A small, open planning aid for visual and nav-training flights. You describe a route in the language you already use on a kneeboard — named points, geographic course, wind, TAS — and the app fills in heading, drift, distance, and time.
It runs entirely in the browser. Nothing is uploaded. Your last route stays on your machine.
During flight planning you often know:
- where you are going (
CHARLIE→PAPA, orEPGL→ a reporting point) - the geographic course (KG)
- the wind, TAS, and magnetic variation
What you still need, for each leg and for the whole trip, is:
- magnetic track (KDM)
- drift angle (KZ)
- magnetic heading to steer (KM)
- time from distance in nautical miles
Flight Pathfinder does that in one screen, then gives you a printable report and a simple sketch of the track.
It is a training and briefing helper, not a certified navigation system. Always check the numbers against your syllabus, charts, and aircraft.
Enter once for the whole flight:
- True airspeed (TAS)
- Wind from-direction and speed
- Magnetic variation (east or west)
Every leg updates when these change. If the wind is as strong as TAS (or stronger), the app tells you a heading cannot be computed instead of inventing one.
Add as many legs as you need. Each row is a named point — a VFR waypoint, an airport, or whatever label you use:
CHARLIE → PAPA · KG 50° · 20 NM
PAPA → WHISKEY · KG 100° · 25 NM
WHISKEY → INDIA · …
The next From is always the previous To, so the chain stays a real path. You type the destination; the following departure fills itself.
For every leg you see:
| You enter | The app calculates |
|---|---|
| From / To | — |
| KG (true track) | KDM, KZ, KM |
| Distance (NM) | Time (distance ÷ TAS) |
A total row sums nautical miles and time for the whole route.
A separate table for airports, radios, and runways, for example:
EPGL · 122.225 · 26L
Free text — no database, no ICAO lookup. Write what you need for the briefing.
The report is meant to leave the computer:
- Conditions (TAS, wind, variation)
- Legs: From, To, KG, KM, NM, time — plus totals
(KDM and KZ stay in the working table; they are omitted from the printout) - Airports as a proper table
Below the report is a schematic map (not a geographic chart):
- North up
- Ground track from KG and distance
- Heading (KM) as a dashed tick
- Wind, scale bar, and compass
- Leg labels with KG, KM, NM, and time
Print puts the map on its own page, so you can take the table, the sketch, or both.
- Light and dark appearance
- Route saved locally so a refresh does not wipe the plan
- An example route you can load to see a complete briefing
The heading model is the familiar velocity triangle:
- KDM — magnetic track from KG and variation
- KZ — drift (positive means correct heading to the left of track)
- KM — heading to steer so the aircraft stays on that track
KM = KDM − KZ - Time — distance in NM divided by TAS
Wind is meteorological: the direction from which it blows.
Roundings are for display. The working values are computed first, then shown as whole degrees and h:mm.
Student pilots and instructors who already think in KG / KDM / KZ / KM and want a clean place to try a route, check drift against wind, and print a one-page brief.
It is deliberately small: no map tiles, no fuel, no flight plan filing. Just the path, the wind, and the times.
Open source. Use it, copy it, and improve it. Please keep the reminder that results must be checked against official training material before they go in the cockpit.