Flight management systems for large, commercial aircraft are quite common, as are inexpensive, user-friendly personal computers. Can the two ideas be combined to yield affordable, flight management systems for smaller aircraft? This paper shows the answer to be "Yes!"Increasing air traffic control (ATC) requirements raises the workload of pilots. Required tasks dictate more "head-in-thecockpit" computation, which can easily distract a pilot from safe airplane operation. Following eight years of research, we present an on-board computational system that increases pilot situational awareness, decreases diversion to routine computations, and anticipates upcoming needs.The key to anticipatory flight management is an expert system that uses knowledge of ATC procedures, aircraft operating procedures and limitations, and aircraft performance to infer current flight operating "mode" without direct pilot intervention or input. A flight mode interpreter (FMI) enables automatic display selection, pilot advice, and warning.

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