Flight preparation: Zones

Important: These forums are for discussions between SkyDemon users. They are not routinely monitored by SkyDemon staff so any urgent issues should be sent directly to our Customer Support.

Flight preparation: Zones

Author	Message
Xavier	Xavier posted 7/7/2013 8:03:03 AM Topic Details Share Topic
Group: Forum Members Posts: 28, Visits: 85	VFR flight planning in most continental Europe is mostly about Zones. CTR TMA D P R Military Nuclear Power Plants etc. When planning VFR you don't know at what altitude you will fly, it depends on the actual cloud cover you'll encounter. So you have to know for each altitude at any time at which distance you are from the next zone. So I draw up for each flight a table like that Name of the zone, floor, ceiling, beginning/end, distance to next Waypoint, frequency For instance TMA LFxx, 1500ft, FL65, beginning of the Zone 45NM before VOR XYZ which is my next waypoint call 123.45 for transit CTR LFxx GND 1500ft, beginning of the Zone 35NM before VOR XYZ which is my next waypoint call 118.45 for transit CTR LFxx GND 1500ft, end of the Zone 30NM before VOR XYZ which is my next waypoint call 118.45 for transit TMA LFxx, 1500ft, FL65, end of the Zone 15NM before VOR XYZ which is my next waypoint call 123.45 for transit FIS xx, GND +, end of the Zone 30 NM before VOR ABC frequency 119.xx etc. This table had 39 lines for my last trip, having included in TMA CTR FIS coverage zones, D, P, and R zones. The distance to next Waypoint is not calculated by skydemon (if it is how do I get the Info?). I have to measure it the old way, with a ruler on a paper map. I would pay a substantial extra to have that work done by a piece of software. Printing the profile is not enough, once in flight you have no idea in which zone you are.
	Reply Like 40
Tim Dawson	Tim Dawson posted 7/10/2013 3:02:19 PM Post Details Share Post
Group: Forum Members Posts: 8.1K, Visits: 9.4K	It sounds from your question like you have not discovered the powerful virtual radar feature, which makes it very clear indeed which pieces of airspace are approaching and which you are inside. You may find it helpful to read the product documentation, which takes you though most of the powerful SkyDemon features.
	Reply Like 36
ckurz7000	ckurz7000 posted 7/14/2013 7:51:44 PM Post Details Share Post
Group: Forum Members Posts: 538, Visits: 2.2K	Always the Sir, Tim -- Chris.
	Reply Like 33
Xavier	Xavier posted 7/14/2013 10:06:53 PM Post Details Share Post
Group: Forum Members Posts: 28, Visits: 85	I was talking about flight planning. The Virtual radar screen available for planning does not provide any of the following information. If it does, could you give me a link to the appropriate part of the documentation? - What frequency to call? - When is the zone active? - At what distance to my next waypoint the zone starts? - At what distance to my next waypoint the zone ends? Obviously, during my navigation, I'll monitor my time and distance to my next waypoint, I'll have very little use of the total distance already flown, and yet only the distance already flown is shown on the virtual radar screen. When the AIP defines the zone with height instead of altitude, as I have no way to know my height, I need to know before I take off the lowest altitude of the zone, and it's highest. Virtual radar does not seem to provide the information. Even if I would use Skydemon in flight, I would not take off without knowing the information in advance, but maybe I'm too cautious.
	Reply Like 36
*stevelup*	*stevelup* posted 7/15/2013 4:07:16 PM Post Details Share Post
Group: Moderators Posts: 593, Visits: 4.9K	You could add extra waypoints at the various zone boundaries. This would then break the times and distances down in the outputted plog. I must admit that I do not understand what you mean here:- Obviously, during my navigation, I'll monitor my time and distance to my next waypoint, I'll have very little use of the total distance already flown, and yet only the distance already flown is shown on the virtual radar screen. The virtual radar shows you:- 1) In planning mode, your whole route. You can zoom in and out and scroll 2) In flight mode, the airspace ahead of you Again, I don't understand you here:- When the AIP defines the zone with height instead of altitude, as I have no way to know my height, I need to know before I take off the lowest altitude of the zone, and it's highest. Virtual radar does not seem to provide the information. Virtual Radar shows you exactly this. It doesn't matter whether it's a height or an altitude? What difference does it make? In flight, the airspace warnings will tell you which service provider to contact, or you can press on any bit of airspace and see the frequencies.
	Reply Like 31