FliteStar’s powerful mapping engine has been designed to display different chart projections to more accurately represent the world.
The following lists the characteristics of the available chart projections:
Lambert Conformal Conic — Useful for long distances because a straight line on the map is very close to a great circle course. Most NOAA VFR charts are Lambert Conformal Conic; therefore, FliteStar automatically changes the projection so the vector and raster charts match.
Mercator — The most commonly used projection for navigating in small areas because of its accuracy and the fact that a straight line is also a rhumbline. Use the Mercator projection to view the live weather overlays.
NOTE | The Mercator projection in FliteStar is not a Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM). Mercator has correct scale at the equator only. Transverse Mercator (TM) has correct scale along a single meridian only. UTM is a set of Transverse Mercator projections each with its to-scale meridian at the center of a longitudinal zone. FliteStar does not support TM or UTM projections. |
Orthographic — The earth appears as it would if viewed from a great distance in space. This projection is useful in higher latitudes since the entire polar region can be displayed accurately.
Polyconic — Like the Lambert Conformal, this projection is used by some aviation and nautical charts. Polyconic is included to support raster overlay of these charts.
Rectangular — A Rectangular projection has a faster display time than any of the other projections due to its simplicity.
Equidistant Conic — A fast projection which has little distortion, commonly used for maps of small countries.
Stereographic — A projection useful for displaying very large areas with minimal distortion, commonly used in polar regions.
(Equatorial) Gnomonic — A great circle route appears as a straight line, with increasing distortion toward the edges.
There are two ways to change chart projections:
Click Preflight > Properties, click the Projection tab, and then select the type of projection you want from the drop-down menu.
Right-click in an open area of the Enroute Charts view and choose Properties. Click the Projection tab, and then select the type of projection you want from the menu.
The preview display changes to match your selection.
See also: