85. Glossary

3D

X-Plane airport which contains at least one 3D object. May be a fully constructed major airport.

Airport

Means all airports, water airports, airstrips or heliports.

Add-on airport

FSX/P3D: All scenery data that is found outside of the base flight simulator Scenery directory is considered an add-on.

X-Plane: All airports in the Custom Scenery directory are considered add-on airports and will be highlighted accordingly.

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020: All airports located in the Community directory and the Official\OneStore or Official\Steam are considered to be add-on airports. Exceptions are fs-base, fs-base-genericairports and fs-base-nav.

Approach Procedure

An approach procedure is a series of maneuvers for the transfer of an aircraft in instrument flight conditions from the initial approach to a landing or to a point from which a landing may be made visually. If a flight plan includes a standard arrival procedure (STAR), an approach procedure will normally follow the STAR.

Arrival Procedure

Approach, transition or STAR procedure.

BGL

A binary file with the extension BGL which is part of a flight simulator scenery containing airport, navaid or airway information. These files can also contain traffic, landclass, elevation or other information which is not relevant for Little Navmap.

Checkbox

A user interface element that allows to toggle a setting between two states (on and off) or three states (on, off and not applicable).

CSV

Comma-separated values text file.

DAT

A text file format used by X-Plane to store airport, navaid and procedure information.

Departure Procedure

SID (standard instrument departure) procedure.

Dialog

A dialog window requiring user input. Most dialogs block the whole applicaton until closed.

DME

Distance measuring equipment or a radio navaid.

Empty airport

An airport that has no taxiways, no parking positions or gates, no aprons and is not an add-on airport and is not a water airport.

FACF

Final approach course fix. A point aligned on the final approach course of an instrument procedure.

FAF

Final approach fix. The point where the final approach segment begins on the instrument approach.

Fix

This term refers to a waypoint, radio navaid or an calculated point on a procedure. A fix might be defined by VOR radial and distance, for example.

Flight Plan Position

A user defined waypoint which is part of the flight plan.

FLP

Flight plan format used by the X-Plane FMS, Aerosoft Airbus and other add-on aircraft.

FMS

Flight plan format used by X-Plane 11 and 12. Can be loaded into the stock GPS, FMS or add-ons.

FS9

Flight Simulator 2004.

FSX

Flight Simulator X or Flight Simulator - Steam Edition.

ft

Feet. 0.3048 meter.

GIS

A geographical information system like Google Earth for example.

LDA

Localizer type directional aid. A type of localizer-based instrument approach to an airport.

IGS

Instrument guidance system – a modified ILS to accommodate a non-straight approach.

ILS

Instrument landing system.

IPv4

Internet Protocol version 4. Slowly replaced by IPv6. Often used in parallel with IPv6. IP addresses look like 192.168.1.1.

IPv6

Internet Protocol version 6 replacing IPv4. IP addresses look like fe80::c0b9:1832:abc5:d5a1.

Initial Fix

This is the first fix of a procedure.

Intersection

In aviation, an intersection is a virtual navigational fix that helps aircraft maintain their flight plan. This manual also uses the synonym waypoint.

Logbook Entry

Created by the user or automatically on finishing a flight containing takeoff and landing.

LNMPLN

Own flight plan format of Little Navmap.

MAP

Missed approach point. The point on the final approach which represents the termination of the final approach and the start of the missed approach.

MSFS

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020.

Navaid

VOR, VORTAC, TACAN, NDB or waypoint/intersection. Also ILS and Localizer.

NDB

Non directional beacon - radio navaid.

NM

Nautical miles. 1.852 km, 1’ (one minute or 1/60°) latitude or 1’ longitude at the Equator.

P3D

Prepar3D v3 to v5.

Parking

GA ramp, cargo ramp, fuel box or gate at an airport.

PLN

FSX and P3D flight plan format.

POI

Point of interest. A userpoint type.

Procedure

A STAR, SID or approach and the respective transitions.

Radio navaid

VOR, VORTAC, TACAN or NDB.

Rating

Airport zero to five star rating depending on facilities.

Scenery Library Database

This is an internal database (SQLite) that is created by Little Navmap when reading all the flight simulator BGL or DAT files. It allows fast complex searches and map display.

SDF

Simplified directional facility is a localizer-based instrument non-precision approach to an airport, which provides a final approach course similar to ILS and LDA approaches, but not as precise.

SID

A standard instrument departure is an air traffic control departure procedure that helps to simplify clearance delivery procedures. A SID will keep aircraft away from terrain but it is optimized for air traffic control route of flight and does not necessarily provide the best climb gradient. It provides a balance between terrain and obstacle avoidance, noise abatement and airspace management.

SimConnect

A programming interface that allows applications to read and write flight simulator parameters from FSX, P3D and MSFS.

STAR

A standard terminal arrival is a flight route that usually covers the phase of a flight between the last point of the route filled in the flight plan and the first point of the approach to the airport, normally the initial approach fix (IAF). A STAR connects the en-route phase with the approach phase of the flight.

Start position

Used for departure in flight plans. Either runway, helipad, GA ramp, cargo ramp, fuel box or gate.

TACAN

Tactical air navigation system - radio navaid used by military aircraft.

TOC

Top of climb.

TOD

Top of descent.

VOR

VHF omni directional radio range - radio navaid.

VORDME

VHF omni directional radio range with distance measuring equipment - radio navaid.

VORTAC

Co-located VHF omnidirectional range (VOR) beacon and tactical air navigation system (TACAN) beacon.

Userpoint

A user defined waypoint like a bookmark, point of interest or visual reporting point (VRP).

User Feature

Any display object like traffic patterns or measurement lines which can be added or removed by the user.

UTC

Universal time coordinated. Also Zulu time.

VRP

Visual reporting point for VFR flights. A userpoint type.

Waypoint

It is a navaid defined by coordinates. Synonym for intersection in this manual.