The _Plan View_ is used to plan _autonomous missions_ for your vehicle, and upload them to the vehicle. Once the mission is [planned](#plan_mission) and sent to the vehicle, you switch to the [Fly View](../fly_view/fly_view.md) to fly the mission.
It is also use to configure the [GeoFence](plan_geofence.md) and [Rally Points](plan_rally_points.md) if these are supported by the firmware.
The [screenshot above](#plan_screenshot) shows a simple mission plan that starts with a takeoff at the [Planned Home](#planned_home) position (H), flies through three waypoints, and then lands on the last waypoint (i.e. waypoint 3).
- **Plan Toolbar:** Status information for the currently selected waypoint relative to the previous waypoint, as well as statistics for the entire mission (e.g. horizontal distance and time for mission).
-`Max telem dist` is the distance between the [Planned Home](#planned_home) and the furthest waypoint.
- When connected to a vehicle it also shows an **Upload** button, can be used to upload the plan to the vehicle.
- **[Plan Tools](#plan_tools):** Used to create and manage missions.
- **[Mission Command List/Overlay](#mission_command_list):** Displays the current list of mission items (select items to [edit](#mission_command_editors)).
- **Terrain Altitude Overlay:** Shows the relative altitude of each mission command.
It shows you information related to the currently selected waypoint as well as statistics for the entire mission.
The _Planned Home_ shown in _Plan View_ is used to set the approximate start point when planning a mission (i.e. when a vehicle may not even be connected to QGC).
It is used by QGC to estimate mission times and to draw waypoint lines.
The plan tools are used for adding individual waypoints, easing mission creation for complicated geometries, uploading/downloading/saving/restoring missions, and for navigating the map. The main tools are described below.
**Center map**, **Zoom In**, **Zoom Out** tools help users better view and navigate the _Plan view_ map (they don't affect the mission commands sent to the vehicle).
Before you fly a mission you must upload it to the vehicle.
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The _File tools_ provide the following functionality:
- Upload (Send to vehicle)
- Download (Load from vehicle)
- Save/Save as to File, including as KML file.
- Load from File
- Remove All (removes all mission waypoints from _Plan view_ and from vehicle)
### Pattern
The [Pattern](Pattern.md) tool simplifies the creation of missions for flying complex geometries, including [surveys](../plan_view/pattern_survey.md) and [structure scans](../plan_view/pattern_structure_scan_v2.md).
You can change the **type** of the command by clicking on the command name (for example: _Waypoint_).
This will display the _Select Mission Command_ dialog shown below.
By default this just displays the "Basic Commands", but you can use the **Category** drop down menu to display more (e.g. choose **All commands** to see all the options).
Set the default altitude for the first mission item added to a plan (subsequent items take an initial altitude from the previous item).
This can also be used to change the altitude of all items in a plan to the same value; you will be prompted if you change the value when there are items in a plan.
There is a much smaller possibility that issues are caused by bugs in either flight stack or QGC.
To analyse this possibility you can turn on [Console Logging](../settings_view/console_logging.md) for Plan upload/download and review the protocol message traffic.
