Patent ID: 8073578

Claim:
A method of creating and modifying a flight plan using a cursor control device and a display to represent the flight plan in the context of terrain, comprising the steps of: a) inserting waypoints, including origin and destination waypoints, into a flight plan using a cursor control device to position the waypoints in a display and commanding a flight management system (FMS) to connect the waypoints into a flight plan; b) drawing said flight plan in the context of terrain on a display where conflicts between the flight plan and terrain are indicated; c) grabbing selected elements of said flight plan with said cursor control device and dragging said selected elements to new positions on the display until terrain conflicts are eliminated, thus generating a modified flight plan; d) reviewing the modified flight plan in the context of terrain to determine its acceptability and making further modifications thereof if desired; e) selecting the modified flight plan from said review thereof, said modified flight plan having no conflicts with terrain; and, f) activating the modified flight plan using said FMS.