How to use the route planner ?

1. First, enter the speed and hourly fuel flow of the aircraft.
2. Then, enter the turning points. Three ways to do it:
   1. Enter the code of an airfields, a VOR or a transit point towards Corsica (such as MERLU). If you don't know the code, you can search for it with the corresponding link.
   2. You can enter directly its latitude and longitude. Use floating point numbers. + for North and East, - for South and West. You can give it a name which will appear in the list. Alternately, it will be named with its coordinates. If you have the coordinates with degree-minutes-seconds format, you can convert them into floating points numbers using the in-built converter. Simply click on OK when you get the result. It will automatically be transfered in the route planner form.
   3. You can choose the turning point directly on the map. Simply click on the selected place, and then on the OK button. You may also give a name to this point.

In any case, make sure that the right option is selected :

Delete the last turning point.

Simply click on the "previous" button of your browser.

The map.

New : the map can now show a three dimensional terrain under your route !

2D map

You can use it to add turning points. (See above)

To get the names of the airfields along your route, click on the markers. If you click on the names of the airfields you'll display their cards.

You can drag the map and zoom in and out. You can also choose among 3 types of 2D charts (roads, satellite pictures and both) using the upper right corner menu in the map.

3D map

This feature will be much improved in the next few weeks. It's only a beginning. For the moment, markers appear whithout names, you can't click on them (unlike the 2D maps), you can't add a turning point by clicking on the 3D display. In the future, all this will be possible (but adding a turning point), and I hope to be able to offer you a real 3D preview of your flight, soon.

As I write this document, this feature is available only for Firefox 2.x, Internet Explorer 6 and 7 users, running with Windows. Other browsers and operating systems should be covered in the future but until then, if you use a Mac (like me), or Linux, you won't be able to display the 3D landscapes. (This is also a problem for me since I can't test my scripts on my own computer.)

To toggle from 2D to 3D, use the upper right corner menu of the map and choose "Earth". If you use this option for the first time, the map will request you to download the Google Earth plug-in. (Then you won't have to do it again.) To do it :

• Download the installer by clicking on the large button in the map.
• Run this installer which will download the actual plug-in and install it for you.
• Quit your browser and restart it.

Remarks concerning the 3D maps:

• to use this feature, it is better to have a powerful computer and a high rate connection to the internet
• since this is a beta release of both my scripts and the 3D maps, I advise you to switch to the 3D map only after you've entered all the waypoints. This will avoid unpredictable behaviours, especially concerning the turning points.

If you refuse cookies, we won't be able to create a session for you and therefore, to display the airfields along your route (on both 2D and 3D maps).

NOTAMS

They are provided by the official french website(SIA).

BEWARE : the route for which you get the NOTAMS is not necessarily the route you entered in the planner. The route of the NOTAMS takes into account only the OACI airfields.

For exemple, for the route LFJL (Metz Nancy Lorraine) - LFSTAV (Saint Avold) - LFGC (Strasbourg Neuhof), the notams will be provided only for the direct route LFJL - LFGC.
For the LFLY (Lyon Bron) - LFSG (Epinal Mirecourt) - LFSTAV (St Avold) route, the NOTAMS will be provided ONLY for the LFLY - LFSG leg! The final leg LFSG - LFSTAV will not be included.

The SIA website shows precisely the route for which it provides the NOTAMS.