About This File
Just for fun, here is an OFP template for PFPX that is optimized for the 747-400. (Specifically, it is optimized for the PSX simulator, but you could use it with any other platform. Also, I guess you could use it for any other aircraft, but that would be at your own risk.)
Why create a fictitious OFP template?
If you've been around airline ops for long, you'll have noticed that most OFPs look like they are stuck in the 1960's in terms of layout. Data was expensive those days, and printers weren't very robust -- just simple characters, often dot matrix, on fan-folded perforated paper. Fast forward to now, and we live in the world of paperless cockpits and electronic flight bags, so the whole concept of a paper OFP may be anachronistic.
Still, maybe there's room in the world for a PFPX-style paper OFP that doesn't skimp too much on the data. Meaning, we don't have to live with all the arcane abbreviations. It could be more user friendly, in other words.
So here is what a more user-friendly OFP might look like.
In addition to the OFP template itself, there are two examples here, so you can see what I'm talking about. Example number 1 (called Sample-Simple.pdf) is a simple flight plan: just the basics: origin, destination, and one alternate. No remarks, and no bells and whistles.
Example number 2 (called Sample-Complex.pdf) is a more complex example, with origin, destination, two alternates, re-dispatch point, re-dispatch alternate, speed restriction, and EDTO ops. Plus some sample text in all the possible remark fields.
Both of these are created with WJC-OFP.txt, the template itself.
Just put it in your folder with your other PFPX Flightplan Templates and you are good to go. Any needed fields (re-dispatch, EDTO, remarks, etc.) will automatically make it to the OFP if you enter the data into PFPX.
I'll let them speak for themselves generally. But if you look at Sample-Complex, you'll see it starts with the airline and flight info -- I just picked something random for the example; whatever you pick will make it to the OFP. Then comes a summary of all the relevant airports. After that are the flight plan remarks and the messages to crew (if applicable). You'll note a convention here: every section is introduced with its name in boldface, underneath a dashed line. Anytime you see the full-width dashed line, you're dealing with a new section.
Under Flight Summary, I picked a fictitious dispatcher. PFPX as you know has a way to pick the user as the dispatcher; I removed that because I want to be the captain, and it didn't make sense to have both the captain and the dispatcher be the same person. If you want to be the dispatcher, just change this line back to the PFPX OFP default.
Load Summary lets you write in the CG that you get from your load sheet.
Fuel Upload lets you check that the loaded fuel (from your fueler's report) matches what you expect to have on board. Optimized for liters and pounds, sorry about that. If you want to change to other units that's fine, just put in the correct conversion factor. (The PSX fueler's report gives the fuel density in kg/L, hence this default. Note that the first section called "Onboard" represents the fuel on the aircraft prior to fueling.
Fuel Summary gives you the FMC reserves on the right. The performance adjustments are in (more) plain English.
The EDTO Critical Fuel Summary is more readable here than these things usually are.
Not much to say until the Navigation Log, where I simplified the data. We can assume that the FMC stores the wind data, which is interpolated anyway from the data at the bottom of the OFP, so I don't feel obligated to reproduce it here. The Lat/Long Coordinates format is exactly what you would enter into the FMC if you need to do that (like creating fixes for switchover points between nearest suitable airports, or FIR boundaries). Just type what you see directly into the FMC.
The two areas for doing some math are on the far right: Time, and Fuel. Write in your actual elapsed time and your fuel on board at each waypoint (or just once every 250 miles or so), and see how you're doing with your schedule and predicted burn.
The Oceanic Entry table is optimized for the 744, like everything else. Things like "ANP" and "VTK ERR" will be familiar to users of the 744 FMC.
You can see a speed restriction before 3230W that is lifted after 50S00.
And really, that's about it.
In sum, the advantages are that this OFP is more readable than most.
The disadvantages are that it's entirely fictitious (and I know simmers usually gravitate towards "maximum realism" so I can understand any aversion to a fictitious format). Also as I said it's optimized for the Boeing 747-400, and the fuel upload section is even more specifically optimized for PSX.
Gratitude and credit to the creators of the generic PFPX OFP template, which was the parent for this one. Thanks also to Stephen Cooke who has been generous in answering my questions on the support forum.
Thanks for reading this far! Comments and feedback are welcome.