Homebriefing.com
 

This free flight plan service looks super. Is there a catch? Has anyone used it? Could be very useful when abroad on tour if you have a laptop and mobile with you.

QDM

Can you only file from Austria?

from anywhere I think

Excellent service, works for anywhere (they confirmed this to me in writing which I believe is unique for a www flight plan filing service), very rarely fails.

They also correct airways flight plans (to a degree) if you submit something which doesn't go through CFMU.

The only caveat is that if you use it for an within-UK IFR FP, say Goodwood to Bournemouth (really stupid I know) then they will send it to Eurocontrol and EC will chuck it out because e.g. GWC-SAM at 2000ft is below any airway MEA :)

It is not free. EUR36 per year inc EUR6 VAT.

Works very well.

-------

IO540,

Perhaps you should check first but here is the result of a flight plan from Goodwood to Bournemouth at 2000ft being submitted to IFPS;

FPL entered:
(FPL-GABCD-IG
-P28A/L-S/C
-EGHR0900
-N0100A020 DCT SAM DCT
-EGHH0030 EGHI
- )
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NO ERRORS

Try it here;

http://www.cfmu.eurocontrol.int/chmi_public/ciahome.jsp

Perhaps you could read the IFPS user manual and then you would know what is acceptable, what is not and how to work round what the system requires.

Regards,

DFC

DFC

The URL you give doesn't appear to point anywhere useful.

If you can find a document which explains all the cryptic error messages which the CFMU website returns and how to get around them (without having to purchase every country's SRD and other publications) that would be useful. But even the CFMU support team failed to point me to anything like that.

Personally I prefer http://rfinder.asalink.net/free/

I don't doubt for a moment that some OCAS routes pass CFMU. But this is far from being able to stick any old Class G/D route (such as are routinely flown on the IMC Rating) and have it accepted.

I know you know all the documents backwards so probably won't like this but if you send such an FP to Homebriefing, and they file it via Eurocontrol (which is completely correct for an IFR FP) it will go to London Control (or some other UK airways sector authority) who will be completely uninterested in somebody flying via SAM at 2000ft... so when the poor sod turns up at the Solent CAS and calls them up they will say G-XXXX WHO are you??