| Step 1:
Choosing the departure and arrival
airports (self explanatory)
Choose the correct
orientation of the hemispheres depending which way your airplane is
flying.
Use the map
buttons to choose between the topographical and time zone
maps. The map type can also be changed later.
If you choose the
time zone map, you can pick your departure points and arrival points
using a mouse (activate that mode by clicking the "Mouse" mode radio
buttons).
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Picture 1,
Picture 2
|
| Step 2:
Fitting the flight path.
At the onset of
the flight, the ideal great circle route fit (third fit type) should be
used since the actual air path is still unknown.
After the flight
path becomes apparent, the great circle fit should be erased and a more
accurate one used in its place. The first fit type, i.e., way points
connected by great circles, usually gives the best fit in most
situations.
Plus Version only: Expand portions of
the map to increase the accuracy of the fit. The portion of
interest can be expanded by dragging around it. A drag box
will appear that defines the region to expand. At the
completion of dragging, a new window open. Resize the window
as you wish and use the magnify and reduce buttons to increase and
decrease the size of the captured image. Left click on the
expanded map to add fit points to the main map window.
Full Version only: The
topographical and timezone maps can be panned and zoomed. Left click on the maps
at any zoom level or pan position to add fit points, etc. LANDSAT
satellite maps can
be used for all the map functions that are available for the other maps. The
day/night terminator can also be shown wih a specially accurate calculation
using refraction. Click on the LANDSAT maps to add fit points, etc.
Pan it along the entire world to follow your flight and watch the approach of
zemanim to extremely high accuracies. Click on the Solar Altitude "HUD"
button (next to the "Help" button) to graphically display solar altitudes along
the flight path when running the cursor within longitude range of the air route.
When the flight
path is changed, the "Reedit" button is pushed and the fit can be
re-edited. This usually consists of using the "Undo" button
and then clicking on new way points (or spline points for the third
type of fit, i.e., the polynomial fit).
Click on the
"Next" button to finish. The fit is drawn in red.
|
Picture 1,
Picture
2 (Plus version), Picture 3 (Full version),
Picture 4 (Full version)
|
| Step 3:
Flight information.
Fill in the
information on your ticket. Be sure to click the Daylight
Saving Time check boxes if appropriate.
As is the case for
online Chai Air Times, you should use the departure time from the
terminal as the Departure Time unless there is a large delay.
The reason for this is that the airlines use that time to calculate the
arrival time based on an averaged velocity over a flight (knowing that
the plane's velocity is significantly slower within the half hour after
take-off and within the half hour before landing). This
program also uses an averaged velocity and the two velocities will be
similar. if you were to use the actual take-off time, then
the averaged velocity will be too fast and you will notice that the
position of the plane gains on the airplane position shown in the
program. However, If the pilot announces a delayed or earlier
arrival time (typically due to tail
winds), then that updated time should be used for the arrival time in
the program.
Choose the format
of how you want the zemanim to appear (i.e.,
according to which time zone your watch is set, and whether to use a 24
hour or AM/PM format)
Click the "Next"
button to calculate the zemanim
|
Picture
|
| Step 4:
Zemanim
Click on any of
the zemanim to see where they occur along the
flight path.
Click on the
"Browser" button to calculate your individualized "Chai Air Times"
table. You can use your browser to print out approximate
tables before your flight.
Store the route
information with the "Save" button. (Note that you are also
requested to save the information before exiting the program.)
Check the time
zone and Daylight Saving Time status read from your computer.
Click the "Next"
button to display the zemanim on the flight path
|
Picture
|
| Step 5:
Zman Alarms
Set Alarms to
sound before reaching a zman by depressing the
button for that zman and entering the number of
minutes to sound before the zman is
reached. After activating an alarm, a countdown to the zman
is displayed in blue. When the alarm is reached, the
countdown appears in red and beeps sound until the alarm is
deactivated. After the zman is reached,
the word "Passed" is displayed.
Task
schedule button: Sets a system wake-up call to reactivate the
computer from sleep and restart the program when an alarm is reached.
Power
saving button: Places the computer directly into "sleep"
mode. The computer will be woken when the alarm
sounds. Use this button to save battery life.
Speed
adjustment button: The speed of your airplane changes and
will therefore gain or loose ground to the airplane marker in the
program. Adjust this by clicking the button, and then
clicking on the place corresponding to the actual position of the
airplane. The zemanim will be adjusted
accordingly.
|
Picture 1, Picture 2, Picture 3
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