The National Aeronautical Charting Office (NACO) produces Terminal Procedure Publications (TPPs) and Airport/Facility Directories (A/FDs) , for the United States, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, and Pacific Territories, that are available in PDF format files and can be downloaded over the internet.  Included in the Terminal Procedures Publications are:

• Instrument Approach Procedure (IAP) Charts
• Departure Procedure (DP) Charts
• Standard Terminal Arrival (STAR) Charts
• Charted Visual Flight Procedures (CVFP)
• Airport Diagrams (AD)

This database contains over 16,000 references to over 13,000 files. These downloads are done one at a time and beyond being able to view the procedure the only other option is print them one a time.  One disadvantage to this is, if you’re in the field and don’t have internet access you have no access to these procedures and  I've also seen the NACO site down for hours at a time.  Two good reasons to maintain your own local database of procedures.   

NACO also produces these procedures on a DVD, at one time cost of $12.50, that is good for 28 days, or for a one year subscription (13 issues) at $162.50.  Also included, on the DVD,  are some XML procedures that, as close as possible, mimic the online internet access.

Every 28 days a new version of the TTP database is created and every 56 days the A/FD are updated and it is strongly recommended, by the FAA, that you update your procedures.

The Aviator Trip Pack (ATP) system allows a convenient way to download, display, create and update your own personal library of terminal procedures and Facilities Directory.  In addition you can create a Trip Pack of only the procedures and Airport Facilities you require for a particular flight.  ATP can access procedures from three different locations.

With ATP the Database Refresh can be done manually or fully automatically.  When a cycle changes the system will notify you, and suggests that you do a database refresh.  At this point you must have internet access and select Refresh Database from the File menu.  (Also see: Hands Free Revision Updates) The system will download and replace all the procedures in your Local Database and add and new procedures and delete any expired procedures.

The system is designed to be easy to use, just point-and-click and drag-and-drop and a minimum of keyboard input to facilitate use on a tablet PC using a stylus.  Using a right mouse in different areas of the screen will show menus of task relative to that area of the screen. (See: User Interface)

To view the procedures you will need to install Adobe Acrobat Reader.

A Trip Pack is a collection of Instrument Approach Procedures, Take-off Minimums, Alternate Minimums, Airport Diagrams, and Airport/Facility Directories that you intend to use on an upcoming flight.  Working with them one at a time would be cumbersome.  ATP allows you select the procedures you desire and arrange them in the sequence that works best for you and create a single PDF file that you can display and/or print.  The Airport/Facility Directories for the airports in your Trip Pack will be added to the end of your PDF.  The Adobe Reader provides many options, combined with your printer functionally, for arranging the final printed output.   The Trip Pack can also be displayed with the clipboard view.

The system contains a small scheduler program that, if invoked will be started each time you boot your system.  This program will check at a time of day you proscribe, to see if there are new updates to be applied to your library.  If cycle has changed, the Refresh Database procedure will be started automatically and will run unattended.   In this way you can schedule the updates to run at a time that is convenient for you and when internet traffic could be less.  If for some reason you miss a cycle you will not get the new adds, however delete and changes will be done the next time you do a refresh.

To check on the status of the scheduler click on the scheduler system icon in the system tray.

Because the Airport/Facility Directories are maintained in a different manner than the TPP database, and the update cycle is 56 days, the update procedure is different.  When you include a A/FD, for an airport, in your Trip Pack the file is downloaded and stored in cache and then added to your Trip Pack PDF file.  The next time you access this airport A/FD it will be retrieved  from cache and will not be downloaded.  This implies that the first time you include an airport in a Trip Pack you should have internet access to get the A/FD for that airport.

At the beginning of the next 56 cycle the old A/FDs, that you have accessed, will be purged from cache, a new directory file will be created, and the new A/FDs will be downloaded to replace the ones deleted. 

The system will allow you to synchronize you laptop/tablet (guest) computer's library with your desktop (host) computer's library.  In addition to your library the guest computer will also be updated with your latest Trip Pack and you latest Duat secession.  By default the system will put it's libraries in C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\ATP\Library\ this will allow the desktop computer to have read/write access to the guest's library.  The system can be directed to maintain the libraries anywhere, but to use this feature it must have read/write access to the guest computer's library.

ATP uses the archive attribute in the host computer's library to identify the procedures that have been changed and then reset it after the file has been copied to the guest computer's library.  If you need to synchronize more than one guest computer then uncheck Reset Archive in the Options menu and recheck it when you synchronize the last guest computer.  

When synchronizing you libraries ATP should not be running on the guest computer to avoid any conflict for file access.

ATP will allow you to download your Trip Packs to your Pocket PC and view them with Acrobat CE.  ATP utilizes ActiveSync to actually do the downloading to your Pocket PC in the folder \My Documents\Aviator Trip Pack\.  This will allow you to prepare procedures to be downloaded when the Pocket PC is not docked and as soon as it is docked the files will be synchronized.  

 

To invoke this feature go to Option menu and select Set-Up Pocket PC.  This will enable the system to find the outbound ActiveSync My Documents folder.  If the system was unable to find the folder you will be prompted to browse for it. In Microsoft ActiveSync in the Tools|Options menu in the Sync Options tab check Files.

 

In addition to downloading the procedures to the Pocket PC ATP will also download the last DUAT weather report into the same directory as the procedures.  You can then view them as text files on the Pocket PC.

 

To view your procedures on your Pocket PC you will need to install Acrobat CE.  

You can save your Trip Packs for future use with the archive feature.  Simply click Archive Trip Pack in the File menu.  You will be prompted for a name, and then the Trip Pack will archived and added to the Archived Trip Pack folder.

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1. Directory Folders

The Directory Folder consists of four major groups: States, Cities, Volumes and your Archived Trip Packs.  Selecting an item, by clicking on it, from one of these groups will download, from the Remote Database,  all the procedure names for that group and will be place them in the Procedure Names List.  If the procedure exists in the Local Database  the icon to the left of that item will reflect procedure type. (see: Icons)  In the States folder if you right click you can download the entire state by selecting that function from the popup menu.  If there some states that you wish to remove from the list of states, again right click and select that function from the popup menu.

Although the Directory Folder was designed to be used with the Remote Database it can also be used for the Local or DVD Databases.   If you are disconnected from the internet or if you are sure that you have all the procedures you require you can check Use Local/DVD Database Exclusively in the Options menu.  This will allow you to use the Directory Folders against your Local and DVD Databases  in the same way you do with the Remote Database.  

2. Procedure Names List from Remote Database

When items are selected from one of the Directory Folders  or from the Map they are downloaded and listed in the Procedures List.  Items that do not exist in the Local Database  will have an icon  in the row for that procedure, while items that do exist in the Local Database  will have the appropriate icon for that procedure type.  In the case of an Instrument  Approach it would be . (see: Icons)

3. Library Lists

This list contains all the procedures in your Local Database  or your DVD Database  depending on the strategy that you have selected.  The Library List is divided into seven sections buy tabs, Library, Arrivals, Departures, Diagrams, Approaches, Minimums, and Airports.  The Library tab contains a list of the entire library while the other tabs divide the procedures by type.  The Airports tab, which is probably the most useful, contains an entry for each airport in the Local or DVD Database  that you are using. 

4. Trip Pack Procedures List

This list contains the procedures you have selected to be included in your Trip Pack.  For the most part you include items in this list by dragging and dropping from the Library List  or the Procedures List.   Lets say you want to go from SNA to SBA you would click the Airports tab in the Library List, find SNA then drag and drop it to the Trip Pack List, or double click on it, then do the same for SBA.  We will discuss later how to find items quickly in the three lists.

After creating the list, of the procedures you wand, you can arrange the sequence of the procedures within this list by dragging and dropping them to the desired sequence or deleting them, within the Trip Pack List.  To see a procedure drag and drop it to the Procedure Display Window  or double click on it.

To create a Trip Pack just select Build Trip Pack from the File menu or click on the Trip Pack tab and all the procedures will be created into one PDF file and displayed in the Procedure Display Window. 

5. Tool Bar

The Tool Bar contains buttons for some of the most used functions of the system.  The Tool Bar can be moved to any part of the screen, top, bottom, left, or right or you can make it invisible.  It may also be customized by arranging the sequence of the buttons or eliminating them completely.  

The Procedure window is where you view the procedures.  To display a procedure all you need is to double click on it in one of the three list windows except the Airports tab of the Library lists.  If the procedure is not in the Local Database  or the DVD Database  it will be downloaded from the Remote Database  to the Local Database  before it is displayed.
 

There are three lists of procedures in the system, the Procedures list, the Library Lists, and the Trip Pack list.  The columns in each of these lists can be arranged in any sequence or any width by using your mouse to drag-and-drop a column to a new position or to alter its width.  Any changes will be recorded and be refreshed the next time your start ATP.  Any list may be sorted in ascending or descending sequence by clicking the column’s heading.

By default all lists are sorted in ascending sequence the airport ID.  If you want to sort a list in another sequence simply click on the column header and the sequence will alternate between ascending and descending sequence. So if you need to find an airport, like SBA, simply click the Idents column and use the keyboard to type in SBA. The system will scroll down to SBA.  This applies to any column that is sorted like cities or airport names.  You can restart the search by hitting the Esc key.

In addition to being sorted by any column the sequence of the individual items in the Trip Pack list can be arranged by dragging and dropping each item within the Trip Pack list. 

To view any procedure in any of the three lists simply double click on it or drag and drop to the procedure display window. If the procedure does not exist in your library it will be downloaded and add to your Local Database  before it is displayed.  If for some reason there is an error in downloading a procedure it will have an icon and should be tried again.

To find any airport on the map just drag and drop any of it's procedures to the map and the airport will be positioned in the center of the map and displayed in blue.

After you have installed the system and started it for the first time select an airport that you know has terminal procedures.  You can do this from the directory folders by state or form the alphabetical list of cities.  You can also select an airport by right clicking on the Procedure Names  List  and selecting Airport Idents (F7) from the popup menu list.  The system will then download the name of each procedure for that airport.  You will note that the icon for each procedure is  meaning that the procedure it’s self has not been downloaded and added to your Local Library  of procedures.  At this point you can download and add to your library one or all for the procedures by right clicking and selecting the appropriate action.  You can also download and view a procedure by double clicking on it or dragging and dropping it to the Procedure Display Window.   You will notice when the procedure has been added to your library the icon will change to the appropriate icon for that procedure type. (see: Icons)

The system will automatically check if the cycle has changed since the last time you used the system.  This is done when you start the system and will give you a message advising you to run the Refresh Database. 

Error
Complete library
Arrivals
Departures
Airport Diagrams
Instrument approaches
Minimums
Airports
Procedures not in Libraries

If you have chosen Strategies 2, 3 or 4 you do not need to have access the NACO Remote Database  and can recover some valuable real estate on the screen by removing the parts of the system that have to do with that function.  In the menu system Options uncheck View Directory Folders.    

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• Select a laptop or tablet computer that is of a size that going to work well in your airplane.  Biggest is not always the best.  Remember that with a PDF file you can always blow them up to any size you wish.
• Always have an external power source.  Never ever depend on the computer’s battery.
• If possible orient the screen so the CD is at the top.  If you are resting the PC in your lap you have a tendency to open the CD drawer.  Also if your notepad is like mine the external power input is on the other side and this will help keep it plugged into the PC.
• Most of the portable computers generate some heat, so it flying with something warm between you legs could bother you, you may want to take that into consideration when selecting your hardware.
• The stylus or pointing device, that comes with you tablet PC, is a valuable piece of hardware, and you don’t want to drop it on the floor of the plane and go looking for it while you’re on an approach.  My suggestion is to develop some kind of leash, either around your wrist or around your neck.  I have not come up with a good solution as yet.
• I've also found that setting your tablet PC up the way you want it for takeoff and then putting it into hibernate will save you some time when your ready for departure.  That way all you have to do is turn it on and your ready to go.
• You can create several Trip Packs for a particular  flight like one for takeoff, one for landing, one for alternates and select the one you want, while in clipboard view with two clicks.

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By clicking on the Map tab you will get a map of the United States.  You can zoom in on an area of interest by holding down the the left mouse button and dragging the the drag box diagonally across the screen.  By clicking on an airport the procedures for that airport will loaded into the Procedure Names List .  If the Procedure Names List  is not visible the procedures will be loaded directly into the Trip Pack List.   Airports will be shown as a green circle and if they have been added to the Trip Pack list they will be shown as red,.  This can be a convenient way to to find airports with procedures that are near to your departure and destination airports.  Airports with Instrument Approach Procedures are shown in light green,, airports with out IAP are shown in dark green,.   Airports that lay within a given corridor width of your course are shown in yellow,,and VOR's are depicted as,and Fixes as .  Your course is shown as a great circle route in blue.

To find a particular airport, on the map, you can drag and drop it from any of the three list, and the map will center on it and show it initially in blue.

You can measure distances on the map by holding down the right mouse button and dragging it across the screen.  The system will draw a great circle route between the two points and display the distance and initial heading in a tips window next to the mouse pointer.

        SUA is rendered as follows:

You can get  METAR and TAF weather reports by pointing to a airport on the map with the mouse pointer and allowing it to hover  (don't move) for approximately 1/2 a second.  You must be connected to the internet to use this feature.

By selecting Display Weather Map from the Options menu ATP will display the latest METAR weather showing wind direction and speed, barometric pressure, temperature and dew point,  and the sky cover.  These observations are taking around 10 minutes before the hour and are good for one hour unless updated.  Do to delays in posting the data ATP waits until 10 minutes after the hour before retrieving the current hours data.  If you are currently viewing the weather map and the +10 threshold is reached ATP will  automatically download and update the weather and refresh the display.  If you suspect  that the weather is not current you can download a new update be selecting Refresh Weather from the Options menu.  When you use the Refresh Weather option the system will download the previous hour's weather and update it with what ever is available in the current hour.  

ATP will optionally display ADIZ, Class B/C and restricted SUA on the map.

To define a flight plan go to the Duat Flight Plan tab and enter the departure and destination airports or go to the map hold down the Ctrl key and left click to select the departure airport then hold down the Shift key to select the destination airport.  You can add additional navigational aids (VOR's) in the route text box, or you can go to the map view of your flight plan and use the rubber band feature to define the intermediate waypoints.  Simply use the center mouse button and drag and drop the route onto a VOR.  ATP will arrange the waypoints by their distance from the point of departure.  If this is not what you intended you can rearrange the sequence on the Duat flight plan page.  To deselect a VOR simply point to it, with the mouse pointer, and click.

Sometime airports and VOR's and co-located (concentric circles), to select a VOR click outside the airport circle and inside the VOR circle. 

ATP allows you to get weather, file, close and cancel flight plans.   Using the automated function of the system, pictured below, you can save you flight plans and recall them later.

If you have entered your profile on the Duat system it will default to those values rather than what you enter.  For weather reports, filing flight plans and canceling flight plans the departure time must be entered in the format hmm.  In addition for weather reports and filing flight plans the departure time can be entered as the current time plus so many minutes in the format +mmm.  So if you departure is in two hours you would enter +120.  However canceling a flight plan requires the time in the format hmm.

After your Duat session you can print the complete results by selecting the menu item File|DUAT|Print last session.  In addition you can print only certain reports by selecting its Tab then doing a right click on the tab and selecting Print.  Also you can print only parts of a report by selecting the portion you want to print with your mouse before you print it. 

If a particular report is shown in red it means that the size of the report exceeded 32,000 characters.  To view the entire report you should print it as described above. 

The Aviator Trip Pack system and all its associated material are the Copyrighted property of J. Gregory Siemon.  This system is protected by copyright law and international treaties.  No part of this system may be reproduced, transmitted, transcribed, or stored in a retrieval program, or translated into any language, natural or computer, in any form or by any means without prior written permission from the provider of this software.  You are granted a limited single user license to use the software described in this document.

 

This software may only be used or copied in a manner and for the purposes described in this document.  Any unauthorized use or distribution of this software will be a violation of international and United States Copyright Law and will be vigorously prosecuted.

 

Information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of the provider of this software, or the provider of the data, to make changes and/or improvements to the system or data.

 

The provider of this software assumes no responsibility, expressed or implied, for the accuracy of the results of the software or the data provided by the FAA or any of its agencies.  In no way does this software relieve the pilot of his/her responsibility for complying with the rules and regulations of the regional controlling agency regarding flight preparation and execution.  All output from this program should be thoroughly checked with current sources of information from the regional controlling agency.