Self calculating navigator's log

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Stearmandriver
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Joined: 12 Mar 2017, 22:33

Re: Self calculating navigator's log

Post by Stearmandriver »

Well I've gotten through the flight planning phase but still haven't had an opportunity to fly my flight; hope to do that this week.

In the planning phase, only bug I've found is that after adding the plane I'm flying to the Hangar sheet, when I try to use the dropdown menu on the Plan sheet to select an N number, all the entries in the dropdown are just zeroes. This is pretty inconsequential to me, but it is a nice touch, especially with the changing company logo, so I thought I'd mention it. Maybe I've just done something wrong, dunno... This is in Win 10 / Excel 10.

Only suggestion I would have at this stage is what you already mentioned - include performance information somewhere (maybe on the Hangar sheet) so it can be automatically populated on the other sheets, without having to fill in the Notes sheet every time.

Overall great stuff though! Looking forward to trying the in flight portions of it. Thanks again!

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MatsH
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Re: Self calculating navigator's log

Post by MatsH »

Stearmandriver,

Have you created a flight on the schedule page and selected that same flight on the flightplan page? You must do it in that order so that the list only shows the airframes of the relevant type!

At the moment I am entering performance data for the DC-3. The DC-6, '377 and '49 are done. It's quite time consuming work!

Stearmandriver
Senior Airman
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Re: Self calculating navigator's log

Post by Stearmandriver »

Ahhh... no I did not. I thought that was more for replicating historic schedules, which I'm kind of doing, but the era I'm in predates WWII, where nothing in aviation happened on much of a schedule ;-). I'll create a flight in the schedule, though.

Good deal on the perf data. I'm impressed with the level of detail in this.

Stearmandriver
Senior Airman
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Re: Self calculating navigator's log

Post by Stearmandriver »

Hey Mats,

Well, I may have spoke too soon about flight planning having gone well. I hadn't actually dropped my route in from Plan G yet; tried that tonight and I've been fighting with it for a while now. Not sure if these are bugs or my own user error, but here's what I'm seeing:

First, the final entry in the flightplan (from calculated TOD to destination) is very weird. The distance is too short, the course is the wrong direction, and the variation is calculated at 80W. Plotting the lat/longs for the top of descent, it placed the TOD 10nm to the NW of my destination, even though I'm arriving from the NE. My true course is roughly 236 to destination, and if I fly to the TOD I have to turn around and fly a course of 145 for 10nm. Thoughts? Any way I can force it not to calculate a TOD?

Second, the Notes sheet won't calculate time or fuel burn, despite me checking and rechecking that I've got everything filled in.

Third, whenever I open the excel file after saving my changes, I get an error about recovering the contents - I say yes, and it seems to. The error is: Removed Records: object from /xl/printerSettings/printerSettings7.bin part (print options). I'm not trying to print anything and guessing this isn't related to the other issues, but I offer it for your debugging interest.

I'm on Win10, Excel 10.

Screenshots of what I have entered; if any dumb mistakes jump out at you, feel free to point them out ;-)

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Thanks again for your time with this; it's obviously not your job to fix it, but it's a cool project I'd love to get working, and I thought these issues might be of interest if they really are bugs.

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MatsH
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Re: Self calculating navigator's log

Post by MatsH »

Stearmandriver wrote: First, the final entry in the flightplan (from calculated TOD to destination) is very weird. The distance is too short, the course is the wrong direction, and the variation is calculated at 80W. Plotting the lat/longs for the top of descent, it placed the TOD 10nm to the NW of my destination, even though I'm arriving from the NE. My true course is roughly 236 to destination, and if I fly to the TOD I have to turn around and fly a course of 145 for 10nm. Thoughts? Any way I can force it not to calculate a TOD?

Second, the Notes sheet won't calculate time or fuel burn, despite me checking and rechecking that I've got everything filled in.
1. From what I can see in your screenshots you haven't entered IAS and fuel flow for your descent. If you leave anything out, no results will be displayed!
2. There will still be a bug with the location of the TOD waypoint. I thought I had fixed that but it's back! I have it fixed for the release version!
Stearmandriver wrote: Third, whenever I open the excel file after saving my changes, I get an error about recovering the contents - I say yes, and it seems to. The error is: Removed Records: object from /xl/printerSettings/printerSettings7.bin part (print options). I'm not trying to print anything and guessing this isn't related to the other issues, but I offer it for your debugging interest.

I'm on Win10, Excel 10.
I have no idea!

Stearmandriver
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Re: Self calculating navigator's log

Post by Stearmandriver »

Thus proving that if you stare at something long enough, you cease to really see it. I mean, it's not like you color coded those cells for us or anything... ;-)

Thanks...

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MatsH
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Re: Self calculating navigator's log

Post by MatsH »

I'm making the log available to all of you:

DOWNLOAD LINK

- I have added a performance module set up for the Boeing 377, Lockheed L-49, DC-6B and DC-3C. The data is from real world flight manuals except the L-49 which is from the A2A manual. It is not flight tested in FSX or P3D. I have also had to create formulas from various graphs and tables for just about everything and I think it is at least 95% accurate. Descent settings I have come up with myself. Edit these tables all you like to suit your taste on the relevant pages!
- I have fixed the magnetic variation and top of descent bugs mentioned by Stearmandriver. At least hopefully!
- Cells with a small red triangle in the upper right corner have a comment attached meant as a tooltip. Hold your mouse cursor over the cell and the comment will be shown!
- Cells with a green tint are required for proper calculations. Cells with a yellow tint are for your reference and are not required to fill in. Cells with a red tint are the results of calculations.
- Some of the sheets are protected in order to prevent unintentional editing. The password is: Connie

THE QUICK AND DIRTY WAY: This will not use any of the planning features of the spreadsheet. The logbook will work but all information will not be entered.
- Go to STEP 2.2. Follow the instructions.
- Go to STEP 2.3. Follow the instructions.
- Go to STEP 4. Follow the instructions and fly!

TO USE ALL FEATURES:

STEP 1: SETTING THE LOG UP

1. Go to the HANGAR page:
- Add aircraft types if you want to. (Performance settings are only available for the types listed above though. I am not planning on adding any other types anytime soon. It's time consuming work!)
- Add the registrations of your fleet! You can see that my repaints are still in there. Replace them with yours or keep them!
- Add your crewmembers names. (Not required)
- You can add manufacturers logos to display on the notes page. Insert a logo beneath the last one and add the name of the manufacturer. (Not required, backgound color is: R:251 G: 218 B: 167)

2. Go to the SCHEDULE page:
- Add your flights. Include: Flight number, departure time (local, format: HH:MM), departure timezone (drop down), origin, type of equipment (drop down), arrival time (local, format: HH:MM), destination. Block time is displayed. Make notes if you want to!
- I have left a couple of flights to show a few examples.
- Add airline logos to be displayed on the flightplan and nav log pages. (Same way as manufacturer logos, enter airline ICAO code)

STEP 2: FLIGHT PLANNING

1. Go to the FLIGHTPLAN PAGE:
- Enter desired date by using the drop downs.
- Select your desired flight from the "Flight Number" drop down.
- Select the aircraft you want to use for the flight from the "Ship No." drop down.
- Select your crewmembers. (Not required.)
- Tick the relevant box to determine the type of flight. (This is recorded in your logbook)
- Enter the number of passengers and the weight of your cargo in pounds.
- Winds will be entered later.

2. Create a flightplan in PLAN-G:
- Create a flightplan in PLAN-G.
- You are limited to 28 waypoints!
- I recommend that you add 4-5 waypoints along your track when doing ocean crossings.
- Make Plan-G display your plan in a table format. Select all the rows and columns in the table. (Left click the uppermost row, hold the shift key and press the down Arrow on your keyboard until all rows are blue.) Copy the flightplan by using Ctrl + C.

3. Go to the PLAN-G FLIGHTPLAN PAGE:
- Paste the flightplan into Excel by selecting the top left cell within the black frame and pressing Ctrl + V.
- Your flightplan should now be within the black frame.

4. Go to the NOTES PAGE:
- Enter the weight of your supplies, ADI and oil.
- Enter the distance to your alternate.
- Enter your desired holding time.
- Enter the warm-up and taxi time.
- Enter extra fuel if desired.

POWER SETTINGS - USING THE PERFORMANCE MODULE (RECOMMENDED - WORKS ONLY WITH DC-3, BOEING 377, L-49, DC-6)
- Enter the departure airport elevation as altitude on the CLIMB row. Select your climb Power from the BHP drop down!
- Enter the sruise power settings (I-VIII) that you intend to use. Enter altitude and cruise power (BHP) for each setting! Enter the waypoints using the "From" and "To" drop downs! You must use them i sequence! The last setting that you use will be used to calculate holding and diversion fuel. It can of course be used for the last part of your route as well! Use as many as you like or just one!
- Enter destination Airport altitude elevation as altitude on the DESCENT row. Select your descent power from the BHP drop down!
- Press the "Get performance"-button! Performance figures will be collected for the selected Aircraft type and positions for TOC/TOD will be calculated!
- Review your settings again with regard to the waypoints. Since TOC and TOD were inserted into the list of waypoints your route is no longer valid. Make the TOD-waypoint the last waypoint for your last power setting! (I can't make this easier! I would if I could!)
- Press the "Get performance"-button AGAIN and your settings will be corrected!
- You may edit any of the power settings if you like! Press "Get performance" to reset all changes! A green frame around the button indicates that numbers are identical to the performance tables. A red frame indicates that numbers have been changed!

POWER SETTINGS - ENTERING SETTINGS MANUALLY (Any aircraft!)
- Enter the departure airport elevation as altitude on the CLIMB row. Consult performance tables and charts for your Aircraft and enter: RPM, IAS, time to altitude, fuel to altitude. You cannot enter BHP and BMEP will not be calculated.
- Enter for each cruise power setting that you intend to use: altitude, RPM, IAS, fuel flow, from waypoint to waypoint. You cannot enter BHP and BMEP will not be calculated.
- Enter destination airport altitude elevation as altitude on the DESCENT row. Enter RPM, IAS, fuel flow, descent rate.
- Review your settings with regard to waypoints. Your last cruise setting must end with the TOD waypoint!

ENTERING WEATHER
- Go to the FLIGHTPLAN page.
- Divide your route into five zones using the FROM and TO drop downs for each zone!
- Enter wind direction and speed for each altitude.

NOTE: A quick way of entering the winds is to use Active Sky and review your route on the map. Divide your route so that the weather is reasonably uniform within each zone. The average course within each zone will be used to determine if winds are more or less favourable. Select a waypoint within a zone where the weather is typical for the zone and open the window that displays the detailed weather information. Copy this information the same way you did with the Plan-G flightplan and paste it into the relevant zone on the FLIGHTPLAN page! Green bars indicate favourable winds, red bars indicate unfavourable winds!

- Review your power settings again. If you have headwinds maybe you need to power up. If you have tailwinds maybe you can power down.

STEP 3: USING THE NAV LOG
- Go to the NAVLOG page.
- Prepare your log before takeoff. Enter your departure position using the drop down on the first row on the log sheet. Enter magnetic variation, temperature, pressure altitude (airport altitude), IAS (intended climb speed), wind strength and direction, select your next waypoint ffrom the drop down (any waypoint can be selected) or enter absolute coordinates for where you want to go. Enter fuel on board in gallons.
- Enter "Off blocks" time when you start your engines.
- Taxi and take off. Enter the time you took off in the row you prepared earlier. Turn to the calculated heading ("Mag. Head"). Enter the same heading under "Comp. Head".

NOTE: The "Mag. Head" is the heading calculated for you! This might be inaccurate due to changing winds, sloppy flying, turns etc. You must use your own judgement to determine if it is a reasonable heading! Enter "Comp. Head". This is the heading you choose to actually fly and will be used for calculations when you do your next entry!

- When you pass your first waypoint, enter position from the drop down or enter absolute coordinates, enter time, variation and all the other green tinted cells just like you did Before takeoff!
- Repeat this as you pass your waypoints!

NOTES: There are two ways of entering positions! When you pass close to your waypoint you can select your waypoint from the drop down. When you are far from your waypoint you can enter coordinates! Range and endurance are calculated from the ground speed, fuel used since last entry and time since last entry. So it is rather dumb but can give you some sort of indication!

- After landing and taxiing in and engine shutoff enter all the numbers and enter "On blocks"-time.

STEP 4: THE LOGBOOK

- Go to the LOGBOOK page.
- Press the "Copy from navlog"-button. All the data from your last flight will be collected and entered on a new row in your logbook!
- You can edit your entries all you like after they have been created!

NOTE: You can now prepare the sheets for your next flight by pressing the "Clear"-button on each page!

I am happy to answer questions here. Please report bugs! I am sure there are a few I haven't found yet!

/Mats
Last edited by MatsH on 07 Dec 2017, 18:00, edited 1 time in total.

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bmbrzmn101
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Re: Self calculating navigator's log

Post by bmbrzmn101 »

MATS, I got an Error 404 when I clicked the link.

Just an fyi.

Thanks, Chris
The voices in your head will quieten down when you begin listening to them!

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MatsH
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Re: Self calculating navigator's log

Post by MatsH »

FIXED: DOWNLOAD LINK

It is a Dropbox link. You can view the file in your browser. But most likely you will have to download the file and open it locally!

Stearmandriver
Senior Airman
Posts: 174
Joined: 12 Mar 2017, 22:33

Re: Self calculating navigator's log

Post by Stearmandriver »

Hey,

Figured it was time for some feedback here, after all the work Mats put in to make this available.

I'd been waiting until I'd finished my first flight with it, but that's a pretty ambitious flight and I've had less time than anticipated, so I'm still only halfway; I'm re-creating the first transpacific commercial service by flying the original Pan Am China Clipper route in an old M-130 model I found at CalClassics. A ton of fun, but of course that first leg is the longest, San Francisco to Honolulu. That... takes a while, at 115KIAS at 7,000ft. Yes, the halfway mark was achieved using time acceleration ;-).

But the navlog - working great. I switched to the newest version when it was released, and my TOC and TOD issues were solved. This is one of those things that looks like it'll be really cool, but you can't quite appreciate HOW cool until you use it.

As an example, I'm stuck down low because this old flying boat is unpressurized (and can't climb much at all until burning some fuel). This makes celestial shots tricky, because you aren't above most of the clouds - remember, the sextant will not let you get a shot when in clouds. What this has meant is, I rarely get a position fix right when I want one - I often have to wait another 20 or 30 mins. So, my fixes aren't at or near my checkpoints. The navlog does the grunt work of calculating my on course corrections for me, and this has been really helpful. Heck, it took 30 mins to get two star shots for my last fix, and I had to advance the first LOP forward in time 30 mins for a fix; my workload is high enough on this flight as - is ;-).

Because of the reduction in workload associated with off course corrections, I've been simulating the way the real Clipper crews avoided weather as well - by visually navigating around lightning, turning to parallel the course as able, and calculating a correction back on course when I can finally get a celestial fix. It really adds a new dimension to things; I'm pretty taken aback by how much more challenging it is down low and slow like this vs up at FL200 in the Connie!

But anyway, the navlog really seems to be functioning flawlessly now. I really encourage anyone using any kind of dead reckoning to give this spreadsheet a try. The more you use it and figure it out, the more you'll appreciate it! Mats deserves our thanks here.

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Bryan001=
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Re: Self calculating navigator's log

Post by Bryan001= »

I fully agree with Stearmandriver! Unfortunately I'm to busy with real life right now, but I can fully recommend Mats' work; it is a little piece of art!

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MatsH
Airman First Class
Posts: 73
Joined: 20 May 2011, 05:34

Re: Self calculating navigator's log

Post by MatsH »

Thanks for your kind words Stearman and Bryan! I hope you made landfall in time for the holidays Stearman!

I came across THIS the other day! I thought it light be of interest to some of you. It is a TWA navigator's flight log. Not just any old flight log but the one from the April 17, 1944 coast-to-coast record breaking flight in a C-69 piloted by Jack Frye and Howard Hughes! You can read more at the TWA museum guides blog.

Maybe I will give the log a makeover so that it looks just like the TWA log!

Stearmandriver
Senior Airman
Posts: 174
Joined: 12 Mar 2017, 22:33

Re: Self calculating navigator's log

Post by Stearmandriver »

Carving out the free time for landfall took longer than expected, but we DID get there ;-).

I made a video to document the first leg of the journey, from San Francisco to Honolulu (attempting to re-create the original flight of the Pan Am China Clipper). It doesn't really involve A2A products, but I do talk about how Mats's navlog works for me (spoiler: great), so I thought it might be of interest. If it's not appropriate to post here, feel free to delete.

Thanks again Mats...

https://youtu.be/upPKwl3eHPE

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MatsH
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Posts: 73
Joined: 20 May 2011, 05:34

Re: Self calculating navigator's log

Post by MatsH »

Stearman, your video is great!

If you could show how the log is used during planning and navigating on your next leg I think that would be great!

I imagine the log is quite daunting. But it is meant to make flying like you did in your video easier. It is a great and rewarding way to fly!

Stearmandriver
Senior Airman
Posts: 174
Joined: 12 Mar 2017, 22:33

Re: Self calculating navigator's log

Post by Stearmandriver »

All right MatsH, since you asked and in case it might help anyone else, here's my next video on the China Clipper flight. This is part 1 of Leg 2 from Honolulu to Midway; it includes a walk-through of my flight planning workflow and how I use the navlog. It's long and includes a bunch of other information as well, so if you're interested primarily in the navlog coverage there's a timeline link in the description to jump to that part.

https://youtu.be/zlXR7H0M0vk

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