One Stop Flight Planning Website/Software?

[JetMouse]

Does a website or some flight planning software exist, which allows you to plan a VFR route and get all the relevant information such as weather, notams etc. for that route?

I've searched the archives but not had any luck - I seem to remember a website called av something which worked on a subscription basis??

Thanks
JM

[S-Works]

Buy the Jeppesen Flight Star VFR or IFR. I think the VFR version is now about £70. Fantastic value. Does everything from flight plan to fuel calcs, printable maps etc. Full airfield Jeppesen database and downloadable weather.

I have used it for a year now and have no complaints.

[JetMouse]

Thanks Bose

Does it also include Notams?

[S-Works]

Yes it does as part of the weather service. BUT it does not release you from the liability of checking the NATS site for NOTAMS as well.

I usually check both as a matter of routine.

B

[Deano777]

Bose have you got to keep it updated? i.e. download the latest info for it? if so how much does this cost per download/year/month?

Thanks

Dean.

[S-Works]

Yes there is a subscription service that updates the database quarterly for VFR and monthly for IFR or you can just buy a one off if you need it. I have the monthly service as I am running the IFR version.

You subscribe to the weather service on a yearly subscription which is about 80 quid.

The weather service is superb and the app uses it to do the wind calcs etc for you.

I also have Jeppview which is the electronic airways and approach manuals which also integrates into Flightstar.

I can plan a flight from a-b VFR or airways and have the airfield and instrument plates all in one application and print it all out to kneeboard size in colour.

It is VERY good software.

[IO540]

bose-x

Do you know where the Jepp s/w gets its weather and notam data from?

Have you tried Avbrief? You may not need it but it would be a useful comparison for weather data.

I use Navbox Pro, Avbrief.com for weather, the ais.org.uk site for notams, and the printed charts for actual planning for CAS, MSA etc.

Sadly I don't think one can avoid the printed charts - if the Jepp s/w is anything like their GPS databases I would not trust it to be complete.

[S-Works]

The data comes from a variety of sources including the UK Mettoffice. I always compare the output of Jepp against the Met Office site and have always found the data to be the same.

Jeppesen do make mistakes but they seem to be getting fewer these days. I have certainly not seen any discrepancies between flight star and my paper versions. In fact things like frequency changes are usually faster than my paper updates.

The Jeppview approach plates software is very accurate and certainly no errors between my paper aerad and the jepp plates have popped up yet.

At the end of the day I never forget it is my responibility to verify the information.

I have Nav Box ProPlan5 and it is pale in comparison to flight star!

Avbrief is a pretty good site. I have just gotten used to having everything integrated!

[englishal]

I used to use flightstar and it was great (lost it though, formatted my hard drive but couldn't find the install disks....doh:{ ) The Nav data was actually accurate, and with the digital raster charts installed it was great....

I now use Memory Map which is excellent. Use it for route planning on the desktop (no wx or notam info though), then send the route to the GPS and PocketPC. We did some experiments with it and monitored it on a flight to Edinburgh, it was 100% accurate. You can even scale into the airport diagram charts and it shows your position on the airfield, accurate to 10m or so. Its cheap, uses the official CAA digital charts (about £50 per 1:500000 chart, or 2 1:250000 I think including airport diagrams) so there are no nav data issues....

Cheers
EA:D

[JeroenC]

Try www.pocketfms.com out! It's great, and it's free (no, i'm not the author!)

Has all the above mentined features.

[IO540]

Sadly, it being free is likely to mean there are lots of things missing. I spent some time with CoPilot some months ago, and found the same. The author invited me to generate a list of data for the missing airfields; I was going to do it by downloading a lot of pages from the AIP but in the end didn't have the time. So it wasn't really usable in the UK.

So I have stuck with Navbox Pro. It costs a bit of money but is very accurate. Avbrief for weather, and the AIB site for Notams. It would be great to have a PDA with a 640x480 screen and GSM (and battery life more than 10 mins...); then one could do the lot on the move.

For the money one spends flying, there is no point on skimping on these things, IMHO.

[Tango Oscar]

Does anyone use AVBRIEF for weather and NOTAMS. I'm considering subscribing, but would like anyones thoughts who is already a subscriber (Hmmm didn't mean to hijack the thread)

[Mike Cross]

IO540 said
It would be great to have a PDA with a 640x480 screen and GSM (and battery life more than 10 mins...)

It may be closer than you think. The nice guys at NavBox (http://www.navbox.nl) have a version under development for the Pocket PC.

So how about an XDA that is a phone, does your weight and balance, Flight Plan, list of en-route frequencies and PLOG and plugs into a GPS to give you a moving map display?

Or an Ipaq with the NavMan GPS sleeve that does everyhting except the phone in one unit?

NOTAM and Weather are a little further off. Getting 214/215's from the Met Office site is simple enough and it should not be overly difficult to devise a website that would take Flight Plan input and produce the NOTAM. If the CAA could be persuaded to get a standard interface on the AIS site then software manufacturers could design to work with it.

Mike

[IO540]

Tango Oscar

I use Avbrief and it is excellent. I've never used the Met website since I've been using them. Their Notam function is only straight line at present (I think) so for notams I use the AIS site which is the "official" one anyway.

Mike Cross

I am sure that a GSM PDA with built-in GPS is coming. Garmin already do a reasonable GPS PDA (I am sure it is made in China & branded) but no GSM. There are lots of GSM PDAs now to which one could connect a GPS receiver...

I personally don't like the Ipaq with its massive GPS sleeve; in a plane I have it all in the panel; in the car (GPS road nav) I would prefer just a simple bracket and have a rooftop GPS aerial. For portable use (flight planning on the ground) one rarely needs a GPS.

But most PDAs have a bad display (for www) and nonexistent battery life. I had a little cheap Palm PDA just for W&B (running CoPilot) and every time I switched it on the battery had gone flat, all the data was lost, and I had to take it home to recharge it and resync it with a laptop.... on this front, there is a LONG way to go.

I know what you mean about the Notam data feed..... I wonder if the CAA is guarding the data feed so that it can be distributed only by commercial flight data providers? It is possible they don't want "amateur" web sites offering what appears an official notam feed.

But in the end the AIS site is just a website so if one can get e.g. Avbrief on a PDA one could get notams.

IIRC Navbox is available on a pocket/pc O/S already.

But if mobile flight planning is needed, one may as well carry a very light windoze laptop; getting it online via a GSM phone is easy (IR, bluetooth, cable), you get great www operation (if slow)... one can also get PCMCIA GPS modules. Presently this is a better option than a PDA.

[Hersham Boy]

Will the Navstar software also talk to (ie. upload waypoints etc.) a GPS 196?

If so, I might just have to marry it...

Hersh

[Mike Cross]

HB

Don't know about Navstar but NavBox certainly does.

IO540

The Garmin PDA/GPS runs the Palm OS AFIK.

I've been having a little play with Memory-Map on an XDA plugged into a cheap handheld GPS. (In the car not in the a/c)

Moving map is fine but I'm not at all sure I'd like to fly with it. However I think I would like to try it with NavBox. (no it's not been released yet) It's early days but all it needs is a bit of sensible software development to provide the sort of aviation facilities currently found on a good handheld GPS.

Agree your comments re web access but again that's a developmental issue. Web pages optimised for PDA viewing would not be difficult to implement.

Memory loss on power failure should not be an issue any more. The XDA uses Secure Data (SD) cards which retain their memory even when removed from the XDA.

What would be nice is a power outlet on the panel.

Mike

[JetMouse]

Just to get this clear in my head - do you pay about £70 for the Jep Flight Star VFR software then a further fee every quarter for database updates (how much is this?) then another £80 a year for weather updates?

Also does this software include CAA half mill maps or is this another addition? If the maps are included can the software print out your route then set waypoints or visual references at say 5 minute intervals and print a log for timings to use on your kneeboard?)

[IO540]

JetMouse

There is NO way to get around the legal need for printed charts, in the UK or anywhere in Europe that I know about. Too many people want to make money out of selling paper!

I agree with Bose-x that the Jepp flight planning software is very slick (I've seen it demo'd). But different people have different views on flight planning.

For my non-airways flying I use Navbox Pro which is about £60 (which includes a year's worth of downloadable monthly database updates); it prints out simple chart sections, the plog, ICAO flight plan ready to fax, etc. Very complete and very accurate. The best £60 ever spent on flying. You must still use the printed chart for airspace, MSA, etc reference.

I then pay about £50/year to Avbrief for weather (basically short and long TAFs and some miscellaneous other stuff e.g. rain radar, most of it available for all of civilised Europe).

The final essential thing are Notams which I get free from the AIS website (currently the only official channel in the UK that is actually usable).

So the process is

Chart+Navbox
Avbrief
(other weather sites if going away for >1 day)
Notams
FLY
(all done in well under an hour, usually). None of this silly all-day flight planning nonsense.

I don't think ANY money you pay will buy you better weather data than you can get from a combination of Avbrief (which offers a good collection of it all in one place) and various free weather sites. There are excellent (non-amateur) weather sites outside the UK which avoid the UK Met office ripoff.

[Flyin'Dutch']

For a mere £33 per year AOPA will give you all that is needed, a slimmed down version of Jeppesen Flightstar with weather and Notams.

It is a quick download and away you go.

That together with the other fantastic information and support you get of them and their website makes it excellent value to be a member.

They were very proactive and wrote to me asking if I wanted to join.

Unfortunately it was AOPA US I was talking about.

How does that compare with what we have over here?

I know, yet another can of worms.

FD

[IO540]

In the USA you can get traffic radar and weather radar data displayed on an MFD, in flight....