ODP / SID Simulator
Departure routing, climb gradients, altitude restrictions, headings and navigation requirements.
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Choose a departure and a runway, set the aircraft's performance and the day, and press Fly the departure. The aircraft starts at the departure end of the runway 35 ft above it and flies the published route (purple) at its climb rate and groundspeed; the profile below compares its altitude (amber) with the required climb (coral): the published gradient to its termination altitude, then 200 ft per NM. Crossing a restriction too low or too high, flying faster than a published speed limit, or falling below the required climb is marked and listed.
Three kinds of departure: the textual obstacle departure procedure (Roanoke: headings to an altitude "before proceeding on course" — note that the gradient may continue after the turn on course), the graphic obstacle departure procedure (Sedona's BYTER ONE: a loop that gains altitude before the en route structure) and the RNAV SID (Palm Springs' YUCCA ONE, with an at-or-above, an at-or-below and a speed restriction). Under "climb via SID" you level at an at-or-below altitude until passing that fix; "climb and maintain" cancels the published altitude restrictions but not the speed restriction.
The climb rate a gradient needs grows with the groundspeed (gradient × groundspeed ÷ 60, the TPP rate of climb table); the Cessna 172S figures come from its POH maximum rate of climb, which falls with altitude and temperature. When the aircraft cannot meet the gradient, the readout lists what you can do instead: the higher minimums for a climb in visual conditions, another runway, declining the SID, radar vectors in a diverse vector area with its own gradient, or waiting. Practice asks whether you can fly it.
Assumption: the three departures are training copies of the FAA charts of the cycle 1 to 29 October 2026 — not current after that cycle, never for navigation. Still air apart from the headwind component you set, the standard altimeter (altitude = pressure altitude), standard-rate turns at the groundspeed, legs flown exactly; the climb starts at the departure end of the runway (the takeoff roll is not modelled); the Cessna 172S at 2,550 lb with the POH maximum rate of climb and climb speed (no data above 12,000 ft or outside the printed temperatures); your own climb rate is constant. The departure end of the runway is placed and its elevation extrapolated from the CIFP thresholds (a model value where a threshold is displaced). Compliance is judged by altitude against the required climb line; the cleared altitude and the MEA after BYTER are scenario values you set.
Obstacle clearance (AIM 5-2-9 e 1): cross the departure end of the runway at least 35 ft above it, climb to 400 ft above it before turning, and climb at least 200 ft per NM to the minimum IFR altitude; a higher published gradient is held to its termination altitude, then 200 ft per NM (e 5, e 6, f 5). FAA Order 8260.3G: the obstacle surface rises at 152 ft per NM (40:1) and the required obstacle clearance is 24 % of the gradient (2-1-4 b); a gradient for an obstacle is (O − E) ÷ (0.76 D) and its termination altitude E + CG × D, rounded up to 100 ft (3-5-3). A crossing altitude published for ATC has no gradient of its own: the gradient it needs is (altitude − start) ÷ distance (AIM 5-2-9 e 6; IPH ch. 1).
Climb rate = gradient × groundspeed ÷ 60 (TPP rate of climb table; the same calculation as the IFR Trainer's descent and climb planner, identical results checked). Cessna 172S: POH Figure 5-6 maximum rate of climb at the altitude and temperature (read inside the table only), the printed climb speed, KCAS from Figure 5-1 and the exact true airspeed — the same reading as the Climb Performance & Service Ceiling tool, identical results checked. The route is flown leg by leg (heading until an altitude, direct to a fix with its turn direction, track to a fix) with the leg model of the Missed Approach Trainer.
Clearances (AIM 5-2-9 h): "climb via" — the lateral path and every published altitude and speed restriction, climbing to the top altitude (here assigned by ATC); "climb and maintain" — the published altitude restrictions are cancelled, the speed restrictions remain (h 10); an ODP's altitudes and speeds cannot be cancelled or amended by ATC (h 11). Navigation requirements come from the PBN box of each chart (AIM 5-2-9 i).
- Aeronautical Information Manual (effective 9 July 2026) 5-2-9: a (ODP textual or graphic, SID; ODPs flown without ATC clearance unless a SID or vectors are assigned), b (diverse vector area), e 1 (35 ft over the departure end of the runway, 400 ft before turning, 200 ft per NM), e 3 (40:1 surface, 152 ft per NM), e 4 (takeoff obstacle notes), e 5 - e 7 (higher gradients to an altitude or fix, ATC crossing altitudes without a published gradient, visual climb over airport), f (obstacle clearance responsibilities, standard takeoff minimums), g (section L of the TPP), h 2 - h 11 (speed restrictions, climb via, top altitude, a new altitude cancels published SID altitude restrictions but not speeds, ODP restrictions cannot be cancelled), i (PBN departures, the PBN box)
- 14 CFR 91.175 (f) (eCFR current, read 2026-10-16): civil airport takeoff minimums and the use of ODPs for part 121, 125, 129 and 135 operations
- FAA Order 8260.3G (07/01/2024) 2-1-4 b (required obstacle clearance 24 % of the climb gradient, 40:1 surface) and 3-5-3 (climb gradient for an obstacle (O − E) ÷ (0.76 D), its termination altitude, gradients for other than obstacles); Instrument Procedures Handbook FAA-H-8083-16B ch. 1 (departure procedures, worked examples, what to do when you cannot meet a gradient)
- Terminal Procedures Publication, cycle 2610: section L front text (takeoff minimums, ODPs, VCOA, diverse vector areas, SIDs) and the rate of climb table
- Training copies (FAA d-TPP and CIFP, cycle 1 to 29 October 2026; redrawn for training, not current after that cycle, not for navigation): Roanoke/Blacksburg Regional takeoff minimums and (obstacle) departure procedures AMDT 11A; Sedona BYTER ONE DEPARTURE (OBSTACLE) (RNAV); Palm Springs International YUCCA ONE DEPARTURE (RNAV) with the airport's diverse vector area and (obstacle) departure procedure entries
- Cessna Model 172S Information Manual (POH/AFM Rev. 5) Figure 5-6 maximum rate of climb at 2,550 lb and Figure 5-1 airspeed calibration — the same reading as the Climb Performance & Service Ceiling tool, identical results checked; the climb rate for a gradient is the same calculation as the IFR Trainer's climb check, identical results checked
- Model choices of this tool (stated on the page): headwind component only, standard altimeter, standard-rate turns over the fixes, legs flown exactly, the climb starting at the departure end of the runway, compliance judged against the required climb line, the departure end of the runway placed and its elevation extrapolated from the coded thresholds, scenario values for the cleared altitude and the MEA after BYTER, scoring a platform convention