Originally Posted by
snowbunnytx
One question with respect to programming the flight computer:
I assume that entering a waypoint, or airport code, etc, does not necessarily mean the aircraft will immediately head toward that destination. It sounds as if there is the capability to enter a "secondary" or "backup" route in case of emergency, and then activate switching to the secondary route at a later point in time.
In theory, a pilot with enough time could update such a secondary route as the flight progressed, changing the "go to in case of emergency" destination several times. Having the data pre-entered would save the time of finding it and entering it if there really was an emergency.
Is this how it works? Or does entering a waypoint show a certain intent to head there?
I think there is one more thing to think about in regards to the programmed turn that many are missing, as they are focusing on "the turn". It makes no sense to just program one turn - that is an easy maneuver. It makes more sense that an entire route was programmed in, and there is no way for them to tell this one way or the other. They do not know if the turn was part of a larger route, or one maneuver. With this new data, I think it's easy to surmise that an entire new route was programmed in.