Copyright D.P. Browne 2011

 

 

 

 

Home.Cockpit.Aircraft Systems.Worked Example.Program Controls.Before Flight.

Inserting A waypoint

 

 

The flight plan that is followed by the aircraft when the Autopilot is set to NAV mode consists of a number of way points. These waypoints define the flight plan. They are usually entered by selecting a company route, selecting a departure SID and an arrival STAR.

In this manner the MCDU enters the way points automatically.

 

Entering on the Flight Plan

 

Entered directly on the flight plan page

Entered as the Next Way point on a lateral revision page

Entered as a Direct To waypoint

A way point may be entered by the flight crew directly in a number of ways.  

 

 

Entering on the Lateral Revision Page

 

Entering as a Direct To waypoint

 

A way point can be any of the following

 

 

An identified nav aid, VOR, Waypoint, NDB

A Latitude and Longitude

A place and a bearing

A place, bearing intersection pair

An offset from a waypoint exiting in the flight plan

Type the waypoint name in the scratchpad.

Press the Left LSK to insert the waypoint.

 

The waypoint is inserted at the LSK  line pressed, and the previous waypoint is moved downwards.

If there are more than 1 waypoint with the same name, a duplicates name page appears

Select the waypoint required on this page by pressing the associated Left LSK

The insertion creates a discontinuity in the flight plan, that can be cleared by the CLR key.

Select the Flight Plan page and

select a lateral revision at the appropriate waypoint to show the Lateral Revision Page

Type the waypoint name into the scratchpad.

Press LSK 3R (NEXT WPT prompt).

The insertion creates a temporary flight plan and a discontinuity in the flight plan, that can be cleared by the CLR key.

Select LSK 6R to insert the waypoint into the flight plan.

A new way point may be entered into the flight by selecting it as a Direct To waypoint. The  Direct To function will fly the aircraft towards that new waypoint., and then follow the original flight plan.