Available Now In The iTunes App Store
ForeFlight Mobile HD 4 is available for download as of Monday in
iTunes App Store. Tyson Weihs, co-founder and principal developer
for ForeFlight, tells ANN that this release takes ForeFlight
forward in several significant ways, and lays the groundwork for
additional features to come in 2011.
Now appearing on an airports page is a new segment titled
“A/FD”. Click that and you’ll see the relevant
page for that airport from the FAA’s A/FD. If the airport is
big enough to have warranted multiple pages in the book, simply
swipe left or right to get to the next page.
Weihs says the new navlog design is "sexy, sexy, sexy. Pilots
have written in frequently asking “how hard is it to include
ETE and ETA!”. Well, ETE and ETA are not hard to compute.
However, taking the route and active leg into account and, more
importantly, displaying that information in ForeFlight style took a
bit of extra chiseling," he writes on the ForeFlight blog. Now
available from the Maps page is a new, wider navlog that shows
important metrics like summary trip information, leg times and
distances remaining, and ETA. Current leg is shown in black,
previous legs are faded, and a leg or direct route to a waypoint
can be selected by tapping the new arrow button shown on each
leg.
Tap on any of the blocks in the dashboard and select the
instrument to be displayed. Options include fifteen different
instrument types, including ETE to waypoint and destination, ETA to
waypoint and destination, cross-track error, bearing to next
waypoint or destination, Zulu time, GPS Accuracy, and more. Tap
within an airspace boundary or special use airspace like a MOA,
warning, alert, or prohibited area and all the required details are
displayed. For airport details, tap on the airport and a popover is
displayed with the airport information and a button to hop to that
airport’s details.
The new Plates tab on the iPad makes it simple for both VFR and
IFR pilots to organize sets of plates and airport diagrams for
trips or practice sessions. Easily add new plates from the
Plates tab or when viewing a plate from airports. Create multiple
binders to store trips and easily toggle between them.
Flying in the backcountry, Alaska, Africa, Gulf of Mexico, or
even to the local practice area often means flying to places that
aren’t specifically marked on a sectional or enroute chart.
With the new personal waypoints feature, a large number of
waypoints can be imported from a text file, or use the map to
add a waypoint for any location. That personal waypoint can be
named and included in a route search.
Weihs says the pace of adoption has quickened - at all levels,
both by individuals and corporate/business operations - and pilots
are looking for an app that fits most of their needs, most of the
time. "We think ForeFlight fits that requirement for the large
majority of pilots very well," he says. "We now support five
Fortune 50 flight departments, with more climbing aboard every
day."