The Flight Plan
Flight plans seem to get changed more often than not. Sometimes you wonder why you even plan at all. Why not just take off, point the aircraft in the general direction you are going, and take it as it comes? Well, for one thing–and you know this–if you don’t plan well, everything would be surprising, and you would quickly become overwhelmed with chaos. Also, if you don’t have a precise plan, you won’t know that a change or situation needs your attention and corrective action. If you didn’t plan for an expected tail wind, that actual headwind wouldn’t be recognized as making any difference. If you didn’t plan for a particular approach, you wouldn’t realize that a loss of DME capability would prevent you from using that approach. In other words, an important part of our flight planning is to plan for a change of plans. The planning for our everyday lives mirrors this reality. Come back tomorrow for more on that.
It would be interesting to see how many of us regularly file VFR flight plans, how many just rely on ATC flight following, and how many don’t do either. Please take time to respond with “Flight Plan,” Flight Following,” or “Neither.”