A Super Procedure is a collection of procedures. You can paste a group of procedures that have been saved to the clipboard, or load a Flight Procedure Collection file. The procedures before, after, or within a Super Procedure are not automatically validated by STK's Aviator capability. You must manually ensure that the sequence of procedures is valid.
Double-click the super procedure to expand the collection of procedures within it. You can double-click any site or procedure in the collection to edit its properties. Right-click commands that are valid for procedures within a super procedure (see notes, below) are also available.
When to Use a Super Procedure
There are two basic use cases for Super Procedures:
- Relative
- Absolute
Relative Behavior
When a super procedure only uses End of Previous Procedure sites, this will result in relative behavior, which means that the procedure will generally perform without too much difficulty wherever it is used. If you're intent is to build a relative behavior Super Procedure, you must be sure to not specify absolute course/headings.
All altitudes are absolute, with the exception of some of the BasicManeuver profile strategies.
Absolute Behavior
When a super procedure uses Standard Departures/Arrivals/Operating Procedures at a fixed base, this will result in absolute behavior. This is useful when you have a sequence of procedures that you frequently reuse when operating at a fixed location. Using an absolute behavior Super Procedure will therefore be problematic when applied to operating areas where the absolute course/headings/bearings/etc. are no longer applicable.
Shift/Rotate Tool
Super Procedures are useful when using the Shift/Rotate tool within 3D editing. you can multiselect and do Shift/Rotate through a dialog. If those same procedures are within a SP, the SP will display a centroid and handle with which you can Shift/Rotate using 3D edit.
When using absolute and relative headings, some procedures are not as amenable to shift/rotation as others. Shift Rotate can cause unexpected results on the procedures immediately preceding and after the Super Procedure. Use this tool to learn how these interdependencies play out.
Using Tools in a Super Procedure
There are some Aviator tools that can be used within Super Procedures, but their scope is either limited to the entire collection or individual procedures.
- Wind and atmosphere models can be specified for the entire collection, but not for individual procedures within the collection. If a procedure that has been copied into a collection has wind or atmosphere model settings, they will be ignored.
- Refuel or dump operations can be specified for individual procedures within the collection; these operations cannot be set to occur over the course of the super procedure itself .
- Procedure times can be specified for the entire collection, but not for individual procedures within the collection. If a procedure that has been copied into a collection has a start, stop or interrupt time specified, the mission may become incalculable.
Troubleshooting
There are checks in place when using Super Procedures, but given the nature of Aviator, you need to be mindful when using them. There may be times when you receive a warning that a Super Procedure is invalid, but STK will not be able to tell you specifically why it is invalid. In these cases you must then manually select the elements of the scenario to find the issue to resolve.
If procedures within a super procedure use time components or interrupt times, you may encounter problems or errors when using it in a context where those time components or absolute times are either missing or different than the originating context.
When using Reference State procedures with Super Procedures, use caution. When a Reference State procedure is not the first procedure of a mission, a Basic Point To Point procedure is generated from the end of the previous procedure to the reference state, which is likely not something you want to include when using Super Procedures.