ForeFlight (merged thread)

Xlr8tr wrote:

Emir25-Mar-20 04:09 167
Xlr8tr wrote:

ALL aspects of fight planning are excellent

Please don’t exaggerate. AR delivers all aspects of flight planning (including much better IFR routing) in better and more useful form. From weather, NOTAMs, to fuel planning and W&B. I’ve been using FF since it started to provide support for Europe and I admit they are progressing but let’s be realistic.

AR?

Yes Autorouter.

Emir 29-Mar-20 00:21 185
Xlr8tr wrote:


Emir25-Mar-20 04:09 167
Xlr8tr wrote:
ALL aspects of fight planning are excellent


Please don’t exaggerate. AR delivers all aspects of flight planning (including much better IFR routing) in better and more useful form. From weather, NOTAMs, to fuel planning and W&B. I’ve been using FF since it started to provide support for Europe and I admit they are progressing but let’s be realistic.
AR?
Yes Autorouter.

Thanks Emir,

Peter seemed to be very focused on the autorouting element of Foreflight, I wanted to emphasise that such functionality was but a small part of a very comprehensive program.

I don’t know which version of Foreflight you’re using but since the upgrade to the auto routing functionality a coupe of releases ago I’ve found the IFR routing a little better and a lot faster than Autorouter. Briefing format is personal preference but I find the Foreflight briefing to be more than adequate and closer to what I’m using at work – it also stays on the iPad in the aeroplane and I can update it whilst airborne.
With regard to the fuel planning, surely that’s just a reflection of the set up. I find the performance modelling in Foreflight performance plus to be incredibly accurate. I took great care to make sure the profile matched my aircraft, Cirrus SR22, and it’s served me very well. As an aside I’ve run the 777-200 & 300 standard models alongside the (very expensive) system we use at work and the figures are usually within a couple of minutes and 100kgs or so on an 11 hour flight to the west coast of the USA for example.

If you prefer Autorouter (and it is a great service) then of course that’s your prerogative but I still stand by my statement, I find all aspects of the planning to be excellent.

I am not so worried about squeezing every last mile out of the filed route, for various reasons e.g. here. ATC don’t usually care much about it.

What is needed is the ability to shape the route around wx, countries (French ATC on strike), etc.

I was testing FF fairly extensively for some time, using the browser version.

The AR is very good for what it was intended for (route generation, later with routepack generation) but there are obvious concerns.

Peter 29-Mar-20 19:14

What is needed is the ability to shape the route around wx, countries (French ATC on strike), etc.

That capability was introduced a few releases ago and works very well.

Xlr8tr wrote:

If you prefer Autorouter (and it is a great service) then of course that’s your prerogative but I still stand by my statement, I find all aspects of the planning to be excellent.

It’s not about preference but about wish to make ForeFlight better

I use ForeFlight Performance Plus and I’m definitely sure Autorouter has more precise calculation for fuel consumption – tested on few hundred flights (approximately 500 flight hours). AR automatically includes fuel and passengers (and wind influencing consumption) for particular flight in W&B while in FF you have to do it as separate calculation.

I use ForeFlight much more as in-flight tool than as flight preparation tool.

Hi @Emir,

I’ll pass the feedback to the flight planning team. You’re right that right now W&B and Flight planning are separate calculations, though this is something that may change in the future.

Always appreciate the feedback,
Josh

Hello all,

ForeFlight version 12.3 was released yesterday and I’ve come to drop in the release notes.

ForeFlight Airport Info Documents

• Access helpful information about many airports in Europe with new “Airport Info” documents found in the ForeFlight section of Airport Procedures.
• These documents include the same Jeppesen-sourced information previously available in Jeppesen Mobile FliteDeck VFR, including airport-specific notes for ground movement, general aviation access, VFR and helicopter procedures, and more.
• The documents are included in the “Aerodrome Charts & AIP” download option for countries in Europe, and appear in the Downloads list as (for example) “Germany (ForeFlight).”

Tap Extended Centerlines for Runway Information

• Quickly access runway information for any airport in your route by tapping the labels at the ends of Extended Centerlines when that setting is enabled.
• Tap “Select Runway” in the information popup to add that runway to your route and highlight it, and tap “Straight In” for any runway at your destination airport to both highlight it and add a straight-in 2nm final to your route, which you can also add using the Traffic Pattern option in Procedure Advisor.
• Enable Extended Centerlines in Map Settings > Map Overlays.

Marked Positions

• Drop markers along your route during a flight to mark points of interest or comply with position plotting requirements, then view or share the marked positions after the flight.
• Tap the Pin button on the left side of the map to mark your current position during a flight. Each marker automatically captures your GPS coordinates, altitude, speed, and allows you to record additional notes or rename the marker. Marked positions disappear from the map 15 minutes after landing.
• Marked Positions are included in an active track log recording and can be viewed after the flight in the Track Log view, or in the Flights view if any planned flight matches the time frame during which you marked any positions.
• Export a file containing only the Marked Positions under the Flight Log section of Flights.
• You can hide Marked Positions and the Pin button in Map Settings > Marked Positions.
• Marked Positions are available with ForeFlight Performance plans.

Arrival Time Planning on Flights

• Plan a flight based on a desired Arrival Time, rather than a Departure Time, using the new Arrival Time Planning feature. Instead of selecting a flight’s departure time, you can now select a target arrival time and ForeFlight computes the required departure time.
• On Flights, look for the new ETD/ETA toggle to the left of the date/time selector, which is now the first line of the flight plan form.
• In ETA mode ForeFlight will work backwards from the desired arrival time to calculate when you need to depart, then display that time at the top of the flight and in the Flight Summary on the left, which now displays each flight’s ETD, ETE, and ETA for quick reference.
• Arrival Time Planning is available with ForeFlight Performance plans.

Also, the previous route constraints are now available on plan.foreflight.com as well.

As always, I’m here to receive feedback and answer questions. Hope you all are healthy and happy.

Best regards,
Josh

@Josh_Tahmasebi_ForeFlight wrote:

Access helpful information about many airports in Europe with new “Airport Info” documents found in the ForeFlight section of Airport Procedures.

I cannot reproduce that one. Does it only work with Jeppesen subscription?

Hi @Dimme,

No Jeppesen subscription required.

As long as you have a Europe Subscription, are up to date with the latest ForeFlight version, and have your downloads configured properly plus may require a download. Download configuration: Make sure to do to More > Downloads and select Europe under Download Settings. This information is bundled with Aerodrome Charts and AIP so make sure that and the country you are looking to download is selected (these should be selected by default, but just in case). Go back to downloads and do any you may have (may take a second to refresh).

Once you’ve done that, if you go to the Procedures section of an airport in the country/countries you have downloaded and select Airport Procedures, you will find it under the ForeFlight section. It is called “AIRPORT INFO”

If you need additional help, our Pilot Support Team is always available to help – [email protected]

Josh

On the Foreflight Zoom meeting thread I mentioned I had a problem setting up W&B. I was pleasantly surprised to get a PM from FF offering assistance and even happier that they provided a model for me which works. I think that is PDG service.