Flight Conduct

FLIGHT CONDUCT

IN-FLIGHT NAVIGATION

When the aircrew straps into the aircraft to execute their plan, the information on

the jet log is nothing more than their best estimate as to what will happen.

Aviation is a dynamic environment. Conditions or situations change rapidly and

unexpectedly requiring the aircrew to adapt and rethink/recompute their plan

continuously.

To the greatest extent possible, aircrew should strive to maintain their course as

published or planned in order to maintain a safe and orderly flying environment.

However, in this course, if the aircrew find themselves off course, merely

compute a NEW course and heading to the turn point/destination using updated

winds, and update the ETA and EFR.

FLIGHT CONDUCT (UPDATING) STEPS

Basic in-flight navigation follows four basic updating steps:

Plot fix and measure track/distance.

Measure updated true course/distance to next turn point.

Determine actual in-flight winds.

Apply new winds to remaining legs and update ETA and EFR.

FLIGHT CONDUCT EXAMPLE

Continuing with the flight planning example from Tyndall AFB to Marianna

Municipal, enroute to Blountstown at an elapsed time of 5+05, the aircrew find

themselves on the 205 radial from Marianna VORTAC (30 47.2'N 085 07.5'W)

at a distance of 39NM. Fuel flow remains 240pph. Compute a new ETA and EFR

at Blountstown.

STEP 1: PLOT FIX AND MEASURE TRACK/DISTANCE

The first step in this problem is to plot the given fix and measure the resulting

track and distance flown. Plotting 205/39 on the chart (don't forget to convert

mag to true) and then measuring the line from Tyndall to this point yields a track

of 045 TRUE and a distance of 11NM (Figure 4.7-15).

4.A-154