User Waypoint as Origin

Yes Steve, it is that extra step of having to "remember" or "know" to look at the IFD flight plan and notice that the departure origin is not the proper "color" and that the next waypoint is not the first desired waypoint. 

As an IFD-540 user, who took delivery in March of 2018, that also uses Foreflight, I was very excited to have two-way flightplan transfer available between the IFD-540 and Foreflight.  I was so looking forward to being able to accomplish all of my flight planning on Foreflight and then push that flightplan to an IFD-540 "route".

I did not "know" that the version of Foreflight, at the time, was not coding its flight plan (route) information properly for the IFD-540, so that my departure point was an "Origin" airport, as would happen if the route were added directly on the IFD-540.  The confusion that reigned in my cockpit upon departure, with having this Foreflight "bug" was disconcerting.  Upon noticing the incorrect waypoint, in flight, I quickly would select the proper next waypoint from my FMS page, FPL tab, and then press the DIRECT button and Enter.  I know that this was user error, for not checking the FMS/navigator for being setup properly.  Again, I was NEW to the IFD-540 and its buttonology, and didn't even realize that I could have, on those flights, selected the next waypoint, then the "Activate Leg" LSK.

Well, after learning of the Foreflight flight plan push deficiency (via a telephone call to Avidyne Support), at the time, I made it a part of my procedure flow to always check the IFD-540 to see what the "magenta"/ to waypoint is and adjust/select as necessary.  With a recent Foreflight version update, their flight plans now push to the IFD-540 with my departure airport shown as an "Origin" and the need to "activate leg" for the next waypoint has gone away.

Only that there is a not unreasonable assumption by the aircraft pilot, that the flight plan (route) entered on a navigator starts somewhere, the "origin", and goes somewhere, the next waypoint; and why on God's green Earth would we want to HAVE to worry about the difference in where the "origin" waypoint comes from in our procedure flow.  If I want to fly back to my origin after departure, then I will select it and then Direct To to it.

As I have learned more about the IFD-540 and the fact that it is an incredible FMS, not just a navigator, then and only then have I come to understand the differences to some of the other navigators that many of us have become so familiar with in the past and present.  My eyes were really opened to the logical differences when I attended a training by Gary Reeves of pilotsafety.org called the IFD Mastery Class.  Knowing how something works logically is a must, Ie. the difference of Garmin button "showing what will happen when a press a button" vs. the Avidyne showing "this is what you are seeing now" with this button.  That little bit of learning was huge for me, in beginning to understand and make friends with my IFD-540.

But having to discover all of the little nuances, such as a route or FPL will always have an "Origin" airport displayed and be sequenced to the active leg of the next waypoint, except when it doesn't.  Enough said, I think you get the idea.