Volume 105 | Thursday, January 16, 2024

Plotting Chart: Not just for Oceanic Flights!

Welcome back to Jump Seat; thank you for reading. This time, we’d like to give you some details about using the ARINCDirect iPad app to collect and store flight information for ANY flight. The Plotting Chart feature is not just for oceanic flights now, and we think that if you try it, you’ll decide to stop hand-annotating flight plans! Please consider it your eNAVLOG.

You will want to read this entire article; there’s some good news in it about the future direction of the iPad app.

The ARINCDirect iPad app has been available for over 14 years, and we continue to add functionality and data to it. In 2019, we released app version 6.0, which included a fully electronic Plotting Chart solution. This was an immediate hit with flight crews doing oceanic crossings. The feature was improved over the next few years, and most recently, we added functionality that makes it optimal to use on any flight, not just long over-water legs.

Many operators continue to use the PDF annotation features in the ARINCDirect iPad app, which somewhat automates the legacy method of making pen-and-ink notations on a paper copy of the flight plan. The PDF annotations are an improvement over pen-and-ink, and ARINCDirect will store your annotated flight plan, but that’s about it. You must remember what you want to record at each waypoint, enter it with your finger or a stylus and close the entry dialog.

Using the Plotting Chart (eNAVLOG), however, lets you easily fill out a form at each waypoint at your discretion. Before an oceanic crossing, you validate that coast-out and coast-in are correct and ensure that the mandatory points are present (they will be for an ARINCDirect flight plan). Then you just fly and enter data at waypoints in accordance with regulatory requirements and your own operating procedures. The iPad app provides reminders when it’s time to do so.

That’s all well and good for oceanic flights where reporting is mandatory. On other flights, you may not want to fill out a full data-entry table for ALL the waypoints in your flight. The most recent enhancement allows you to conveniently use the Plotting Chart on all your cross-country domestic trips and even on shorter hops. Reporting at any point is optional (vs. mandatory for oceanic points), but you can enter data as you wish. You’ll have a good visual indication if you’re off plan.

Advantages

Easy collection of data in-flight
Safe long-term storage of all documents related to a flight
Easy access to past-flight eNAVLOGs, Master Documents, calculated FLT Plans, and Weather/NOTAM briefings

Did you know?

We are working on the following enhancements:
Getting ADS-B traffic data into the iPad app and onto its Map
Obtaining own-ship position data from onboard Internet routers
Postflight logbook data capture
CPDLC Code layer
GPS Spoofing alerts
Split Screen support

GREAT NEWS! We have started work to get ARINCDirect flight planning into the iPad app. This is our most frequently requested app feature, and we believe it to be the best thing we can do for you, our customers.