Company Route Format

Introduction

As of version 1.0.6.5 of the TFDi Design 717, company routes were supported via an XML file stored in the aircraft directory. These files will be located here: {Simulator}\SimObjects\Airplanes\TFDi_Design_717\Documents\Company Routes\ This document provides a description of how the XML format is organized.

The Format

The company route read and produced by the MCDU is an XML file. The root is called Version 1. This will not change. The root is named this way so that in the event of changes to the format in the future, a different version root can be used to differentiate formats, therefore maintaining backward compatibility.

Within this route are 5 elements: Departure, Arrival, Cost Index, Cruise Level, and Legs. Departure and Arrival elements are always required, as the MCDU needs to know which airport the aircraft is departing from and arriving. However, the Cost Index and Cruise Level elements are not always required.

The last element is the Legs. Within this element are an arbitrary number of sub-elements that represent each waypoint, navaid, airway, and or airport/pilot defined waypoint entered in the MCDU. This document describes each type of sub-element that can be read by the MCDU.

There is an option to export the current flight plan as a company route via the MAINT page in the MCDU.

Waypoints

This sub-element represents a waypoint. The attributes required are:

Type Which, in this case, is always “Waypoint”,
Ident What the waypoint will display as on the aircraft’s ND and MCDU,
Position Latitude and Longitude respectively in degrees.

Example: <Leg Type="Waypoint" Ident="ATHOS" Latitude="42.2471" Longitude="-73.8121"/>

Navaids

This sub-element represents a navaid. The attributes required are:

Type Which, in this case, is always “Navaid”,
Ident What the navaid will display as on the aircraft’s ND and MCDU,
Position Latitude and Longitude respectively in degrees.

Example: <Leg Type="Navaid" Ident="CMK" Latitude="41.2801" Longitude="-73.5813" />

Airway Legs

This sub-element represents an airway leg/path. The attributes that are required are:

Type Which, in this case, is always “AirwayLeg”,
Level High or low airways, represented by “H” or “L” respectively,
Wpt2Ident What the waypoint will be displayed as on the aircraft’s ND and MCDU,
Position Latitude and Longitude of the waypoint respectively in degrees, Airway

What the airway will be displayed on the MCDU

Example: <Leg Type="AirwayLeg" Level="H" Wpt2Ident="CAE" Wpt2Latitude="33.8573" Wpt2Longitude="-81.0539" Airway="J75" />

Airports

This sub-element represents an airport. The attributes required are:

Type Which, in this case, is always “Airport”,
ICAO What the airport will be displayed as on the ND and MCDU,
Position Latitude and Longitude respectively in degrees.

Example: <Leg Type="Airport" ICAO="KIAD" Latitude="38.9474" Longitude="-77.4599"/>

Pilot Defined Waypoints

This sub-element represents a waypoint as defined by the pilot. The attributes required are:

Type In this case, is always “PilotDefinedWaypoint”,
Ident What the waypoint will be displayed as on the ND and MCDU as a leg. When creating place, bearing, distance (PBD) waypoints, it is best to have the names numbered sequentially. Example: PBD001, PBD002, PBD003, etc.
The position of the custom waypoint Latitude and Longitude respectively in degrees,
PBDPlace (the name of waypoint that the pilot defined waypoint is referencing)
PBDDist (the distance away from the PBDPlace)
PBDBearing The outbound bearing from PBDPlace to PBDDist in nautical miles

The PBDPlace, PBDDist, and PBDBearing sub-elements may be left out if the pilot defined waypoint is not a PBD waypoint.

Example: <Leg Type="PilotDefinedWaypoint" Ident="PBD01" Latitude="33.7197" Longitude="-84.4191" PBDPlace="KATL" PBDDist="5" PBDBearing="5" />

Leg Discontinuity

This sub-element represents a route discontinuity displayed on the MCDU F-PLAN page. The attributes required are:

Type In this case, is always “Discontinuity”

Example: <Leg Type="Discontinuity" />

Full Example

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Version1>
    <Departure>KALB</Departure>
    <Arrival>KBWI</Arrival>
    <CostIndex>24</CostIndex>
    <CruiseLevel>28000</CruiseLevel>
    <Legs>      
        <Leg Type="Waypoint" Ident="ATHOS" Latitude="42.2471" Longitude="-73.8121"/>        
        <Leg Type="Navaid" Ident="CMK" Latitude="41.2801" Longitude="-73.5813" />       
        <Leg Type="AirwayLeg" Level="H" Wpt2Ident="CAE" Wpt2Latitude="33.8573" Wpt2Longitude="-81.0539" Airway="J75" />
        <Leg Type="Airport" ICAO="KIAD" Latitude="38.9474" Longitude="-77.4599"/>
        <Leg Type="PilotDefinedWaypoint" Ident="PBD01" Elevation="0" Latitude="33.7197" Longitude="-84.4191" PBDPlace="KATL" PBDDist="5" PBDBearing="5" />
        <Leg Type="Discontinuity" />
    </Legs>
</Version1>

Company Routes

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