A successful flight begins in the imagination. A visualization of the journey from start to finish provides plenty to think about. As a pilot, your next task is to construct a flight plan based on this mental motion picture, including departure, flight, and arrival at your destination, whether it is the intended one or an alternate.
The work required to generate mental imagery is easier today thanks to fantastical technology that does much of the work for you, which is both a blessing and a potential trap. Just a few short years ago, most of us would have been incredulous if told that, with a few taps on an iPad, a pilot could generate a route, get weather briefings, check NOTAMs, estimate fuel burn, file a flight plan, and get real-time traffic and terrain alerts.
Automation provides enormous amounts of useful information, but it can’t think for us. It can’t make judgment calls using sound ADM. This is where some pilots can be lulled into complacency.
So, what can be safely automated, and what still demands the attention, experience, and sharp judgment of a thinking pilot?
EFBs, feature-rich websites, and other resources provide and visualize on-demand information in a way that makes flight planning and execution much easier. Here are some great examples.
Route planning and optimization
Modern apps can build a flight plan in seconds. You input departure and destination, and they’ll suggest optimized routes, sometimes even preferred routing from ATC databases.
Fuel burn and time en-route estimates
By integrating winds aloft and your aircraft’s performance profile, they generate fuel burn numbers and ETE that are often impressively accurate.
Weather integration
These apps overlay radar, METARs, TAFs, freezing levels, and more, offering a clean, visual picture that’s far easier to digest than a wall of text.
Weight and balance
Plug in the pilot, passengers, baggage, and fuel load, and flight planning apps will calculate CG location and total weight, and compare them to limits.
Filing flight plans
Filing with the FAA through an app is nearly instantaneous and can even include ICAO formats.
It’s no exaggeration to say that what used to take 45 minutes with paper charts and an E6B now takes less than five minutes, with fewer chances of arithmetic mistakes. For pilots flying cross-country on a schedule or simply looking to streamline weekend flying, this level of automation is a gift.
However, the ease these tools provide can produce complacency that could lead to trouble. Tools don't make decisions; they only execute. They provide information and carry out calculations. It’s still your job to provide these tools with complete and accurate input and decide if what they’re proposing makes sense in the real world. With that in mind, here are a few areas that put the capital C in Pilot in Command.
Weather interpretation
A METAR may show 3,000 broken and 6 miles visibility, but that doesn’t tell you much about what it feels like to fly in marginal VFR under a gray ceiling with drizzle in 20-knot winds. Trend awareness is still largely a human skill, and a pilot’s intuition has yet to be replicated by software. Apps show snapshots. Pilots interpret the movie.
Alternate airports and en-route options
Apps will suggest nearest airports for alternates, but they don’t always factor in important variables such as runway condition, fuel availability, terrain, your personal minimums, or how you happen to be performing that day. You need to assess, If I have to divert, will I be arriving at a safe, suitable field with options?
Fuel decision-making
Just because your fuel calculations show legal reserves doesn't mean it’s a good idea to launch with a minimal margin. Legal doesn’t mean smart. If you’re flying into gusty headwinds with possible delays, or if the fuel burn profile assumes calm air at 8,500 feet but you’re planning 6,500, you’ll want to add serious padding. Apps may have some built-in cautions, but they don’t argue with you. They assume you know what you’re doing.
Airspace awareness
The software can automatically flag items relevant to your route or departure/destination fields, usually on a map, which can be incredibly helpful. Many pilots rely on alerts from ForeFlight or Garmin Pilot to warn about TFRs or restricted areas. But those tools aren’t perfect, nor are all TFRs made available to these EFB services. Some TFRs pop up with very little notice or are described in terms that need careful interpretation. It’s wise to check FAA TFR graphics and notices manually before each flight to understand the boundaries and restrictions exactly.
Understanding your aircraft
Apps don’t know (but do assume) that your aircraft’s climb performance on a hot day at gross weight will actually clear terrain on an “optimal” route, based on POH data. They won’t know if your engine hasn’t been pulling full power lately or if your leaning technique is rusty. They assume the POH numbers are your reality, which they may not be, and that you are on top of your game, which you may not be.
Modern flight planning software is like a copilot who has memorized every detail of every POH and flight book, making it helpful and efficient when leveraged correctly. But it doesn’t carry a certificate, and it doesn’t have any ADM to speak of. The final responsibility lies with you, and you should always take time to double-check what it tells you.
A healthy mindset is one of constructive skepticism. Review the suggested routing and ask:
Likewise, don’t blindly trust fuel burn figures unless you’ve verified your aircraft profile is accurate. This usually comes from many hours of experience with a particular aircraft. A lot of apps allow you to customize or update the POH data, and that’s something every pilot should do once they’ve logged a few flights with the software. But even before you do that, apply some constructive skepticism to the POH values as well.
Here’s a short list of best practices that help blend automation with real-world diligence.
Review the flight manually
After the route is built, look it over on a sectional or en-route chart. Are you over mountains, water, or congested airspace for long stretches?
Double-check fuel and weather
Cross-check app fuel estimates with your own mental math or an E6B. Don’t assume the winds aloft are correct for the entire route. Check weather trends, not just current data.
Plan for the “what-ifs”
What if the headwind increases by 10 knots? What if the destination goes IFR right before arrival? Always brief yourself for those possibilities.
Chair fly or practice on a simulator
Chair flying is a powerful safety tool in every pilot’s arsenal. In addition to the numerous other benefits, chair flying will encourage you to think about what data you expect to see when automated systems give them to you. Further, it often (and should) lead you to think “what if,” thus playing through a number of possible scenarios. Such exercises will increase your awareness and vigilance during flight, and likely reduce your overall stress and reaction time during off-nominal events.
Practice manual planning periodically
Even if you mostly fly with automation, plan a few flights a year using charts, POH, and a wiz wheel. You’ll be glad you did if your iPad battery drains mid-trip.
Don’t skip the regs
Especially for cross-country or Class B/C airspace, review the FARs and airport-specific procedures. Don’t assume the app will remind you when you’re entering a clearance-required zone.
Technology has made us faster and, in many ways, more accurate. But it hasn’t made us smarter. That’s still on us. Flight planning apps are powerful assistants, but they aren’t the PIC. They don’t carry responsibility, and they won’t call out bad decisions.
A truly competent pilot lets automation do the math, but then puts their ADM hat on and asks: Is this flight actually safe, smart, and within my capabilities today?
So yes, by all means, use the tech. But don’t outsource your airmanship to a touchscreen. The best safety system in any cockpit is the trained human in the left seat who knows when to trust technology and when to crosscheck.