Garmin Pilot (merged)

I think it is a pity that Garmin have made GP as the only practical way (via Flightstream) to load flight plans into a GNS or GTN box.

the android version of GP is reported as inferior (why, I wonder; droid has at least a 50% market share, even if probably not among pilots)

Far less than 50% market share in aviation, especially in the US (where Foreflight is iPad only). I would guess more like 10%. So Garmin will allocate their development resources proportionately.

Also it is easier to port software to a new platform once that software is mature and subject to less change – so there will always be a lag between iOS and Android versions.

my phone is rooted (of course)

I think that if you had a G3000 or a Proline suite in your aircraft, you would probably want a way to “root” that too. Is your Sandel rootable???

Peter wrote:

droid has at least a 50% market share, even if probably not among pilots)

But as GP is aimed solely at pilots I would have thought it makes some commercial sense to devote the major effort to serving the target market.

I think that if you had a G3000 or a Proline suite in your aircraft, you would probably want a way to “root” that too. Is your Sandel rootable???

There are many good reasons for rooting phones and tablets, though for normal use most non-IT people don’t need it. Also rooting IOS devices is a lot more hassle (and IMHO much less benefit) than rooting android.

One scenario is this

They haven’t.

So that’s new. It was GP only, originally.

My point was really that the interface is secret, preventing somebody transferring a flight plan using some standard format. One can do that with the flash card method, but that’s clumsy. I don’t think Foreflight is a viable app for Europe.

But as GP is aimed solely at pilots I would have thought it makes some commercial sense to devote the major effort to serving the target market.

True, although

• android market share is growing
• I don’t use IOS, and I know many other pilots who also don’t use IOS

Peter wrote:

I don’t use IOS, and I know many other pilots who also don’t use IOS

My experience in the shop is that (even in the price conscious Dutch market ) 80% of the sales of device holders are for Apple devices and the demand for Android device holders is falling.

dnj wrote:

I think that if you had a G3000 or a Proline suite in your aircraft, you would probably want a way to “root” that too. Is your Sandel rootable???

G3000, Proline, Sandel etc. are not general purpose computing equipment like an Android phone is.

This video shows how GP is used to push flightplans into the Garmin system.

AeroPlus wrote:

This video shows how GP is used to push flightplans into the Garmin system.

The video just came out and it overviews the new Garmin Flightstream 210 in the Perspective System (G1000 modified for Cirrus) in the 2016 model. The wireless gateway allows flightplans from either GP or Foreflight and either Apple or Android to upload flight plans into the G1000. If using GP, it also allows a nifty way to alter the entire/part of the flight plan with a single swipe of the screen.

Also, ADS-B traffic and weather are backloaded in realtime onto the tablet from the G1000.

(note. IMHO if Garmin thought Foreflight was going to dominate the market forever they would simply buy Foreflight and incorporate or destroy the product in favor of GP).

I had a look at GP today, thanks to DNJ.

It looks really slick, a very responsive implementation, and the UK CAA raster charts are a nice touch for those who want the familiar maps.

You can paste in an airway route and it decomposes it into waypoints.

I’ve just heard (unverified) that GP exists for android in a current version, but the appstore doesn’t list it.