More online tools for flight preparation
Google tools
The google search engine is great to get pilot reports and find more information about your destination airport. Searching by ICAO code or location indicator in Google Earth and Google Maps gives good geographical insights of the destination and the route. If you’re wondering how hard a landmark will be to find, give it a try in Google Earth or Google Maps. One note though, some of the pictures are more than 10 years old…
YouTube
YouTube for flight planning ? Yes, definitely. When I fly to an airport for the first time I like to have as much information as possible. Looking at videos of the approach taken by other pilots gives additional information and is kind of a preview. Here again, seaching by ICAO code or location indicator is the most efficient way to find what you’re looking for.
Airliners.net
Just like YouTube gives information in video, airliners.net gives information via photos. What does the airport look like ? Even if charts are quite accurate, a photo gives much more information.
liveatc.net
If your new destination is in a different country or has specific procedures, what about test-driving the local ATC ? liveatc.net provides live audio feeds of ATC almost worldwide. If you think ATC is the same everywhere, try listening to New-York JFK (KJFK) and then Geneva (LSGG). Some preparation can only help.
Official AIP online
Several European countries offer their AIP online, some for free. Here is a short list: French AIP, UK AIP, Belgian AIP. The Swiss AIP can’t be accessed online but you can subscribe to the paper version here.
Less official information online
Different websites managed by aviation enthusiasts provide extensive but unofficial information databases. Nav2000 (French only) covers France, Switzerland and Belgium. It offers chart extracts, photos, price of fuel, contact information, pilot reports and much more about airports and ultralight bases.
www.fl95.de (German only) offers flight planning and weight and balance online. It contains a database of en-route points and of aircraft for the weight and balance.
Flight plan filing
Several sites offer flight plan online. Some require that the flight starts or ends in the country operating the website, other are more flexible. Olivia, the French system (also in English) allows for NOTAM, weather and flight plan filing. The German DFS AIS (German and English) provides flight plan filing as well as TAF / METAR / NOTAM briefings. eurofpl.eu offers the possibility to send a flight plan directly to the EUROCONTROL systems. www.homebriefing.com offers full service, but users have to pay for flight plans.
Aircraft manuals
Many aircraft manuals and checklists can be found online. They can not be used as replacement of the official documents of YOUR aircraft, but can be helpful. Click here to access the download page of Diamond Aircraft.
Your link here
If you know about great online resources for flight preparation leave a comment and I’ll update this post.
8 Comments, Comment or Ping
Wayne Conrad
http://maps.avnwx.com/ : Aviation weather and NOTAMS with a google-maps interface.
Jun 16th, 2009
Jason
Great post as always Vincent. This crazy European guy once told me about a site called easymetar.com maybe you’ve heard of it?
-Jason
Jun 17th, 2009
Julien
Jason: your description sounds like that other crazy guy I had a coffee with a Frankfurt airport last year
Google Maps is really awesome. I use it a lot for checking out airports I am not familiar with. The airport diagrams in the Australian ERSA (our guide of airports and facilities) are too small to locate where the restaurant or the terminal is. A satellite view also really helps with planning for an engine failure after take-off.
Jun 17th, 2009
Patrick Flannigan
Thanks for the info, especially the weather/sectional/google mashup at maps.avnwx.com!
Lets not forget one of my all time favorite flight planning websites: http://www.fltplan.com It does just about everything except fly the plane for you!
Jun 17th, 2009
Etienne
at belgcontrol you also have
http://www.ead.eurocontrol.int/eadcms/eadsite/index.php.html
where you can find most european countries together.
registration is free.
Jun 17th, 2009
Vincent
Thank you all for sharing more resources
!
@Julien: beware of crazy guys, they sometimes have crazy projects…. Jason can confirm.
Jun 17th, 2009
travis holland
eurofpl now has full route briefing with NOTAMS, graphical flight tracking for europe, emailed flight notifications, and most exciting, a direct link to CFMU Brussels for their brand new “propose route” service. Thats right, you can ask brussels directly for a routing via eurofpl.
Dec 20th, 2009
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