July 13, 201312 yr Hey all, I was recently on a flight from LGA-ATL, and were delayed at the gate for an hour due to weather. The pilots were kind enough to let people into the cockpit. Since I usually try and fly RW routes, I asked the FO if I could jot down his route. Instead of that, he printed the flight plan init data. Most of us don't usually get these opportunities and not sharing this would be a waste. WIthout further ado, here is the data sheet. Raw MCDU Data ================================================================== FM ACTIVE FLIGHT PLAN INITIALIZATION DATA DATE: 12 JUL 13 TIME: 22:31 FLIGHT NUMBER : DAL1499 FROM/TO : KLGA/KATL CO RTE : ------------- ALTN : KBNA PRIMARY F-PLN ----------------------- DEP RWY: 13 DEP PRC: TNNIS5 SEG : LANNA.N40336W075016 VIA : J48 SEG : MOL.N37540W079064 HOLD: TROYS,R, 185, 1.0MN/--.- NM CSTR: JUTES, 220/+3000/----- CSTR: TNNIS, ---/+5000/------ CSTR: CHIIL, ---/+4000/----- CSTR: SCHEL, ---/+2900/----- CSTR: TROYS, ---/+3500/----- TRANS : MOL ARV PRC: FLCON8 ARV RWY: 08L ALTN F-PLN ------------------ ================================================================== FM ACTIVE FLIGHT PLAN INITIALIZATION DATA DATE: 12 JUL 13 TIME: 22:31 PERFORMANCE DATA ------------------------------- PERF FACTOR: +7.0 COST INDEX : 52 IDLE FACTOR : +0.0 CRZ ALT : FL340 ZFW CG : --.- CRZ TEMP : -42 ZFW : 123.4 CLB TRANS : 18000 BLOCK : 28.0 TROPOPAUSE : 42700 TAXI : 0.8 ================================================================== Data Explained: Flight number : Delta 1499 No company route or alternate company route was used. The flight originated in LGA and terminated in ATL. The alternate was BNA (Nashville, Tennessee). The primary flight plan uses the route LGA Runway 13 --> TENNIS 5 SID --> LANNA --> MOL via J48 --> FALCON 8 STAR --> ATL Runway 8L CSTR = Constraint. If you've flown the NGX before, the constraints listed here are the same as the altitude/speed constraints on the LEGS page of the FMC. As for the performance data, I'm not so sure what PERF FACTOR is, but I would think it has to do with engine performance. I don't know what IDLE FACTOR is. The cruise altitude was FL340, the temperature at FL340 is -42 degrees centigrade, and the transition altitude is FL180. As for TROPOPAUSE, I am assuming that's where the tropopause began that day. The flight's cost index was 52. The zero fuel weight CG isn't listed,but the ZFW was 123,400 lbs. The fuel burn for the flight was 28,000 lbs, with an additional 800 lbs as taxi fuel. The entire fuel for the flight is not listed. I hope you all put this data to good use! Happy flying!
July 14, 201312 yr Awesome. Lucky man! Did they allow you to take any photos? I sat right seat once in a AirTran 717 during preflight and still kick myself for leaving my phone in my backpack. No photos or videos. The pilots were so cool and seemed happy that someone took interest in what they did. They were almost geeking out with me explaining stuff. The most interesting part to me was when they explained how they got their routes and routines before a flight before they even came within 100yards from the plane. Amazing how much planning goes into a 1 hour flight. Happy you got to experience something like that! Sent from my Apple communications device. William Sequeira
July 14, 201312 yr Author Awesome. Lucky man! Did they allow you to take any photos? I sat right seat once in a AirTran 717 during preflight and still kick myself for leaving my phone in my backpack. No photos or videos. The pilots were so cool and seemed happy that someone took interest in what they did. They were almost geeking out with me explaining stuff. The most interesting part to me was when they explained how they got their routes and routines before a flight before they even came within 100yards from the plane. Amazing how much planning goes into a 1 hour flight. Happy you got to experience something like that! Sent from my Apple communications device. They did let me take photos -- and they let me sit in the left seat. I asked him about the joystick flying and he even told me to take a crack at the joystick! It was much smoother and had a lot less motion than I expected. The crew was very open to questions, and didn't speak in layman's terms when I asked them advanced questions. Probably the nicest, most fun crew I've ever flown with!
July 14, 201312 yr This is an excellent story and thanks for sharing. I have had a few great crews over the years too, among my favs was a flight I did KLAS-KLAX in the classic.http://altstiff.blogspot.ca/2011/03/this-is-your-captain-speaking.htmlI always try to get up front for a bit after we land, most crews are more than happy...BTW, you can get the exact flight plans for most North American Flights here...(your flight for example in the link)http://flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL1499/history/20130712/2100Z/KLGA/KATL (BTW, love that hig cost index! 52!! I usually fly at 33, guess they were trying to make up a little time?) Al Stiff
July 17, 201312 yr Author This is an excellent story and thanks for sharing. I have had a few great crews over the years too, among my favs was a flight I did KLAS-KLAX in the classic. http://altstiff.blogspot.ca/2011/03/this-is-your-captain-speaking.html I always try to get up front for a bit after we land, most crews are more than happy... BTW, you can get the exact flight plans for most North American Flights here...(your flight for example in the link) http://flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL1499/history/20130712/2100Z/KLGA/KATL (BTW, love that hig cost index! 52!! I usually fly at 33, guess they were trying to make up a little time?) I used to go up front after we landed, but since I don't take many flights (and those that I do fly are transoceanic, so ~200 pax to unload at the gate), the habit just dropped out. And a high cost index? I thought the average was 80! I guess all my time in the big birds has overwhelmed me.
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