Narrative:

I was the sic and pilot flying on this part 91 repositioning leg from blm. The captain (the pilot not flying) acquired the ATC clearance while I was starting the aircraft. We received a clearance to proceed direct to dixie and then the cyn 226 degree radial at 11 miles. As PNF; the captain pulled out charts and tried to determine whether or not the 226 degree radial at 11 miles was a named fix or not. He determined it was not; so he set up raw data for me as I taxied out for departure. After departure; we flew the clearance as issued (or so we thought); but it turns out the captain mistakenly entered the reciprocal of the 226 degree radial. In other words; we hit the 11 DME fix northeast of the cyn VOR instead of southwest. Mcguire approach questioned us and I immediately noticed the error in NAVAID setup. After some back and forth and clarification; we received a new instruction to proceed direct to acy VOR and the flight continued normally. The captain and PNF definitely made an error in entering the flight plan; and I should have caught this error myself. However; it is not company SOP for me to double-check his flight plan entries; and I was task saturated and did not notice the error. Looking back on our clearance; both the captain and I felt that it was unnecessarily complicated. It would have simplified matters if we were cleared dixie cyn CYN226011. With the clearance as it was; it was up to us to try and navigate between dixie and CYN226011. Both the captain and I have significant experience operating into blm airport; and we both remarked on how frequently the clearances are unnecessarily complicated. It is very difficult for us in our aircraft to navigate to unspecified radial/DME fixes. While it can be done; I feel it would be in the interest of safety for mcguire to simplify their departure clearances when at all possible and eliminate the use of radial/DME fixes.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Corporate aircraft First Officer reported a track deviation error; with the clearance to a radial/DME fix cited as contributory. Reporter stated complex clearances tend to be the norm when operating in BLM.

Narrative: I was the SIC and Pilot Flying on this Part 91 repositioning leg from BLM. The Captain (the Pilot Not Flying) acquired the ATC clearance while I was starting the aircraft. We received a clearance to proceed direct to DIXIE and then the CYN 226 degree radial at 11 miles. As PNF; the Captain pulled out charts and tried to determine whether or not the 226 degree radial at 11 miles was a named fix or not. He determined it was not; so he set up raw data for me as I taxied out for departure. After departure; we flew the clearance as issued (or so we thought); but it turns out the Captain mistakenly entered the reciprocal of the 226 degree radial. In other words; we hit the 11 DME fix northeast of the CYN VOR instead of southwest. McGuire approach questioned us and I immediately noticed the error in NAVAID setup. After some back and forth and clarification; we received a new instruction to proceed direct to ACY VOR and the flight continued normally. The Captain and PNF definitely made an error in entering the flight plan; and I should have caught this error myself. However; it is not company SOP for me to double-check his flight plan entries; and I was task saturated and did not notice the error. Looking back on our clearance; both the Captain and I felt that it was unnecessarily complicated. It would have simplified matters if we were cleared DIXIE CYN CYN226011. With the clearance as it was; it was up to us to try and navigate between DIXIE and CYN226011. Both the Captain and I have significant experience operating into BLM airport; and we both remarked on how frequently the clearances are unnecessarily complicated. It is very difficult for us in our aircraft to navigate to unspecified radial/DME fixes. While it can be done; I feel it would be in the interest of safety for McGuire to simplify their departure clearances when at all possible and eliminate the use of radial/DME fixes.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.