Aero

Software
Flight Planning
Contents
Aircraft Navigation Software ................................................................................................................................................ 4
Installing your software .................................................................................................................................................... 4
Registering your software ................................................................................................................................................ 9
Configuring the Flight Planning Software ....................................................................................................................... 10
Adding countries to your database................................................................................................................................. 12
Creating a flight plan ...................................................................................................................................................... 15
Searching for information............................................................................................................................................... 20
Saving your flight plan .................................................................................................................................................... 28
Opening a saved flight plan. ........................................................................................................................................... 29
Calculating your reciprocal journey. ............................................................................................................................... 30
Printing your completed Flight Plan ............................................................................................................................... 32
A5 Flight Plan .................................................................................................................................................................. 33
Adding your own waypoints to the database ................................................................................................................. 35
Removing your waypoints from the database ................................................................................................................ 37
Finding the latitude and longitude of a waypoint ........................................................................................................... 39
E6B ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 42
Getting Started ............................................................................................................................................................... 42
Calculations .................................................................................................................................................................... 43
Weight and Balance ........................................................................................................................................................ 43
Loading aircraft types ................................................................................................................................................. 43
Creating your own aircraft types ................................................................................................................................ 47
Saving Aircraft Types .................................................................................................................................................. 49
Percentage MAC ............................................................................................................................................................. 49
Pressure and Dynamic Altitude ...................................................................................................................................... 50
Leg Time ......................................................................................................................................................................... 51
Fuel Required ................................................................................................................................................................. 51
Distance Flown ............................................................................................................................................................... 52
Fuel Endurance ............................................................................................................................................................... 52
Required Climb ............................................................................................................................................................... 53
Required Rate of Descent ............................................................................................................................................... 53
Top of Descent ............................................................................................................................................................... 54
Specific Range................................................................................................................................................................. 54
Heading and Groundspeed ............................................................................................................................................. 55
Crosswind ....................................................................................................................................................................... 56
Wind Direction and Speed .............................................................................................................................................. 56
Course and Groundspeed ............................................................................................................................................... 57
True Airspeed ................................................................................................................................................................. 58
Groundspeed .................................................................................................................................................................. 58
True Airspeed Required .................................................................................................................................................. 59
Calibrated Airspeed Required ......................................................................................................................................... 59
Common Conversions..................................................................................................................................................... 60
Timers ............................................................................................................................................................................. 61
World Clock .................................................................................................................................................................... 61
Timer .............................................................................................................................................................................. 63
Help ................................................................................................................................................................................ 64
About .............................................................................................................................................................................. 64
Destination Airfield......................................................................................................................................................... 65
Loading your planned route into your GPS. .................................................................................................................... 67
Specifications.................................................................................................................................................................. 68
True Airspeed ............................................................................................................................................................. 68
Sunrise and Sunset. .................................................................................................................................................... 68
Track ........................................................................................................................................................................... 68
Distances .................................................................................................................................................................... 68
Groundspeeds ............................................................................................................................................................ 68
Times (Time, ETA and ATA) ......................................................................................................................................... 68
Magnetic Variation ..................................................................................................................................................... 68
Fuel Calculations ......................................................................................................................................................... 68
Take Off Time ............................................................................................................................................................. 68
A5 Version .................................................................................................................................................................. 68
Supported Browsers ................................................................................................................................................... 68
Other information ...................................................................................................................................................... 68
Dependencies ................................................................................................................................................................. 69
Java ............................................................................................................................................................................. 69
Finding latitude and longitude .................................................................................................................................... 69
Show satellite image of destination airfield. .............................................................................................................. 69
 Aircraft Navigation Software
Installing your software

1. Insert the CD into your CD Drive. The CD will automatically run the setup utility.

2. Click Next

3. Click I accept the agreement

4. Click Next
5. You may change the name that appears on your start menu

6. You may also create a desktop icon

7. Click Install

8. Click Finish.
9. This software uses MySQL to store all the information about Airfields and all other navigational aids.
MySQL is free to download and use. The installation utility will take you to the MySQL download page.
10. Once you have downloaded MySQL press any key to continue installation

11. During setup you will see

Once this is complete you may run Flight Planning by clicking Start -> All Programs -> Aero Software -> Flight
Planning.
Registering your software

You will need to register your software before use. Please email your Full Name, Address, Town, County,
Country/State, Post Code/ Zip Code and email to sales@devonducktours.co.uk we will generate your
registration code for you.

The first time you run the software you will see the registration window.
Fill in your details EXACTLY as you provided them to us and include your Registration Code.
If you have entered all the information correctly the registration window will disappear and the flight plan
window will appear.
Configuring the Flight Planning Software

Run the software choose Start -> All Programs -> Aero Software -> Navigation

To configure the planner to your own aircraft choose File -> Preferences

Enter your aircraft’s registration, useable fuel, consumption (per hour) and the magnetic variation for your
home airfield. The Useable fuel, consumption and magnetic variation will be used as the default parameters
but can be altered if you fly a different type or from another airfield.
Also you may choose if the air pressure should be in millibars or inches of mercury, height should be in feet or
meters, and temperature should be in Centigrade or Fahrenheit, You can enter the magnetic variation at you
home airfield, choose your preferred language and set the paper size in your printer.
Adding countries to your database

You need to load the data for any countries that you have purchased before you can use the Flight Planner
1. Click File -> New
2. Click File -> Add Country/State

3. Highlight the file you wish to load from the list of available files
4. Click Open database file
5. Close the Route Window.
Creating a flight plan

1. Run Flight Planning

2. Choose File -> New

3. Click on the down arrow in the top menu box under Country / State. A list of countries and states will
appear for you to choose from.
4. Click on the country or state in which your departure airfield exists.
5. Click on airfield in the dropdown menu, you must click on airfield even if it is displayed to select it.
You will then see a list of airfields in your chosen country/state.
6. Find the airfield you require and click on it to select it. To narrow your search you can type the first
letter of the Airfield’s name.

7. Click on your departure airfield.

8. Repeat steps 3 to 7 adding additional waypoints and your destination airfield as required. You will see
that the headings and distances to the second and subsequent waypoints will appear to the right of your
choices.
Searching for information

You can use the search function to find the name of the item you require by clicking Search -> Names

Select the Country or State in which the information you are looking for is located.
Then enter the name or partial name of what you are looking for in the “Enter data to search for” box.

Click “Search” and any names containing your search phrase will be displayed.
Once your route is complete click Update Flight Plan to update the flight plan with your intended route.

Add your planned take off time in the Take-Off box. This will be used to calculate your ETA to each of the
waypoints.
Add the Minimum safe altitude for each leg in the MSA column. The Plan will automatically insert this into the
Planned Altitude Column. You can alter this if you plan to fly at a different level.
Add the airspeed you plan to use for each leg in the IAS column

You will notice that the True airspeed has been calculated for you based on your IAS, the altitude you plan to
use and the indicated outside air temperature.

Check the forecast temperature at the altitude you plan to fly and change the IAT column to match the forecast
temperature.
Add the forecast wind aloft for each of your legs

Your plan should be coming along nicely now. You will notice that with the wind added for each leg you now
have your headings both true and magnetic calculated along with your ground speed, leg duration and ETA to
each waypoint.
You can now add any other information you need for your trip.

With everything you need entered you can save your flight plan.
Saving your flight plan

Save your flight plan for use another time by choosing File -> Save

We suggest saving the file with the destination as the name so you can find it easily the next time you need it.

Click Save File

Opening a saved flight plan.

Choose File -> Open

Double click on the file you want to open or

Single click on the file to be opened and click Open saved file.

Your flight plan will be updated with the saved information.

Calculating your reciprocal journey.

You can either start and complete a new flight plan or open a previously saved plan.
When you have all the information you need in your flight plan click Calculate -> Reciprocal
Printing your completed Flight Plan

Click File -> Print

The flight plan shown will be printed onto a single sheet of A4 paper.
A5 Flight Plan

Choose A5 -> “A5 Version”

Both your outbound Flight Plan and Reciprocal Flight Plan will be displayed on a single screen and can be
printed on a single side of A4 paper.
Adding your own waypoints to the database

If you wish to add a custom waypoint: From the route window click File Add Waypoint

Using the dropdown menu select the Country/State in which the waypoint is located. Note you will only be able
to add to Countries / States to which you have subscribed.
Type in the remaining details.

Press submit to add your waypoint to the database.

Removing your waypoints from the database

To remove a custom waypoint from the route window choose File -> Remove Waypoint

Use the Country/State dropdown menu to choose the Country/State in which your custom waypoint is located.

Use the Name dropdown last, click on the waypoint you wish to remove.
Click the Remove button.
Finding the latitude and longitude of a waypoint

To find the latitude and longitude of any position on earth from the route menu choose Map -> Get Latitude and
Longitude. This requires a connection to the internet to function as it connects to the Aero Software web site.

Your web browser will open onto our web site where you will be greeted by our latitude longitude finder.
Zoom out for a larger map then, centre the map on the area you are interested in, finally zoom in until you can see the
waypoint that you want to find the latitude and longitude for. In our example White Waltham.

Move your mouse pointer to the centre on the waypoint and you will get the latitude and longitude. Click and the Lat
Long box will hold the information on the point on which you clicked.
 E6B
Getting Started
If you are running Windows click Start -> Programs -> Aero Software -> E6B
For all other operating systems double click E6B.jar

You will see the opening screen

“Calculate” “Wind” “Speed” “Convert” “Timers” and “Help”

Are all dropdown menus containing functions which will run when you click on your chosen function.
Calculations
Click on “Calculate” and you will see the following list.

Weight and Balance

Loading aircraft types

Two aircraft are provided to accompany this software C172P and Warrior 3.

To load these aircraft (or any others you have created choose File -> Open
You will see the file chooser window

Click on your chosen aircraft type and then click “Saved Aircraft File”
or double click on the aircraft type you require.
The values for an empty aircraft of this type will be shown

Enter the amount of fuel in US Gallons, weight of pilot, and all other variables required in pounds. The click “Calculate”
You will see a graph for your aircraft type with a red dot indicating the relative position of your weight and balance
within the parameters for your aircraft type. Along side the dot the top Number is the aircraft weight in pounds, the
second number is the aircraft lever.

The blue line(s) represent the limit of the “Utility Category” weight and balance if applicable to your aircraft type.

If you cannot see the red dot, or it is outside the black lines in the top left hand corner of the graph the aircraft MUST
NOT BE FLOWN in this configuration.
Creating your own aircraft types

Firstly you need to know how the software uses the data on the first screen to produce the graph:
1. The aircrafts empty weight is used to produce the bottom line of the graph.
2. The aircrafts maximum permissible weight is used to produce the top line of the graph.
3. The aircrafts minimum lever arm produces the left hand line and
4. The aircrafts maximum lever arm the right hand line.

There are generally four other points which will be required for your aircraft type as marked on the following diagram:

B
D

A) Is the weight at which the line deviates from the minimum lever arm and is entered as the “first datum point.
B) Is the point at which the first angled line ends and the second begins it is entered as the second datum point.
C) Is the point at which the second line meets the maximum take off weight authorised line at the top this is
entered as the third datum point.
D) This is the point which forms the maximum weight permitted operation in the “Utility Category” and the
maximum lever arm permitted for the same. This is entered as the Utility Category datum point.
Enter the Maximum Take Off Weight Authorised top box,
the Minimum Lever Arm permissible in the second,
the Maximum Lever Arm in the third,
The Aircrafts Empty Weight and Lever Arm in the fourth row,
Enter 0 (zero) and the Fuel Lever Arm in the fifth row,

Enter 0 (zero) and the Pilots Seat Lever Arm in the fifth row,
Note this could be used for the front row of seats and the weight of the pilot and co-pilot (or pilot and front seat
passenger combined) in the weight column.
Enter 0 (zero) and the Front Passengers Lever Arm in the fifth row,
Note: if you wish this could be the second row of seats and the weight of all passengers in this row combined and placed
in the weight box. This is true for the remaining rows which can be as stated or additional rows of seats.

Enter 0 (zero) and the Lever and for the baggage area (if any)
Enter 0 (zero) and the lever arm for any second baggage area.

Please make sure that any unused weight and lever arms if not applicable to your aircraft type are set to 0 (zero).

Now you should have all the parameters in place to represent your aircraft empty.

Please double check all your figures.

Saving Aircraft Types
To save this data for later use click

You will see the save dialogue window

Type the name of the aircraft type you have created and click “Save File”
Percentage MAC
Enter the Leading Edge Mean Aerodynamic Chord,
Enter the centre of gravity,
Enter the Mean Aerodynamic Chord,
Click “Calculate” – the centre of gravity will be displayed as a percentage of the Mean Aerodynamic Chord.

Pressure and Dynamic Altitude

Enter the Altimeter Reading,

Enter the Pressure Setting in either mb or Inches of Mercury (accepts both),
Enter the Outside Air Temperature (in degrees Centigrade),
Click “Calculate” – the Pressure Altitude and Dynamic Altitude will be displayed.
Leg Time

Enter the Distance,

Enter your Groundspeed,
Click “Calculate” – the Leg Time will be displayed.

Fuel Required

Enter the Flight Time in Hours, Minutes and Seconds,

Note: You can enter fractions i.e. 1.2 or any figure in the hours, minutes and seconds columns.
Enter the Fuel user per hour,
Note: this can be in any measurement you prefer.
Click “Calculate” – the Fuel Required will show you’re the fuel you require in the specific measurement you used.
Distance Flown

Enter your groundspeed,

Enter your flight duration,
Note: You can enter fractions i.e. 1.2 or any figure in the hours, minutes and seconds columns.
Click “Calculate” – The distance you have flown will be calculated.

Fuel Endurance

Enter your useable fuel,

Enter the fuel used per hour,
Note: Both measurements must be the same i.e. both gallons, or litres etc.
Click “Calculate” – the maximum remaining flying time on the fuel available will be displayed in hours, minutes and
seconds.
Required Climb

Enter your required rate of climb in feet per mile,

Enter your groundspeed,
Click “Calculate”.
Your required rate of climb in feet per minute and climb gradient will be calculated.

Required Rate of Descent

This function calculates your required rate of descent (or climb).

Enter your Current Altitude,
Enter the Altitude you require,
Enter your groundspeed,
Enter the distance (in miles) at which you require to be at the new level.
Click “Calculate” your rate of descent (or climb) will be calculated.
Top of Descent

Given your current altitude, the altitude you require, your groundspeed and your chosen rate of descent, this will
calculate at what distance from the target you need to start your descent.
Enter your current altitude,
Enter your target altitude,
Enter your groundspeed,
Enter your chosen rate of descent.
Click “Calculate” – the distance at which you need to start your descent will be calculated.

Specific Range

Enter your groundspeed,

Enter your fuel use per hour,
Enter the remaining useable fuel,
Click “Calculate” – Your range will be calculated.
Heading and Groundspeed

Enter the wind direction,

Enter the winds speed,
Enter your course,
Enter your true airspeed
Click “Find Heading and Groundspeed,
The heading and groundspeed boxes will display the result.
Crosswind

Enter the runway number,

Enter the Wind direction,
Enter the wind speed,
Click “Calculate” – the crosswind component and headwind will be displayed.

Wind Direction and Speed

Enter your course,

Enter your true airspeed,
Enter your groundspeed,
Enter your heading,
Click “Find Wind Direction & Speed” – The wind direction and wind speed will be displayed.
Course and Groundspeed

Enter the wind speed,

Enter your true airspeed,
Enter your heading,
Enter the wind direction,
Click “Find Course and Groundspeed” – the results will be displayed for you.
True Airspeed

Enter your pressure altitude (altimeter reading with 1013 / 29.92 set on the subscale),
Enter the outside air temperature,
Enter your altimeters K factor (if known),
Enter your corrected airspeed,
Click “Calculate” – your true airspeed and Mach number will be displayed.

Groundspeed

Enter the distance you have flown,

Enter the time in hours minutes and seconds.
Alternatively you can put numbers with decimal places in any of the boxes, for example 1.25 in the hours box.
Click “Calculate” – your groundspeed will be displayed.
True Airspeed Required

Enter your course,

Enter your groundspeed,
Enter the wind direction,
Enter the wind speed,
Click “Calculate” The true airspeed and heading required to make good your groundspeed and course will be displayed.

Calibrated Airspeed Required

Enter your pressure altitude,

Enter the outside air temperature,
Enter your true airspeed,
Click “Calculate” – your calibrated airspeed, Mach number and your dynamic altitude will be displayed.
Common Conversions

Enter the value you want converted and click the required conversion.

The output and input values can be swapped by clicking “Swap” if further conversions are necessary.
Timers

World Clock

Run the world clock,

The program will automatically detect your time zone and display this in the top window.
GMT (UTC) will be displayed in the second window (as shown)
The third time zone can be selected.

To set the third time zone click on the down arrow to the right on the window directly below “Select Time zone Offset”
you will see a list from -12 to +12 centred on the current setting.
Click on the required offset the lower dropdown list will contain a list of countries and zones in your chosen time zone.

Once selected the third time zone will update to reflect the change.
Timer

The timer operates in to modes:

1. Count-up
2. Count-down

Click start and the time will start counting up.

or

Enter a time to count down from then click start. In this mode a beep tone will sound when zero has been reached and
the counter will stop counting.
Help

About

This window displays the software version number and licensing information.
Destination Airfield

Choose Destination Airfield -> Show Satellite Image of Destination

You will see a satellite image of your destination
Loading your planned route into your GPS.
Click GPS -> Create Route for Upload

You will see the file save dialogue window

We suggest that you use the destination airfield name as the filename.
This will create a GPS industry standard file type suitable for loading into most GPS systems that support loading of
routes. Please refer to your GPS operating instructions on how to load routes.
Specifications

All calculations performed within this program are to 12 decimal places.

True Airspeed
This flight planning software will calculate accurately True Airspeed for altitudes up to 36,000 feet and for
speeds up to but not including Mach 1. It takes into consideration such things as the warming of your
temperature probe caused by the compressibility of the air as it impacts on the probe. You can also add the K
factor of your particular aircrafts probe to compensate for inaccuracies due to location of the probe itself. Your
aircrafts Pilots Manual will provide you with this figure.
The result displayed is rounded to one decimal place.

Sunrise and Sunset.

Sunrise and Sunset are calculated for both your point of departure and destination and have been tested to be
accurate to within 0.23 minutes. The times are rounded to the nearest minute before being displayed so
should always be correct to the times shown. The program uses an extremely accurate method of calculation
and should not be compared to those shown on many websites. The program takes into consideration such
things as the wobble of the earth caused by the moons orbit which most other programs do not.

Track
The calculated track is rounded before display to one decimal place

Headings (True and Magnetic)

All calculated headings are shown rounded to one decimal place

Distances
Distances are rounded prior to display to one decimal place

Groundspeeds
Groundspeeds are shown rounded to one decimal place.

Times (Time, ETA and ATA)

Times are before display rounded to the nearest minute.

Magnetic Variation
We recommend this figure should include one decimal place.

Fuel Calculations
All fuel calculations are rounded before display to two decimal places.

Take Off Time

This time must be in the format HH:MM

A5 Version
Due to the limited space on a single sheet of A4 only the first 7 airfields or waypoints can be shown and
printed out.

Supported Browsers
Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, Konqueror, Epiphany, Mozilla and Netscape. All other browsers should
operate correctly but have not been tested.

Other information
All other editable fields may be entered as you desire.
Dependencies
Java
This software will run on any operating system from Windows 95 onwards (including 64 bit versions), It will also run on
Linux, Mac and many others.
It has been written in Java, which is used by many web sites so you will probably already have this installed on your PC.
If you do not already have Java on your PC, Java is free to download from www.java.com.
If you have any problems running this program please check that you are using the latest version of Java.
You can check if you have Java and that it is the most current version by visiting the Java website and clicking “Do I have
java?” or by using this link http://www.java.com/en/download/installed.jsp

Finding latitude and longitude

This requires a connection to the internet to function as it connects to the Aero Software web site.

Show satellite image of destination airfield.

This requires a connection to the internet to function as it connects to Google Maps.