demonstration of an electronic gizmo, like
Sporty's E6B. If it weren't for batteries and LCD screen, I'd probably have
one. For now, I use the calculator functions of the KLN-89B in the panel to
back up my whiz-wheel.
Do it the way it works best for you, Roger. What makes you warm and
fuzzy makes flying the best.

Regards,

Casey

Ah, I smell a philosophical difference. Since I'm not flying over trackless
wastes, have Loran, GPS, VOR's, finger on the sectional, etc., the plan is
just that, a plan. Like a battle plan, it starts to degrade at first
contact with reality.

The purpose of the spreadsheet is to give me the best prediction of fuel
burn, arrival times, and initial headings that can be generated a couple
hours before leaving for the airport. The probability that conditions will
change significantly is fairly low. Even lower is the probability that the
conditions I encounter will exactly match the forecasts. Although the plan
is a valuable guide to the flight and rough reality check on in-flight
calculations, it's really more of a "Pick me up at the airport at ____" tool
than a "where am I now" tool.

If I get a final briefing and find out that the winds are say 10% stronger
and have veered 30 degrees, I probably wouldn't rework the whole thing but
just make top of the head adjustments to the numbers. Initial headings are
just a convenience to help me settle down on the electric box's "Direct to"
pointer. Similarly, if I start running ahead or behind of my times to
waypoints, I'll just project ahead a similar approximate correction.

The spreadsheet is not a substitute for the Wiz Wheel or Electronic E6B. If
there is a significant change, say a 10 knot tailwind swinging around to a
25 knot headwind, I might sit down and rework the whole thing by hand with
the blank sheets I carry in my flight bag. More likely, in that case, I'll
be worried about the time, just make an overall correction, and interpolate
the rest as I go along. The plan, even though based on different wind
assumptions, still makes those gut estimates easier. Since I don't have a
$1000 headset or Oregon Aero seats, I don't fly very deep into my fuel
reserves anyway.

I have yet to find a reason to fiddle with the E6B in flight. There are too
many other ways to get the same answers while keeping eyes outside the
cockpit. Set your heading without wind correction, pick a landmark on the
horizon, then pick one closer. Crab until they stay in line, then hold that
course. Fly 10% of the distance to a waypoint and time it, now you know
your arrival ETA.

The most important VFR flight instrument is still the sectional on the lap
and the fingernail. When the GPS blips off, or the panel goes dark, that's
what will get you down safely.

--
Roger Long

There are still significant errors in ground speed. I'm trying to figure
out why.
--
Roger Long

You might take a look at how Excel defaults its degrees. I believe you may
have to convert to Radians or something, versus leaving everything in
regular ol' compass degrees.

--Brent

"Roger Long" om wrote in
message ...
There are still significant errors in ground speed. I'm trying to figure
out why.
--
Roger Long

Got it! Damn parentheses. What a difference a ( ) makes.

The corrected spreadsheet is at the original link:

http://home.maine.rr.com/rlma/Flightplan.xls

--
Roger Long

"Roger Long" om wrote in
message ...
Ah, I smell a philosophical difference. Since I'm not flying over
trackless
wastes, have Loran, GPS, VOR's, finger on the sectional, etc., the plan is
just that, a plan. Like a battle plan, it starts to degrade at first
contact with reality.

The purpose of the spreadsheet is to give me the best prediction of fuel
burn, arrival times, and initial headings that can be generated a couple
hours before leaving for the airport. The probability that conditions
will
change significantly is fairly low. Even lower is the probability that
the
..
..
We are on the same page, so to speak, even with minor philosophical
differences. I guess I'm seeing you doing the reinventing/replowing/(other
metaphors) thing. What's wrong with the free service from DUATS? It
doesn't look like an Excell page, but like the Ragu commercial says: "It's
all in there."
Perhaps the problem is I begrudge using my time that way. With that
aside, I volunteer to beta-test the spreadsheet should you ask.

Regards,

Casey

On Tue, 05 Aug 2003 20:14:25 GMT, "Brent Bigler"
wrote:

You might take a look at how Excel defaults its degrees. I believe you may
have to convert to Radians or something, versus leaving everything in
regular ol' compass degrees.

To quote Excel Help:

SIN(number)

Number is the angle in radians for which you want the sine.

Remark

If your argument is in degrees, multiply it by PI()/180 or use the
RADIANS function to convert it to radians.

Roger Halstead (K8RI EN73 & ARRL Life Member)
www.rogerhalstead.com
N833R World's oldest Debonair? (S# CD-2)



--Brent

"Roger Long" om wrote in
message ...
There are still significant errors in ground speed. I'm trying to figure
out why.
--
Roger Long

Looks OK Roger, but how do I download it to my Excel?. I can use it
alright in explorer but cant save it to my own disk. ( was I meant to be
allowed to do that?) Explorer crashes in the process of trying.

And I figured the column headed CRS is the magnetic track, but what do the
letters CRS stand for ( sorry if its obvious - I'm an Aussie and my
American isnt as good as it should be).

Eventually figured out the pressure height also, when I realised what the
29.92 was. Cant help wondering whos got the job of changing all the
Cessna and Piper altimeter subsetting to mbars for us Aussies , or do they
do that at the factory in the States?
Dont know why we bother to be honest, if we can work in feet instead of
meters we should be able to handle the inches of mercury.

Regards

Terry



"Roger Long" om wrote in
message ...


Got it! Damn parentheses. What a difference a ( ) makes.

The corrected spreadsheet is at the original link:

http://home.maine.rr.com/rlma/Flightplan.xls

--
Roger Long

Roger Long wrote:

Got it! Damn parentheses. What a difference a ( ) makes.


For me, one of the biggest pains in programming, and the cause of more
bugs and
other problems than anything else, is trying to get my parentheses in
the right places.
I've recently had the "opportunity" to work with the Scheme programming
language.
What's one of the key structural elements of its syntax? Parentheses!

Talk about a user-unfriendly language.

Rich Lemert