VFR flight planning: navigation log, frequencies and flight plan
Draw your route on the map, enter your aircraft by its registration, and the ForAllPilots planner prepares the rest: the navigation log with the forecast wind at your altitude, the headings to fly, the times and the fuel, the airspace crossed with the frequency to call at every point, the VOR and NDB beacons along the route, then the ICAO flight plan filled in item by item. It all fits in a PDF to take flying.
It is a training tool for learning to plan a cross-country flight as in PPL training: always check your planning against the VAC chart, the 1:500,000 aeronautical chart, the NOTAMs and the official briefing before a real flight.
Plan a VFR cross-country: pick your points on the map or by their code, enter your aircraft, and get the navigation log (true and magnetic course, real winds aloft, heading, ground speed, time, fuel), then the matching ICAO flight plan. A training tool: check everything on the aerodrome charts, the 1:500,000 chart and the NOTAMs before a real flight.
1. The route
Click the map to add a free turning point, or click an aerodrome / a beacon to add it to the route.
Add at least a departure and an arrival aerodrome.
2. Aircraft and cruise
30 min by day, 45 min by night in VFR (NCO.OP.125) Cruise limited to FL125 (12,500 ft) in this tool, for a VFR flight.
3. Navigation log
Add at least a departure and an arrival aerodrome.
4. The ICAO flight plan
The ICAO flight plan of your route, to learn how to write one: every item is filled in from the planning and explained. Nothing is filed from this site: a real flight plan is filed on SOFIA-Briefing (or with the AIS / ARO).
—The registration without the dash (F-GXYZ → FGXYZ), 7 characters at most.
VGV = VFR, I = IFR, Y = IFR then VFR, Z = VFR then IFR; G = general aviation.
DR40/LThe ICAO type designator (Doc 8643) and the wake turbulence category: L (light, ≤ 7 t) for a light aircraft.
S/CBefore the slash: radio and navigation equipment (S = standard VHF, VOR and ILS; N = none). After: surveillance (C = mode C transponder, S = mode S, N = none).
ZZZZ2200The ICAO code of the departure (ZZZZ if it has none) followed by the UTC start-up time, HHMM.
N0105VFR DCTN + 4 digits = true airspeed in knots; VFR for a VFR flight; then the route: DCT (direct) between the significant points (beacons or coordinates).
ZZZZ0000The arrival's code, the total estimated elapsed time (EET, HHMM) and up to two alternate aerodromes.
DOF/261008DOF/ = date of flight (YYMMDD); DEP/ or DEST/ = name and position of an aerodrome with no ICAO code; RMK/ = remarks.
E/0400 P/001E/ = endurance (HHMM); P/ = persons on board; A/ = aircraft colour; C/ = pilot in command. Kept by the unit that receives the flight plan.
The FPL message
(FPL--VG -DR40/L-S/C -ZZZZ2200 -N0105VFR DCT -ZZZZ0000 -DOF/261008)
- Identification to complete (letters and digits, 7 at most).
- A departure and an arrival are needed.
Aerodromes and beacons: OurAirports (public domain), to be checked against the official SIA charts. Airspace, frequencies and radio aids of the route: SIA (AIP France, Licence Ouverte). Variation: World Magnetic Model 2025 (NOAA). Wind: Open-Meteo. Base map © OpenStreetMap contributors. A training tool, not a substitute for the regulatory planning or the official documents.
A VFR navigation log computed with the real wind
Pick your points on the map or by their code: French aerodromes, VOR, VOR-DME and NDB beacons, or a free turning point anywhere. For each leg, the planner computes the great-circle distance, the true course at mid-leg (what a protractor measures on the chart), the magnetic variation on the day of the flight from NOAA's World Magnetic Model 2025, and the magnetic course.
The wind is the one forecast at your cruising altitude at the middle of each leg (GFS and ECMWF models via Open-Meteo). The wind triangle gives the wind correction angle, the magnetic heading to fly and the ground speed, then each leg's time, the estimated time over each point from the departure time, and the fuel burnt.
The fuel summary follows the regulation's logic: trip fuel, taxi, final reserve (30 minutes by day, 45 minutes by night under VFR according to NCO.OP.125), minimum fuel at departure, margin against the usable fuel, and endurance. A headwind that is too strong or not enough fuel is flagged.
Your aircraft found by its registration
Type the registration (F-GXYZ, N12345, LN-ABC): the planner looks the aircraft up in the public registers of the DGAC for France, the FAA for the United States and the Norwegian authority, and shows the manufacturer, the model and, for a US aircraft, the engine. Only technical data is read, never the owners'.
For common light aircraft (DR400, Cessna 172, PA-28, Robin, Diamond...), it fills in the ICAO type, the cruise true airspeed, the fuel flow and the usable fuel with typical values, which you can correct with your flight manual's. The cruise is capped at FL125 in the tool.
Airspace and frequencies to call all along the route
From the official SIA data (AIP France, updated every 28-day AIRAC cycle), the planner follows your route with a realistic profile: climb from the departure aerodrome, cruise at your altitude, descent to the arrival. It lists every CTR, TMA, CTA, FIS area (SIV), RMZ, TMZ and every P, R or D area crossed, with its class, floor, ceiling and hours, and tells you whether you are inside, just under or just above.
The radio plan then gives the frequency to call mile by mile: the tower or approach in a CTR or TMA, the flight information service of the SIV elsewhere (for example Seine Information or Paris Info), with each sector's own frequency. The departure and arrival aerodromes' frequencies (tower, AFIS, A/A, ATIS) are listed too.
The planner warns you when your altitude takes you into class A airspace or a prohibited area, and reminds you to check the activity of restricted and danger areas (NOTAM, AIP SUP, AZBA). It also lists the VOR and NDB beacons abeam your route with their frequency and distance, and the parachuting sites within 3 NM.
The ICAO flight plan filled in item by item
The flight plan is filled in from your planning: aircraft identification (item 7), flight rules and type of flight (item 8), aircraft type and wake turbulence category (item 9), equipment (item 10), departure aerodrome and time (item 13), speed, level and route (item 15), destination, total EET and alternates (item 16), other information (item 18) and endurance (item 19). Each item is explained, so you learn to write it.
The complete FPL message can be copied in one tap. Nothing is filed from ForAllPilots: a real flight plan is filed on SOFIA-Briefing, or with the BRIA.
A nav log as a PDF, ready for the kneeboard
The navigation log downloads as an A4 landscape PDF: the legs table with an ATA column to fill in flight, the fuel summary, the radio plan, the aerodromes' frequencies, the airspace crossed, the beacons and the FPL message. The planning stays saved in your browser; only the route's points and the altitude are sent to compute the airspace.
The departure and arrival weather (METAR and TAF) is shown under the log. To go further, the Pilot Corner's Weather tab shows the precipitation radar, the weather stations, the vertical profile of wind and temperature, and aeronautical night.
To revise navigation
Navigation, meteorology and air law come up in the exams: practise on the questions of the PPL (FR) and the ATPL (FR), and find the other free tools (weather, unit converter, navigation computer, FTL) in the Pilot Corner.
Frequently asked questions
Is the flight planner free?
Yes: the navigation log, the airspace and frequencies, the ICAO flight plan and the PDF are free to use, with no account and no subscription.
Can I plan a real flight with it?
It is a training tool, not an operational one. Before a real flight, check your route, the airspace and the frequencies on the VAC chart, the 1:500,000 chart and the AIP, read the NOTAMs and the official weather briefing, and file your flight plan on SOFIA-Briefing.
Where do the frequencies and airspace come from?
From the public data of the SIA (the French aeronautical information service), taken from the AIP France under the Licence Ouverte. They are valid for one 28-day AIRAC cycle: the planner shows the cycle used and warns you when it has ended by the flight date.
How is the wind taken into account?
The planner takes the wind forecast at your cruising altitude at the middle of each leg, interpolated between the model's pressure levels (Open-Meteo), then solves the wind triangle to give the wind correction angle, the heading and the ground speed.
Why is the cruise capped at FL125?
It is a choice of the tool: it is designed for light-aircraft VFR cross-country flights, which almost always cruise much lower. The level you choose must comply with the VFR rules, the semicircular rule and the airspace along your route.