Does anyone use Jeppesen iCharts? (also known as Jeppesen e-Link Online) I need some help, please.

[wipeout01 0]

Hi

As you may know iCharts is a professional service from Jeppesen in which pilots can consult everything to create a flight plan. You can consult airport charts, SID, STARS, Approach Charts and also the Enroute.

 

By the way, the full PDF manual for this service is here:

https://ww1.jeppesen.com/documents/support/aviation/E-link-User-Guide.pdf

 

The official page for the product is here:

http://ww1.jeppesen.com/industry-solutions/aviation/commercial/e-link-online.jsp

 

Well my problem with this service is I cannot search waypoint... so I am bit "spatially disoriented".

I'll explain this...

Let's imagine I am departing from a certain airport, let's say Dusseldorf... EDDL... okay...

What I do is to type the ICAO code of the airport and taking a look to the enroute to see where are the runways, and then select the configuration, north, south, east, west, that better fit with my route.

So if I am going down, to the south, I would select the runway that points down, to the south...

Let's imagine this runway is 05R

Okay.

Now I know I have to depart from the 05R because it is going to the south, and the country I am going to is in the south.

Fine...

So let's select a SID.

I take a look to several SID charts for that runway and let's imagine I select a SID, and I go to a certain waypoint...

Let's imagine this waypoint is JOE1S (name invented non real).

Okay.

I know the runway I must depart... I have the SID I like, and I know also the departure I need from that SID... JOE1S

That departure go to the waypoint JOEDW (let's imagine, name also invented, non real)

 

Fine.

 

I know how to depart.

Now what I want is to find the waypoint JOEDW in the enroute... to take  a look to the enroute map and see the airways to create my route...

 

How do I find a waypoint in the enroute?

I don't know !

I don't see iCharts have a search function?

 

I need to see where is the waypoint to see if it is an intersection, or the airway it belongs to start to trace my route and select airways and waypoints... but I don't know how to find it?

 

Any ideas ?

Cheers

[Airline2Sim 489]

This is a pro only product so it's unlikely anyone here will be able to answer this one specifically regarding the Jeppesen app.

 

The first waypoint on your route will be on your flightplan, which you will already have created by the time you get to choosing your runway and your SID. Also bear in mind that your runway will be the one most convenient for ATC and orientated into wind, rather than the one that's most convenient for you

 

Simply choose the SID that ends at the first waypoint on your route. Very occasionally there might be some radar vectors to get you there but it's pretty unusual.

[bjratchf 80]

icharts is not for flight planning- it is simply for viewing charts. You'll need to have a route first that you can plugin to create a routepack- and then the appropriate charts will populate your routepack chart window. 

[wipeout01 0]

Simply choose the SID that ends at the first waypoint on your route. Very occasionally there might be some radar vectors to get you there but it's pretty unusual.

 

The problem is that exactly, that I cannot create my route. I know how to chose my SID. I select my SID, and I arrive to the final waypoint in my SID.

Okay, now I need to find that waypoint in the Enroute. Why? Because I need to know where is that waypoint in the Enroute, to know the airway it is, to know if it is an intersection and to know other nearby airways, and the following waypoints to final waypoint of my SID.

That is the reason I need to know how to find a waypoint in the Enroute.

In that way, I can see my options, and start to create my route.

So the question still opened... how do I find a waypoint in the Jeppesen iCharts Enroute?

[Airline2Sim 489]

You can't. As stated before the app is for viewing charts. It assumes that you have a flightplan and the only parts of the flight that you need to worry about are those with charts, i.e. the first waypoint on the arrival STAR and the last waypoint on your departure SID. The charts app and the flight planning app are two different things.

 

Here's a quick and dirty route from London Gatwick to Dublin from the edi-gla website for a recent Ryanair flight:

 

KENET - UN14 - ABAPO UN14 - PEMOB - UM17 - VATRY

 

So here, you'd see which SID ends at KENET for the runway in use at the time, which a glance at the charts gives us either the KENET 1X or the KENET 1Z and that's it. You plug that into the FMC and off you go. When you follow the routing the UM17 airway spits you out at VATRY so you'd find a STAR that begins there. In Dublin the STARS are runway specific (in the USA you usually find that STARS serve ALL runways with a transition however) so we need the one for the runway in use, which is usually 34 at DUB. So a STAR for RWY34 beginning at VATRY gives us the VATRY 1S. Again, plug it into the FMC and off you go.

 

There's no need to see all the enroute waypoints at all. The aircraft knows where they are. If you want a route planner, try Simbrief. Real crews who are doing 6 sectors a day don't give a stuff where they're flying, they just print the thing off. You can just plug in the departure and arrival airports into Simbrief and it'll generate the route for you as above. Then all you do it just join up the SID and STAR as you're already doing. I suspect you're making this more complicated than it really is.

[wipeout01 0]

Hi Airline2Sim, are you Ryanair pilot?

I have a friend flying in Ryanair, his base is at Budapest

I was able to create a route from Dusseldorft to Ibiza, but I had to review every single airway, waypoint, and finally to find clearly the SID final waypoint I had to clear everything, terrain, boundaries, etc. etc. to have a clear view of the map.

I'm wondering in commercial airlines who are the people behind the flight plans... and how they handle to create an efficient flight plan, looking the best airways to follow... because that is other problem... finding the most efficient route.

You told me about Simbrief.

Is this free?

There is a videotutorial of 42 mins !!! so I'll watch it today...

But yes, I need what you said, a flight planner, but serious one, with SIDs, Enroute, STAR, IAC.

So Simbrief don't suggest me a SID or a STAR, it only create the route... and then I would have to select the SID, STAR and IAC from Jeppesen?

And would it tell me the airways to fly?

Or just the waypoints to fly direct to?

I think I feel more control following the direction of the airways... because if I fly everything in DIRECT TO, I can break all aviation regulations flying everywhere in the wrong places...

[Airline2Sim 489]

Nope, I'm not a Ryanair pilot but my company has a whole team of pilots from Emirates, United, BA, easyJet, Flybe, Thomson and more so they've drilled all this stuff into me over the years!

 

Flight planning is a very complicated and tricky job, and real airlines have whole departments who spend a lot of time doing it. The routes are subject to weather, routing restrictions (so you may not be able to overfly certain countries, especially Syria, Yemen, Iraq etc) and traffic restrictions (there could be a lot of other traffic on the same route) which makes it more complicated still. 

 

Real crews however don't get involved in this process. They show up at the crew room and print out the flight plan given to them. They will often not be given a SID or STAR in the real world with the flight plan as the plans are often produced many hours before the actual crews will actually perform the flight and the weather is likely to change. As SIDS and STARS are usually paired with a runway, there's no point issuing a SID or STAR until the runway is known, which is usually only set in stone once the crew are readying the aircraft for flight.

 

Simbrief is free and it also does give you suitable SIDs and STARs for the correct runways for the current weather which is helpful. The route you get is all you need to fly the whole thing. The route will already take into account flying over high ground, boundaries etc so you really don't need to give it any more thought.

 

Dusseldorf to Ibiza is this:

 

EDDL/05R MODR6Z MODRU Z283 SUMAS UZ283 LNO UN852 MOROK UZ24 BOLGI UN852 BALSI UQ211 VATIR UN852 VERSO UL129 POS POS2N LEIB/24

 

So runway 05R at Dusseldorf, take the MODR6Z to MODRU and then just fly the routing all the way to POS, where you join up with the POS2N to land on runway 24 at LEIB. You can download the route and import it directly into the FMC by pressing the 'download FMS' button on the page after you've created a route. Again, I repeat - just fly the route. The aircraft will do it all.  

[bjratchf 80]

Nope, I'm not a Ryanair pilot but my company has a whole team of pilots from Emirates, United, BA, easyJet, Flybe, Thomson and more so they've drilled all this stuff into me over the years!

 

and Hawaiian! Don't forget the pretty girl on the tail.

[Airline2Sim 489]

and Hawaiian! Don't forget the pretty girl on the tail.

Brendan I heard you're the pretty guy at the front?

[wipeout01 0]

Hi Ariline2Sim

I did not see the feature for SID and STARS in the website you told me, I'll try to take a look to the video relaxed.

It's sad the Jeppesen service don't allow people to find waypoints, I really don't know why I can find everything except waypoints and airways, even if the service was developed to show charts, have sense people consulting charts want to find points in them... so a search box would be really welcome.

Anyway, after 2 hours fighting with the charts I did also other route, so I am sharing it here:

 

EDDL ----> LEIB
----------------

SID
---------------------------
RUNWAY 05R

DEPARTURE: COLA3Z
---------------------------

ENROUTE
---------------------------
              VOR/DME
              COL
VIA
T150

              ROLIS
              
VIA
Z658

              IDOVI
              
VIA
T894

              AGBUL

VIA
T890

              BITBU
              
VIA
Y180
              VOR/DME
              MMD

VIA
MI63

              VOR/DME
              CTL

VIA
B37

              VOR/DME
              TRO

VIA
B373

              VOR/DME
              MOU

VIA
A3
              VOR/DME
              MTL

VIA
A6
              VOR/DME
              MTG
              
VIA
G7
              CRETA

VIA
A34
              VOR/DME
              ALT
              
VIA
B46

              RUXET
              
---------------------------
STAR
---------------------------

ARRIVAL: RUXET1V

---------------------------
IAC
---------------------------

APPROACH (IAC): ILS 06
APPROACH (IAC): TRANSITION
                               TILNO

----------------------------

 

Finally, is what you said. Crews are not involved in this process, there are departments behind, developing routes which take a lot of time, effort and experience. That and also the legal part. So I think that even if I don't develop the most efficient flight plan, for the "sim world" would be acceptable

I guess !!!

Cheers for everyone

[Alpha Floor 237]

Excellent advice by Ben!

 

In the sim, you want to make sure that the first and last waypoints of your route are correct (that is, check if there's a SID leading to your first enroute waypoint and a STAR starting off from your last waypoint). All that's in-between, doesn't really matter.

 

Here are some good sources for finding Flight Plans:

 

FlightAware - Real FPLs, best for flights from/to or within the USA.

RouteFinder - This one generates routes and I use it a lot. For short flights it works generally well. For oceanic flights, it might have problems with random segments (overwater).

EuroFPL - Requires registration. Careful with this one, might only be intended for real pilots

Real World Flightplan Database - The one that Ben used earlier.

IVAO Routes Database - This one is for IVAO members, its database is not that big and many flights are not contained. Might give it a try just in case.

NAT TRACKS - Just for if you want to fly over the North Atlantic using the NAT tracks. These are generated daily.

 

People flying within the USA have it very easy: FlightAware for finding the route and SkyVector for getting the charts.

[Jimm 437]

 

 

Simbrief is free and it also does give you suitable SIDs and STARs for the correct runways for the current weather which is helpful. The route you get is all you need to fly the whole thing. The route will already take into account flying over high ground, boundaries etc so you really don't need to give it any more thought.

I have tried that approach (no pun intended), to allowing Simbrief create a plan, but found after validating the plan, the AIRAC version is older than the one programmed into my aircraft.  I fly, for now, the Airbus A318 from Aerosoft, and with a subscription to Navigraph, which updates my aircraft with the latest AIRACs, there are issues using SimBrief's plans, BUT they do make for a great base and if you need accurate SIDs and STARs, using a charts app like Navigraph (similar to Jeppesen), then you can figure the rest out pretty easily.  Nowadays, I try to stick with the most comprehensive planner, which is PFPX, but I still do double checks before committing the plan.

 

-Jim