F-PLN: DEPARTURE, AIRWAYS AND ROUTE GEOMETRY
Open the departure airport's lateral revision and DEPARTURE. Select the actual runway and a procedure compatible with the clearance and first enroute fix. Confirm the complete procedure identifier against the current chart; a similar name or an earlier version may encode a different set of legs. [66, PDF pp. 113-120]
For the historical exercise, use AIRWAYS from SOBRA: Y180 to BITBU, Y181 to DEMUL, then directly to DENUT and L608 to LOGAN. Enter the airway in VIA and its exit fix in TO. If the current database no longer supports the historical route, replace it with the current OFP route. A rejected fix or airway needs reconciliation, not a series of deletions to make the page accept something. [66, PDF pp. 113-120] [102, PDF p. 1]
Review temporary changes before INSERT. Scroll the legs and inspect the proposed geometry on the navigation display at a useful range. Confirm the turn, leg order and intended continuation before the temporary plan becomes active. Data acceptance establishes that an entry is usable; route review establishes that it is the one you intended. [66, PDF pp. 312-314]
IN PRACTICE: F-PLN: programme and inspect the lateral route
Before you begin: INIT A complete. Current charts/OFP available. The airway names below belong only to the explicitly historical keyboard exercise; use the actual OFP for a current sector.
1. Open the departure revision
Action. Press F-PLN and select the departure-airport line to open its lateral revision. Open DEPARTURE and select the actual runway you have been assigned or are explicitly planning.
Check. The runway designation matches the current preparation. The available departure list is now associated with that runway, not an unrelated airport or runway end. [66, PDF pp. 113-114]
2. Choose the correct departure connection
Action. Select the appropriate SID and transition from the current clearance and chart. Inspect their leg order and restrictions, including the point where the departure joins the enroute route.
Check. The named procedure and transition match the intended version and connect towards the correct first enroute fix. A tidy line alone is not the check. [66, PDF pp. 113-114] [66, PDF p. 128]
3. Open AIRWAYS from the right fix
Action. For the historical drill, locate SOBRA as the intended enroute starting point, entering it as a waypoint if required. Select its lateral revision and AIRWAYS. For a current route, use the actual airway-entry fix instead.
Check. The AIRWAYS page begins from the correct waypoint. You are extending the intended route rather than attaching an airway to a similarly named point elsewhere. [66, PDF pp. 115-117]
4. Enter each airway with its exit
Action. Enter Y180 in VIA and BITBU in its TO field. Then continue via Y181 to DEMUL on the next applicable airway entry. Review the accepted waypoint sequence and the airway exit after each entry.
Check. The route reaches BITBU and then DEMUL along the selected airways. NOT IN DATABASE requires a source/database check; it is not a reason to choose a plausible-looking different airway. [66, PDF pp. 115-117] [102, PDF p. 1]
5. Enter the direct segment as a waypoint
Action. At DEMUL, use its lateral revision and NEXT WPT to add DENUT for the historical direct segment. Then open AIRWAYS from DENUT and enter L608 to LOGAN.
Check. The direct segment goes to DENUT, after which the airway sequence leads to LOGAN. DCT in the written route has not been mistaken for an airway that needs inventing. [66, PDF pp. 115-117] [102, PDF p. 1]
6. Prepare the arrival connection
Action. At EGLL, open the arrival revision and use the runway, STAR, transition and approach appropriate to the actual plan. Where arrival information is provisional, keep that status clear and revisit it during descent preparation.
Check. The enroute endpoint joins the intended arrival, or a remaining gap has an understood reason. The historical LOGAN example has not dictated an invented present-day STAR. [66, PDF pp. 119-120] [66, PDF pp. 331-337]
7. Inspect before INSERT
Action. Scroll the temporary flight plan from departure through destination. Use ND PLAN mode, an appropriate range and constraint display to compare the route with the charts, including turns, duplicated fixes, distances and restrictions.
Check. The proposal is recognisable as the intended flight. Discontinuities have been classified, and no unexplained detour or doubled procedure is hidden off the current ND range. [66, PDF pp. 312-314] [66, PDF p. 128]
8. Commit, then read it again
Action. Select INSERT only after that review. Reopen F-PLN and confirm the accepted departure, first enroute connection and destination. Keep a note of any item still awaiting a later clearance.
Check. The reviewed route is active, with the expected first leg and endpoints. Temporary-plan disappearance has been followed by an actual active-plan readback. [66, PDF pp. 312-314] [66, PDF p. 128]
Complete when: Departure, enroute and arrival selections form the intended route, all temporary changes are reviewed, and only the accepted route is active.