"Reverse" Flight Plans and Starting Points

[Doug]

I'm discovering not too many people have discovered the "reverse" (Location to Airport) flight plans, and not too many have used the "Starting Points".  On the Here2There page, we have ALL of the flight plans TO our locations and FROM them.  Those going "to" the location start with an = sign and start at an airport. Those with a # prefix are the plans you follow leaving the location going back to the airport ... that is a "reverse" plan.

To do a reverse plan, it is a little different.

1. Go to the Here2There page to the Flight Plans area. There are two zip files there. One contains all of the flight plans at RTMM going TO a location (= Plans) and the other has all of the flight plans for returning FROM a location (#) plans. For FSX, copy and paste these into ....Documents/Flight Simulator X Files/  for P3D, copy them into ...documents/Prepare 3D V2 Files/   .  They will all "stay together" grouped by # or =. Also these have all been named so it starts with the location name, making it easy to alphabetically find. (And if you don't want any or all of these plans in your documents area ... just delete them ... no harm done).

2. Go to the Here2There page and go to the Starting Points Table.

3. Go to the Here2There page, scroll down, browse the maps and pick a location. (Remember you can click on the name of the location, each is a hot link to the flight plan map and then you can decide if it is something you want to fly).

4. Once you have selected a location, jot down the Latitude, longitude and Magnetic Heading.

5. Go into the simulator and use the MAP feature. When it comes up, enter the latitude, longitude and magnetic heading ... always make the altitude zero and the speed zero. When you click on OK, the simulator puts you at the starting point at the location. Many of these are at docks or nearby a cabin.

6. Go to the simulator's flight planner and load your REVERSE flight plan for that location ... it starts with a # sign. Once loaded you are ready to go.

7. WITHOUT engaging the autopilot, take off safely. Once safely in the air, select autopilot and the it will seek the first leg on your GPS and track it back to the airport.

NOTAM: Most of the flight plans are for "low and slow". But you may just want to start somewhere and fly straight back to the airport. Use the starting points table so you can position your aircraft. Then on the GPS, select the "DIRECT" function and put in the airport.

When the Bush pilots are flying people out into Misty Fjords to a destination ... don't forget they have to come BACK!  If you are only flying TO the location, you are missing half the fun. We have over 300 starting points on the table ... and another 300 or so on THE CABINS page. (I do not yet have the reverse plans for the Cabins, but the starting points are all there).

So if you want to try something different ... try a "reverse" plan ... same beautiful scenery, just a 180 degree different point of view!

[jsapair]

Hey, Doug. I stumbled on those flight plans accidentally, thinking the Here2There was the old forum entry that allowed us to submit user flight plans. Older users might think the same thing. I like the alphabetical format, but there are a lot of them that have a 'to' but not a matching 'from' and vice versa. I took the time to go thru each and every one and delete the FP's I already had and replace them with the newly designated ones. But, like I alluded to, they don't all match, as to 'to' and 'from''. Some of them are 'one way' only. 

[Doug]

Shoot me some examples, just the location name.  I'll work on it.  How else to "position" the flight plans so people will know it's something new?
D

[jsapair]

I'll do that, Doug. Unfortunately my graphics card crashed with no warning about a week ago. The wife seems to think buying groceries is more important than a GPU. I retorted that we both could lose a few pounds. I've got the card on order but my back is getting a little sore from sleeping on the couch. The bruises are healing nicely though, thanks.

It took me a little while to realize that you didn't just change the FP name to illustrate a different direction, you actually changed the plan in Plan-G. That had to be a major project. What I did is bring up the '=' list and my Documents/FSX FP list and compare the two in Plan-G. Over time some of my plans had turned into straight A to Z shots so I was able to eliminate those and clean up my files considerably. Before I realized that you had actually changed the FP I started putting '=' in front of my own FP's. Still, it will simply be a matter of comparing the RTMM '=' FP's to my own file. It'll be a week or so to get back up and running, though.

[Doug]

Yep, the reverse plans are "stand alone" ... actually coming FROM the location to the airport, not just renamed. These are the ones with the "#" sign for a prefix.  And yes, it was a lot of work.  As I'm flying them I'm finding a problem now and then. On a few (very few) the plan sometimes doesn't end at a "Named Waypoint" (the location name). If it doesn't, it crashes in P3D when you try to run it.  I've found 2 of those, but those had to be a problem in the "TO Location (=) before and we just didn't catch it somehow. You now understand the PAIN of a new graphics card in a different way! :-)

D