VFR Flight Plan Route of Flight

[gtxc2001]

I'm leaving on my cross country tomorrow, and have run into a question regarding the route of flight for a VFR flight plan. AIM states that the route of flight should be designated using navaids and airways. I'm flying from Corpus to Pecos, TX, to Sedona, AZ for my day visual navigation hops. Especially out in west Texas, there are few Victor airways, and they don't coincide with the route planned for the VNAV hops. Is it appropriate to use airports (or even towns) to designate the route of flight, or must it be only airways and navaids?

 

[skidkid]

airports and NAVAIDs are perfectly acceptable. You would be prefectly legal if you filed from departure field to destination field without a single intermediate checkpoint.

That is a nice flight, Vegas the final destination?

 

[Snacks]

You should be fine. I'd pick a few checkpoints other than airports though to show that you can navigate around.

 

[mules83]

I usually just put "direct" in the route section for any VFR xcountry. Its mainly there so if you don't show up at your scheduled time, they know where to look. You should still have checkpoints planned out so you can tell if you are on time or not.

By direct, I mean to each of your destinations; not direct to sedona. If you have to pick other checkpoints for the route, choose airports, vor/tacans, etc; points that are known and very accurate to flyover (cant use a city, lake, etc.)

 

[ben]

VNAV in primary is best described as "GPS Direct." You will plan the route with all of the checkpoints... but I bet your IP puts the final destination in the GPS and you follow the needle. He'll ask you to point out where you are on the sectional, but you probably won't actually fly the route you plan. That's how it went for me and most other studs going through primary with me. It's actually kind of frustrating to have planned your route and then fly in a straight line to your fuel stop. Have fun though, it's going to be so much better than flying course rules.

 

[Gatordev]

What happens when you leave a military base is ATC will get your route of flight and then expect you to fly that if you get flight following. Can sometimes be annoying if you have a few dog legs and your IP wants you to follow them, but the dog legs aren't actual navaids or airports. Sometimes ATC gets impatient w/ the clown plane doing the snake pattern across the sky.

Yeah, it sucks you planned something out, but that's really the point of the exercise. The actual flying part and IDing points on the ground will still happen even when you go GPS direct. It just might not be your checkpoints.

 

[gtxc2001]

That is a nice flight, Vegas the final destination?

It sure is.

From what you all have said, I take it that it is acceptable to say on the flight plan that I file "NGP direct PEQ" and then just plan whatever checkpoints I want as long as they get me where I want to go.

 

[Gatordev]

Ask your IP tomorrow. Personally, I like to have checkpoints on the flight plan. Maybe not many, but at least a rough route. Others may not. Don't worry, you won't receive a ready room down for not having the route of flight filled out, especially when you're destination is Vegas.

 

[skidkid]

It sure is.

From what you all have said, I take it that it is acceptable to say on the flight plan that I file "NGP direct PEQ" and then just plan whatever checkpoints I want as long as they get me where I want to go.

Yeah filed and flown route VFR are not always the same thing. If I remember from my 1998 CCX to Vegas one of those legs is long enough that there really isnt much gas to do much sight seeing.

 

[gtxc2001]

If I remember from my 1998 CCX to Vegas one of those legs is long enough that there really isnt much gas to do much sight seeing.

That's no joke. With no wind and flying 950 ft-lbs along the planned route, we'd have to take off with 940 lbs of fuel to meet the CNATRA min fuel reserve requirements.

I appreciate the info everyone has provided.

 

[Gatordev]

Yeah filed and flown route VFR are not always the same thing. If I remember from my 1998 CCX to Vegas one of those legs is long enough that there really isnt much gas to do much sight seeing.

I know this doesn't apply to the original poster anymore (was on a CCX), but here it goes...

Unfortunately, they've drastically reduced the X's and hours but maintained the mins (or maybe even increased them) since we went through, so there's a lot less time to actually get to your destination now. Unfortunately, San Diego is all but unreachable now.

 

[scoober78]

we'd have to take off with 940 lbs of fuel to meet the CNATRA min fuel reserve requirements.

Ouch...time to bust out the jerry cans...