Hi Dave, I was wondering if you could clarify something for me. Does P2ATC know what your cruising altitude is?

Say for example the flight plan says cruising altitude FL 350 but after reaching this, at some point in the flight you request say FL400, is P2ATC aware of this when calculating your descent? The reason I ask this is because I did a flight the other day but found that I was too high when I was approaching the airport which resulted in a go around. Should I have maybe have asked for descent back to FL350 a few hundred miles out so that my descent would give me the correct approach level as per the flight plan? Or did I just mess up my descent 😛.

It would be nice to know for future use especially on long haul.

Many thanks,

Mike

Mike,

If you get a new altitude approved, as in the scenario you describe, then P2A sets that as the Cruise Altitude and uses it in any future TOD calculations.

Dave 

 

Ok thanks for clarifying that Dave, must have me then. It was just a coincidence that on that particular flight I had asked for higher clearance which is something I don’t do all the time especially on short haul.

thanks again, regards

Mike

Ah, good to know. I always went back into P2ATC plan and just changed my cruise alt manually, and it would move the TOD on my plan.

Remember, there are 2 separate flight plans in P2A.  The one you build and see and the one ATC uses.  When you file a flight plan, ATC receives it and uses it as the base.  BUT, for example, if you have "Load Recommended Procedures" option off, and ATC assigns a STAR, then you won't see that in your plan, but ATC's plan will have it.

Similarly, if you request a new cruise altitude and it is granted, ATC amends it's flight plan and uses it to calculate a new TOD.  However, you won't see that on your plan unless you change the altitude and Validate the plan.  Or conversely, if you change your cruise altitude in the flight plan, ATC is not aware of it.  You should make the verbal request and get approval for it....then change it on your plan to keep in sync.  

Ok, so no need to change it manually and hit validate unless you want to physically see where the new TOD is.

 

Thanks!