Tool For 6,000 Citation Owners Offers Weather, Routing, Weight And Balance, More

Operators of Cessna Citation aircraft can now accomplish full flight planning on Apple iPads using iPreFlight available from Aircraft Performance Group.

"This development is the very latest improvement in meeting Citation customer requirements for technology advancements," said Kelly Reich, vice president of product support for Cessna's Customer Service organization, announcing the app launch Monday. "We have been pleased to partner with Aircraft Performance Group (APG) to make this happen quickly for more than 6,000 Citation owners who can now use the application to make their daily flight planning."

The app features real-time METARs and winds aloft, graphical weather, routing, graphical weight & balance, a worldwide database, flight planning, Runway Analysis Max Payload Estimator (MPE) and many other features. iPreFlight will also feature takeoff and landing performance derived from Cessna's Citation Performance Calculator (CPCalc), part of the CESNAV package. This will offer iPreFlight users improved planning capability in the field.

This enhanced capability will be phased in for all Citation models for which CPCalc is available. Classic aircraft that do not have CPCalc can still use the application through tabular, AFM data. APG's central server will process all calculations and upload PDF releases for flight planning, performance, and weight & balance, which can be printed, emailed and shared with other electronic devices.

Flight performance calculations are not performed on the iPad itself. All calculations are completed on the vendor's server, which means Internet access is required. The Internet service network can be either WiFi or 3G. The app is available through the Apple Store and requires a yearly per-aircraft subscription from APG. APG is providing a six-month free subscription to existing CESNAV customers and those taking delivery of new Cessna Citations.

FMI: www.flyapg.com