This file is best read with WordPad.

The notes reference the drawing in the file AFD-110428-048.jpg (attached).

The flight plans are compatible with both Prepar3D and FSX.

Installation
1. Copy the flight plan files to your favorite location for flight plans. (I ke
ep a flight plan folder on my desktop and browse to it from the flight planner i
n the sim.) P3D has a nasty habit of altering flight plans while they are being
used, and the changes render them unusable in future flights. I suggest you mak
e the flight plans Read-Only .
Notes on the flight plans:
1. The download package includes flight plans for the military Sidewinder and Je
di Transition low-level training routes in the southwest United States. The Jed
i Transition is essentially the same as the Sidewinder route except a short-cut
(the "transition") between two way-points (C and J above) results in a shorter
route.
2. The routes are organized in individual folders. Each folder contains the fli
ght plan originating at a specific military base, a PDF showing the route, and a
Google Earth file that can be used to explore the route in more detail.
3. Military rules for flying these routes are in the document AFD-150213-040 Side
winder Low-Level (rev2) 11-Feb-15". (AFD means Air Force Directive, meaning the
y are orders.) This is a public-domain document intended to inform all aviators
of the route and its rules, and is includes in the download.
4. The coordinates of the waypoints in the flight plans are from AFD-150213-040
document. The waypoints use the names in the AFD and they are shown on the chart
above (which is taken from a public-domain sectional flight chart).
5. The flight plans originate at various military bases in the southwest United
States Nellis AFB, NAS Fallon, NAS Lemoore, NAWS China Lake, Luke AFB, Edwards A
FB, MCAS Miramar (formerly NAS Miramar), Hill AFB, and MCAS Yuma.
6. NAWS China Lake is the closest to the routes, and has the shortest flight tim
e before the start of the routes. The other routes, however, have interesting te
rrain between the military base and the route, and you can fly those at low-leve
l too.
7. The AFD and the chart in this document refer to landmarks. Whether you see t
hese depends on the aftermarket scenery you use. I have only seen a few of thes
e which are major features (e.g., the lake and the lava flow). The geographic c
oordinates are from the AFD and they are correct.
8. While the AFD and the chart describe straight-line flight between waypoints,
the purpose of the routes is to allow the pilots to practice low-level navigatio
n while making best use of terrain. As you fly the course you will see many opp
ortunities to use terrain for masking but you will need to fly parallel to, but
offset from, the straight-lines between waypoints. Taking advantage of those fe
atures is part of the training objectives. If you fly an aircraft with a HUD th
at has a steering cue regarding the course to steer to the next waypoint (e.g.,
the VRS FA-18, IRIS F-15E, IRIS A-10, or Aerosoft F-14X) keep in mind that the c

ue is only pointing towards where you need to go, but not how
AFD describes the route as being 2 NM wide, and that is huge
n masking. Some Youtube videos show aircraft making concerted
the paths of roads between some of the waypoints, even though
rrain is flat and they could fly a straight line.

to get there. The

relative to terrai
efforts to follow
the surrounding te

9. As explained in the AFD, waypoints A, C, and E are entry points to the routes
, and all flying is between successive waypoints in the order A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-IJ-K-L-M. Any of the waypoints can be used as exit points in the real world. In
any event, this is a flight sim, and any combination of entry and exit points i
s possible using direct-to navigation.
10. Aftermarket scenery significantly improves the flying experience. The defau
lt P3D and FSX scenery and land classes are not very good. I use a combination
of FS Global Ultimate Americas, ORBX FTX Global, and ORBX HD Trees, and the resu
lts are (IMHO) impressive.
11. Flying in the early morning or lare afternoon enhances the visual appearanc
e of the terrain due to the presence of the shadows.
12. Some interesting things to do:
a. Try flying the course at night, using FLIR or NVG. It will give you an appre
ciation of just how hard this is for t he military.
b. The AFD contains set of mandatory radio calls as aircraft fly the course, and
restrictions on height and noise abatement. Try flying the course while making
the required radio calls and following all the AFD rules. If you review some of
the Youtube videos and photos of real aircraft flying the course you will see t
hat sometimes the pilots use a clip-board on their left leg
I suspect they use i
t to track the rules and radio calls.
Copyright and Distribution
-------------------------These flight plans are released as Freeware. Copyright David A Symanow.
As freeware you are permitted to distribute this
archive subject to the following conditions,
- The archive must be distributed without modification to the
contents of the archive. Redistributing this archive with any files
added, removed or modified is prohibited.
- The inclusion of any individual file from this archive in another
archive without the prior permission of the author is prohibited.
This means, for example, that you may not upload an archive that uses
our flight plans with your own software or include it in a
package containing software without first obtaining
the authors' permission.
- No charge may be made for this archive other than that to cover the
cost of its distribution. If a fee is charged it must be made clear
to the purchaser that the archive is freeware and that the fee is to
cover the distributor's costs of providing the archive.
- The authors' rights and wishes concerning this archive must be
respected.
Copyright 2015 by David A Symanow. All Rights Reserved.